As much as the laborer is often looked down upon by a society unable to do it’s most basic of tasks, a lot of common sense can come out in on the job conversations.
About 8, 9 hours on shift, we had a 2 or 2½ hour drive back to the shop. Naturally the three of us talked.
The main topics were brazilian jiu jitsu, wrestling, powerlifting, and diet.
Highlights :
•Brazilian Jiu Jitsu has too much of an “I’m going to lay down” mentality, wrestlers 9 times out of 10, are going to figuratively rape someone equal in years of bjj experience, say 10 years wrestling vs 10 years of BJJ, no crosstraining. BJJ is I’m gonna roll around until something happens, wrestlers on a bjj mat are thinking “I’m gonna break his fucking neck”, and tapping nearly everyone without knowledge of submissions, just wrestling with extra pressure applied and held in wrestling positions. I actually tapped people idiot savant style not certain of where I was hurting them, just knowing that some joint was gonna be uncomfortable. Dude didn’t believe me when I was like “so did you tap because of your elbow or shoulder”. On close to the opposite end of the spectrum another while I was in a bad position, I was pinned, he was mounted past my guard, was dumbfounded that I kept snaking my arm out of his attempts at my left shoulder. I was thinking “dude I wrestled, I’m not giving you shit”, I was pinned, wanting to reset instead of nothing happening on the mat, and clearly recognized that he wanted to control my left arm. Catch wrestling is better than bjj, since you still have to fight off the pin, without wanting to give your back. BJJ is too ground based, you’d be better off in Greco, scholastic wrestling, or judo. I’d rather you go to a judo club where it’s 90% standup randori, not a bjj gym at 4x the cost where it’s 95% ground rolling only. Only on a mat with a ref is it ok to be on the ground. Real world? Let’s say a guy mugs you with a blade while you’re at the pump (we were passing a gas station), you hip toss him onto that concrete, he’s dead, and you’re probably a felon. My problem with bjj is a reality distortion where being on the ground is acceptable, and where you automatically start. You don’t start on the ground, to get to the ground someone was fucked up in the process. It’s a sport, not self defense. The dangerous man? He boxes and wrestles, but in reality is discretely drawing a knife and tearing out your guts at the first opportunity.”
“This is why I respect certain sports, certain athletes.”
•”Dude the amount of raw eggs I’ve drank, salmonella is not a concern.”
•One coworker’s grandfather had a chicken farm ; “you know suck an egg, the expression, was a thing you did, anyone who’s ever worked around chickens will have got hungry on the job, drilled into an egg, and sucked it down”, “vegetable oil? It’s all hydrogenated shit, I’ve been eating butter since I was what like 2 years old, people have been eating butter for ages, that’s real food, real food is what’s really healthy”.
“Yeah man, you don’t need to go all keto, protein and fat only, or anything, but you’ve gotta stick to real foods, on the carb note I find potatoes and corn far more easily stomached than wheat.”
“The Irish ate a bunch of carbs, potatoes, and were fine”
“Yeah man, dairy and potatoes, and it was all good. On that note there’s nothing wrong with meat and potatoes, it was accepted as good for a reason, it had been building robust humans for ages.
Modern society would be healthier going back to such a multi generational staple.”
“Wheat is just grass in a field. You’re a human, not a cow, you’re not designed to eat that field of grass.”
“I have a buddy who I’ve seen eat super strict for around 5 years straight. I could do it, I choose not to. Most don’t realize how disciplined he is on that. He knows, I know as I’ve spent so much time with him. I’ve observed him sleep maybe 2 hours to get all 7 meals in. I’ve seen him go around 5 months, 7 meals a day, no slip ups on his diet. Me? I’ve been at his kitchen table eating like a 16oz cheeseburger with milk on the side, while he’s eating meal 6, consisting of perfectly weighed out meat and sweet potato. I just eat real food, and know in the future I am capable of going super disciplined. Dinner is about 12oz of homemade hamburger. Lunch? Maybe. Breakfast? Something with some protein, a little nutrition, and probably microwavable. At present it’s good enough.”
•”Within the year I want to be totalling 1000 club”
“The fuck dude! 1500. Aim for something that ain’t shit. 1000lbs? What you want to be competitive with the women 148s? Shit 1200 is attainable easily in that time, and to be competitive 1500 is like a male 165. You’re a 220.”
“Besides, 2d, up/down shit is really only necessary for bodybuilders. You have access to all the implements, instead of squats as the main thing I’d yoke walk, push/pull/drag the sleds as my leg training. Strongman style training builds far more strength, real world, than gym style lifting.”
“Think about this job (moving) just carrying boxes around a house for an hour is gonna give you more time under tension than any week of gym back training. It’s a different type of strength. I don’t know if my deadlift is up, horse stance has my leg strength up, but the labor has my mat strength up. Strongman training and labor have a lot of similarities.”
“Yeah that gym’s owner, a lot of gym people in fact hated me for this, but it’s true. I’ve done it, everyone is capable of this. Training with just your body is the best way to get strong, real overall strong while training, and not grappling or working. Horse stance, headstands, and banging out a bunch of pushups…more effective for 99% than going to a gym and lifting a barbell. My ability to do handstand pushups blows people’s minds, especially being nearly 270. That’s a serious amount of strength without equipment. Most don’t want to push bodyweight results to where it truly can bring you. I get it. There’s some amount of community at the gym. Calisthenics? You may just be doing it by yourself anywhere. I’m for doing both if possible. ”
That’s some highlights.
Persistence & Tenacity