Ho-Ho-Hernia Incision!

Ho-Ho-Hernia Incision! Because you asked for it loyal fans! I did decorate it for you! Just saw Dr. Baccay today and he says I am doing juuust fine. He is the man! And yes, as I was about to be put under I looked up to greet Deven Lombardia who I went to high school with. She's a hell of a anesthesia nurse and only left her Rolex in there...nice gift, kiddo. It keeps perfect time!
Thanks to all of you who sent your prayers and best wishes! Happy New Year!

Cap

Happy 2011 Holiday Retrospective

Was going to do a fun photo retrospect on the hernia...but I decided to do it on 2011 instead. What a wonderful year it has been. My "family" has doubled this year and I am so lucky to have all of you. (Used some old photos of some of you because you were a big part of my year but missed you in pix. Sorry if I missed anyone, I am doped up on Perks still, you all know how grateful I am to have you all as part of Cap's crazy planet. All the best as we turn 2012.

xoxo
Cap

Home for the Holidays and Healin' Fine...(Pop! part 4)

Hey Gang! I am finally out of the hospital after a 3 day 2 night stay. Big Strongman shout out to my Surgeon Dr. Francis Baccay who put enough pig skin in me to wrap all of the NFL's Post season footballs. And to my buddy Dr. Dan Zelazny who hooked me up with Doc B and made sure that I had a solo room and all the gym equipment to get my big carcass up and down from my hospital bed. You are the man! And of course the biggest shout out to my poor wife Susanne who has been nursing me this whole time. I ain't an easy patient. But she's been a saint! Anyway that's all the energy I have left for now, perks are kicking in, so thanks too to all of you who have been sending your prayers. It has been a rough road. Never imagined such pain existed, but with the help of you all it has been much easier to endure. And soon we'll be back stronger than ever! Never quit, never surrender!   CAP

Happy Holidays!

Goin in! See you on the other side of my... (Pop! part 3)

Okay, goin in for the surgery tomorrow. Coming out with even more animal parts sewn into me. I'm like Ol' MacDonalds farm.  Will show you all the scar when I get out as a XMAS present. Something to think about as you are hanging balls on your tree.

Cap

"Pop" Part Blue (2) -- No Strongman for a while

Okay, the shirt Miske and Bren gave me for my birthday sums up my situation right now.  I will be getting cut on Thursday the 15th, and in the hospital for a few days. 4 to 6 weeks recovery gang. Sorry. So after that though, right back at the tires! So find Santa and lift his fat arse for reps, or add weights to your menorah and drag it around the yard while spinning a 200-pound dreidel, or find a good size ChiChe Buddha and drag his Big Mac-eatin self around while practicing your Wing Tsun... Whatever you do...don't stop just cause Cap and the tires aren't there for a bit! Get out there and have a Strongman Holiday! I'll show you the scar when I get back.   CAP

No FLIPPING UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE (Boo-Hoo!)

Okay...The Big girl just gets his back better and then goes and decides..."Hey, it's been 3 days since my month-long back injury is healed ...lets put 14 plates on the squat machine and give it a go." Well somethin in my nether region went: "POP!" I will leave it at that. Going to get checked. Pray to the gods of metal and some more standard deities that it ain't tooo bad so we can get going again!

Mayhem V. Miller

I wrote this to my old roomate Mark G. from Syracuse U, who is also a big UFC fan, in response to the Bisping v. Miller UFC fight on Saturday night.

Mark had written:  I have to say, VERY unimpressed with Bisping. He looks so damn slow. He should have ended that fight in the first round. That Mayhem is a joke. He has a black belt in Jujitsu? Why didn't he use it?

I wrote:
I miss vintage Randy Couture! The rest of the TUF season and most of the prelim fights were amazing--it has been a while.  The little guys can fight (bantam and feathers). Bisping has never been a finisher...ever. He's a point fighter with no knockout power. He could be a knockout fighter if someone would light a fire under his British @#$%. He is a bully, shame Mayhem didn't use that--hello, Bully Beatdown! He even said it on TUF. If you hurt Bisping, he caves, if not he just beats you up enough to not loose. And he always punches flat-footed. Afraid to "Go for it". Guy works like a dog just needs a better coach and a bigger pair of.... Mayhem, whom I love as a "character" must be so busy being a personality that he forgot to EVER take a stand-up lesson or do any cardio. What the hell? I guess he just thinks being crazy will get you through? Not at this level. Shame though, he would be fun to have around and be in the running cause he is a good guy. More fight less face-time. Again...needs a good coach. Guess they gave them five rounds knowing neither one of them could knock out a 6th grader and 3 would be too damn dull. Coaching, Coaching, Coaching. So important. (Ironic considering they were coaches on the TUF show). But I guess at the end of the day when the cage shuts. All of it is up to the man. How you doin', kid?

For Those of You Looking for the Definition of Strongman...

For those of you looking for the definition of what a "Strongman (or woman)" is...this is how I define it, baby! Watch this young man standing before the Iowa government, speaking out against them trying to amend their state constitution to make it illegal for same sex marriage. This is a powerful individual. Hell, yeah.

By the Way...Sunday Flippin 12/4

By the way...I couldn't go to Jersey this weekend to see Brendan's Karate Shi-i (sp?), he should be getting promoted! Go kid! Suuuper bummed. My cars are a bit like the spelling of tire in this photo to my left here, at this particular moment. That's the bad news. The good news is my car will not make it to Jersey but will make it to SHS. So there will be flippin' this weekend on Sunday!

3 Conversations with Shi-Shi and Shu-Shu

Five Chickens Shu-Shu and his Husky companion Shi-Shi, If You Please were having a deep discussion about Bodhidharma under a shade tree during a rain shower (while eating a few hundred dumplings they "procured"), when their discussion strayed a bit to the left...

"To know. To stand in supreme confidence of knowing. Ahh."
"Knowing what?"
"That I know!"
"I don't...um...know."
"And that is the beginning of wisdom, fat man!"
"Ooooh!"
"You don't get it do you."
"Mmbmble."
"Chew your food, pig-man."
"(gulp) Nope, don't get it. (munch-munch)"
"Then you got it!"
"Huh?"
"The Wise Seek and the Fool Knows."
"Well, I tend to be a fool, but I don't know."
"Ahh...Nirvana."
"I think I'm gonna throw up..."
"I'll be over here."
-----------------------------------
"False alarm."
"Okay, try to breathe in between chickens, man."
"Good tip. (munch-munch)"
"Try this one..."
"K. (munch-mummble)"
"We all stand wet in the rain...but to be the rain means you are no longer wet."
"Um but my socks are still squishy, monster."
"Not if you are your socks too. And it's Shi-Shi If You Please."
"Great, I'm a wet sock, now."
"And now everything is bliss. Pass me a dumpling, ChiChe."
"It's, fat man."
"Wet-squishy-fat-man."
"Riiight. Huge-babbling-blue-eyed-monster."
-----------------------------------
"So, a giant clam was gulping its sustenance when it swallowed a fish too big to go down."
"(muble-chomp-munch)"
"Try as it might it couldn't make the fish go down. But it also wouldn't let go."
"(mm-mumble-munch-munch)"
"And so the giant clam became a tiny helmet for a whale."
"(gulp) O-kay...o-kay. Wait just one minute."
"What?"
"That was (chomp) just silly."
"What (munch-munch)?"
"Silly---with the giant (munch-chomp) hat and cat thing."
"Um (gulp) giant clam and tiny helmet."
"That too. (slurp-crunch)"
"Well?"
"Well (chomple) what?"
"So, you get it?"
"No, it's (munch) stupid."
"Don't bite off more than you..."
"Yeah, yeah. ...Or you'll be a helmet...(gulp)"
"Yeah is right. (gulp)"
"Oh yeah? You better get a helmet cause I'm gonna--Whoa!"
"(Chomp!)"
"Ow. This is embarrassing...and gross...can you let go?"


This series of kōan conversations (which came to be known as: The Three Conversations in the Rain While Eating a Tremendous Amount of Dumplings) was not from one of Shu-Shu's scrolls but was actually from a book of their transcriptions that the pair's followers took down. Yes, somehow this gruesome twosome would be seen traveling with anywhere from 5 to 500 followers at any given time in their height. So odd how most of their writings and even their fame was lost to time. A story for another day perhaps.

Flipping Today 12/2 -- Went Swimming Yesterday on the 1st Day of Dec.

Yes we are flipping today...yes, I went for a dip yesterday to commemorate the first day of December (Susanne was at work so no video...I know how disappointed you all are...learn to live with it...by swimming too!). It was the first day that when I got out of the ocean, I was colder than when I was in this year. Craaazy weather. (That's me on the left...with the nice white coat.)

Wing Tsun practice was fun. Learning roundhouse kick defense. Can't wait to try it and see if I can make a grown man fly. If you don't get that...come down and give the class a try at Club Kung Fu in Springdale! Clubkungfu.com.

Fight Authority Website and Ironmind.com

Hello Cap-strong viewers (all 3 or 4 of you). Wanted to give a heads up on 2 good sites for fighters and tire flippers:
1. fightauthority.com is a decent website for collections of workouts, both MMA and strength training. It also has a lot of great Martial techniques and examples of different styles. Not the slickest site on the web. But a good one-stop.

2. is a great site from Coach Kevin Jones (Rhino) who is one of my dearest friends and one of the original 4 Black Knights Strongmen. The site is Ironmind.com (Captains of Crush) and it has everything to do with strength and GRIP training. I will include a good grip training video as soon as I am able. If you don't know about grip training, boy are you missing out on an essential part of being a fighter or athlete of any regard.

So check em out instead of looking at what you"normally" look at on the web. I made a joke here about grip training but decided better about it. Fill in your own.

Shu-Shu and Shi-Shi Meet or Chicken and Kōans

In his later travels through northern-most China, Five Chickens Shu-Shu was held up in a small shanty during a snow storm. Shuddering as the wind whipped outside and the fire in the hearth dwindled with not much left to burn, Shu-Shu wondered if he would make it through the night. He decided to jot down a few notes on what might be his last scroll when there came a scratching at the front door. Delirious with hunger, he thought maybe the Taoist gods had sent a delivery girl with warm dumplings. Shu-Shu raced to the door only to have it slam open before he could get to it. The round monk squinted through the squall and was greeted not by the warm smell of doughy dumplings, but by the hot breath of a demon dog!

"WOOF! (KATSU!)" said the colossus of black and white fur and blue-blue eyes. Her greeting shook Shu-Shu's foundation and made the cabin's timbers creak. Wagging her curled up tail, the great dog casually squeezed past Shu-Shu and snuggled up by the fire. "Oh, do come in, monster," Shu-Shu muttered, too tired to repel the intrusion because his gut was grumbling almost as loud as the beast's: how-do-you-do. Slumping against it, Shu-Shu shut the door against the icy whip and whirling snow. (As the myth goes that this was the beginning of a glorious friendship that took Shu-Shu from an unknown fat monk on the lamb, to one half of a heroic duo from ancient Chinese fable and myth--though mostly forgotten.) For hours, the two just stared at each other as the wind shrilled outside. Inside, neither spoke--Fat Shu-Shu and the strange dog from the north--dead silent. Finally, Five Chickens lost the meditative battle and just had to ask: "You couldn't have brought even one dumpling, monster?" "WOOF! (KATSU!)" the great dog retorted. "You said that already," Shu-Shu began to counter-retort, but then suddenly understood a word in the bark, he heard the word: "KATSU!" "Is that your name, monster?" "Nope. Katsu is a short, sharp..." the great dog started, but then paused and said, "allow me to me demonstrate." He got up, approached Shu-Shu and poked him hard in the crotch. Shu-Shu dropped, rolling on his belly in the firelight, plump face filled with in agony. "A KATSU is a short, sharp, Buddhist kick in the spirit, chunky!" "I think you missed my spirit and hit me in the dumplings!" Shu-Shu squealed. "See, you didn't need me to bring dumplings when you already have your own." "Had...had my own." "Whatever. Now get your quill, fatty. And my name is not monster, it's Shi-Shi, if you please."

After getting his quill, Five Chickens Shu-Shu and Shi-Shi, If You Please, began to concoct some of the most famous and forgotten Zen Kōan (puzzles for the mind to ponder during meditation) ever put to paper. Here is just a few from that frozen night in the mountains to help you meditate on...um...your frozen nights in the mountains of...um meditation. Anyway, on with the Kōans.

If there is a reason for anything...                                                 
The Moon doesn't agree with it,
and the Sun doesn't care.

I brought a sword to cut the Spring Wind...

And quickly became lightning's fool.

If 7 dogs all pondered existence,
The third one would understand
before the other 6.

There is no breathing underwater,

Only Enlightenment.

I cried a bowl of cherry blossoms,
None were as beautiful as
A star on the distant horizon.

One cow in a field is a feast--

10 is the beginning of the end!

You can add Mu (Wu) to itself
And always get more Mu!

Dogs break vows of self respect for a cookie,

Having no ego leads to chocolate bliss.

Shu-Shu is hot to the ladies.
(Shi-Shi quickly crossed this one out
and changed it to:)
Shu-Shu is bulbous and needs a breath mint.
(This wasn't quite a kōan as much as a truth so they put it back
because trying to ponder the original version kept one's mind baffled for days!)

When you write your life's story
on Wonder Bread

Your life has been a

Skippy peanut butter pen.

(And their third most famously forgotten Kōan:)
Suppose we were all Bodhisattva on a bridge...
and the world's last unenlightened man
was far down on the rocks below.
Would his enlightenment come from
the bloodied rocks...
Or the one master who turned her back on them all
and walked away?

After scrawling this last Koan, Shi-Shi nosed open an old floorboard revealing five chickens she had caught a few lifetimes ago. It had been her shack for a very, very long time after all. When Shu-Shu looked at her puzzled she merely replied: "One reaches enlightenment by not telling others how to do it, fat boy!" and poked him in the junk again, dropping him to the floor. Of course to anyone listening, she simply said, "WOOF!" and so did Shu-Shu.

And that is how Five Chickens Shu-Shu met Shi-Shi, If You Please.

Tire Flipping 11/30 Wed and 12/2 Friday

Tire flipping like Buddha did on Wednesday 11/30 and Friday 12/2 of this week---weather permitting.

PS. If you haven't signed up for email updates or signed your friends up... please do so I do not get 50 texts a day! That is why I started the blog, puskas!

Seriously how cool is Tire Buddha! I want one for the field! This is what we aspire to: Peaceful, powerful and ponderous!

5 Chickens Shu-Shu: On the Road

5 Chickens Shu-Shu (in case you missed his history, check back a few posts. To sum up: plump shaolin monk, brother to the nun who invented Wing Chun)... Anyway, Five Chickens Shu-Shu, after the destruction of his temple, decided to hit the road. He went in search of new places that would feed him for free, to ponder enlightenment, and to write his (not so famous) scrolls about his experiences. Here now is one such tale.

I stepped from the burning temple, alive. (I had gone back for my 'chicken satchel' my sister had made for me, I was in fact not at the temple when it was brought low. Yes, I was eating five chickens!) So, I stepped from the burning temple alive--mind brimming with visions of a long ago tomorrow. Of a day when I could or would truly live up to my potential. That day is today! Or...was it yesterday? Or had it come to pass when the wind blew too loudly and stifled my ears so I would miss my big moment? Or am I already that big moment and the wind was hollering at me to wake up to that fact? To blow through my empty head and start the windmills a'churnin' and a'grindin'. It's not the wind's fault I am such a flubbery lackluster. The wind loves me though, regardless. And I love she: The Wind, who is the breath of an unrepentant God. She's unrepentant because all sails are driven by The Wind, whether into rocks or sunsets on windswept shores. So no sorries for what just IS.

(After a brief 3 hour meal at a roadside chicken n' waffles I tripped, hit my head, and had an epiphany:)

I broke the silence with a hammer clash.
Rage and fury and KALABASH!
I broke bones then burst into song.
I slaughtered my boredom
that had been MY doing all along.

A crisp, short, sharp blow to the back of my head,

The burning of my temple and all my friends dead,

was all it took to arouse my wanderlust and an epiphany

My journey back into the depths...of me.

I had begun to head out when a man approached me, and me being a monk, he asked:  

"What is the secret to enlightenment, master?"

My bag was heavy. I thought this question, especially following my epiphany, deserved great thought and attention, so I placed my weighty satchel down and began to ponder. The man watched me put down my bag with great interest, and as soon as it hit the ground he hollered excitedly:

"Yes, master I understand!"

He threw his bedroll and wallet at the feet of a beggar on the side of the road, rubbed my belly and ran away clicking his heels.

"What the hell was that?!" I squealed. "I didn't even say anything!? Man's a nut," I shook my fist and said, "Part of that cash is mine, beggar. No. Don't put the wallet down ther-- okay you win." Shrugging, I hoisted my sack full of chickens up, (hurting my lower lumbar because it was so heavy) and limped away on my new adventure. Five other people rubbed my belly as I passed, calling me "ChiChe". I hollered at them: "Not Chi-Chi, it's Shu-Shu, you crazy people!" And they said they had called me: "ChiChe, which means: Knowing This. "Knowing what?" I retorted. They all dropped their stuff and said, "Exactly!" and ran away clicking their heels. "Whatever. Town full of nuts," I said as the beggar and I fought for their stuff and then I started to run. But quickly stopped. Out of breath. Children rubbed my belly as I ate a chicken from my bag. I set off again trying to escape Nut-town at a light jog--for ten seconds. Then stopped and sat for an hour under a big shady tree 200-yards from my destroyed temple. Or slept. I left the next morning for my journey inside of me! After breakfast, anyway. And hobbit breakfast.

--From the Scroll: Stop Touching My Fat or I'll Howl! Or On the Road.

SUNDAY Flippin to Un-Turkey

Okay girls, time to loose all that Turkey weight! Get your fat rear ends on the field 10:30 this Sunday. 11/27

Addendum: Yes, I was the only one there which was fine, you turkey soaked pilgrims. Was the first day my low back was better in 1 month and I finally got all my flips in!

Yes, I flip alone.
And whenever I flip alone,
I prefer to be by myself.
Puskas.

Thanksgiving Swim in the Sound...Why Not?

Well, it's Thanksgiving and of course, what better way to celebrate a late November holiday than a nice swim in the New England Sound... at 7:30 am. It's better than the Macy's Day Parade and the float is much better! Thanks to all of you family, friends, Si-Hing Elliot and my Wing Tsun family and of course my Strongman family for coming along for the ride. And of course, most importantly, thanks to my beautiful Susanne who should have her head examined--again--for marrying yours truly.

Five Chickens Shu-Shu (and Panda Problems)

According to the Wing Chun master Yip Man, Ng Mui was Abbess at the Henan Shaolin Monastery and managed to survive its destruction by Qing forces during the reign of the Kangxi Emperor (1662–1722). What isn't well known, is that her brother was an overweight monk of little regard and he too survived the destruction because he was in town eating five whole roasted chickens. This is how he got his nickname: 5 Chickens Shu-Shu. Five Chickens Shu-Shu wasn't a great fighter by any means, though strong as a bear, and he often lost his Chan (Zen) composure whenever food and/or work was involved. But in the rare times he wasn't stuffing his round face, he was a very, very humorous and wise man. Or at least that's what he said about himself in his grease-stained scrolls. He wrote three of them that have recently been unearthed in and archaeological dig and I will periodically include some of his more famous quotes for you in the blog.

"In perfect harmony
I rage (and by rage I mean eat while leaning)
against the foundation stone
of laziness in my life's structure.
But, alas, it is like wheat brushing an oak.

(Though...it is only because I choose to be wheat.
I am the oak as well! Or at least a very squat bush.)"

                                 --From the scroll entitled: My Golden Buddha Belly

5 Chickens Shu-Shu also wrote in his third scroll, entitled:
   ---I Heart Animals, Then I Eat Them with Hot Sauce:

"A firm grasp of the obvious
leaves others to ponder mystery."

and:

"Raise awareness of the need
to cure gigantism in the testicles of panda bears."

(Of course he was at the end of a five-day bender when he wrote this scroll.)

Ezra 650 (on Friday) Finally!

Ezra (my 6'3" - 14-year-old protégé, whom I have been working with since he was 10) finally flipped the 650 lb. tire on Friday! So proud of him. He is the youngest kid to flip the 650 yet. You should go to Disneyland, kiddo!

(Ignore the end...I couldn't edit the video because I shot it on my phone -- and actually-- it is how we say: "Thanks Cap for 4 years of coaching. You are the best, bro," in the Strongman World.)

Canceled Because of Clowns

Flipping today was canceled because of the Stamford Turkey Day Parade—Literally clowns were blocking my access to the high school.......real clowns. I was afraid...very afraid. Oh, and a big moose float. Clowns freak me out. I could take the 30 foot moose...but the clowns, no way.

Katsujin-Ken: The Blade that Protects and Fosters Life

I was pondering...yes Cap ponders-- I was pondering the nature of martial arts, violence, war--especially with Modern Warfare 3 and and other games capturing the minds of the nation right now--I was pondering real-world violence and video game violence as an expression of art. And, as always when I am pondering any martial arts, my mind goes to one of three people; the first of which is Yamaoka Tesshu. He was a 19th century Zen Master, Sword Master and Japan's most prolific calligrapher. He is one of my favorite "Strongmen"--a true hero to me.
The reason I thought of him in this instance is because this giant of a man, (over 6 feet and for Japan of the time period...) this scary, bad-arse samurai, called his katana: Katsujin-Ken: the Blade that Protects and Fosters Life. Think about that.
If you don't know who Yamaoka Tesshu is (all of my 3 faithful readers) you should (click the links on the page). I will elaborate at a later date.

For now, ponder with me, one of the most famous samurai masters ever calling his blade: Katsujin-Ken: the Blade that Protects and Fosters Life. Oh, and the fact that he never drew his blade in anger nor killed anyone. In fact, he mostly used his bokken, a wooden training sword, and all his opponents were forced to submit, as the story goes. He was a teacher. His blade swinging was for enlightenment. Indominable will. To get a technician rank in Wing Tsun at various levels you have to face off against 1, 2, or 3 attackers at once for about 10 minutes, if that...hard right? To get your teaching rank in Master Tesshu's school, you had to face a gauntlet of fresh fighters, one after the other, from sun up to sun down for...ready... 7 days straight, (earlier high ranks are 1 or 3 days) breaking only to sleep! Anyway... I am a bit off topic. But through the fire of this onslaught and atrition the will is forged and enlightenment is gained. Not the will to go out and slaughter millions, but a Zen detachment and the ability to wield this awesome will and blade skill only if needed. As close to Jedi as I imagine any man could come--better even because these are mere mortal men.

If we everyone were this well trained, and all our blades were called Katsujin-ken, perhaps all of our violence would need only be in video games or in movies. Perhaps not even there. --Cap

(All martial arts practitioners and Zen enthusiasts...strike that... EVERYONE should read: The Sword of No-Sword: The Life of Master Warrior Tesshu by John Stevens--OR DON'T--I leave it up to you, as always, because... I could just be a mad myna bird laughing at its own reflection in a puddle on 44th street--no--worse--in the Bronx.)

Older Tesshu

Qui-gon Jinn: Jedi like Tesshu

Happy Birthday Sifu Alex Richter...you are older than you look.

To my teacher's teacher. Sifu Alex Richter...keep fighting the good fight! Happy Birthday.

Man followed his dreams, opened his own school...Strong-Man.

(And his parents throw a mean, flaming shot, party.)

Bodhidharma's School Chum

Bodhidharma was walking along the sea shore when he passed by a traveller from far away Nepal--from his home. The two men realized they were friends as boys-and talked of things old. They realized they were men and talked of things new. They realized they were One--and nothing more needed to be said. They passed by without a word.

It rained.

---------------------

One Lotus on the beach,

Far, far from the pond

Traveling to MU

The Day We Need to Buy Water...Is the Beginning of the End

"We found that drinking cold liquids from polycarbonate bottles for just one week increased urinary BPA levels by more than two-thirds."

Still, to this day, I remember sitting in my sixth grade class...We were having a discussion about, oddly, marketing. I turned to my friend next to me and said "The day we need to buy water, is the beginning of the end." Odd that I should say something like that in the 6th grade, and that I was paying attention in class and not drawing my teacher having a really big fat arse to amuse said friend. Anyway. Who doesn't carry around a bottle of water in a plastic container now? What happened to drinking out of a faucet? We pay taxes, big taxes to have clean water. This is America after all not Mexico where (no offense) you can't drink the water without fear of Montezuma popping out of your rectum to seek revenge. How did MARKETING convince us that we all need to consume water in easy, landfill-filling plastic bottles instead of a water fountain? Maybe because of all the crap that we let big corp.s dump in our water supply? And instead of making the Chem Companies clean up their acts, we all just accept it and drink "Spring" water out of a bottle that the Chem Corps made and polluted the ground waters with run off chemicals from their plastic plants to make? Hmmm... Americans are Lemmings, maybe? Hmmm. As long as we feel like we are gym-fit with our spandex and water-bottle in hand we feel we are so healthy because "at least we are not drinking soda", that we forget that our dumb arse could have had a drink for free from the sink? How much money a year, on top of your taxes, do you pay for bottled water? How much? Well, crap, figure it out. I'll wait. And while I do, I found this article (didn't look too hard) on BPA's and how bad they are for you (BPA's are the bad chems that leech into your "spring" water from your plastic bottle). They are bad: The article from a website called Six Wise says:

"The researchers recruited Harvard College students for the study in April 2008, and all 77 participants then began a seven-day “washout” during which they drank all cold beverages from stainless steel bottles in order to minimize BPA exposure. For the next week, participants were given two polycarbonate bottles and asked to drink all cold beverages from them.

Urine samples were taken at the end of each week-long period, and the results that came back were shocking: levels of BPA rose 69 percent after just one week of drinking out of plastic bottles.
"We found that drinking cold liquids from polycarbonate bottles for just one week increased urinary BPA levels by more than two-thirds."

Oh my GOD... and the EPA or FDA allow plastic bottle sales at all? Oh, wait...Plastics are made out of OIL. Oh. Then it's okay. Never mind. Go back to looking good on a treadmill. You are all so healthy. Marketing has no affect on who you are, so just lemm away on your gerbil wheel. How were the reality shows last night? Good? The Kardashians get any new plastic surgeries? Good.

If you want to read the rest of the Sith Wise I mean Six Wise article go to this LINK. Oh, and PS. the best part of the article is that at the end I realised the Six Sense people are trying to sell me a Better-Non-BPA-Water Bottle with, get this, some kind of Japanese stones for filtration or something. I just stopped reading when I saw the sales pitch. Hmm, wonder if they are right from the nuclear disaster site or a nearby spring?

Remember: A sixth-grader said: "The day we have to buy water...the beginning of the end."

(Then again, in the 6th grade, I also watched a lot of cartoons and picked my nose. Heh, yes, yes...I still do...so maybe everything I say is a lie or the ravings of an adult sixth-grader who's two cookies short of a snack-pack from too many BPA's. I am so thirsty, are you thirsty?)

Ian 450 Tire Progression

Ian getting better everyday.

Strongman, like life, is a marathon, not a sprint.

The Great Tree: The River's End

Growing from the crown of the Tesshu-sakurai Falls, 200 feet above the Sea, the Great Tree has stood since Day One. Out of the mist came a young Samurai errant named Koji, wet and filled with youth and vigor. Hesitantly, Koji pointed to the falls and asked of the Great Tree:

"Wise one, when a river races - its end is the sea - a deeper understanding of it-it-itself? Or...or is its end a tumultuous, fathomless mystery like death?" 

The Great Tree just swayed silently in the wind as it had since it watched the birth of the stars.

Koji asked his question 1000 times patiently with no answer. Finally, he kowtowed and dove 200 feet into the waves below, hollering:

"I Get it! The wise seek but fools know. Right, master?"

The Great Tree whispered:

"What? I was sleeping?"

The Tao of Wing Tsun and Pooh

My Si-Hing Dom and I were staying late in the parking lot after Wing Tsun class to discuss our recent seminar with SiZ Haw at City Wing Tsun and SiB Marcus and the other "Spirits of Wing Tsun". We were rappin' about some of the pearls of wisdom we had received and after a bit, our conversation strayed over into the book on the Siu Nim Tau form from our WT and how the 3 fooks and the tan should be done with "reverse breathing" or Taoist Breathing.(see link). This breathing should not be done if you have certain medical problems, so research well. It is a very potent form of meditative breathing and is used also to make Wing Tsun more powerful, etc. I am no expert in this type of breathing so I am only including the briefs I have found on-line, though I plan to look more into this now. (I practiced it with my form for 30 minutes and was sweatin baby.) Anyway, our discussion got me to  think about my love of Taoism (pronounced "DAO-ism") which I haven't talked about much here in my blog. So I thought I would put a brief description of the Tao here and recommend you seek wise fools because you don't know:) Wonderful parts of it to be applied to life and I love to apply to my life if anyone cares...

But being a light unto yourself to be a light unto the world

is my favorite part. Basically be all you can be and others will learn from your example...or You don't have to jam your beliefs down others throats, etc. just be the best you can be for yourself and they will follow your example if they choose on their own. We truly only learn if we want to, not others forcing us to, blah, blah... anyway so... Okay check it out if you'ld like to. If you don't I'll kick yer arse! Ha! anyway found this snippet on another blog that summed up the basics of the Tao.

TEACHINGS OF TAOISM


Taoism was founded by Lao Tzu. He created this philosophy so that people can be deeply related to the nature or his surroundings. It refers to the power which envelopes surroundings; all things living and non-living. Some of his teachings and quotations are:

- " Be still like a mountain and flow like a river" = means that we, people, should go with the flow. And that is also one of the main teachings of Taoism.

- " There would be no love without hate, no light without dark and no male without female." = means that for every thing (whether living or non-living), there is always an opposite side or part of it. That belief is also called the Yin-Yang.

(From mixs_brainy blog by jem francisco)

A great book to learn the basics of the Tao is the Tao of Pooh. It has pitchers and evra'thang.

Cap Video Game Reviews: MW3 Part Duex

Okay so I suck at MW3. Let's start with that. But I did kill someone with my plastic sled (Riot Shield) for the final kill cam...(high-pitched voice) Awesome! Mu-hahaha. But, but, instead of continuing on, I went to the beach like I promised faithful 3 viewers of my blog. I went swimming and sunbathing (got a tan in November by the way). (There were four other {elderly} people actually out there swimming with me today--coolness). Made beating someone to death with a plastic sled all the more sweet. Oh and I meditated. Of course my thoughts kept drifting to that poor slob on the kill cam for everyone to see...getting beat down by a plastic sled, ha, by me, cause I suck.

(How old am I?)

Yes, PS we are flipping tomorrow at 2:30! so put down your joysticks girls and get yer arse out there!

Cap's Game Reviews: Modern Warfare 3 for President

Okay, I just waited almost an hour to get MW3 this morning. Even the big gamer that I am, I have never waited on line before. Now it is election day today and I can bet you hard cash that more people bought this game today than voted. God Bless America. China is laughing at us right now. And it is like 70 degrees out in November. I know I went swimming this mornin' and I have my alarm set to go again to the beach at 1:30 PM and I am going to class tonight (WT)...how many of these kids and adults are just going to lock themselves away today and not see the sun except for when they were waiting on line for this game? I shouldn't talk. I used to be quite the game addict, and still sort-of am...but come on...it is gorgeous out! Go breathe some --oh crap! Gotta go.  Game just uploaded to my XBOX 360. I have to get killed a few hundred times before I go back the the beach. See you on-line.

Marty-Day! Sooka-sooka-hoy-hoy-hoy!

Yes, it's Marty-day. My father in law's 74th birthday. You want to talk about strong. This guy came over here from Germany in his 20's on a freighter with just a suitcase and a dream and built a life, career and a beautiful family for himself here. He is absolutely one of my favorite people on this entire planet, one of the wisest, one of my best friends and I am so fortunate to have him as my pops-in-law. Plus he made a pretty cool daughter too. So all three of my loyal fans raise a stein to MARTY! Happy birthday buddy! (PS. the monkeys say hi.)

Beautiful November Day

Just got back from swimming, sunbathing and meditating in just me shorts at Tod's Point. (Frightened a few seagulls and one old woman passer-by asked her husband if I was a "sea-yeti"). Nothing like a 65 degree day in November. Brilliant! Get out and enjoy the next few days, it's supposed to be beautiful. And yes, kids, I know MW3 comes out tonight but it's gonna be niiice tomorrow so take breaks, come out of your man caves and breath some fresh air...then go back and kill some imaginary bad guys or your online friends on your day off of school. Oh yeah, you old fart gamers...don't forget to vote.

No Impact Man--Big Pair

No Impact Man. Big pair to be this guy (and his family). Colin Beaven lived for a year without leaving an environmental footprint. I know how much trash I produce, always makes me mad at myself. (Now not sure if I could live without Toilet Paper...I would have to take A-LOT of showers...maybe join a circus just so I could be hosed down with the elephants.) You don't have to be a tree hugger like me to take something away from this flick. Beaven was highly criticized for not being sincere, for just doing this to promote his book. Self-promotion? What isn't in order to get your message out in America. Come on. You know how much money I make from this blog and flipping tires? I'm like Daffy Duck, a wealthy miser. I do it all for cash too. HAHAHAA! Just sounded like greenies and enviro-critics were just jealous because he went out and did what they talked about while swilling coffee and stompin' around in their SUV's. Anyway. Guy gets the "BIG PAIR" award from me. No TV, No meat No T.P. No Electricity, no planes, trains, automobiles. No new clothes. Only locally grown fruits veggies and milk and he composts his trash. If he lived in the burbs would be no biggie but this cat and his kitties lives in Manhattan. Again. Big cahones. Loved watching his shop-o-haulic, caffeine-addicted, tv-o-haulic wife come to grips with all of her foibles. Shines a nice light on all of our unrealized addictions to not-meaningful things. Fillers of boredom things. Big, big, pair. Again, you don't have to be this extreme, but every little bit helps. And I also like the message that one man, (or family) can make a difference or at least start a healthy discussion. You don't have to wait till you see it on TV or "everyone" is doing it to try and be a better whatever. I applaud that always. True Strongman (and woman) training!

Now go and be Strong!

Cap's Roadside Tire Flippin' and Kendo BBQ!

Shooo-EEE! You never know what you'll get at Strongman Trainin'. We got it all, from tire flippin' to sword swingin' come on down to Cap's roadside tire-flippin and Kendo BBQ---YeeHAW!

Eugene from City Wing Tsun rolled in again and took place in the fun he's got the bug baaad. Big shout out to my brudda Eugene as well because--he just got hitched! Mazel Tov and all the best from me and the Strongman Posse. You chose the right woman if she let's you train WT and Strongman from morning to night, baby. Ain't we a lucky pair.

PS. Big Cap-afied SHOUT-OUT to Hoc and the SHS Football team for kickin the junk-nuggets out of New Cannan! Whoop! We love them Black Knights, Baby!

Tire Flippin' Sunday 11/6/11

Click for old school vid

Tire Flippin' today! 11/6. Be there! Sunday 10:30 am.
Make sure to set your clocks right! Daylight Savings today!!!

(Jeesh, this picture is from when I was 40. I was 265lb. Biiig boy. Oddly though, I am almost just as strong 3 years later at 232lb. Guess you don't have to be fat to be strong. All of my "Old Arse" friends seem to be slimming down and feel better than ever. I do miss eating 5 hamburgers a day, and scaring small children when I passed by, peeling poor squirrels off of the bottom of my shoes. But I just feel so much better now, healthier. Wife says I look better. And fish and veggies are good too. Be healthy, be strong, as long as you are happy with yourself I guess is the moral. Or change is the only constant, adapt, puskas or die. Now get yer arses out to the yard and flip som'n!) 
Click the photo for an old school strongman vid from 2009 of me and the original SHS Strongman Patrick Wrobo.

Zen Dreams (Day 5 of Back Injury)



Great Book on Related Topic

 I found these quotes and the book to the left just randomly Google-Searching random words: "Zen Dreams". A technique that we used to use by thinking on a topic and just turning to any page in any book and see if our questions were answered (very holographic universe--very background song of exploded stars). Now with the internet...much easier. Anyway, I found these 2 quotes on a lonely blog with only 2 entries: Zen Dreams. One by the brilliant mind of Franz Kafka, another is an Ancient Sanskrit translation by Nobel Prize Winner Octavio Paz.

All of this wisdom from a random google search of random words. Maybe hurting my back was something I need to do every few years to step at least my left foot on the Zen road I so often loose.

You Need Not Leave Your Room

“You need not leave your room.

Remain sitting at your table and listen.

You need not even listen, simply wait.

You need not even wait, just learn to become quiet,

and still, and solitary.

The world will freely offer itself to you to be unmasked.

It has no choice; it will roll in ecstasy at your feet.”

- Franz Kafka

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No One Behind, No One Ahead

“No one behind, no one ahead.
The path the ancients cleared has closed.
And the other path, everyone’s path,
Easy and wide, goes nowhere.
I am alone and find my way.”

- Ancient Sanskrit verse adapted by Octavio Paz

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"Look and Ye Shall Find, Furball!"

- Daffy Duck to Buggs Bunny
as he tried to find a pearl and become a "Wealthy Miser".
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