“Sometimes it’s precisely a nobody who has something to say.” -Ian Jackson
Ian Jackson Dec. 8, 1943 - May 17, 2011
Author of Yoga and the Athlete (1975) & The BreathPlay Approach to Whole Life Fitness (1986)
Ian Jackson was born December 8, 1943 in Cumberland, England to Percy Scott-Jackson and Eileen Kent. Ian grew up on the Isle of Wight in the U.K., Montreal, Canada, and Delmar, California. He earned a Bachelor's degree in English from San Diego State University, as well as a Master's degree in English from the University of California, Berkeley. In addition to mastering the English language, Ian was fluent in Russian and French.
Ian made a career of physical fitness - as a trainer for both Olympic athletes and corporate executives, as an Iron Man triathlon competitor, as one of the founding editors for Runner's World Magazine and Soccer World Magazine, as an author of three fitness books and countless articles incl. articles in The New York Times Magazine, Self, and Esquire, and as a coach and adviser to 7-Eleven's America's Team, the first American bicycling team to enter the Tour de France (1986).
Ian loved playing the edges life presented to him, and he played those edges extremely well as a long-distance runner, big wave rider, swimmer, yogi adept & instructor, skin diver, chess master, and as a student of classical ballet. Whatever challenge engaged his interest over the years, Ian always pursued excellence with single-minded determination--seeking the keys to power, grace, and endurance.
Ian’s engagements in these various pursuits were marked with an intensity of focus that he brought in equal measure to BreathPlay™, his greatest opus. In short, with BreathPlay™, Ian pioneered a pathway to unprecedented power and endurance--one which also serves as a reliable portal to that fabled bodymind state know as "the zone," in which extraordinary performances are possible. BreathPlay™ is an unparalleled breathing technique in the field of endurance sports, and in typical Ian fashion, BreathPlay™ remains to be far ahead of its time.
As much as Ian achieved in his career and his other life pursuits, the greatest mark he left on the world is simply unquantifiable. His legacy is the enormity of love and inspiration he bestowed upon anyone he ever encountered, particularly his wife and kids. His love for others was chasmic in scale.