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3.5 Credit Card Set....done!


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Very well put Bert!! While I may not have been in the Gripper game for long, two years as of August 18th, I have been in the Iron game for over 20 years. I have played football at the Division 1 level, I have competed in powerlifting at the state and national level, I have competed in numerous strongman competitions, and have been the Strength and Conditioning coach for a couple of Division 1 teams. I have trained with many people in the game, from top ranked MMA fighters, to Louie Simmons and many of his crew at Westside Barbell, Donnie Thompson and Marc Bartley, both top ranked World Powerlifting Champions, many strenght coaches, many NFL players along with many other professional athletes from baseball, basketball, and highland game athletes. Not that any of that matters, but I am not a stranger to the game. I consider any and all athletes that perform in the Iron game as friends much the same as the ones who ride motorcycles that I meet along the ride. Part of the Iron game I consider constructive is the unbiased opinions and criticisms of those who I have trained with along the way. To me, being partial or biased, when it comes to making a call of a good lift or execution of an event, is the worst mistake someone you train with can make. Whether it be your long time training partner or someone you get to spot you when your flying solo. I am sure all of you can at least agree on that statement.

I was personally there at both the certs in question and was the "card-bearer" that many of you have referred to in a negative way. While I may not have yet certified with the CCS rules, I have closed the #3 gripper doing it the old way so I am also no stranger to the gripper game. I will continue to train to close the #3 with a CCS not to be certified and be congratulated by those on this board, but as an end to a goal I set for myself some time ago. For those that have certified in the past with the old rule and no video proof, should we discredit your accomplishment since it doesn't meet the new standard and makes it obviously easier to do with no CCS? If I did it the old way I am sure you should be able to recert easily. Or should we wait and see if someone man's up and recerts with the new rules? We, myself, Richard, Bert, and others that were there, were following what we were told to do by Strossen himself and the judge that was present. I feel we went above and beyond what many have done to document the feat and record the event. If we merely provided you with just a picture I am sure this whole ordeal would not even have come up. Some have done the same, few yes, all no.

The card used was the IronMind Cert card that is given when you buy the grippers, all the talk of shaving cards and using smaller cards is nothing more than uneducated insults. Once again, know what your talking about before making bogus statements, it only serves to diminish your own credibility and intellligence. The insertion of the card was done as to show the width of the grippers to be more than the width of the credit card at the start. Both closes were without a question closed, documented both in video and picture.

For those who question Richard's merits or honor, please get to know someone before making such comments. By merely looking at the top of the page you can see that he has supported this sight and the Iron game as a whole for more years that some of you have been around. To try to bend the rules or be biased as a judge would only serve to dicredit his name, honor, and profession. For those that do know him, know that this would be a foolish thing to do and a fool Richard is not.

Sorry for such a long reply, but I had to get a few things off my chest. For those that have certified in the same way that these two certs were done, or were there, or were judging the event, and there are more than a few on this forum, and have chosen to remain silent on this matter you have lost both my respect and admiration.

Joe Wilson "House"

Edited by House
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Very well put Bert!! While I may not have been in the Gripper game for long, two years as of August 18th, I have been in the Iron game for over 20 years. I have played football at the Division 1 level, I have competed in powerlifting at the state and national level, I have competed in numerous strongman competitions, and have been the Strength and Conditioning coach for a couple of Division 1 teams. I have trained with many people in the game, from top ranked MMA fighters, to Louie Simmons and many of his crew at Westside Barbell, Donnie Thompson and Marc Bartley, both top ranked World Powerlifting Champions, many strenght coaches, many NFL players along with many other professional athletes from baseball, basketball, and highland game athletes. Not that any of that matters, but I am not a stranger to the game. I consider any and all athletes that perform in the Iron game as friends much the same as the ones who ride motorcycles that I meet along the ride. Part of the Iron game I consider constructive is the unbiased opinions and criticisms of those who I have trained with along the way. To me, being partial or biased, when it comes to making a call of a good lift or execution of an event, is the worst mistake someone you train with can make. Whether it be your long time training partner or someone you get to spot you when your flying solo. I am sure all of you can at least agree on that statement.

I was personally there at both the certs in question and was the "card-bearer" that many of you have referred to in a negative way. While I may not have yet certified with the CCS rules, I have closed the #3 gripper doing it the old way so I am also no stranger to the gripper game. I will continue to train to close the #3 with a CCS not to be certified and be congratulated by those on this board, but as an end to a goal I set for myself some time ago. We, myself, Richard, Bert, and others that were there, were following what we were told to do by Strossen himself and the judge that was present. I feel we went above and beyond what many have done to document the feat and record the event. If we merely provided you with just a picture I am sure this whole ordeal would not even have come up. Some have done the same, few yes, all no.

The card used was the IronMind Cert card that is given when you buy the grippers, all the talk of shaving cards and using smaller cards is nothing more than uneducated insults. Once again, know what your talking about before making bogus statements, it only serves to diminish your own credibility and intellligence. The insertion of the card was done as to show the width of the grippers to be more than the width of the credit card at the start. Both closes were without a question closed, documented both in video and picture.

For those who question Richard's merits or honor, please get to know someone before making such comments. By merely looking at the top of the page you can see that he has supported this sight and the Iron game as a whole for more years that some of you have been around. To try to bend the rules or be biased as a judge would only serve to dicredit his name, honor, and profession. For those that do know him, know that this would be a foolish thing to do and a fool Richard is not.

Sorry for such a long reply, but I had to get a few things off my chest. For those that have certified in the same way that these two certs were done, or were there, or were judging the event, and there are more than a few on this forum, and have chosen to remain silent on this matter you have lost both my respect and admiration.

Joe Wilson "House"

Why did you insert the card for the gripster when the current wriitten rules state that the card be inserted by the gripster?

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Obviously you didn't read my post, sir. That is what Strossen and the judge they sent that was present said was an acceptable way to show the start of the close.

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True. But he himself in his most recent edict says he does not prefer it. He has rules which he has not himself pushed. Bad news all round.

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Obviously you didn't read my post, sir. That is what Strossen and the judge they sent that was present said was an acceptable way to show the start of the close.

When and how did Strossen say that it was ok to have someone other than the gripster insert the credit card? The written rules that others have gone by have yet to changed. The judge does not make the rules, he enforces them.

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Gentlemen,

Unfortunately, I have had to read numerous posts over the last few days from people bashing the honor of my father, Richard Sorin. Needless to say this has been difficult to sit idle and watch him take a beating for following rules that he was told. This whole thing has been has been blown grossly out of proportion, and needs to be put to bed. Lots of valuable training time and energy has been spent on this topic.

As to respond to Mlstrass's post (and specific others), I was the one taking the photos. I was there. Unless you WERE there and not just watching video (that we were nice enough to provide for our grip brothers), please check your facts before going off on a tangent or making accusations.

Here are a few things that have been questioned that I will directly respond to:

1. Tex and Richard do not, and have never been training partners

2. Tex called and emailed Strossen to ask if he could certify, Strossen accepted and emailed Richard to ask if he would be the judge.

3. The 3.5 Grippers were sent by Strossen to Sorinex via UPS, and arrived the day that Tex closed it. Tex was ready to do it, and saw no reason in waiting. The grippers were NOT already at Sorinex prior to Tex calling Randall. Hopefully the photo (link provided) will clear things up.

4. Although we have purchased dozens of grippers to have here for our training and as gifts to visiting gripsters, none of these have ever been used to certify, as we have ALWAYS use NEW grippers sent directly from IM, and documented the shipped packages, opening times etc.

5. As for the comment regarding the distance Richard was standing from Tex during the close (5m). That is pure hogwash. During few of the first attempts Tex made on the 3.5, Richard's head was in the way of the photo because he was so contorted to get as close as he could to see the handles touch. His face was no further that 24" from the handles on some of these attempts. You can refer to the second photo for this varification.

http://picasaweb.google.com/goergen2/TexHe...380449072707714

http://picasaweb.google.com/goergen2/TexHe...381089271193362

As said before, if you have issues or questions for Richard, Tex or myself, please feel free to contact US directly.

Thank you for your time. Keep training hard for your goals, whatever they may be.

Bert Sorin

I will say though, that was the fastest order/shipment turnaround I have ever seen out of IronMind! I've ordered from there on several occasions and NEVER was is sent out the door so fast. ;)

Package Progress

Location Date Local Time Description

WEST COLUMBIA,

SC, US 08/05/2008 12:48 P.M. DELIVERY

08/05/2008 5:49 A.M. OUT FOR DELIVERY

08/05/2008 2:07 A.M. ARRIVAL SCAN

GREENSBORO,

NC, US 08/04/2008 10:32 P.M. DEPARTURE SCAN

08/04/2008 12:19 P.M. ARRIVAL SCAN

SAN PABLO,

CA, US 07/31/2008 3:26 A.M. DEPARTURE SCAN

07/31/2008 12:15 A.M. ARRIVAL SCAN

WEST SACRAMENTO,

CA, US 07/30/2008 10:59 P.M. DEPARTURE SCAN

07/30/2008 10:27 P.M. ARRIVAL SCAN

GRASS VALLEY,

CA, US 07/30/2008 8:30 P.M. DEPARTURE SCAN

07/30/2008 7:08 P.M. ORIGIN SCAN

US 07/30/2008 3:44 P.M. BILLING INFORMATION RECEIVED

Bert, both your father and Tex are caught in the middle of a mess. Nobody is questioning the integrity or strength of either of them. They both followed what they were told to do. It's the slippery rules that seem to change, depending on who is Certing, that has people here pissed off. :(

Mat Helmer.

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Some of the comments on this thread are out of the line I'm afraid. It was not set up for Tex Henderson to be the first. I was told I was the first to contact IM, requesting the opportunity to be arranged. Mr. Strossen was in a correspondence with me about it personally and asked me when would I want to have a go at it. He explained the situation to me, saying that as there's a race to this they want to be fair about it, so I was given a chance to voice my opinion whether I would want to be the first to have a go at it. I gave it a thought and saw no reason to hold others back on this, as I knew others including both Tex and Steve would be able to get it arranged sooner than would have been most convinient for me. So I told Mr. Strossen that while it would of course be an honour to be first, I would see it more fit to attempt it on the same day as Finnish Grip Championhips take place, which is 27th of September. So it would have been a long wait for others and as Steve voiced his intentions to attempt it during the European Grip Championships, I saw no reason to not let him go first as it's also going to be a venue fit for the certification. So considering all this I told Mr. Strossen that it's entirely OK with me if others go first. I do feel it is best to stick to the objective facts on either sides of this discussion.

Edited by Teemu I
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Some of the comments on this thread are out of the line I'm afraid. It was not set up for Tex Henderson to be the first. I was told I was the first to contact IM, requesting the opportunity to be arranged. Mr. Strossen was in a correspondence with me about it personally and asked me when would I want to have a go at it. He explained the situation to me, saying that as there's a race to this they want to be fair about it, so I was given a chance to voice my opinion whether I would want to be the first to have a go at it. I gave it a thought and saw no reason to hold others back on this, as I knew others including both Tex and Steve would be able to get it arranged sooner than would have been most convinient for me. So I told Mr. Strossen that while it would of course be an honour to be first, I would see it more fit to attempt it on the same day as Finnish Grip Championhips take place, which is 27th of September. So it would have been a long wait for others and as Steve voiced his intentions to attempt it during the European Grip Championships, I saw no reason to not let him go first as it's also going to be a venue fit for the certification. So considering all this I told Mr. Strossen that it's entirely OK with me if others go first. I do feel it is best to stick to the objective facts on either sides of this discussion.

Teemu you are bastard! :yikes

Why didn't you mention this BEFORE things went off the rails? :whistel

Anyhow, conspiracy aside. IronMind needs to stick to the written rules and not waiver FOR ANYONE.

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Some of the comments on this thread are out of the line I'm afraid. It was not set up for Tex Henderson to be the first. I was told I was the first to contact IM, requesting the opportunity to be arranged. Mr. Strossen was in a correspondence with me about it personally and asked me when would I want to have a go at it. He explained the situation to me, saying that as there's a race to this they want to be fair about it, so I was given a chance to voice my opinion whether I would want to be the first to have a go at it. I gave it a thought and saw no reason to hold others back on this, as I knew others including both Tex and Steve would be able to get it arranged sooner than would have been most convinient for me. So I told Mr. Strossen that while it would of course be an honour to be first, I would see it more fit to attempt it on the same day as Finnish Grip Championhips take place, which is 27th of September. So it would have been a long wait for others and as Steve voiced his intentions to attempt it during the European Grip Championships, I saw no reason to not let him go first as it's also going to be a venue fit for the certification. So considering all this I told Mr. Strossen that it's entirely OK with me if others go first. I do feel it is best to stick to the objective facts on either sides of this discussion.

Teemu you are bastard! :yikes

Why didn't you mention this BEFORE things went off the rails? :whistel

Anyhow, conspiracy aside. IronMind needs to stick to the written rules and not waiver FOR ANYONE.

Sorry, I remember I had it in my mind earlier, but noticed just now how this has become an issue as well so it was time to react on this. You know as I knew the truth about it, I never saw that as an issue. Like it never was an issue for me who get's the honour of beeing the first. What I was concerned about was the card beeing held by a person other than the gripster. Edited by Teemu I
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Information and required pictures sent to Dr. Strossen RS

According to their rules they provide you with a witness not you provide them with one. Although every other aspect of their rules may have been covered by setting it up and carrying it out yourself you may have contravened how they want it done.

I don't think that is the case. I think they contacted IM first. But I do hope for Tex that everything was done by the rules to the detail. Can't wait to see the video.

I was told by Randall Strossen just few hours ago that he wanted to make sure everyone going for it and having a goal of beeing first would have equal chances to do so. So he asked me if I have a specific date in my mind to attempt this. I told him that I can delay my attempt until Finnish Grip Championships on the 29th of September and that intriguing as it would be to be the first, it is not that important vs. the good PR for the national competition. So I can say from my part that IM has handled this well so far.

On a purely technical note, Teemu did mention this on the first page.

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Information and required pictures sent to Dr. Strossen RS

According to their rules they provide you with a witness not you provide them with one. Although every other aspect of their rules may have been covered by setting it up and carrying it out yourself you may have contravened how they want it done.

I don't think that is the case. I think they contacted IM first. But I do hope for Tex that everything was done by the rules to the detail. Can't wait to see the video.

I was told by Randall Strossen just few hours ago that he wanted to make sure everyone going for it and having a goal of beeing first would have equal chances to do so. So he asked me if I have a specific date in my mind to attempt this. I told him that I can delay my attempt until Finnish Grip Championships on the 29th of September and that intriguing as it would be to be the first, it is not that important vs. the good PR for the national competition. So I can say from my part that IM has handled this well so far.

On a purely technical note, Teemu did mention this on the first page.

Obviously I forgot that I did. :)
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Some of the comments on this thread are out of the line I'm afraid. It was not set up for Tex Henderson to be the first. I was told I was the first to contact IM, requesting the opportunity to be arranged. Mr. Strossen was in a correspondence with me about it personally and asked me when would I want to have a go at it. He explained the situation to me, saying that as there's a race to this they want to be fair about it, so I was given a chance to voice my opinion whether I would want to be the first to have a go at it. I gave it a thought and saw no reason to hold others back on this, as I knew others including both Tex and Steve would be able to get it arranged sooner than would have been most convinient for me. So I told Mr. Strossen that while it would of course be an honour to be first, I would see it more fit to attempt it on the same day as Finnish Grip Championhips take place, which is 27th of September. So it would have been a long wait for others and as Steve voiced his intentions to attempt it during the European Grip Championships, I saw no reason to not let him go first as it's also going to be a venue fit for the certification. So considering all this I told Mr. Strossen that it's entirely OK with me if others go first. I do feel it is best to stick to the objective facts on either sides of this discussion.

Cool. I made sure my intentions were nice and public and I'm glad I was able to get it set so quickly also (August 16th).

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C'mon Steve be the first to cert under IM rules! ...if you can manage that! ;):tongue:)

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Some of the comments on this thread are out of the line I'm afraid. It was not set up for Tex Henderson to be the first. I was told I was the first to contact IM, requesting the opportunity to be arranged. Mr. Strossen was in a correspondence with me about it personally and asked me when would I want to have a go at it. He explained the situation to me, saying that as there's a race to this they want to be fair about it, so I was given a chance to voice my opinion whether I would want to be the first to have a go at it. I gave it a thought and saw no reason to hold others back on this, as I knew others including both Tex and Steve would be able to get it arranged sooner than would have been most convinient for me. So I told Mr. Strossen that while it would of course be an honour to be first, I would see it more fit to attempt it on the same day as Finnish Grip Championhips take place, which is 27th of September. So it would have been a long wait for others and as Steve voiced his intentions to attempt it during the European Grip Championships, I saw no reason to not let him go first as it's also going to be a venue fit for the certification. So considering all this I told Mr. Strossen that it's entirely OK with me if others go first. I do feel it is best to stick to the objective facts on either sides of this discussion.

Cool. I made sure my intentions were nice and public and I'm glad I was able to get it set so quickly also (August 16th).

I felt it would certainly be great if you would get a chance to do it while your in Germany and I'm also sure you will get it done with authority. It's less than a week to go and I hope your final preparations go well.
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The 3.5 Grippers were sent by Strossen to Sorinex via UPS, and arrived the day that Tex closed it. The grippers were NOT already at Sorinex prior to Tex calling Randall.

Bert Sorin

I was wrong in my recollection, my prodigious memory failed me: it doesn't happen often, but when it does I admit my mistakes. I apologise. I was wrong.
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Bert,

I just reread through this novel one more time and I sincerely apologize for my statement about RS using a gripper he had on hand. It was "suggested" that he did and in glancing over the posts I took it as fact. Again my apologies as that rule was followed to the letter.

The rule about the gripster inserting the card himself wasn't adhered to, so Big Tex still has to sit in the box for 2 minutes :D

And the only person I have an issue with is Strossen and his lack of understanding of what a rule is. It's NOT a guideline or suggestion as he seems to think it is. I meant no disrespect to your father or Tex as I truly believe they did what they were told was acceptable.

Which again is my issue: if you have written rules that everyone is supposed to follow, then the said creator of those rules should NOT be telling people they don't have to adhere to them. His credibility is still a zero in my book.......

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Some of the comments on this thread are out of the line I'm afraid. It was not set up for Tex Henderson to be the first. I was told I was the first to contact IM, requesting the opportunity to be arranged. Mr. Strossen was in a correspondence with me about it personally and asked me when would I want to have a go at it. He explained the situation to me, saying that as there's a race to this they want to be fair about it, so I was given a chance to voice my opinion whether I would want to be the first to have a go at it. I gave it a thought and saw no reason to hold others back on this, as I knew others including both Tex and Steve would be able to get it arranged sooner than would have been most convinient for me. So I told Mr. Strossen that while it would of course be an honour to be first, I would see it more fit to attempt it on the same day as Finnish Grip Championhips take place, which is 27th of September. So it would have been a long wait for others and as Steve voiced his intentions to attempt it during the European Grip Championships, I saw no reason to not let him go first as it's also going to be a venue fit for the certification. So considering all this I told Mr. Strossen that it's entirely OK with me if others go first. I do feel it is best to stick to the objective facts on either sides of this discussion.

Cool. I made sure my intentions were nice and public and I'm glad I was able to get it set so quickly also (August 16th).

I felt it would certainly be great if you would get a chance to do it while your in Germany and I'm also sure you will get it done with authority. It's less than a week to go and I hope your final preparations go well.

Thanks. I did my last workout yesterday and it was grippers. And they were the best on my grippers it's been for months. Lets get this done!! :rock

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"The card used was the IronMind Cert card that is given when you buy the grippers, all the talk of shaving cards and using smaller cards is nothing more than uneducated insults. "

Better re-read my initial post on the use of the card in the rules more closely. My point of mentioning the card as called out in the rules was that it is another part of the rules NOT CLEAR. It had NOTHING to do with Tex's cert or anyone else's cert and using a smaller card.

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Steve, We do sincerely all wish you and Teemu the best of luck! Nothing would please me more than real grip guys like you showed the world how it is done. It has never been with me an issue about any thing other than the love of strength and being as good as you can be. I am truly sorry if anything I did in good faith caused harm or resulted in lost dreams. Now, go close that thing! Respectfully,Richard Sorin

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