The "Massage"I thought I was going to see Karl for a deep tissue massage but in actuality, I had no idea what Karl's treatments were all about and although massage was part of Karl's treatment, it certainly was not the main ingredient. The hour and a half session started with me standing on a 2" hard rubber ball, first under the knuckle joint of my big toe and working my way down to my little toe, then down my arches and finally undermy heel. Never having done this before, the round ball felt like I was standing on something sharp, I waslearning fast this was not going to be a pleasurable hour and a half "massage"From there it was on to what would become my "favorite," rolling a 20 kg lifting bar down my leg with an extra 15 kg on each side. My muscle was sandwiched between my bone and the thin foam covering the weight bar. This "massage" technique was extremely painful, but also extremely effective. To get the best results from this kind of myofascial release you will need a weight bench. Sit at one end and place your leg on the bench, point your toes to the ceiling, squeeze your abs, relax yourshoulders, point the top of your head to the ceiling and get in the best postural position possible. Thenhave a trained professional, i.e. Karl List, place a 50 kg weight bar on the top of your thigh, where it meets your hip. The next bit is really important, without pulling a face or losing your composure,have the trained professional roll the bar down to your knee, very slowly and then back again. Do this 3-4 times then change legs. At this point in my "massage" I began to feel beads of sweat gathering on my brow. "Holy Shit" I thought to myself, "what is he doing!!" Trying to remain cool and not lose my composure I kept quiet and endured the pain. Next, we moved to the stretching mats, finally, I thought, I can lay down and have Karl do some traditional "massage," I can close my eyes and relax while he works on me. Think again, while laying face down Karl placed a 5" ball under my abs just to the left of my belly button, then he placed a smaller ball under my right shoulder. My muscles were tight to start, but as I breathed into them I could feel them begin to loosen. Karl was working on my calves while I was lying on the balls, and by working I mean he had the tip of his elbow buried into my calf all the way down to the bone. Then he shifted gears and started working on my hamstrings, while he was doing this he had all his weight on my back which was forcing the ball I was lying on further into my abs. My eyes were wide open and sweat was streaming off of me. I was trying to stay relaxed, but Karl was not making it easy! An hour had passed and I was sweating like I was doing a work out, I remember thinking "this guyis insane, when is he going to stop!" To Karl's credit he gave me my moneys worth, he was relentless and did not let up until he felt he had sufficiently worked my muscles. Karl's methods are unorthodox, intense, extremely effective and are unique to him. If rugby is described as a collision sport, then Karl is the number one body shop man.I later found out that I had ruptured a disc in my lower back two years earlier. I had been suffering with sciatic pain for that entire time and thought thats all it was. After just under three months of seeing Karl once a week and practicing self myofascial release between our sessions. I was pain free and returned to play out the American Super League rugby season. This alone speaks volumes for Karl's deep understanding of the human body and what has lead me to refer to him as the closest person to Master Yoda I have met. Karl has gone further than any one trainer or therapist I have met, and there is still so much more that I can learn from him. Karl is the inspiration for the creation of Bula Balls, and is why I can speak from experience when I say that self myofasical release really works!