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2018 October - King Kong - Vinnie Rivellese


Vinnie

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Ah, grip.  A sport by any other name would smell as sweet, but none of them really smell that sweet.  However, grip does have its share of competitions and competitors, and with less fatal results (so far, although see the integrity thread and check back later) than a Shakespeare play.

So this was my third comp since getting into grip less than a year ago, and I now feel completely at home and with my people.  It was at the house of my now good friend and first grip mentor, Anton "I-lost-20-per-cent-of-my-body-weight-while-improving-all-my-PRs-so-take-that-Chez" Torella, which is also where I work out most Saturdays.  In addition, we were using a lot of the implements owned by my now good friend and first comp host Nate "I'm-just-here-to-help-but-after-you-all-finish-your-fourth-attempts-I'll-just-add-weight-and-lift-it-cold-for-fun" Brous.  On top of that, I was in the presence of the greatness of a male and a female grip legend who are also now my friends, the gargantuan gripper guru Chez "wait-there-are-no-grippers-in-this-contest-oh-no-I-might-place-31st" Raviolizzimissimo, and the natural Napalmesque newbie Juliet "you-find-me-any-male-or-female-of-my-weight-who-can-outlift-me-and-I'll-say-Hi-Nigel!" Lancaster-Avila.  Helping Nate load weights was friend Anthony "damn-I-just-PR'd-again-I-should-have-competed" Clarino, competing in my weight class was friend Jose "I-can't-believe-you're-a-DA-and-instead-of-kicking-your-ass-I-showed-you-my-trick-to-hub-a-45" Cabrera, and slumming with us uneducated not PhDs was Professor Tom "I-scare-my-students-into-studying-by-bending-red-nails-for-them-with-one-hand-ok-maybe-two-but-still-that's-bad-ass" Flesher.

Since we did everything in kilograms, I felt a little confused at times about what numbers to choose and am not recalling too well what numbers I pulled, even though I'm good at math.  I think I PR'd on flask and crusher, but I know I didn't on moontop or jug, and my PRs are not in record-breaking territory or even weight-class-winning territory.  Or in kilograms lol.  So I won't bother to list out all my attempts.  The one thing I am certain of is that Juliet and I both finished with 72kg on jug, which is now the woman's world record for that implement.  But although my PR on the very jug we were using is closer to 76 (I think 168 or 169 pounds), while attempting 74 I pulled a muscle (we thought it was my bicep but actually I am pretty sure it was in my forearm) and that was the end for me that day.

The injury is disappointing, but I think not too serious, and I will just emphasize my to-date neglected left hand and arm for a while until the right feels ready (I hope by Gripmas, but I'll do Gripmas lefty rather than not do it at all!).  I'm glad I PR'd on grippers a couple of weeks ago with Chez (MMS closed his 153-rated COC 3), since I may now be set back a little with the pulled muscle, but he came back from worse so I am still in the MM-1 and COC-3 cert games as far as I am concerned.

Finally, I was thrilled to discover when the KK results came out that I placed in the top third of the 83kg weight class (8th of 28), even though Tanner and Kody somehow got into it.  Since they are technically superhuman, I kinda feel like I was 6th of 26.  And I kinda feel like losing 20 pounds and testing out my stuff at 74kg.  Not by Gripmas, though lol.

Once again, I am impressed by the collegiality, passion, dedication, and achievement of this sport.  I did not discover it until I was 48, but it has been a very positive influence on my life during a difficult time, and I hope to be a part of it for decades to come.  Cheers all,

Vinnie

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15 minutes ago, Vinnie said:

Ah, grip.  A sport by any other name would smell as sweet, but none of them really smell that sweet.  However, grip does have its share of competitions and competitors, and with less fatal results (so far, although see the integrity thread and check back later) than a Shakespeare play.

So this was my third comp since getting into grip less than a year ago, and I now feel completely at home and with my people.  It was at the house of my now good friend and first grip mentor, Anton "I-lost-20-per-cent-of-my-body-weight-while-improving-all-my-PRs-so-take-that-Chez" Torella, which is also where I work out most Saturdays.  In addition, we were using a lot of the implements owned by my now good friend and first comp host Nate "I'm-just-here-to-help-but-after-you-all-finish-your-fourth-attempts-I'll-just-add-weight-and-lift-it-cold-for-fun" Brous.  On top of that, I was in the presence of the greatness of a male and a female grip legend who are also now my friends, the gargantuan gripper guru Chez "wait-there-are-no-grippers-in-this-contest-oh-no-I-might-place-31st" Raviolizzimissimo, and the natural Napalmesque newbie Juliet "you-find-me-any-male-or-female-of-my-weight-who-can-outlift-me-and-I'll-say-Hi-Nigel!" Lancaster-Avila.  Helping Nate load weights was friend Anthony "damn-I-just-PR'd-again-I-should-have-competed" Clarino, competing in my weight class was friend Jose "I-can't-believe-you're-a-DA-and-instead-of-kicking-your-ass-I-showed-you-my-trick-to-hub-a-45" Cabrera, and slumming with us uneducated not PhDs was Professor Tom "I-scare-my-students-into-studying-by-bending-red-nails-for-them-with-one-hand-ok-maybe-two-but-still-that's-bad-ass" Flesher.

Since we did everything in kilograms, I felt a little confused at times about what numbers to choose and am not recalling too well what numbers I pulled, even though I'm good at math.  I think I PR'd on flask and crusher, but I know I didn't on moontop or jug, and my PRs are not in record-breaking territory or even weight-class-winning territory.  Or in kilograms lol.  So I won't bother to list out all my attempts.  The one thing I am certain of is that Juliet and I both finished with 72kg on jug, which is now the woman's world record for that implement.  But although my PR on the very jug we were using is closer to 76 (I think 168 or 169 pounds), while attempting 74 I pulled a muscle (we thought it was my bicep but actually I am pretty sure it was in my forearm) and that was the end for me that day.

The injury is disappointing, but I think not too serious, and I will just emphasize my to-date neglected left hand and arm for a while until the right feels ready (I hope by Gripmas, but I'll do Gripmas lefty rather than not do it at all!).  I'm glad I PR'd on grippers a couple of weeks ago with Chez (MMS closed his 153-rated COC 3), since I may now be set back a little with the pulled muscle, but he came back from worse so I am still in the MM-1 and COC-3 cert games as far as I am concerned.

Finally, I was thrilled to discover when the KK results came out that I placed in the top third of the 83kg weight class (8th of 28), even though Tanner and Kody somehow got into it.  Since they are technically superhuman, I kinda feel like I was 6th of 26.  And I kinda feel like losing 20 pounds and testing out my stuff at 74kg.  Not by Gripmas, though lol.

Once again, I am impressed by the collegiality, passion, dedication, and achievement of this sport.  I did not discover it until I was 48, but it has been a very positive influence on my life during a difficult time, and I hope to be a part of it for decades to come.  Cheers all,

Vinnie

Sounds like you all had a really fun venue (it's a party with Chez and Vin in the same place).

Looking forward to seeing you guys at Gripmas! Hopefully your bicep (and/or forearm) are mended up by then. 

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2 minutes ago, Nigel Blackburn said:

I was thrilled to discover when the KK results came out that I placed in the top third of the 83kg weight class (8th of 28), even though Tanner and Kody somehow got into it.  Since they are technically superhuman, I kinda feel like I was 6th of 26.  And I kinda feel like losing 20 pounds and testing out my stuff at 74kg.

I've since been informed that 83kg is Tanner's usual weight class.  74 here I come ...

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On 10/31/2018 at 2:48 PM, Vinnie said:

Once again, I am impressed by the collegiality, passion, dedication, and achievement of this sport.  I did not discover it until I was 48, but it has been a very positive influence on my life during a difficult time, and I hope to be a part of it for decades to come.  Cheers all,

Vinnie

Agreed. We spoke a little about this between events (I believe I was mashing part of the giant sandwich Anton bought to feed the army of grip guys at the time). The first time I attended a competition, I was shocked at how supportive and helpful everyone was. I have yet to meet someone in the grip fraternity who hasn't done his or her best to help everyone reach their potential, and as we said, neither of us would be where we are without the help of people like Nate, Anton, Chez, Jose, Anthony, and Juliet.

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