The subtitle to my blog is not Zen and the Art of Weightlifting for nothing. It isn’t a joke, nor is it my way of being gimmicky. I don’t take it lightly. I strongly believe that Olympic Weightlifting is an Art Form in the same way that Kung Fu is. My friends Adam Stoffa and JC… Continue Reading
Category Archives: Zen Mind and Psychology
Are You Batman or Robin?
I’ve got a new article up at Breaking Muscle entitled, “I am Batman: How to get 10% Stronger in 10 minutes by Playing Dress Up“. Here’s a quote: My lifter Arron has a unique way of facing his fear. When he’s heading up to the… Continue Reading
Your 2012 New Year’s Resolutions: Will You Reach Them
I’ve got a new article up at Breaking Muscle about tackling your New Year’s Resolutions – The Hard Way. Every year, you make New Years Resolutions, commitments to yourself to reach goals you CLAIM are important to you. And every year, you fail to meet most of them – maybe all of them. Think about… Continue Reading
2011 Year In Review: The Best Of The Iron Samurai
This last year has been a substantial one in the life of the Iron Samurai. The blog has gone from being a rather obscure one to being one of the most widely read blogs in the English speaking world on the subject of Olympic weightlifting, as well as being a platform for articles on (what… Continue Reading
On Alzheimer’s, The Holidays, And The Meaning Of LIfe
My Grandfather’s Alzheimer’s has taken a turn for the worse. That’s the nature of the disease. It is a non-stop downward spiral, one bad turn after the next. There is no stopping it. There is no reprieve. All you can do is slowly watch the person you love fade away into those final black shadows… Continue Reading
Part 2 – The Gay, The Straight, and The Funkadelic: Oscar Wilde on Weightlifting
Read Part 1 on Oscar Wilde here I promised to explain the ways in which I’ve felt some level of connection with Oscar Wilde before I get into the weightlifting bit, so I’ll do that now. Oscar Wilde was a complex, brilliant, and highly flawed man. At the end of this article I go over… Continue Reading
The Importance of Being Ernest: Oscar Wilde on Weightlifting (Part 1)
“We should treat all trivial things in life very seriously, and all serious things of life with a sincere and studied triviality.” – Oscar Wilde Whenever you want to ask someone who their favorite play writer is, make sure you add the caveat that they can’t choose Shakespeare. That’s cheating. Claiming Shakespeare as your favorite… Continue Reading
Success is Simple: Pay the Price!
Bunker Hunt, the billionaire oil man out of Texas, believed that success was simple and he had two rules to guarantee it. I agree with him – at least, success is conceptually simple. Learning what the techniques are of a proper snatch isn’t too complicated. Putting in the hours upon hours of actual work it… Continue Reading
