2016 July - Double Barrel Couple Crush - Kapman

[KapMan]

I'm not very good at this crap, so this will be short and sweet. Forgive me if it's more of a ramble then a coherent line of thought.

First off I wanna say my training was 7/10 leading up to this event. My AMRAP game needs work. I also keep getting haunted by the same implements that plagued me from Southern Squeeze i.e Blobs and Hub. 
 

The DBCC was a team based contest with 3 events and medley. Probably the first of it's kind.

The Venue:

The venue was Resilient Health & Performance a very nice local gym that was also the venue for the Southern Squeeze. There is plenty of room for any event in grip you can think of, as well as plenty of room for 20+ competitors and family. The facility is clean, climate controlled and has a modest amount of gym gear that is well kept. It's also close to several hotels, mine this time around the La Quinta in South Nashville that was literally 5-8 minutes from the gym. 

Pre-Contest:

Pretty much was easy going, was greeted by Maria's smiling mug as well as my partner @acromegaman. We were weighed in and got our kick ass tanks and signed the do not sue us paperwork. Talked with some other folk and warmed up.

Event 1 Deadlift AMRAP 60 seconds
 

This event was started promptly at 9 or so with the rules. Pretty simple axle deadlift rules. The bar was made by @Squeezus the bar was like a 2" feather. Really light and it was defiantly a true 2" smooth bar. No fooling around here. The event went from lightest to heaviest for ease of loading and because it made sense. This was exciting there were more women this contest and they weren't messing around. As you will see when the results are posted. The ladies were hitting serious reps I couldn't keep up. The light weight mens was slobber knocker as well with some reps well in the 40s. The beastliness didn't stop with the light guys, My boy Delmar for not really ever training axle did well and Tim Fox and Tim Barret freaking hammered solid numbers at 285 and 293 lbs both double digit reps. I did a modest 9 reps at 308, what faulted me here was my endurance. I could do the weight but my grip wasn't able to hang. This event would be Team Beastly Boys's downfall.

Event 2 1 handed flask:

Making another go was the flask. This event was rising bar with 4 attempts and one partner had to use the opposite hand that his/her partner was using. Example, Delmar used his right hand and I used my left as pinch was weaker for me then him. This event seemed to of hurt peoples feelings this time around. Folk were getting denied left and right and numbers they normally hit in training weren't being hit here. The women yet again came in and made it look easy though. This flask was real nice at the lighter weights but when I hit 76 pounds it was like oil was splashed on it, I had no grip and that seemed to be the case for some of the others. Weird.

Event 3 KB Bottoms Up Press:

As with the flask you had to use the opposite hand. So this time I was right handed, Demlar was left. This event threw alot of folk off as it's not a hotly contested thing and it was new to train. The competitor list was read and people picked the weight they lifted until all 4 attempts were completed. This event seemed to be enjoyed by all, it was different and it was fun to watch. I hit 75ish 85ish 95ish and missed 99 because I went to fast ( I later nailed it). I would love to see this event contested more. It's pretty grip specific as it tests wrist, and finger strength. The rules were simple, strict press the weight to lockout and bring it back to the starting position under control. The KBs were house KBs and they were noice! Gil provided custom mag weights as well.

Medley:

This medley had 10 implements and a womens/juniors side and then the mens side. It had what I would assume was your typical array of griplements. Plate hub, some blobs, plate pinch, a gripper, anvil etc. This one also had the dubhub and tips tester mkII as well the loadable DB gil makes. This was pretty fun because it was still a team event, how they did was a you go I go format. But you had to tag your partner when you completed a device. So me and Delmar were more then a forearms length apart. The scoring here was also simple, 1 point for each device successfully completed, with opportunities to double up as you can still get a point even if your partner already did the device. I felt me and Delmar had a great system for the tag set up, other teams kinda wasted precious seconds forgetting to tag or where too close. Another set back that was noticed was if you couldn't lift a device you were stuck, you couldn't tag out.  I felt like everyone had a good time with this style of medley overall.  There was a tie breaker to be had after this event between the Koeing brothers and the team of Michael and Warren. (we all had team names and I can't for the life of me remember all of them, sorry) So the tie breaker was to do the medley again and whoever could do more won it. This was for 2/3rd placing. The Koenig Brothers won it.

Prizes:

The prizes were awesome! Hand bent trophies from Nic Brenson (great job!)  As well as Boading balls and 2 axles. They even had a prize for the best team name (congrats nut crackers)

Post Contest:

Some of us just left and some of us stayed around and tried different things, Gil was kind enough to indulge my need to try and get on the Barrel Strength Systems leader board in the Stirrups and Tips Tester. Of course I sucked..but him and Tim Fox had a battle royal on the tips tester holy cow. ok ok, you guys should of been there when Tim Fox absolutely vaporized the 2 handed tips tester record by like 30 pounds. I think he finally stopped(with more in the tank and less room on the pin) at 340+ pounds and made the scale have a seizure with a error message. This was cool to watch. Gil then proceeded to tear up the 3.5 and 4" crusher records as well.

Final Thoughts:

This contest was a blast, I have promoter bias. I love Maria and Gil and they seem to know what people would like in a contest. They are trying to be innovative and that shows in this contest. It wasn't doing the same tired events, it was different which by all accounts was a breathe of fresh air.  They have a intoxicating energy and really care about how we feel during the contest as well as after. I will make it a point to try and attend anything they pump out, I consider them both friends and they are worth it. This contest was prompt. Started at around 9 and ended around 1:30/2. The events were smooth and that was even with competing themselves.

This contest didn't have the glam that Southern Squeeze had with the food truck and the photographer and the pre contest hype. I was totally fine with it. The fact that it was a team contest, with people I really like was enough for me. I can't speak for the others. But the turnout I thought was perfect. Not as large over all as the Southern Squeeze but it was still a good amount. Short, sweet and thrilling all in the same contest, what more could you of asked for?

[acromegaman]

Great write up! You pretty much summed everything I would want to say.

[bencrush]

Great write-up!  Sounds like a very good time.  I think your 9 reps at 308lbs on the Axle is pretty solid by the way. 

[canthar]

Good write up. Solid performance !

 

Thanks for the comment, glad you liked the scrolls

[KapMan]

39 minutes ago, canthar said:

Good write up. Solid performance !

 

Thanks for the comment, glad you liked the scrolls

I'm loving the hand made stuff alot of these promoters are using. Those scrolls were very well done. Thank you!

[KapMan]

8 hours ago, bencrush said:

Great write-up!  Sounds like a very good time.  I think your 9 reps at 308lbs on the Axle is pretty solid by the way. 

Appreciate it, next time it will be 20 reps

[anwnate]

Turns out...you are pretty good at this crap.

[acromegaman]

35 minutes ago, anwnate said:

Turns out...you are pretty good at this crap.

Yes he is! I really don't have much to say after that besides it was a great contest where I don't see any improvements that could be made.

[Liam Trott]

It would be great to see some photos of the trophies!

[KapMan]

4 hours ago, Liam Trott said:

It would be great to see some photos of the trophies!

Here's one with the Champs, I don't think anyone took a good shot of these as they were in a box for the contest. I'm not a picture guy so I'm sorry.

 

[KapMan]

[JHenze646]

Did @Squeezus weld them to the bases with the rough cut lumber? Or did you both plan this out, @canthar?

[canthar]

@Squeezus told me what his plan was. He did a damn good job  

 

Going to look into welding equipment in the future if it looks like interest warrants the cost. 

[Liam Trott]

They look really cool!

[Liam Trott]

@canthar how long have you been scrolling for? Are there any resources you'd recommend? It's something I'd like to get into once my bending has improved.

[canthar]

@Liam Trott Thanks.

I consider myself a definite beginner when it comes to scrolls. In the past I had done a few here and there and stopped for year. Picked it back up end of June and been trying to do 1 a week.

 

Scrolling is not like short bending, so don't feel you need to improve there in order to start.

 

With regards to resources, I don't really know. Jedd and Bud Jeffries did a collaboration on scrolling. I have not seen it yet though. Chris "Wonder" Schoek was at the SJ3 competition so we got to watch him do a strength scroll in person 1' x 3/8" at 5' length iirc. Spoke with him some on the phone a couple time and he gave me a progression list for strength bends you'd typically see in stage performances. On the artistic side, it's just me bending by feel and teaching myself as I go. 

[acromegaman]

Hands down the coolest trophies I've seen! 

[canthar]

3 minutes ago, acromegaman said:

Hands down the coolest trophies I've seen! 

Wow! That is a huge compliment. Thank you

[Liam Trott]

@canthar Thanks! The artistic stuff looks really cool and I am sure there is a market for that kind of stuff. Have you managed to sell many yet? I am mostly interested in short bending for strength. The long bending would probably be more of an artistic pursuit but I imagine I am lacking strength there too. I will get some lengths of steel and see what comes out of it. Fortunately the raw materials are kind of cheap!

[canthar]

2 minutes ago, Liam Trott said:

@canthar Thanks! The artistic stuff looks really cool and I am sure there is a market for that kind of stuff. Have you managed to sell many yet? I am mostly interested in short bending for strength. The long bending would probably be more of an artistic pursuit but I imagine I am lacking strength there too. I will get some lengths of steel and see what comes out of it. Fortunately the raw materials are kind of cheap!

Having just started I have not sold any yet. The ones used for DBCC I donated.

If I can help in any way let me know.

[canthar]

Just to make sure credit is given where do, @Squeezus did the welding and mounting on the trophies. 

[acromegaman]

25 minutes ago, canthar said:

Just to make sure credit is given where do, @Squeezus did the welding and mounting on the trophies. 

Both of you did an awesome job. It was really exciting when he started pulling those out of the box.

[Josh Koenig]

Great write up Shawn! Had an awesome time. Jor-el and I were surprised to pull off a second place with the size and strength of the other competitors. Nice job to all!!

It was a very well ran comp. Nice to see the number of ladies competeting. The atmosphere was inviting especially with everyone cheering for all. Although it was a two person team, it felt as if all the competitors were on the same team. Got to see some old friends and made some new ones. Thanks Gil, and Maria for an incredible time. Trophies were very cool, thanks Gil and Nic. 

[nickr104]

Love the scrolls!!