Firefist
03-04-13, 10:57 am
The 2013 Arnold Classic is over and good grief, has it been a weekend to remember. On my drive home, I was running through all the crazy stuff that happened all three days.
Friday started out with a fucking bang. P vs Higa had the most intensity I have seen in all my years. What a great way to kick things off. I went in and out of the cage to see what else was going on, but didn't miss Ben's squats and Gunz's benching. I really had only one goal in mind in leaving the cage and walking around the expo: meet Kai Greene. Wow, what a cool guy. Most people just got a picture and left but for some who wanted to chat, he was all ears. He talked to me about Asian culture and food for a good 5 minutes before I felt bad for the girls behind me. Walked around more and as I passed Rogue Fitness, I heard someone ask if I wanted learn how to clean. Turn around and here its Rich Froning, the Crossfit champion 2 years going. Now, I'm not into Crossfit at all, and I don't usually do olympic lifts, but this was a chance in a lifetime. He was super into the lesson, breaking down everything from start to finish for a free private session that lasted a good 15-20 minutes. Unreal. Finally made my way back to the cage. Saw old freinds like Mama D, phil, josh, TTL, chase, big C, flash, stolz, Z and many others, and met a good deal of new friends, shukin, trebin, AB, Dane, chicken, smoothballer, nix, razor.... the list goes on and on. Met Phil from corporate, and had a great convo with him about what we stand for and his awesome sweater. Get done for the day and on my way out I see Vinny G. We talk about his contest prep and after he asks if I wanna train. Well, who passes an opportunity to train with vinny? Make my way out of the convention center and get scooped up by mama D and get dropped off at metro. The place is teaming with a pro's. I get a light shoulder workout and meet up with Vinny who is finishing chest. Holy shit, has his physique changed.... he looked unreal. I'll make a long story short. Vinny destroyed my biceps and 4 days later, as I'm writing this, I still am a little tender. Learned so much from a veteran of the sport. Things only get better from here. I leave the gym with my boy D-nutz and an old schooler firsthorseman, to meet up with shukin, trebin, AB and a shit ton of others for some brazillian steakage. Get there and the group of 25+ is led by none other than Higa, P and Ben seath. We definitely got our money's worth, thats for sure. Made it back to my brothers appartment, unpacked my army cot, and passed out for the day.
Saturday. The craziest day of the expo and my day to intern. Get some breakfast at waffle house and head down there. Meet Hoss in the atrium and he gives me his pass to get in early. Was gonna be in charge of watching the Box, but Sam (who if you didn't meet, is awesome) wanted me to make shirts, so the head interns could get some time off. I manned the press with my man shortstack and nixor for the day. It was a great time to joke and talk to patrons about our brand. People were so suprised and appreciative of how much time and effort we took to make sure our letters and spacing were perfect. When asked how we could stand there and press shirts all day long, I'd always say, "we take pride in what we do and quality control means alot to us." Well, our customers were really cool with that. Some of the best names I made? Swoleverine and Tyrannasaurus Flex. I even managed to get the last name, Redelshaagenberger onto one of them. In working saturday, I missed a lot of the lifts, but I did get to see Sam byrd freak people out with his squats. Some shit went down with my girl's family so I had to change my plans around and leave the next day instead of monday. In doing so, I'd have to cut out of the ABC early to hang with my brother for a little extra time. Made it out to the ABC and chilled outside with Z, TC, the house and Freakshow, who is a hell of a nice guy. Got inside and made our toast. I find Garrett Gunz on a bench who immediately starts explaining things to me. Gets me on there and helps me out. Him and his buddy phillip were awesome in teaching me and my buddy Dman how to improve. I cut out early and pick up my brother at the library. We got a tradition of going to Piada's. Think of it as an italian chipotle, but fresher, more options and tastier. Hard to believe huh? I get back to his appt and we skype my mom and dad in taiwan who I wont see for another 3 months. Pass out, feet sore, hands tired but soul fulfilled.
Sunday morning my brother and I wake up early to eat breakfast and say our goodbyes. Get to the expo and hang out with my fellow Forvm members for most of the morning. I saw the shop was getting a little crazy and that there were 2 spots open on the line, so I asked J-Dawg if he wanted some more help. I really enjoyed selling our products to customers because I truly believe in em. In marketing, its one thing to know what you're selling, but if youre passionate about it too, its a win for you and youre customer. I ended work with pressing last minute shirts for customers and some special orders. I didn't even mention yet; I was selected by my boy TTL to represent team Universal in pros vs bros. I was so damn nervous the entire time. My biceps and grip were still shot from training with vinny and my hips were a little stiff from learning how to bench the night before. Whatever, someones gotta do it, might as well be me. Everyone is giving it their all on the bench and rack, putting in serious work and leaving it all out there. Finally its the deadlifters turns and I'm up first. I pull 20 which is about my max thus far, and still feel good. Pull about 5 or six more and feel tanked. Grind out 3 more from there and want one more. I sit in the hole for a second and pull up but the weight doesnt move. I try once more and the last thing I remember was looking up towards juggs and then I was looking at the ceiling. I dont remember much from here and I wasn't in the mindset to get the story after. I think either Big al or P diesel pulled me up and I sat on the bench for a good while. Threw up a little in my mouth, but that was to be expected. Team red did an awesome job and got the win. I hope I get picked in the future for a repeat cause I'm hungry for some more. After the expo ended, I stuck around with Tark to help the staff break down the booth, which was also a cool experience.
It's been a long post thus far but I wanna end with 3 things. This was my first year back after going through some shit, and the best Arnold Classic experience for me. No walking around for samples or shirts. Just true freinds and true respect for one another.
1. 3 years ago, I started getting signatures on my belt. This year, I got alot of new ones and big names at that. Spoto, efferding and lilliebrige (thanks D and smooth), rich hawethorne, higa, kai, froning, brandon lily, etc. Ill be adding more names next year.
2. After the Expo closed. I was sitting outside of the cage to get my shit together and not make a scene throwing up. Finally, i get up and someone asks, "you alright man?" I respond yeah, look up, and its Wrath with a big ass smile on his face. I explain what happened in my eyes and he asks me my name and tells me, "I can definitely respect that. People don't do that kinda shit anymore. I'm a fan." That's definitely the highlight of my weekend. The guy from the journey telling me he's a fan? Thats just crazy talk.
3. I'm gonna end it here. Thanks everyone for an awesome time. Staff- J-dawg, G, naturalguy, sam, rage, TTL, Aggs, T dirty and everyone else, yall are always a joy to work for. Thanks to the athletes for killin it in the cage and being awesome people we can all look up to. Finally, and especially, fellow Forvm members, it was an honor and a priveledge to chill and talk shop with all yall this year and I cant wait to kick it at ABC's in the future.
Until next time, this is Firefist, signing off.
Friday started out with a fucking bang. P vs Higa had the most intensity I have seen in all my years. What a great way to kick things off. I went in and out of the cage to see what else was going on, but didn't miss Ben's squats and Gunz's benching. I really had only one goal in mind in leaving the cage and walking around the expo: meet Kai Greene. Wow, what a cool guy. Most people just got a picture and left but for some who wanted to chat, he was all ears. He talked to me about Asian culture and food for a good 5 minutes before I felt bad for the girls behind me. Walked around more and as I passed Rogue Fitness, I heard someone ask if I wanted learn how to clean. Turn around and here its Rich Froning, the Crossfit champion 2 years going. Now, I'm not into Crossfit at all, and I don't usually do olympic lifts, but this was a chance in a lifetime. He was super into the lesson, breaking down everything from start to finish for a free private session that lasted a good 15-20 minutes. Unreal. Finally made my way back to the cage. Saw old freinds like Mama D, phil, josh, TTL, chase, big C, flash, stolz, Z and many others, and met a good deal of new friends, shukin, trebin, AB, Dane, chicken, smoothballer, nix, razor.... the list goes on and on. Met Phil from corporate, and had a great convo with him about what we stand for and his awesome sweater. Get done for the day and on my way out I see Vinny G. We talk about his contest prep and after he asks if I wanna train. Well, who passes an opportunity to train with vinny? Make my way out of the convention center and get scooped up by mama D and get dropped off at metro. The place is teaming with a pro's. I get a light shoulder workout and meet up with Vinny who is finishing chest. Holy shit, has his physique changed.... he looked unreal. I'll make a long story short. Vinny destroyed my biceps and 4 days later, as I'm writing this, I still am a little tender. Learned so much from a veteran of the sport. Things only get better from here. I leave the gym with my boy D-nutz and an old schooler firsthorseman, to meet up with shukin, trebin, AB and a shit ton of others for some brazillian steakage. Get there and the group of 25+ is led by none other than Higa, P and Ben seath. We definitely got our money's worth, thats for sure. Made it back to my brothers appartment, unpacked my army cot, and passed out for the day.
Saturday. The craziest day of the expo and my day to intern. Get some breakfast at waffle house and head down there. Meet Hoss in the atrium and he gives me his pass to get in early. Was gonna be in charge of watching the Box, but Sam (who if you didn't meet, is awesome) wanted me to make shirts, so the head interns could get some time off. I manned the press with my man shortstack and nixor for the day. It was a great time to joke and talk to patrons about our brand. People were so suprised and appreciative of how much time and effort we took to make sure our letters and spacing were perfect. When asked how we could stand there and press shirts all day long, I'd always say, "we take pride in what we do and quality control means alot to us." Well, our customers were really cool with that. Some of the best names I made? Swoleverine and Tyrannasaurus Flex. I even managed to get the last name, Redelshaagenberger onto one of them. In working saturday, I missed a lot of the lifts, but I did get to see Sam byrd freak people out with his squats. Some shit went down with my girl's family so I had to change my plans around and leave the next day instead of monday. In doing so, I'd have to cut out of the ABC early to hang with my brother for a little extra time. Made it out to the ABC and chilled outside with Z, TC, the house and Freakshow, who is a hell of a nice guy. Got inside and made our toast. I find Garrett Gunz on a bench who immediately starts explaining things to me. Gets me on there and helps me out. Him and his buddy phillip were awesome in teaching me and my buddy Dman how to improve. I cut out early and pick up my brother at the library. We got a tradition of going to Piada's. Think of it as an italian chipotle, but fresher, more options and tastier. Hard to believe huh? I get back to his appt and we skype my mom and dad in taiwan who I wont see for another 3 months. Pass out, feet sore, hands tired but soul fulfilled.
Sunday morning my brother and I wake up early to eat breakfast and say our goodbyes. Get to the expo and hang out with my fellow Forvm members for most of the morning. I saw the shop was getting a little crazy and that there were 2 spots open on the line, so I asked J-Dawg if he wanted some more help. I really enjoyed selling our products to customers because I truly believe in em. In marketing, its one thing to know what you're selling, but if youre passionate about it too, its a win for you and youre customer. I ended work with pressing last minute shirts for customers and some special orders. I didn't even mention yet; I was selected by my boy TTL to represent team Universal in pros vs bros. I was so damn nervous the entire time. My biceps and grip were still shot from training with vinny and my hips were a little stiff from learning how to bench the night before. Whatever, someones gotta do it, might as well be me. Everyone is giving it their all on the bench and rack, putting in serious work and leaving it all out there. Finally its the deadlifters turns and I'm up first. I pull 20 which is about my max thus far, and still feel good. Pull about 5 or six more and feel tanked. Grind out 3 more from there and want one more. I sit in the hole for a second and pull up but the weight doesnt move. I try once more and the last thing I remember was looking up towards juggs and then I was looking at the ceiling. I dont remember much from here and I wasn't in the mindset to get the story after. I think either Big al or P diesel pulled me up and I sat on the bench for a good while. Threw up a little in my mouth, but that was to be expected. Team red did an awesome job and got the win. I hope I get picked in the future for a repeat cause I'm hungry for some more. After the expo ended, I stuck around with Tark to help the staff break down the booth, which was also a cool experience.
It's been a long post thus far but I wanna end with 3 things. This was my first year back after going through some shit, and the best Arnold Classic experience for me. No walking around for samples or shirts. Just true freinds and true respect for one another.
1. 3 years ago, I started getting signatures on my belt. This year, I got alot of new ones and big names at that. Spoto, efferding and lilliebrige (thanks D and smooth), rich hawethorne, higa, kai, froning, brandon lily, etc. Ill be adding more names next year.
2. After the Expo closed. I was sitting outside of the cage to get my shit together and not make a scene throwing up. Finally, i get up and someone asks, "you alright man?" I respond yeah, look up, and its Wrath with a big ass smile on his face. I explain what happened in my eyes and he asks me my name and tells me, "I can definitely respect that. People don't do that kinda shit anymore. I'm a fan." That's definitely the highlight of my weekend. The guy from the journey telling me he's a fan? Thats just crazy talk.
3. I'm gonna end it here. Thanks everyone for an awesome time. Staff- J-dawg, G, naturalguy, sam, rage, TTL, Aggs, T dirty and everyone else, yall are always a joy to work for. Thanks to the athletes for killin it in the cage and being awesome people we can all look up to. Finally, and especially, fellow Forvm members, it was an honor and a priveledge to chill and talk shop with all yall this year and I cant wait to kick it at ABC's in the future.
Until next time, this is Firefist, signing off.