A while back, Barrett Dorko started a thread on SomaSimple regarding the relationship between 'magic' and physical therapy. Barrett. who finds the art of the illusionist quite intriguing, got me hooked on studying the great magicians of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, and he introduced me to a wonderful book, Jim Steinmeyer's Hiding the Elephant.

In a manner similar to Barrett's, I find a parallel between magicians and speed coaches.

Magicians would often attend each other's performances, and, as we saw in novel and subsequent film, The Prestige, try to discredit the illusions. This, of course, was intended to draw focus on how much better their own illusions were, and to draw people to their shows.

In a sense, this also happens in the world of speed training. The internet offers a variety of speed and performance enhancement programs designed by experts in the field. Sometimes, we go to those sites just to learn, to look for similarities to our own programs, or to challenge the concepts that we think are incorrect. These challenges can be focused on promoting good science and mechanics. They also can be focused on promoting or enhancing one's own intellectual property. In other words, it can be intended to draw a larger audience to our own shows.

Are any of these reasons necessarily bad? As Barrett pointed out, "magicians frequently watch and critique each other," and, in the words of Eugene Burger, author of the book Close-Up Magic, "this should result in subsequent performances that are unique and original rather than merely mimicked." Such "slavish imitation" he says will seriously stunt the growth of any profession committed to theory - something that's supposed to change - and certainly the method that should flow from that."

My point is that maybe this critiquing, which we continue to do not just of other protocols, but more often our own or the ones we've done in the past, certainly has some value.

As Barrett concludes:

"Remember Joel Achenbach’s admonition regarding the nature of science: In science if you don’t work hard enough to prove yourself wrong your friends will gleefully take up the slack."

Ken Jakalski