Video: Ivo Konc – personal and professional (interview for Gorenjska TV, 2001)

The original interview took place in January 2001 on the programme Known Unknown Faces on Gorenjska TV.

The conversation explores his personal and professional life as a coach, as well as the health problems that, together with other difficult family trials, led him to develop Smrekovit Klasik, the spruce resin ointment. Matevž Kleč conducted the interview with him.

Transcription of the conversation:

Matevž Kleč: Dear viewers of Gorenjska Television. We begin the year 2001 with an interview with Mr. Ivo Konc. The programme “Known and Unknown Faces” continues, and this year we will meet several guests. For the first one, I have chosen Mr. Ivo Konc. I was surprised during our conversation before filming about all the things this man has done, and I believe you will be surprised as well by the end of this interview.

Hello, Mr. Ivo Konc. At the age of 53 you and your family moved here to Podreber in Naklo, and that was the beginning of the period of your life you remember most vividly…

Ivo Konc: Yes, I had a happy childhood. We were “as free as birds on a branch.” It was beautiful. I started school here. I was a good pupil, but also a bit mischievous. The teachers were almost afraid of me before I even came to school, saying: “This is the one, the naughty one.” But when my teacher met me again decades later, she said, “You were such a diligent pupil.” At school I really was diligent, but otherwise I was just a bit of a rascal. I simply knew I had to behave at school.

I was a good student, but I was also a bit "stuck-up". ???? So the teachers were a bit afraid of me before I came to school, because they were like, "this is the one, 'this is the one'".

Matevž Kleč: Well, about this place, Podrebra, I suppose the whole forest above the village was "yours"?

Ivo Konc: Yes, all the way down to the Sava. We had an incredible range of freedom. From swimming in the Sava I even picked up a touch of rheumatism. We also used to fish illegally. Once a fisherman sneaked up behind me, luckily he was a neighbour.

Matevž Kleč: Young years go by too quickly, then comes high school...

Ivo Konc: Well, I don't have any particularly fond memories of high school. The Kranj Gymnasium was a tough school, and I wasn't one of those who was a studious student. I was a bit of a truant. ????I did it, but the stresses were severe. If you're not prepared, you're always afraid of something, so I don't have fond memories of it. Of course, yes to my friends, but not so much to all the questioning and exams.

Matevž Kleč: But the mischief stopped during that period?

Ivo Konc: No, I didn’t have time for mischief because I got involved in sport. Sport is good for young people, but it is not as beneficial as it used to be because of excesses. Professionalisation brought too much drilling, too little respect for individuality, too little of the basics such as friendship and the joy of being together. Everything became too result-oriented, focused on performance, and with it came chemicals, food supplements and doping.

Matevž Kleč: Well, I guess sport was also a prerequisite for your future direction...

Ivo Konc: Yes, I loved the sport very much, I was convinced that in Kranj, where I started coaching, nothing could work without me. Not only did I love it, I think I even idolised it. We were brought up in a socialist spirit, at home and at school, and because we didn't have God, we had idols. And one of them was sport. And so I went through life, and I kept finishing certain periods in sport and then I was disappointed again and again. I was disappointed again and again by those who should have said, "Well, this one really did something." And so I always had to start all over again.

Matevž Kleč: Was studying sport also related?

Ivo Konc: Yes, my studies were also sports-related. I wanted to go to the acting academy after high school, but I didn't go because I didn't know how to dance and I didn't pass the entrance exam. So then I took the entrance exam for the then University of Physical Culture (op.: today Faculty of Sport), where I was one of the better students. I got married very early, at the age of twenty-one, in the first year of college, and thank God I met a good wife. We had a child and then it was no longer a question of finding fault, it was a question of finishing my studies. I was usually one of the first to finish the year.

Matevž Kleč: After that, the job...

Ivo Konc: I went to work before I graduated from the first cycle because I had a family to support. I'm grateful to my father for building me a house, where I had a lot of work to do afterwards with the landscaping and the interior, I had children, I was a coach... it's amazing what kind of energy you have at that age. I was always away from home, kids, family, jumping... Thinking back now, I can't believe how I managed to do all that.

Matevž Kleč: And the memories of sporting activity are also good? As you said, you have also produced some of the best athletes.

Ivo Konc: The best athlete I trained was Matjaž Zupan, who won an Olympic medal. Then there are experts such as Bojan Jošt, who earned a PhD in this field, former coach Jelko Gros, Sandi Čimžar, Grilc, Jekovec, Jošt Peter… They all came from the Triglav Kranj club, where I worked, and from the club in Tržič, where I worked until about 1980–81.

I laid those foundations and then I left.

Matevž Kleč: But those disappointments that come in every life are soon forgotten because one starts thinking about other things. As a teacher you moved from school to school.

Ivo Konc: Yes, I'm not the kind of person to get lost somewhere and get tied down by things. I tried a little bit at this school, a little bit at that one. You work with kids everywhere, so there's not much difference, but there's a little bit of change. So I taught at three primary schools - Šenčur, Predoslje and Bled, and then at the Secondary School of Woodwork. I went back to Bled three times, something was pulling me there.

Matevž Kleč: Have you ever swum to an island?

Ivo Konc: Of course. I didn't want to pay the parking fee, so I parked somewhere on the side and swam to the island. ????

Matevž Kleč: I guess the memories of your work, of the children at school, are fond memories?

Ivo Konc: I have never had any problems with children. The problems were within the staff—hierarchies, constant scrutiny. That is the same in education as elsewhere. But I had good relations with the children. And when we meet, they know me. My son sometimes says: "Where can you go that everybody doesn't know you?"

Matevž Kleč: Did you also play football?

Ivo Konc: Yes, I played it in Naklo. I even played for the pioneer national team. I played in attack, defence, even in goal, but I was never an extraordinary footballer. I was a better jumper than I was a footballer, but I wasn't extraordinary there either.

Matevž Kleč: So you weren't a superstar, but you were still useful. ????

Ivo Konc: I started training early because I thought I could do more as a coach, because I only started competing as a jumper at 17, which is too late. I got to the junior national team quickly, then I was at the tail end of the national team, but at that time there were Štefančič, Mesec, Bogataj, Dolhar, Prelovšek, Zajc, Oman, Giacomelli, Pečar, Ržen in the national team and you had to be pretty good to get in the top twelve.

Matevž Kleč: It always depends on what generation you come into, and was that generation a good one?

Ivo Konc: I think it was good, although there was no real benchmark at that time because there was no World Cup yet, just the New Year's Tour, some trophies and individual races...

Matevž Kleč: What would you do if you forgot to strap your skis on at the start of a run? Would you fly forward or slide down the slope?

Ivo Konc: I can tell you what I did when it happened to me. Both my skis fell down on the 60-metre ski jump in Planica and I just landed on my boots, rode on them for a while and then started to roll. ????

Matevž Kleč: These are interesting stories. I once saw Pečar lose both skis.

Ivo Konc: Yes, you forget to buckle up or you buckle the heel on the ski, not the one on the boot.

Matevž Kleč: Were you scared at the crash site?

Ivo Konc: I was scared. If someone says they are not afraid, maybe that is just a consolation. There is a certain anxiety, a restlessness on the ski jump. The heart rate at the top of the hill is that of the jumpers after they have gone 100 metres, that is to say, an incredible excitement. Even after the jump, even if there is no great effort, the heart rate is just as high.

Matevž Kleč: The view from the top of the Giantess is truly terrifying, you can't even see the ski jump...

Ivo Konc: Today’s ski jumpers are completely different from what we were. We didn’t know much, we didn’t understand what was going on, and we had no control. Nowadays children train much more, do countless repetitions, and have far better equipment. Youngsters today are far more skilled than we were as adults. Now 12- and 13-year-olds jump on 120-metre hills, something that back then only five or six people in the whole of Yugoslavia could manage.

Today’s ski jumpers are completely different from what we were. We didn’t know much, we didn’t understand what was going on, and we had no control. Nowadays children train much more, do countless repetitions, and have far better equipment. Youngsters today are far more skilled than we were as adults. Now 12- and 13-year-olds jump on 120-metre hills, something that back then only five or six people in the whole of Yugoslavia could manage.

Matevž Kleč: Have you ever been alpine skiing?

Ivo Konc: I still ski, and I ski on short skis (Big Foot). It's a great thing. I only ski touring. Never where there are avalanches.

Matevž Kleč: Is it a special adrenaline rush?

Ivo Konc: Firstly, it is an aesthetic pleasure. That awareness that you have done something for yourself. I go to the mountains a lot.

Matevž Kleč: And the children? Do they go to the mountains too?

Ivo Konc: Also. Always prefer it.

Matevž Kleč: And the wife?

Ivo Konc: My wife learned to ski with Big Foot skis at the age of 45, she didn't know how to ski before. Today she can ski every slope, except the extreme ones, like Krničar. Short skis are easier to ski with.

Matevž Kleč: What happened after school?

Ivo Konc: I finished working at the school in 1992. Life took me on a strange ride. I was always struggling with a spinal condition. I was exempted from exams at college, I was not accepted into the army, and this is an interesting intervention of God in my life. Through suffering, trials. When I no longer had any chance to walk, to be upright and to heal my spine, the orthopaedist advised surgery as the only option. I did not have the operation, I asked him who would guarantee that I would still be on my feet after the operation. I also asked him what would happen if I refused the operation and he said that in that case I would be in a wheelchair before the age of 30. He asked me what I was going to do and I said that I did not know yet, but I would certainly not be going back to him. I started looking for ways to treat my spine myself and I did quite well. Even though I didn't have surgery I can do everything, I play sports, I play basketball...

I asked the orthopaedist what would happen if I refused the operation and he said that if I did, I would be in a wheelchair before the age of 30. He asked me what I was going to do and I said that I did not know yet, but I would definitely not be going to him again. I started looking for ways to treat my spine myself and I did quite well. Even though I didn't have surgery I can do everything, play basketball...

Matevž Kleč: What have you done?

Ivo Konc: I helped myself most with resin in Lesce at the old "Prežla", I also helped myself with various exercises, water jets in the spa. Movement, stretching... But it's necessary to keep going, not after it's too late. Some people just lie down, take an analgesic, take a block....

I suffered from back problems in my school job until 1992. I was in school from 1972 to 1992. After that I stayed at home.

Throughout my life, God has guided me in such a way that I created something similar to Prežla’s ointment, but mine is not black, not sticky, and more practical to use. With this ointment I can help myself and also others.

Throughout my life, God has guided me in such a way that I created something similar to Prežla’s ointment, but mine is not black, not sticky, and more practical to use. With this ointment I can help myself and also others.

Matevž Kleč: So you have looked for a solution in nature to help yourself and others, and it works. Tested on you...

Ivo Konc: On me and on others. My patients in the eight, nine years that I have been making the ointment are athletes from all disciplines. From the athlete Brita Bilač, who healed her heel, to the rowers Iztok Čop, Sadik Mujkic, who was here just last week, to the cyclist Tadej Valjavec, the triathlete Damijan Žepič, the water polo players Štromajer, Hafner...

My patients in the eight, nine years that I have been making the ointment are athletes from all disciplines. From the athlete Brita Bilač, who healed her heel, to the rower Iztok Čop, Sadik Mujkic, who was here just last week, to the cyclist Tadej Valjavec, the triathlete Damijan Žepič, the water polo players Štromajer, Hafner...

Matevž Kleč: And how do you treat them?

Ivo Konc: I also perform spinal manipulation, which I always do free of charge. I live only from the sale of the spruce resin ointment. I don’t promote it or advertise it, yet our family lives from it. I simply tell people to come if they trust me, and they do—and clearly it works.

Matevž Kleč: I've also heard that some people spread your ointment on bread and eat it for sore throats? ????

Ivo Konc: It is not spread on bread, but eaten just like that, with the finger, and it works.

Matevž Kleč: And the wife helps?

Ivo Konc: Yes, my wife does her part of the business, mainly selling to customers and talking to them, sending parcels in the post, doing the bookkeeping, preparing the food... It's quite spontaneous for us, we're at home and we're at work at the same time.

Matevž Kleč: Is it your wife who prepares the lunches, or does Ivo Konc also prepare the lunches? Do you have a speciality?

Ivo Konc: My speciality? I can cook almost anything, but I always prepare it a little differently each time. People do fine with my food, and they like it. But my favourite food of all is fried eggs—that, to me, is the best meal.

Matevž Kleč: Which is your favourite drink? Wine?

Ivo Konc: I am not a friend of wine. I couldn't say I have a drink I like best either.

Matevž Kleč: And for the New Year? How did you toast? What are your wishes for the New Year?

Ivo Konc: We didn’t make a toast—we just went to bed. I don’t see New Year’s as the kind of holiday worth staying up until midnight for, and besides, I preferred to sleep through the noise of the firecrackers.

My wish for the New Year is not to lose what I have found through the trials of life—after much suffering from illness and the loss of one of my sons. I do not want to lose my faith in God. This is the greatest gift I have received in my life: that after all the upbringing and wandering, Jesus Christ was born within me.

All suffering, everything that seems hard or hopeless, can work for the good if we open ourselves to God and do not struggle against Him.

Matevž Kleč: You’ve probably had people in your life you didn’t like. Have you forgiven them?

Ivo Konc: I have forgiven everyone, because if you don’t forgive, life becomes hard and you dig your own grave. Some people have done me much harm and spread ugly things about me, but through faith I have forgiven them all and they no longer affect me.

I have forgiven everyone, because if you don’t forgive, life becomes difficult and you dig your own grave.

Matevž Kleč: What would Ivo Konc do if someone got in front of him in the queue at the cash desk? Would you tell him you were in front of him, would you let him go or would you throw him out the door?

Ivo Konc: Certainly not the latter. If I was in a hurry, I would say to him, "I'm sorry, I was in front of you", and if I wasn't in a hurry, I would think, "God have mercy on him, he doesn't know what he's doing".

Matevž Kleč: And in summer? Where to go to the sea?

Ivo Konc: I’m not fond of the sea. I prefer the mountains. It already feels hot enough here. Because of my spine, I’m not fond of water either. People with back problems often get cold in the water. Some think swimming in the sea will heal their spine, but that’s not true—many end up with even more pain while they’re there or after returning home. At the sea I always had back pain and even caught angina, which never happens to me at home. I also can’t stand lying on the beach in the sun.

Matevž Kleč: What else do you want to do in life?

Ivo Konc: Nothing more. I want to preserve the peace of mind I have received from above. I want to see my grandchildren grow, I want my children to live honestly, in friendship with God and with one another. I would like to help many more people regain their health, and I want to die reconciled with God, which I do not fear at all.

Matevž Kleč: So you have a balanced life?

Ivo Konc: I have it now, though I didn’t in the past. Even what I do now with Smrekovit is calm work, almost like being retired. I calmly plan my time, collect resin, prepare the ointment, deliver what people order, and talk with them. Some come for advice, others for health. All in all, I have a good life now.

Matevž Kleč: Dear viewers of GTV, I must admit these 30 minutes have flown by. I could have talked with Ivo Konc much longer, but he has already shared some of the most important insights. He has found inner peace and achieved the balance in life he longed for. Often, when we chase after the possessions of this world, we should stop and reflect on what we truly want. We might discover that all we really need is something small that brings us joy. Thank you, Mr. Ivo Konc, for this conversation. Good night.