Tae Jin Park (Tejen) — A young man born in Seoul, Korea two months premature and diagnosed with cerebral palsy, who—through years of strength training with coach Jerzy (Jersey)—became independent and went to college. The episode features his parents, coach Jerzy and his wife, and friend Bob who connected them.
The gist
This Tim Ferriss episode tells the story of Tae Jin Park (Tejen), born premature in Seoul, Korea and diagnosed with cerebral palsy as a baby. After years of unsuccessful therapies and even surgery in Germany to put his feet flat on the ground, Tejen's family connected with Jerzy, an Olympic weightlifting coach who insisted on treating Tejen like an athlete rather than a patient. Through progressive strength training, Tejen went from being unable to lift a 3-pound wooden bar to pressing more than his own body weight, and as his body grew stronger his brain developed new pathways—he began speaking, remembering details, dressing himself, and tying his own shoes. Jerzy shares his own origin story of overcoming alcoholism through weightlifting and the people who saved him along the way. The episode closes with Tejen accepted to college among normal students, and Jerzy taking on a new client, Jacob Zalewski, founder of the One Step Closer Foundation.
Big reveals
- Tejen was born in Seoul, Korea two months premature and was diagnosed with cerebral palsy after he failed to crawl, stand, or walk normally as a baby.
- At age 10, doctors warned the surgery to put his feet flat to the ground could not be performed later due to his weight, so the family made the painful decision to operate in Heidelberg, Germany.
- When Jerzy first met Tejen, he was so weak he couldn't lift an empty bar off a bench, so Jerzy started him on a 3-pound wooden bar.
- Jerzy told the father he needed to commit five years, insisting cerebral palsy people should be coached like athletes rather than treated as sick.
- Tejen progressed from being unable to lift 15 pounds to pressing 170 pounds—more than his own body weight as a 150-pound boy.
- As Tejen got stronger, his brain woke up: he went from a near-silent boy whose only phrases were 'time to go to bed' to noticing, remembering, and describing cars, colors, and drivers in detail.
- Jerzy stopped the father from tying Tejen's shoelaces and told the parents to stop dressing and toileting him, pushing Tejen toward full independence.
- Now 30 years old and completely independent, Tejen passed the eighth grade and was accepted into college among normal students—not a special program—where he reports feeling at the same level as other students.
Things worth remembering
- The modern definition of cerebral palsy describes a permanent disorder causing lifelong problems with movement control, with onset typically around the time of birth.
- Recent data shows up to 30% of individuals diagnosed with cerebral palsy may have a genetic factor contributing to their diagnosis.
- Bob, the friend who connected the family to Jerzy, had lost over 40 pounds (from over 200 to under 160) using Jerzy's 'Happy Body' methods before asking if Jerzy could help his friend's son.
- Jerzy says that with five years of training he can create a major change, and insists parents must coach their own children rather than view them as sick or handicapped.
- Jerzy himself was an alcoholic from about age 15 to 18, blacking out daily with suicidal thoughts, until a weak friend brought weightlifting equipment to his house.
- Jerzy did three years of fire department service instead of the army, and the feeling of being needed while riding to a fire awakened a sense of purpose in him.
- A soccer player named Edu walked Jerzy roughly 200 meters to and from evening high school classes for a year or two, helping keep him away from drinking.
- Jerzy quotes Kennedy—'We do these things not because they are easy, but because they are hard'—as his guiding philosophy, since hard means progress and easy means useless repetition.
- Jerzy explains that cerebral palsy doesn't worsen over time medically; what worsens is how patients fail to fit into society because others care for them rather than challenge them.
- Jerzy's next client is Jacob Zalewski, founder of the One Step Closer Foundation, which has sponsored about 12 people with disabilities to attend college; Jacob was born three months premature with the umbilical cord around his neck and a brain infection.
Recommended in this episode
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The Happy Body
Jerzy Gregorek (inferred)
“I saw an article in the paper about this guy that wrote a book Happy Body and we went came up here to Woodside to get a copy of his book” — Bob 00:05:27Find it on Amazon