The last Mulligan Concept™ class Brian Folk taught was with me in Anchorage. I didn’t need the help, but I asked him to come along for the ride. He agreed and the weekend was an example of the good karma Brian brought everywhere. We headed up a few days early because we both wanted to see Denali and try and catch the northern lights. As we were driving up to Denali, Brian got pulled over for speeding. After cracking a couple of jokes the cop just let us go, so we continued up to our hotel. It was severely overcast and we couldn’t even see Denali or the sky. We had a flight booked to fly around Denali and land on a glacier the next day but I doubted it would even be possible with the weather. Around 2 AM Brian woke me up saying “check this out!” There was an amazing northern lights show surrounding a crystal clear sky with Denali visible out the window! Amazing. The next day we both laughed as the pilot said, “Well gentleman, this is what you call a bluebird day up here – top 5% that you will ever get.”
Brian had become a master teacher at this point in his career. As I watched him seamlessly crack jokes and ma
ke everyone in the entire class belly laugh, I also took a moment to appreciate his on-point delivery of all the key points most participants new to the Mulligan Concept™ need to hear emphasized. Brian cared just as much about making people laugh as he did about teaching the Mulligan Concept because he had figured out that the two go together! People learn more and stay engaged when they are having a good time! Besides Brian Mulligan himself, I haven’t seen anyone teach quite like Brian Folk.
Brian and my paths first crossed in the PT clinic in 1996, and over the years we became great friends, brothers you might say. He was a hilarious, thoughtful, driven, spiritual, loyal friend -much more than a colleague. He battled CA with a grace that I will never forget. He was endlessly positive and upbeat, even in the face of dire circumstances. Brian brought people together, saw the common ground, and was a true collaborator who looked for the good in everyone.
The Mulligan Concept lost a true brother with Brian’s passing, he touched each one of us in so many positive ways and left this place better than he found it. Until we meet again my friend!