dargondoor wanna know who's swung the 25s

[bob_stra]

I've swung a 20 lbs sledgehammer. That sh*t ain't easy for reps, believe you me.

> maybe the trolling over there will ever end? whats their beef against
> scott anyway?

It's a very human thing. By deriding someone else, you improve the status of yourself / your group. We've all done it ("what? Aikido? Aikido is for pansies! or "MMA? Those guys are brutish louts! No skill in MMA!" etc)

Its kinda dumb really. But we've all done it. To fit in, to get props, to look cool - whatever.

Mind you, this is different from constructive criticism.

> but the whats up with the anti-scott cronie zombies over there?

Why donchya ask them? Often times, people get their wires crossed. From that bad feeling mounts.


*shrugs*

Ask them. If you wanna get into it with them, that's upto you.

Look, at the end of the day, I don't give a flying fig about who endorses who etc. I take a look at the material. I give it a whirl. If I like it I stay with it. If not, that fine too. My experiences are valid to me only. I guess that kinda thinking pretty much applies for everyone.

*shrugs*

As for the specific questions on that thread (legitimacy of ranking, number of participants etc) please consider that without sufficient information, any decision becomes arbitrary (Ashby Law of Requisite Variety). I don't have enough info re: event, so I can't make intelligent comment as to whether "your boy pulled a swift one".

Does it even matter? 20lbs clubbell x 10 minutes ain't something to scoff at.

See my post at DD.

[Scott Sonnon]

Cecil, chill.

Read Updated OCS Qualifications (http://www.circularstrengthmag.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1502).

Invest your time in training rather than surfing the net for trolling posts. I appreciate your concern, but if it doesn't bother me, why should it bother you?

[James Boelter]

Coach, a very classy reply.

I agree with Bob that the current trolling posts are just a classic example of human nature at its worst. The most charitable way to categorize it would be as a kind of misplaced intellectual honesty - they see something that doesn't conform to what they understand as 'the TRUTH', it makes them feel anxious about their own preconceptions...and so they go into 'grizzled cynic' mode.

They are so ingrained into their defense of their 'TRUTH' that they fail to discern the difference between an unorthodox but honest system like ROSS/CST and obvious New Age scam bait like Hikuta and James Lacy.
And I think many of them have had their perceptions and conceptions of what constitues 'legitimacy' by ESPN, ABC Wide World Of Sports, and national media coverage of the Olympics, etc.

The current criticisms of the results of the 1st OCS competition are typical of this. No one seems to remember that 4 years ago, Girevoy Sport and Kettlebell lifting in the USA were at a similar stage, and everything anyone did were just tentative first efforts of pioneers in the field, completely separate from the 'popularizing' effects of mainstream pop culture.

Even now, kettlebell lifting, after 4-5 years of publicity and development is a fringe activity, understood by few and practiced by even fewer.For example, Chris Rubio recently posted some photos of the 2nd annual 'Florida Kettlebell Lifting Contest'. It sounds great, really impressive, until you look at the photos...the photos show that the 'Florida Competition' was, in essence, less than 10 people (including Bud Jeffries) taking turns standing on a wooden platform on a beach outside an apartment complex and seeing what they could do.

Compare that to the annual state high school school track and field competition here in Omaha last year, which involved so many people that traffic was backed for blocks around the local high school where they held the competition from 8 am to 3 pm for 3 days.(And which recieved zip national media coverage) If you use that attendance and number of competitors as your base for comparison, you could poke endless, belittling fun at the 10 people who presumed to be competing for a 'state' championship. But everyone has to start somewhere, right? If the gods (and the whimsies of national popular culture) ever choose to have GS and kettlebell lifting become popular the way football, or karate, or soccer, have become, then these early efforts will be recognized as the noble beginnings of a much grander destiny...and those 8-10 competitors
will be lionized as the founders and pioneers of a much greater national preoccupation. I personally have great admiration for the people in Florida who took their time and money and effort and met with a bunch of other people with similar interests to see who could lift them bells the best...even if the event and the competitors never appeared in 'Entertainment Tonight' .


I think I had a point in there somewhere, but I don't want to strain anyone's patience. Take what I said about the Florida Kettlebell competition and substitute OCS competition and draw the same conclusions. 8)

[Lumpy Gravy]

I don't think that questioning should be construed as a troll post. It is hard for the average person to validate Soviet rankings, so it's only natural to be skeptical. It's almost like there are groupies with every forum cult. If we were questioning Pavel's credentials over here, the Pavel groupies at dragondoor would be outraged just like I'm sure some people here are.

What should matter to everybody is results rather than titles. I could care less if Scott is a Master of Sport or even if he's ever set foot on Soviet soil. What Scott "is" doesn't matter to me. How Scott's material positively changes my life does matter. I notice distinct changes and improvements in my conditioning from using his material. If somebody wants to honestly question effectiveness of the material, that should be applauded rather than condemned. Share your knowledge and personal results. The worst that could happen is that you are called a liar by some anonymous man in internet land. At least their true intentions will become clear.

If somebody personally attacks you or a mentor of yours when it is apparent that they do so out of malice or ignorance, then there isn't even a need to dignify it with a response. There will always be critics especially on the internet. No matter what music you listen to, style of martial art you practice, clothes you wear, or conditioning philosophy you adhere to there will always be no shortage of people telling you that you're wrong. I guess this is my long-winded way of saying just keep your nose to the grindstone. Don't add significance to that which is insignificant.

[Chuck Kechter]

Don't add significance to that which is insignificant.

Nice!

[Tyler]

I know the Dragon Door guys and most are good people, but a few of them have strong opinions and lots of free time!
Nobody over there had anything bad to say about the performances. To say that 240+ points is not impressive would be absolutely ridiculous.
What they were commenting on was the rankings. Perhaps you jumped the gun with the International Master of Sports classification. Without any prior international competitions, I guess the DD crew just didn't feel that the ranking meant much. IMS is usually reserved for world and Olympic champions. And since 40% of the total number of competitors reached that rank at the first competition, a few guys blew a fuse. But absolutely nobody said anything bad about the actual performances turned in. In fact, the consensus was that the results were indeed impressive.
Post-incident, Scott has revised the rankings table and set things right. If he had done everything perfect the first time, we would be calling him Nostradomus (sp?). And the results that were posted at DD (by me) were only preliminary results. Scott probably never had a chance to even see the discussion board before they were posted elsewhere. I'm not sure he intended to apply any rankings to anyone. But in any case, I have met Scott and I KNOW him to be a man of integrity. I hate to make predictions, especially about the future, but I think Clubbell sport will grow and take its rightful place in the iron game.
Scott is one of the most original people I know and he has had more bombs thrown at him than Baghdad. I guess the two go together. But I hope little things like this don't dampen his ambitions. I look forward to his further refinements and innovations. Congrats on the birth of a wonderful new sport!

Tyler

[admin]

Scott is one of the most original people I know and he has had more bombs thrown at him than Baghdad. I guess the two go together.
Ain't it the truth, Tyler! Here's a quote by some dude named Gandhi:

First they ignore you. Then they laugh at you. Then they fight you. Then you win.