That Jerk is such a Jerk. Drive the bar above your head? No, drive it BACK behind your head. Over the ears? No my friend behind the ears, trust me.....behind the ears is Golden, literally. "Up in this sport really means back." - Paul Doherty. Missing in front is the single most frustrating thing you can do. If you’re going to miss, miss behind. But I guess a miss is miss no matter what. But missing behind makes you sleep a little better knowing that you put the power and energy in getting the bar that high and that far back. Where in front makes you feel you didn’t leave it all on the platform, you never really went for it. You have to think of the Jerk the way my friend Donny Shankle says, “If you miss the jerk, you will not enter paradise”. – Shankle aka lion killer. If only every weightlifter could hear the sweet words of this blog title all the time...now thats Paradise.
What a jerk the jerk can be when it doesn’t sit nicely on the shelf for everyone to see. Drive higher, don’t cut your dip and drive short, no matter how heavy the weight is. Reach for the sky my friend and catch with strength and pride. Hold it! Hold it! Punch up and hold! YES YES YES! That is a great feeling, and those are great words to here from your coach and the audience. Something that doesn’t always happens, but as I am figuring out....that’s just life and weightlifting. Life is not perfect, and sometimes the yes is more like ooooo. Tears of joy can easily become tears of let downs and sadness. Hugging your coach can be good or bad. Weightlifting will take you down many roads and emotions. “Weightlifting is a very hard sport”. – Everyone who is a weightlifter.
The worst part of missing the 188 is the jerk work coach has slammed on my table filled with superman pull sketches, blue prints for the clean, secrete training programs, coffee, smelly knee wraps, blood sweat and tears. Hold the bar above your head with 60 or so kilos, and lung into a jerk split to the end of the gym and back......hell. Then when you are done put 120kg on your back and do the same thing holding the position in the split for a good 2 seconds.....hell. Repeat 3 more times...hell. I don’t do any more clean and jerks; I do clean and jerk and jerk and jerk and then jerk again. Push presses tell the sun sets, more squats, harder training. A few months of this I should have the best Jerk in the world, I guess we shall see. More red meat, more sleep, more mind training. Mind training is the hardest part of this sport. Training your mind to go under weight you want to Clark. Staying confident and focused in a meet, not letting the bar intimidate you. Getting back on the horse after losing.....fuck, that’s a hard one.
I am writing this blog with the Shankle outside the green jungle. The sun is setting, training is finally over, and the coffee is extra strong....prefect time to write. Checked the PWA schedule so I can compete in every damn local meet there is. Keep building experience is a must, learning from your mistakes is so key. Who knows, maybe the best thing I ever did was miss the 88 jerk. Maybe next meet I will hit 200. Thank you all for your support from the comments on the blog, face book, and e mail, you are truly the reason why I am still standing and not throwing in the towel feeling sorry for myself. Attitude Nation marches on.
Jerk that damn jerk above your heads and then slam the bar. Let the world see how high you can throw heavy weight above your head, and not just above, but back! Get the bar back please, for me, for what I should have done!
Bar back 2012
Shankle and coffee 2012
Your kind words and support 2012
Attitude Nation Family 2012
Your blog is awesome, thanks for opening up and sharing your experiences. Keep going!
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