Ronin Strength: November 2015

Sunday, November 8, 2015

Be a Sore Loser

Back a few months ago it became apparent that grit and focus are huge weaknesses for me in competition. Others may not see it but I can feel it in my bones festering like a disease. I always start strongman shows feeling like a monster and this one was no exception. It probably doesn't hurt that press events are usually first and that's the one thing I am somewhat decent at. Then at some point an event or two down the road I get smoked and I just can't get it into my head that it's not over and I still have a shot if I just stay focused and perform well on the rest of the events. After all, I have trained hard for this show. It's not that I get down on myself and act like puppy who just got booted. I just joke around more and appear to be "having fun." That's total horse shit though. Inside I am pissed. I didn't drive to Kentucky or Illinois. to get second or third place and have fun. I came to win whole damn thing. I usually have some friends and family there and it's embarrassing to lose in front of loved ones. Call me what you will but there is no second or third place only first and second loser. So why the heck am I putting up a front that says, "this is fun," when inside I am seething and ready to explode? How do you get in there and harness the rage? Is it that I don't know how to or is it that I have always been told to be a good sport and play nice. To not be the crazy guy in the corner yelling at himself like a schizophrenic. Even if that same guy is the one who comes back and wins it all. Who cares if he is a bit of an attention whore and too "intense?" Since when is intensity a bad thing? If that's what it takes for him to get his head on straight then so be it. Who is anyone to judge. I've decided that the next show I go to will be different. If I'm not winning I will not shy away from my emotions. I won't get distracted or light-hearted. I will focus in, buckle up, and press on like the damn juggernaut I am trying to be. Call me a poor sport. Call me a jack ass. That's fine but I'll be the one with the gold. If not today then tomorrow. Some people are born with drive and grit. Others have to be intentional and practice it every day.

Train hard. Compete hard.

Talk Soon

Dan Mason

Dan is a nationally ranked amateur

strongman competitor in the 242lb

and 275lb classes. He holds instructor

level ranks in Taekwondo, Muay Thai,

and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. He as been

training people for strength and martial

arts since 2004.

Tuesday, November 3, 2015

The Barbell Gets Me

Normal people confide in their friends. Most folks have a close few people who "get" them. Sometimes I feel that I have people like that in my life. But as is the natural ebb and flow of life these people duck in and out of existence. They move away. They make a mistake and get cut from your life like a cancerous tumor. The people are many as are the reasons for transition. The one constant. The one thing in life that is always there, always consistent, is the weight of an empty barbell in your hands ready to be loaded up. Ready to work with you until it feels what you are going through. Ready to break you until you understand what is dragging you down or lifting you up. Like a quiet unjudging friend. Like a therapist who listens to you until you figure out the answers for yourself. There is no coddling, no disagreeing, no yes men. Just truth and struggle. While you are there with your friend, your confidant, your nemesis, the rest of the world is dim like a thunderstorm at dusk. Here you are safe from the trouble of work, relationships, and finances. Here you are paid in muscle. Your soul is fed by PRs. Your work, no matter how earth shattering or disappointing, baths your body in the drunken cocktail of endorphins and adrenaline. There is no one who gets you like the barbell.

Get to it. Your therapy is waiting.

Talk Soon

Dan Mason