Bending And Mind Power

[ewokhugo]

when i first started bending Do : january 2009)i did it for the mental challenge to bend something that looks "impossible to bend" for the majority of people...

i did it because i knew in my heart i had some kind of potencial do to well ... i did it because i was having a really hard time trying to get the mm0 title(got stucked at 1 mm from the #3 for 8 months ... horrible felling) ... and bending gave me the opportunity to start something "new" ... and ...

(i dont want to start any religious subject here , because its not allowed but i did it to catch my faith again ... i was really impressed to realize guys like : "fox" and "Boyah"(sp?sorry)were giving all the credit of his bends to the lord!)

in my country bending doesnt exists at all ... i wrote one article about grippers and people become interest and already ordered some ... will run the "portuguese list" ... i am going to write something bending related soon ... YOUR THOUGHTS please ..i will use your oppinion to make this article worthwile ... my goal its to help insecure people to overcome the mental challenge that is bending steel and become more confident about their own potencial.

thanks in advance

[Darko]

Its kinda funny. I gave a IM Blue, G5x6" and a 1/4" 7" Square stainless to a guy at work that havent heard about bending or gripping at all. He managed to get a good kink in all of them. He said something like "Well, they are kinda thin and skinny, so it shouldnt be that hard". If he really started with bending he would have made it far, but it dident interest him at all when he kinked the nails...Scary :P

[ewokhugo]

interesting your comment Darko ... my experience was like this :about + 1month ago ... Darin send me one 1/4"x5" dark bolt called Jh , he said it was hard (i know it was)but for some reason i felt i was so thin and weak ...i totally destroyed it in less than 1 minute. after this Darin killed it quicker:-)(his mind got stronger)

[matthcarl]

Honestly, I think you can say the same about anything. You guys have seen how fat I am on Youtube, right? Would it surprise you to know I have run as far as 15.5 miles in training? Now, would you also be surprised that Steve McGranahan, with a good hundred pounds on me, has run a 50 mile ultra?

To some people, this boggles the mind, but once you wrap yout head around it AND TRAIN FOR IT!!! you can do quite a bit. I personally believe smart training is more important than the mental game. I had to work hard for every bend...just liek I have to work hard for every slow mile I run Nothing is free. I do have to set my mind to a task, but just believing is not enough.

[ewokhugo]

thanks for sharing matt.

[tja]

Hugo, thanks for starting this topic! Good stuff going on here guys

I got a friend over for a visit this week. He wanted to see some bending and I did some. I wrapped 1/4" G2 bolt for him and showed him the DO technique. He said no way he's going to finish it. I told him to try anyways. It kinked two inches off center but he got it. Then he did a 7mm bolt of same length as well. Afterwards, he told me he could have never believed he'd ever do something like that. Then his friend come here as well. He did the same bars and was a bit surprised as well. I told about FBBC certs and stuff and they were laughing like crazy when I told that I'm aiming to be a bastard in every way... They asked if they were close to bastard with their bends. I wrapped a 8mm CRS at about 6.75 inches and told them to try to bend it over my barbell supported in the rack. My friends friend, maybe 230 pounds heavy or so, got a tiny kink to it leaning and bouncing with his full body weight. I bent it for them with a few hits and he just said that ok, that puts the strength of the bar into perspective

So, there's definitely the mental part, but physical and technique as well. These guys could not initially believe they'd get any of the bars bent. I told them just to try with a little technique instruction and they got them. But there's a limit mind can take you at a time.

I'm with Matt here that you have to train smart and be patient, the big bends will come in due time. I've had to work 16 months to get to where I'm know. Mind comes in, at least for me, in not giving up, but believing in being able to get to the goals eventually.

EDIT: small clarification to the bend over the barbell.

Edited March 28, 2009 by tja

[gumpster]

But there's a limit mind can take you at a time.

I'm with Matt here that you have to train smart and be patient, the big bends will come in due time. Mind comes in, at least for me, in not giving up, but believing in being able to get to the goals eventually.

I'm in total agreement with those thoughts. There is a mental aspect to it but for me it's not enough by itself to get the next PR. I had to have a long steady progression of harder and harder stock to get to bending the red (or any other bend that's hard for me). My muscles/tendons/etc needed months of strengthening. There's no way my body could have handled bending a red in the first month...even if my my mind thought it possible. This is no different than any other physical feat I've done. Closing a #2 gripper, tearing a deck of cards, running a marathon or riding 100+ miles on a bicycle...all required many months of training. It takes time for the body to be ready for physical challenges. Some guys are gifted/naturally strong and can do things with only weeks of training, others have to work hard for months or years to achieve the same things. I do think that nearly anyone can achieve great feats even if not gifted with great strength/genetics. They just have to be willing to put for the the effort and time to get there. I guess for many it becomes mental when they can't motivate themselves to workout or they get impatient when they don't see improvement or reach their goals when they expect. I almost always find the hardest part of my early morning running is not the running itself but rolling my butt out of bed and getting out on the street. Once I'm out there the running part seems easy by comparison.

[gazza]

The body will not go anywhere the MIND has not been!

[fortes mãos]

Was that Dr. Manhattan who said that?

Edited April 2, 2009 by fortes mãos