Issue link: https://www.massageandbodyworkdigital.com/i/87297
ROLFING A LEGEND The client is hockey legend Gordie Howe, otherwise known as Mr. Hockey. At his side is his son Mark, a hockey Hall of Famer in his own right who often speaks on his father's behalf as age takes its toll. Helping put that body back together is Toporek, a Philadelphia bodyworker who has been Rolfing clients since 1975. VALIANTLY CROOKED At the determined request of Mark, Gordie started coming to see Toporek for Rolfing sessions earlier this year. The father and son team made the nearly three-hour round-trip drive from New Jersey to Philadelphia every week, as Gordie progressed through his 10-session Rolfing protocol. For those who don't know hockey lore, it's important to understand the brutality of the sport, especially in the early years of Gordie's career. Equipment and protection were archaic compared to today's gear, and the sport itself was, as it remains today, inherently vicious on the body. Lore would also tell us that Gordie has been the icon of the sport for more than six decades, and many today still crown him the best hockey player of all time. Gordie has been dealt more soft-tissue injuries than most therapists see in a lifetime of clients. Daily poundings and slams, or checks into the boards, as a professional hockey player took their toll. Learning to live with the pain by compensating for it certainly caused even more. Gordie didn't complain about the abuse his body took all those years while he was on the ice, and he doesn't complain today about the aftermath of that abuse. Mark, however, knew that a visit with Toporek might ease his father's pain and make life just a little easier on his 84-year-old hero. Mark remembers the moment when he convinced his dad to start seeing Toporek. "My dad's always resisted any type of hands-on work to help him. I don't know why. I've tried for 2–3 years to get him to come." But one day, some self-reflection helped do the convincing. "We were going to the drugstore to pick up his medicine," Mark recalls. "They had one of those mirrors hanging where you could see yourself from 40 feet away. As we were walking down the aisle, I said to dad, 'Look at yourself in the mirror.' He probably tilted a good 5 degrees to the right from his hips. I told him I knew a guy who could fix that. I knew that Robert could help dad function a lot better." So, for 10 weeks this past summer, Mark brought his father to Toporek, who is a Certified Advanced Rolf practitioner. Each week, there was greater evidence that the visits were helping. From getting in and out of the car easier, to having less trouble pulling off his socks, Mark says his father really benefited from the work. "I just see him move so much easier Gordie Howe, left, and his son Mark Howe, right, are believers in the Rolfing work of Robert Toporek, center, and have promised a lifetime of testimonials to share his work with others. Photo courtesy of Connie Bell Dixon. 86 massage & bodywork november/december 2012