So off we went, from Canadian winter to a mid-Pacific paradise. When we arrived, after being cramped into that little steel tube, the first thing I craved was some sand and surf, and maybe a beverage or two. Now at this point, ask me if I took into consideration, the difference between Canadian sun rays and tropical sun rays.
Go ahead ask.
Well I didn't, and spent my entire first day in Hawaii at the beach. Nap , swim, snack, cold beverages, the whole bit. I was a kinda, a little bit reddish by the evening. The morning after upon waking, I felt odd creepy crawly things in the sheets. Still partly in a coma, I adjusted away from the uncomfortable side. Getting clearer and now a bit more awake, I lift the covers.
Holy shit , the bed's full of little black insects!
Eject, eject! I bail out to the safety of the floor.
My girl friend flies out of the bathroom to see what all the fuss is about.
Upon closer inspection ( at first from a safe distance ) the bugs aren't moving, in fact it's not a bug attack at all. It's pieces of my burnt skin that have literally jumped off my body in the night, and are stuck to the white sheets. This is where the term "burnt to a crisp" comes in handy. So day two of the great Hawaiian adventure is spent indoors slathered in aloe watching TV. Day three just slightly better, more movement without pain.
One afternoon after the scorching healed up a bit, we journeyed out for a walk down the beach to see the sights and people watch. ( fully clothed and slathering on SPF 1000 on the exposed parts )
Wandering by the Sheraton Hotel, I heard the ringing of heavy iron being moved about. As I turn to listen closer, it's obvious that it's the rattle and clank of heavy gym weights. By this time in my life I've come to know my way around a weight set , so I curiously head inside to the lobby to investigate. And there totally by fluke and luck, we have stumbled upon the set up for the Gus Rethwisch's World Power-lifting Championships, an orgy of brute strength and willpower against steel and gravity.
Power-lifting is a completely different beast from Olympic lifting, it involves three strength and power moves, the squat, bench-press and deadlift. And here we are smack dab at ground zero for the biggest meet on the planet of the strongest human beings of the day.
Maybe this trip will be alright after all. We purchase tickets for the show, right there on the spot. No need to ponder this decision.
I was totally and completely unprepared what happened that afternoon and evening, it was by all definitions a life altering experience on many levels. Every few minutes was a new highlight, a new mind-blowing feat of super human strength and determination. I will relay the top few events that are etched into my mind forever.
First and foremost is easy, the weight-lifting history books were on fire that day, but one man stood out above all. Ted Arcidi, a man mountain if ever there was one. His historic bench-press of 705 lbs, obliterated the old record held by Bill Kazmaier, a superstar in his own right. Think of it like this, try going into your local Harley dealership and try to bench press one of their motorcycles and see how that works out for you.
When Ted did his lift, I was standing beside Mr.Universe/Mr.America Jeff King, who was as blown away as I was.
Professional bodybuilders, Jeff King and Matt Mendenhall were on site that day to do exhibition shows and partake in meet and greets with the crowd. One of my other lasting memories of the day, was what a super nice guy Jeff King was, very friendly and easy going. He seemed to totally forget himself when he was watching the competitors on stage.
The other guy that made a huge impression was Ed Coan, who calmly and methodically smashed world records in his weight class every time he touched the bar. Most memorable was also his apparent complete lack of big ego.He looked happy and relaxed between rounds, always coming out on stage to cheer on his buddies. Since then, I've probably used more of his training techniques than anyone in my my pursuit of power-lifting strength ( had to try it after seeing this show) This event was a huge turning point in my life, as the powerlifting bug had bitten, and I went straight to the deep end of the pool after returning home.
Another superstar moment was Fred Hatfield's monster squat attempt. It was very cool to see the legend up close and personal after reading so much of his training advice in Muscle and Fitness magazines. They don't call him Dr.Squat for nothing. This is a video of the good doctor with a 1000lb squat. Kids don't try this at home, I mean really , who's gonna lift it off of you when it squishes you into the floor?
The event was chock full of mind boggling shows of epic strength and ferocious determination. One other amazing sight was a local "The Smokin' Samoan" setting a record in his class with a huge bench-press and then doing a full back flip off the bench down to the floor.
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| me in the early eighties, around 21 yrs old, close to the my first April Fool's run |
When I returned from the trip having seen the greatest of the greats in this sport, I decided to give it a go at the Provincial level in Canada. And so it was that I went from an accidental life altering event in Hawaii to a redefined life of pushing heavy iron in the gym.
In Hawaii, 1985.....I was in a room, full of the strongest humans on the planet.
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| reps at 315 lbs in 1986 My personal record was 23 reps with a powerbelt and knee-wraps |
My very best squat was 550 lbs ( at 198 lbs body-weight ) down to legal depth, it took about two years to get there, and I endured many, many wipe-outs in that cage getting there.
Just to connect the dots, this is about 9 months after the sea serpent story took place.
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| one of the powerlifting trophies 1987 |
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