Skogg news (trigger warning: includes description of violence)

[Taiga]

Originally Posted by PhyllisG

.......Don't see how that compares at all to EB's skinny is the new wealthy. I think I prefer that comment to the senseless violence of assaulting someone.
I can see why someone called him out on his past history. Is that why he came forward? Sure we all have skeletons in our closet but this is a pretty big one.....

I think you missed my point. It wasn't about comparing acts at all. I just can't be shocked that filming a fitness video won't erase all mistakes/personal failings/ethical missteps in someone's life. So I do tend evaluate my fitness instructors on their fitness skills/related mindset and leave the rest of the drama.

I don't know anything about Skoggs on a personal level. We can look at his recent fitness offerings and say that he built a quality program. We have heard other Vfers say how much they were helped by his instruction. People change. If he went through a rough patch as a young man and was willing to turn it around and build something positive, then I hope he has the chance to pay the consequences and move on intact.

[Chomper]

I don't have an opinion of him as a fitness instructor.

I was not impressed by his apology post though.

He says words like he was wrong and he is sorry. But in his narrative he couches everything like it is someone else's fault. And he peppers in complaints about how he hasn't been making much money, and drops that he trains veterans for free. It comes across as though he feels like the victim of an unfair world.

That's too bad. I would have had more respect for a straight up account of the things he did wrong and the things he's tried to do to redeem himself since then. I know that's what he was trying to write, but something ugly came through in the process.

Just my impression.

[cherimac]

Originally Posted by Chomper

I don't have an opinion of him as a fitness instructor.

I was not impressed by his apology post though.

He says words like he was wrong and he is sorry. But in his narrative he couches everything like it is someone else's fault. And he peppers in complaints about how he hasn't been making much money, and drops that he trains veterans for free. It comes across as though he feels like the victim of an unfair world.

That's too bad. I would have had more respect for a straight up account of the things he did wrong and the things he's tried to do to redeem himself since then. I know that's what he was trying to write, but something ugly came through in the process.

Just my impression.

This.

[Jane P.]

I imagine that when you're trying to market exercise dvds to men, claiming a military background helps a lot.

We do live in a culture that loves to expose people, and with the internet almost everyone gets caught who makes false claims. I'm also one of the ones more upset about his violent nature, than about the lies.

[Taiga]

Originally Posted by Eibhinn

I think lying about having been a Seal is obviously not okay, but I also have always found it really weird that people make it their life's work to travel around the country exposing and humiliating people who falsely claim to have been a Seal. Michael Skogg's admission of that assault is terrifying, and likely to impact my enjoyment of his workouts. On the other hand, I visited the website of the guy who exposed him, and the comments there are littered with people actively threatening violence against Michael Skogg for having embellished his account of his military service. In my opinion, no one comes across well in this whole situation.

I've also always found it weird when past military experience is used to market fitness routines.

Young men being violent in an organization whose prime mission is to teach discipline and brutality is just not that surprising to me. He was in his late teens supposedly when this happened? Where do you suppose he learned his choke hold technique?The behavior is hideous but we don't know of any violent behavior in his adult life/recent years. Maybe he learned to funnel his energy/anger into something more positive. Ideally we would be perfect from birth to death but since no one here can claim that, maybe we can at least accept that young people might make mistakes. I don't know this guy and don't even have a fitness connection with him. I'm defending the right to grow past terrible mistakes and build something positive and redeeming.

Agree on the weirdness factor.

[Nuggie's Auntie]

Whoa... This guy did all these terrible things, was court martialed, dishonorably discharged from the military and then he has the cheek to use military service as a marketing angle for his fitness business?! If he really wanted to put this behind him, why would he do such a thing?

If he had made terrible mistakes in his youth and wanted to move on from them, I respect that, but I'm agog as to why he would trot out any reference to his military past to promote himself as a kettle bell instructor.

[fagiles]

I judge no one. Not interested in his past. Now that he has admitted the truth, he can move forward regardless of the consequences. I will continue to purchase his products.

Felecia

[PhyllisG]

Originally Posted by Nuggie's Auntie

Whoa... This guy did all these terrible things, was court martialed, dishonorably discharged from the military and then he has the cheek to use military service as a marketing angle for his fitness business?! If he really wanted to put this behind him, why would he do such a thing?

If he had made terrible mistakes in his youth and wanted to move on from them, I respect that, but I'm agog as to why he would trot out any reference to his military past to promote himself as a kettle bell instructor.

Unbelievable isn't it. You would think he would never want to even hear the word military.

[Eibhinn]

Originally Posted by Taiga

Young men being violent in an organization whose prime mission is to teach discipline and brutality is just not that surprising to me. He was in his late teens supposedly when this happened? Where do you suppose he learned his choke hold technique?The behavior is hideous but we don't know of any violent behavior in his adult life/recent years. Maybe he learned to funnel his energy/anger into something more positive. Ideally we would be perfect from birth to death but since no one here can claim that, maybe we can at least accept that young people might make mistakes. I don't know this guy and don't even have a fitness connection with him. I'm defending the right to grow past terrible mistakes and build something positive and redeeming.

Agree on the weirdness factor.

You're right, of course, that people shouldn't be permanently vilified for doing something wrong. I absolutely do believe in rehabilitation and redemption. My comment above is true, for me, but I probably should have qualified that it's probably only so because I am hypersensitive to violence and imagined potential threats. I have PTSD due to violence, so any hint that someone is potentially violent and my brain goes all haywire and hypervigilent, no matter how illogical it is. I would not have read the blog post had I realized he described a violent attack in it, because that's an image it's going to be hard to erase from my brain, difficult though it is to resolve it with the seemingly affable guy on screen in the Skogg videos. According to my adrenal system, no threat, no matter how imaginary, is too small to get revved up about (eyeroll).

[at120]

Originally Posted by Lannette

Your statement that I bolded for emphasis is what really rubs me the wrong way. Not your statement, but the idea of this Ex-Seal on mission. He seems to be out for blood as is his wife, who has no connection to the SEALS other than being married to an exSEAL.

Clearly I'm conflicted about the situation.

The SEALS, like most of the special forces units, are a brotherhood that goes deeper beyond that of a simple fraternity. The rigors of training and later, the hazards of their missions, bond these individuals together to a level that is often closer than most family members share with each other. These guys take great pride in their accomplishments, so it's not a surprise for both active and retired service members to look so negatively at Skogg, especially since he has co-opted their reputation for financial gains. In fact, he's probably liable under the Stolen Valor Act for some sort of criminal penalty, since the guy has used his supposed SEAL and "ex special forces trainer" reputation in his marketing.