Hi, I'm Chris Toledo. In 1992, using my AIR STRIKE pole vault techniques, I became the first person ever recorded correctly cocking a flexible "competition" vaulting pole according to manufacturer specifications. My final competition was one week after the only video of our "horizontal flexed pole rotation" was recorded. There are no known video recordings of my final meet performance. As of 2021, nobody else has ever been documented properly using a flexible "competition" pole. It is now three decades since my father and I originally introduced our life-saving facts to vaulting pole manufacturers, elite coaches and other pole vault "insiders" who ignored our proven successful concepts.
My knowledge is based on my own hands-on high-risk experiences trying to apply frustrating "traditional" WRONG-WAY pole vault methods that NOT EVEN WORLD-CLASS DECATHLETES ARE ABLE TO CONFIDENTLY EXECUTE. I finally had to ask myself, the same question I am now asking you: "Isn't it obvious that, IF THE GREATEST TRACK & FIELD DECATHLETES ON THE PLANET CAN NOT POLE VAULT CONFIDENTLY, ISN'T SOMETHING TERRIBLY WRONG?" While these exceptional athletes FEAR only ONE event (pole vault), they consistently perform NINE other events IMPECCABLY. It is a logical conclusion that, if such PHYSICALLY SUPERIOR ATHLETES are incapable of successfully applying failed "traditional" pole vault methods, then, UNREMARKABLE athletes attempting the same INSANITY are certain to FAIL time after time, after time, after time...
In 1994, we recorded one of the world's greatest athletes pole vaulting during the USA/Germany decathlon in San Luis Obispo, California. The coach of the Germans, to whom my father had spoken prior to the meet, had NO interest in sharing a dialogue with him. The video images displayed here expose the consequences paid by an outstanding world class decathlete, Norbert Demmel, who is the ultimate victim of his close-minded, ignorant "coach." Through no fault of his own, Norbert's tremendous decathlon potential was senselessly wasted.
You can see that Demmel is very high off the ground when the pole tip "strikes" but his pole vault execution FAILS miserably without the application of Air Strike's "horizontal flexed pole rotation" principles. Along with many other errors, this super decathlete's pole vault efforts are even further thwarted by his low grip on the "UCS Spirit" flexible "competition" pole. Lethal recoil reaction becomes exponentially hazardous to vaulters gripping flexible "competition" poles LOWER than the "manufacturer's recommended maximum grip position" because lowering the grip further DECREASES the bend area of the pole. The physical facts displayed in the animated images above are irrefutable.
POLE VAULT: How to Vastly Improve Your Skills While Eliminating Fear and Frustration by EASILY Vaulting Higher and Safer.
Believe me, it is NOT your fault when you run into TROUBLE in this event! NO MATTER how many "POLE VAULT CAMPS" I went to, THEY NEVER provided me any confidence in my pole vault skills because the "SELLERS" only PRESENTED BOGUS INFORMATION! Just like you, I attended "CAMPS" believing they would provide constructive knowledge but, as you probably already know yourself, THEY JUST DON'T. Below, you can see me doing what I was taught personally by "elite" USA Track & Field coaches, Don Hood, Jan Johnson and Bob Fraley. Today, these men are still praised for their wonderful "coaching" skills. That is a subjective opinion which is "theirs" and certainly NOT mine. I've been there, I know firsthand what it's like to go to "POLE VAULT CAMPS" and waste my time trying to learn absurd "traditional" vaulting methods that have needlessly INJURED and KILLED EXTRAORDINARY NUMBERS OF CLUELESS VICTIMS.
YOU SEE BELOW MY FIRST ATTEMPT WITH THE USC SPIRIT VAULTING POLE THAT COACHES HOOD AND FRALEY ENCOURAGED ME TO PURCHASE AND USE WITHOUT PROPER TRAINING IN 1991:
BELIEVE ME, WHEN I TELL YOU, IT IS NEVER FUN TO LAND IN THE BOX!
This was also my first "All Comers" meet at Fresno State University where I was surprised by the number of older experienced vaulters in the competition. Continuing on, after falling into the box, I began clearing "HEIGHTS" that impressed the other vaulters there. One of those vaulters was Eddie Seese, who eventually chairmanned a task force on improving pole vaulting safety, a group put together by the American Society for Testing and Materials.
ALL the "experts" giving me advice that day were focused on "HEIGHT" while, as you can see, I had NO FORM! The truth is, I was AWFUL when they were telling me I was doing great! Bob Fraley, Fresno State University head track coach, was right there and never helped me at all. Why was Coach Fraley mute? Because, as you can see in the image above, I was "clearing the bar." The primary objective propagated by the pole vault industrial complex is "HEIGHT" over a crossbar! No matter how BADLY the vault is executed, the "insiders" do and say "whatever it takes" to keep "profits" flowing into their pockets.
Shown below, I'm doing completely destructive "traditional" pole vault drills promoted by the top coaches in the world. These drills teach athletes to "PUSH" flexible poles forward, ONE of the DUMBEST things I was taught to do when I didn't know any better.
Next, you can see me being REJECTED while trying to perform what I learned from the advice of "EXPERTS" and "ELITE" coaches. The literature provided with my "UCS Spirit" vaulting pole reiterated the same grossly negligent instructions to "RUN FAST & PUSH THE POLE FORWARD!" The insightful quote below, is by Dave Johnson, another UCS Pole Vault Summit featured quest "expert." Mr. Johnson entered his observation in a book he published:
Below, I'm doing the deadly "BULL-PUSH" against my UCS Spirit flexible "competition" pole trying to copy Sergei Bubka, 1990s world record-setter. Bubka was trained in world-class gymnastic facilities, from his early teen-age years, I was NOT. Today, world-class ACROBAT, Renaud Lavillenie, still irrationally emulates Bubka's "FULL-SPEED" approach runs and lethal "TRADITIONAL BULL-PUSH" against his UCS Spirit vaulting poles, just as I did decades earlier.
Below, see Renaud Lavillenie, in 2014, being REJECTED like I was above in 1991. Lavillenie's senseless REJECTION proves "TRADITIONAL" methods are still as dangerous and insane today as when I applied them decades prior. All these years later, Renaud suffered the same preventable results as myself along with thousands of others who've been injured and dozens killed.
DECADES AGO, I CRUSHED DANGEROUS "TRADITIONAL" MYTHS & STUPIDITY I'D BEEN TAUGHT ...
BY FINALLY TEACHING MYSELF HOW TO POLE VAULT CORRECTLY ...
USING THE EASIER, SAFER, HIGHER, AIR STRIKE SYSTEM!
FLEXING POLES CORRECTLY TO VAULT SAFER, HIGHER & PROPERLY, DOES NOT REQUIRE "SPEED"!!!
Within 12 MONTHS, we accomplished MORE to IMPROVE this event than “TRADITIONAL” pole vault “EXPERTS” have throughout entire careers!
The only pole vault information available TO ME in the late 1980s promoted the same FLAWED "TRADITIONAL" POLE VAULT TACTICS you see being applied by Renaud Lavillenie when he injured himself in 2014. Nearly a quarter-century earlier, I figured out my SAFER, HIGHER, CONTROLLED pole vault process by deciding to REJECT CRAZY "traditional" pole vault propaganda that is still needlessly jeopardizing pole vaulters today!
"TRADITIONAL" self-centered fanatics have always made POLE VAULT far more difficult and dangerous than it needs to be. It's way too obvious that this TRACK & FIELD EVENT is under the control of people who are NOT actually seriously concerned about the safety of athletes or how to perform pole vault correctly!
In 1993 we stated on video that at least "50 decathletes world wide and dozens of basketball players" can top current pole vault records using my Air Strike "JUMP" methods. I still stand by that statement today! Applying my "HORIZONTAL FLEXED POLE ROTATION" principles, experienced vaulters using FLEXIBLE poles can instantly increase vaults by more than TWO FEET (0.6096m) while any average athletes, entirely NEW to pole vault, can easily surpass heights previously misperceived as "unquestionably impossible" by the status quo.
Here is a PHYSICAL FACT: If you choose to use "TRADITIONAL" methods that FIGHT AGAINST the flexible vaulting pole, a day will come thatYOUR MISUSE OF THE FLEXIBLE POLE WILL CAUSE YOU SERIOUS HARM!
Renaud Lavillenie - Sam Kendricks - Thiago Braz da Silva
Below, in the first two videos, Renaud Lavillenie, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 2016 Olympics silver medalist, relies on his RUNNING SPEED to "BULL-PUSH" his flexing "UCS Spirit" vaulting pole forward. Renaud is a phenomenal acrobat who makes deadly "TRADITIONAL" methods look easy. Applying proper Air Strike technique, there is NO NEED for Renaud's lethally excessive SPEED. Lavillenie SQUANDERS his sensational talent as a result of his application of RUNNING SPEED to "BULL-PUSH" the bending pole. At 48:03 of the first video below, you can see how the pole reacts to being "pushed" forward when it "pushes" back against Lavillenie causing his DIAGONAL ASCENT above the runway and plant box. As a result of his misguided diagonal trajectory, Lavillenie, even with his extraordinary body control, ends up in a desperate awkward battle with the crossbar as he descends to land dangerously near the plant box. (On the first "play" each video should begin automatically at its referenced time.)
The second video above, at 46:45, displays Renaud's extraordinary ACROBATIC skills that he applies to minimize the potential of his disastrous "traditional" pole vault execution. Obviously, every LESSER acrobatic athlete attempting to emulate Lavillenie's methods is at incredibly higher risk of injury than Renaud.
Below, the first video reference begins at 41:10, the second at 44:00. You will see the results of Sam Kendricks, 2016 Olympics bronze medalist, relying on his RUNNING SPEED to "BULL-PUSH" the bending pole forward. If proper Air Strike technique is applied, there is NO NEED for Sam's lethally excessive SPEED. Sam Kendricks' efforts are completely THWARTED as a consequence of his attempts to "BULL-PUSH" the flexing pole. Clearly, when the pole reacts to being "pushed" forward it "pushes" back against Kendricks, which forces him to wrangle with the crossbar and land dangerously near the plant box. (On the first "play" each video should begin automatically at its referenced time.)
Proper pole vaultREQUIRES FINESSE THAT WILL NEVER RESULT FROM UNCONTROLLED RUNNING SPEED! During Kendricks' seemingly innocuous landings (shown above) you can see for yourself that Sam injures his neck when his head is "whiplashed" due to the self-inflicted consequences of ill-conceived "TRADITIONAL" vaulting methods. As these videos exhibit vividly, the world's TOP THREE 2016 Olympic pole vaulters are nothing more than completely out of control "daredevils" who haven't the slightest idea how to apply FINESSE to their vaults.
Below, you will see Thiago Braz da Silva, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 2016 Olympics gold medalist, relying on his RUNNING SPEED to "BULL-PUSH" his flexing "UCS Spirit" vaulting pole forward. The consequences are typical and completely predictable when the "UCS Spirit" pole reacts to being "pushed" forward! As Thiago "pushes" the bending pole forward, the pole naturally "pushes" back, which forces Thiago to descend awkwardly and land extremely close to the lethal plant box, just as "TRADITIONAL" vaulters Lavillenie and Kendricks are shown doing above.
Does this video documentation of today's top "world-class" vaulters make it obvious to YOU as to why SPEED KILLS and causes thousands of senseless injuries suffered by exploitable athletes attempting this INTENTIONALLY MIS-EDUCATED track and field event?
CAN YOU NOW COMPREHEND HOW HORRIBLY CONTEMPTUOUS THE "TRADITIONAL" POLE VAULT "ESTABLISHMENT" IS? HURTING PEOPLE IN ORDER TO PROFIT FROM THEIR VICTIMIZATION IS WRONG, DOING IT ON PURPOSE IS CRIMINAL!
