We love throwing around the GOAT status,

Over heads to label, the Greatest Of All Time.

Athletes, In every sport,

Actors in different genres,

People all over, working to be the GOAT of their own industry.

There’s another meaning behind the status of the GOAT

Ian is a gentleman who runs Atilis Gym of Bellmawr, in New Jersey.

Around April, at the beginning of COVID, he shut down his gym to all his members who he would call his family.

During the shutdown, he cleaned and renewed equipment, in excitement for a great reunion.

He invested in sanitary technology, to use in operation of his business.

He committed to the highest cleanliness standards, to maintain safety of all his members.

Upon planned reopening on May 18,

he instated these rules,

Seems safer than any other restaurant, or Walmart, or Home Depot, or Lyft or Uber, that I’ve experienced.

Then adversity hit..

Governor Murphy, ordered Bellmawr PD to pull over and cite any and all patrons of Atilis Gym, for “Violation of Governor’s Orders” turning free citizens of New Jersey into criminals.

Imagine that…

Now Ian and his legal team took it upon themselves, to work to get all charges dropped at no cost to his patrons,

taking on the battle as a small business owner against a governor with dirty tactics, pointed directly at his and many other small businesses.

Think about that..

Not some big Fortune 500 company,

Not any big retail chain,

a man who puts his feet and hands to work on his own,

like you and I,

day after day,

to operate a service for him and his community.

Awaiting his federal court hearing, law enforcement were ordered to remove the locks to his building..

So Ian response in service, and moved Atilis Gym’s operations outdoors, simultaneously gaining support for his service to his community, as well as varied attention around the nation.

Moving on, Atilis Gym, illegally was issued a Health Department shut down, when no Health Department Ofiicial step foot in his then, shut down, facility.

When he addressed his case to a Federal Judge in court, to have his shut down lifted, the Federal Judge, opted to not rule on the case because it was “too controversial”..

Imagine that..

As he opted to not open his own doors to his business,

he tried to give a chance for out judicial system to work properly,

which they did not.

Wether it was the Attorney General, the Health Department, our judges choosing not to do their job, adversity was thrown in his path.

He continued to operate outdoors moving 15,000 lbs. of equipment outside daily, and averaging about 200 guests a day.

He later found a way to maneuver the shut down by operating an Essential Business, inside those doors, Rock Bottom Nutrition.

By July 17th, he’d been operating indoors for 2 weeks, with the same health and cleanliness procedures he instated back in May.

He faced many court hearings where he was threatened with rebuke of his business license, arrest, and more.

He chose to operate his business daily, in high safety, and declaring he will remain inside his doors of operation until forcibly removed and said he would not be going down without a fight.

July 19, being held to Contempt Of Court, Ian was sure for the Judge appointed to his case would be successful in the 2nd attempt at changing his locks.

This is the same judge that shut down dine in service, graduations in New Jersey, and changing his locks the first time.

Ian made a move, he declared that
When they come to change our locks..

We will forcibly rip the doors off it’s hinges, and operate our business

24 hours a day/ 7 days a week.

In the following days, as the county prosecutors were on the way to either change locks or construct a barricade to prevent member entry to the gym,

Ian made a change once more,

he changed the formation of his business from an

LLC, Limited Liability Corporation, to a

PMA - Private Membership Association,

to avoid falling under jurisdiction of the court, and into the proper constitutional rights, which these appointed leaders swore under oath to uphold, are to be in gross violation of moving forward.

Amazing…

As mentioned, what happened next, went as promised..

They came..

They put locks on the doors..

He kicked down the doors..

Vowed to operate 24/7..

Live in the compounds of his facility..

In service and protection of those like him..

And the “leaders” didn’t like that..

They too retaliated..

August 10,

$15,000 in daily fines..

Steel barricade..

Loss of his business license..

And possible prison time..

Openly stating they were “trying to cripple their ability to defend themselves in court”..

and interfere with their right to council..

Talk about a gut punch..

But the community responded in support enough to catch the attention of Gov Murphy, staying “you have more than enough in your GoFundMe to support your legal fees”..

which is a legal crowd funded source..

It shows people were listening, they believed, and they were here to stand, and offer help, behind this one man.

The next day,

on a 5-1 vote, on a all Democrat led town council,

Ian was stripped of his business license,

with zero evidence that Atilis Gym any threat to the public..

He stood strong asking for one thing..

Among zoning, administrative, & false health code violations,

he pleaded,

the one thing missing from his packet of orders,

is Science & Data

He simply and humbly asked for science data and evidence, that they claim to have, that Atilis Gym posed more of a threat to the general public , than anywhere else, and that they should remain shut down..

Ian was so confident in their process and safety protocols, Ian stood, promising to happily close their own doors, upon being provided such information…

Facing his fines, barricades, violations, revoking of his license, jail time..

Ian and his team, find yet another maneuver that is nothing short of amazing, encouraging, and inspiring.

Friday August 21st,

Ian and his team put out a press release to Facebook, Instagram, & all local and national media sources..

Here’s the video, straight from his Instagram, I’d love for you to see and hear Ian address this message himself,

In a short form, he states,

“Every single day moving forward until the election in November..

Atilis Gym Bellmawr, is now a place of political rally and volunteer activities, in support of “The Rik Mehta for Senate Campaign”..

This is not about an affiliation to a political party, this is in support of someone who has strongly supported small business and the protection of our constitutional rights..

We encourage all of our members to come down and volunteer, and

EXERCISE

their rights..

We will be doing VARIOUS volunteer activities, including fundraising..

But we encourage everyone to continue to come down, and

EXERCISE

their rights..

This is about taking a stand of our First Amendment rights & to stay healthy in the face of a pandemic.”

I mean come on..

Some of us play Checkers, and some play Chess♟

On August 26th,

Facing political pressure, Governor Murphy, finally declared a date for gyms to reopen, September 1st..

With laughable protocols in place In comparison to Atilis Gym..

After receiving news, not only did Ian accept this,

but he decided to go on the offensive, and to this day fights this battle for small businesses, and for people like you and I.

He is having a group of scientists come in to prove the safety protocols that they had put in place are more than scientifically sufficient, and can be adapted among any and all small businesses to operate, and that they should’ve been able to operate from the beginning.

His belief is that the middle economy has been gutted and destroyed, with families destroyed along the way, and that there’s no scientific date and evidence that this 2 week shut down should’ve lasted this long, and wants to seek why small businesses were villainized in all of this.

He’s in the process right now of forming a report, of all scientific data, in support of his claims, and proving the absent evidence of Governor Murphy and the state, to be uncivil and unjust.

He chose to fight against this attack and assault on the middle class, and fight to be compensated for our losses. His and all small businesses.

This is ongoing,

New Jersey has just now allowed their residents to take their health into their own hands, and Ian has a lot, if not all, to do with it.

And there’s many more places to go.

Let me ask you one question,

I understand the time it takes for data to reveal itself, but with all the time between the beginning of COVID, and September 1st..

What changed?

I don’t see a vaccine..

Remember 2 weeks to slow the spread?

What’s different from the time Ian wanted to open his gym, with high priority of cleanliness and protection, and September 1st?

More than a couple hundred thousand businesses will have shit their doors permanently..

Working people who invested years into serving their local community..

closed.. for good..

His protocol as were scientifically proven effective, the practices he put into place to mitigate the spread of Covid-19 meets and exceeds all other government required protocol.

But he not in it for his own glory, He’s demanding to see the science behind the mandates that have destroyed us, he’s now advocating that these small businesses were held hostage for political purposes, he advocated the reopening of our country, no more shutdowns, kids back in school, & in person voting.

As of 1 week ago, he’s had 45,586 COVID free visits since June 16th.

But the battle still continues for him.

The GOAT Symbolizes

“ The first sacrifice, in effort towards a greater good “

In Jewish religion, the Goat is designated sacrifice to take all of the communities sin, to then be sacrificed, taking their sins with it.

There’s a lot of bad shit, Ian Smith had to stand up in front of,

a lot of sins he wanted to make right, for not just himself but for others around the world.

He fought for his life, his livelihood, and his rights. All things that you, I, and people like Ian share in common.

There are countless stories in American history of people who stood for things, that were hated and ridiculed, and were prepared to lose every battle along the way, in order to win the war, wanting things for people what they didn’t yet realize they wanted as well.

I believe Ian will be in our history books.

Ask yourself, what will you stand in the wind for?
What will you stand for, in light of a greater good that maybe only you believe in?


He chose to stand in the way and set the precedent moving forward, that these things can’t happen again, to any and all small businesses in America, that governors cannot just arbitrarily decide who gets to be in business and who doesn’t.

He recognized his battle early on was bigger than just reopening.

Like I said before, you don’t have to agree, but you can’t deny respect for a man, who stands for what he believes in.

One Man,

who made such a huge impact on our society, that currently,

he is my GOAT.

And for that, I am thankful.

Thank You,

Mr. Ian Smith

I am sure Ian wasn’t completely alone, and had staff and his team, and his legal representatives, and to them I also say thank you.

If you want to follow along his journey, and I highly suggest you do, I left his link to his Instagram at the bottom of this page. You can show and provide your support there.