A few years ago I flew out to San Diego and trained with famous bodybuilder Frank Zane.
Zane is a legendary old-school classic-physique weight-lifter. He’s super intelligent, too.
When I was in his home with him, between playing the guitar and harmonica for me, he asked about past times in my life where I was really fit.
There weren’t many.
Okay, there was only one.
I told him about being a teenager and thinking I would someday be Heavyweight Boxing Champion of the World.
I was inspired by Floyd Patterson (who I met) and Jack Dempsey (who sent me an autographed picture) and James J. Corbett (way dead) and other boxing greats.
During those delusional but exciting teenage years I trained relentlessly and aggressively.
But I let the dream slide as I realized I was too short to be a heavyweight class boxer.
I could have been an overweight one, though.
Anyway, I didn’t like people punching me.
Frank Zane told me to put up a speed bag in my gym, which I was building at the time. He said it may help awaken the body memory of once being in pretty good physical condition, and it might help awaken my love for working out as a boxer.
I did, and I admired Frank for suggesting it. I like the speed bag, always did and still do, even though I rarely use it when I work-out these days.
But something happened on my recent trip to Ohio to visit family that Frank would probably approve of.
That’s where I met “Bob.”
My parents have a basement where my father has exercise equipment. He gets up every day at 4:15 am and works out. He’s been doing this his entire life, and today he’s 82 years old.
He’s in better shape than me, too.
Anyway, in the basement I ran into “Bob.”
“Bob” stands for “Body Opponent Bag.”
He’s a full-size male mannequin with an evil face. He’s thick so you can hit him or kick him, or even drive into him with your car, and he’s on a heavy base so he doesn’t fall down like one of those plastic clowns filled with air.
Bob doesn’t have any arms or legs, so he’s basically defenseless.
My kind of opponent.
I saw Bob and instantly started punching him.
I liked it.
All of my memories of being a boxer came rolling into my blood.
Suddenly I was a teenager again, whacking the life-like dummy as if I were Stallone in a Rocky movie, making it bounce around the concrete floor.
Uppercuts, left hooks, jabs and volcanic right hand wallops flew out of me.
I guess it’s true: You never totally forget what you once deeply embedded.
After I relieved my stress on Bob, I went upstairs and asked my Dad about him.
He showed me a catalog with Bob in it. Within minutes I was online and ordering a Bob of my own. He’s on his way here as I type this.
I’m excited about it, too.
The lesson here is that sometimes an activity from your youth might be the ticket to reawaken your passion.
I have no interest in being a boxer today, let alone a Heavyweight Boxing Champion. (I met George Foreman and I would never want to be in a ring with him. He’s a nice guy but he’s huge.)
But awakening a positive memory is a good thing.
I think Frank Zane would agree.
Ao Akua,
Joe
www.mrfire.com
PS — You can get a “Bob” of your very own from www.titleboxing.com Just go there and search for BOB. Bob never complains, no matter what you say or do to him. You can write on him, too. Or paint him. Or dress him up. Ah, the possibilities!
10 Comments
Joe,
This is a great reminder about getting back to the “root” driver and emotions that propel us. Re-kindling the flame.
enjoy your new friend, but i wouldn’t recommend introducing him to Francine.
It’s also super-cool that your father still works out!
PS. I guess real men do play with dolls.
I LOVE the idea of having Bob around to help relieve stress at the end of the day. Thank you for the info, Joe!
Hey, Joe…
I guess when BOB gets there you can get up and have a different kind of “Tap of the Morning”…
Pow ! – (the beginning of the eyebrow of BOB’s eye) “Even though it’s sometimes hard to be such a nice spiritual guru to some people, I deeply and completely love and accept myself.”
Wammo ! – (the side of BOB’s eye) “Even though I get tired of people who send me boxes with DVD players and cell phones, I deeply and completely love and accept myself.”
…and so on…
…then after you tap on BOB you can tap with your EFT.
Afterwards, you’ll be as calm as a Hindu cow !
😎
Hi Joe,
Nice post. Might get one of these for my basement, too.
To change the topic completely … yesterday’s NY Times travel section had a nice article about Wimberly, TX, entitled “Havens/Wimberley, Tex.: A Hill Country Town Raises Its Profile.” Thought you might get a kick out of it.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/07/travel/escapes/07havens.html?ref=realestate
Best,
D
Hi Joe,
Punching “Bob” sounds like a great way to relieve stress. I’ve read that employees in Japan are encouraged to strike & kick a similar type of “dummy” to reduce their stress. For more tips on stress management, please visit my blog at http://www.TameYourStress.com/blog Thanks! Del Hickson
Hey Joe,
They had a Bob at our old gym and I use to make sure to spend some time with him every day =)
If you want a GREAT workout that will have you feeling and looking like the Heavyweight champion of the world, let me know and I will send you a copy of the Bas Rutten Mixed Martial Arts Workout CDs. They have a boxing CD that you can do at your house and it is PERFECT for a Bob. You will feel and look so cool and good.
Let me know if you want one. Here is an example of a guy shadowboxing by himself doing the workout:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iFoBZii9e0I
Hope you’re doing great!
Tony
PS – Come see us the next time you are in the LA area, http://www.goldmanhealing.com. We’re who the top fighters in the world come to to stay in shape. You will love it and leave feeling great! Check out the “Pro Athletes” section to see what I am talking about.
🙂 Bad Guy Bob is one of the best training tools we use at our Martial Arts school. He does just ‘invite’ you to kick or punch him. I have a funny story about my love relationship with Bob.
I was with my son at the sporting goods store walking by a Bad Guy Bob on the way to Baseball sign ups. Here he is just asking for it. So I punched him one good, after all, I do it all the time in class. Of course he didn’t even block or anything. Funny thing is, the one in the store had no water or sand in the bottom. So Bob goes flying and knocking everything over around him like dominoes. It turns out, none of the equipment around Bob has any weight in the bottom. Five or six training bags go down and crash into all this weight training gear and lifting machines.
As if that is not enough racket, My son can be quite loud too, so not only is he laughing his head off rolling in the aisles, he is also pointing at his gentle looking mom as all the equipment is clambering and falling, “She did it, she did it.”
I don’t think I have been more embarrassed in my life! Needless to say, we did not get kicked out before we signed up for baseball. Yet, the employees watched me like a hawk, which was worse, the whole time I was in the store and kept shaking their heads in disapproval. 😕
Thanks for reminding me of Bad Guy Bob, now it is quite fun to tell about it. Blessings to you,
Leslie
well I never had any desire to box, nor watch it, and I just spent half an hour browsing the titleboxing catalog (courtesy of your link). what is up with that? I find myself especially fascinated by the gloves and shoes – for women of course. thanks for maybe digging up something I didn’t even know about… in me.
p.s. I am probably just really interested in hand and foot protection. 🙂
Great article! I think I will apply this philosophy to my own life, I’m getting back into some training again after a few years of relative inactivity. Frank Zane was always a hero of mine and I envy you meeting him. -must have been awesome!