In NO particular order, these people have inspired me to achieve great things. And even though I’ve fallen far from my greatest physical achievements, these are some of the only people in the world that can push me to climb back up the mountain. Remember, I’ve been a competitive athlete in many sports for my whole life; this list is 25 years in the making. (These are literally the first ten names I thought of today)
1. Hercules – It’s unfair really, he’s not even real. Still, Kevin Sorbo’s portrayal on the Legendary Journeys captivated me for half a decade. My father has called me “Herc” for over twenty years. Whenever I think something isn’t possible, I call upon the power of Olympus and push through.
2. Hannibal 4 King – I’d spend cold winter days in the Bronx watching Hannibal workout from a distance, trying to copy his body weight exercise routine. As I gained over 60 lbs of muscle throughout college, I lost my relative strength and Hannibal’s ability to look like a statue without using weights helped keep me grounded.
3. Chloe Bruce – I can’t put this into words so go watch her highlight reels. As I lost my flexibility when I started swimming more and doing less martial arts, I felt a part of me missing… and getting weaker. Her Hyper Forms forced me to maintain my flexibility and balance without giving up any explosiveness or taking away from my college sports.
4. The Rock – My brother and I watched wrestling for a long time but there is a way that Dwayne Johnson connects with his fans that make him so electrifying. His ability to turn seven dollars into one of the most successful careers in entertainment tells me that I can’t let all these really rich spoiled kids be on top of the mountain. I’ll stick that silver spoon up their candy… If there was one person I could spend a day with, it would be him. I think we’d get along.
5. Mike O’Hearn – I’ve given up hope on everyone in the world of bodybuilding who claims to be natural. It feels like every athlete is taking something nowadays, but Mike’s the only one who I actually believe is natural… call me crazy. We would imitate Titan’s intensity on American gladiators and his physique from my first fitness magazines was the only one that made me want to look good, not just perform well. The only reason I ever use a mirror is to try to look that good.
6. Georges St. Pierre – GSP is what I might have been if I continued my path into professional MMA. I had practiced Muay Thai, BJJ, Taekwondo, Karate, and more but I had a hard time memorizing my forms and struggled to move up in ranks. Still, I could not be defeated in sparring and could break boards with ease. I love watching Georges take down opponents more skilled than him through his athleticism, work ethic, and ability to endure. He cemented his place as one of the best ever, despite being outmatched in technique often.
7. Grandmaster Kim – Of everyone I’ve ever worked with in many martial arts, T.H. Kim, is to this day the only man that makes me consider the word fear, anywhere, ever, period. It’s not as much fear but more so that there is so much respect that I would never fight him. He is so capable in his practice despite his age, he would never make us do anything that he could not, and he instilled crucial life lessons into me, including my respect for the environment and my fight to preserve it. If we lose health, we lose everything.
8. Bruce Lee – The man who influenced so much. I have all of his movies. All of the movies he has influenced. I studied Jeet Kune Do and it is one of the biggest influences on my own martial art that I created. The master has failed more times than the student has even considered trying. He taught us so many great lessons and did more for martial arts than almost anyone. He did more for action movies than almost anyone. He is the greatest and even though he said he couldn’t beat Ali, Ali would’ve only had a puncher’s chance.
9. Cal Ripken Jr – Baseball was my best sport and between Griffey Jr and Ripken Jr, I learned nearly everything. The most important thing I learned from Cal was durability. Iron Man gave all of us athletes no excuse to miss a game or a practice. If we wanted to be the best, we had to work for it and missing a day was unnecessary and unacceptable. He gave athletes everywhere a responsibility to perform every day.
10. Michael Jordan – The biggest influence of my sports career. My first present ever was a basketball and a basketball hoop. I used to love the game more and playing too much burned me out of it, like baseball, or that’s just an excuse but MJ kept me going. Through video games, movies, and the best playoff series we’ll ever see, he let us know that is was alright to lose, as long as you did everything in your power to not let it happen again. Never make the same mistake twice.
That flowed out of my heart and mind, no problem. These fitness heroes have had a huge influence on my life. No need to move onto honorable mentions… the list would go on forever. Who are some of your top influences when it comes to competitive sports or athletics? And as always, stay hungry and fit!
