April 22, 2012
On September 1, 2004, Detroit Police Officer Kenneth Daniels Jr. was shot while moonlighting at a strip club in a rougher area of Detroit. He died 12 hours later from the wound. It was a great loss to the city, a great loss to his family... a great loss to me.
Ken was my training partner at the time.
Training at the original Powerhouse Gym in Highland Park, MI, I was a new fixture there. This was the place that many of bodybuilding's greats had been through in the years that it had been there, most notably, eight time Ms. Olympia, Lenda Murray, who had spent a number of years there crafting her championship physique. It was the gym that dreams were made of (I say was, because it is no longer the place that it was when I was there). I trained myself and many people out of that place, and while people were very impressed with what I was able to do with my clients, and wasted no time in asking for my advice, the general consensus was that what I was trying to achieve for myself was not possible. Oh sure, a few guys (and girls, because there were some die-hard female lifters there too) saw something in me, and knew that it was only a matter of time. But Ken was the one who knew, without a shadow of doubt, that I had what it took to make good on my commitment to myself and my goals, and he was the most vocal about it, and supportive of them all. I guess that is how our bond came to be. Ken was an Aikidoka and power lifter, transitioning into strong man. He asked me one day about improving his conditioning for the move into the new sport, which eventually lead to him wanting to revealing that he wanted to take a shot at doing a bodybuilding show. We talked for a while, and then of course, me fully aware of the benefit of power lifting in maximizing muscle gain (as Ronnie Coleman had demonstrated), I began to pick his brain on power lifting. The rest, as the saying goes, is history. It started from there. We both needed something, and clearly saw what the other could do and be able to accomplish, and it was a perfect fit. We both saw ourselves make some good strides in our respective goals.
It was through him that I happened to get in good with the other power lifters there, and they all came to eventually look to help my progression. It was an interesting schedule that I kept (it helped that I was self-employed), as I trained with them, with Ken, trained my clients, and trained in Muay Chaiya there... and that is a story all unto itself. I practically lived there, I kid you not. Anyway, they group wanted to bring me up slowly and without injury, as I was still fairly lean and nowhere near as strong as any of them. It was hard work, really rough stuff... but you should know me by now... that is how I like it. And it helped a great deal. To this day, I still think about that group of guys from time to time.
Ken though, he never leaves my mind.
As mentioned, everything I was doing, and everything that I knew, it all came to a screeching halt on September 1, 2004. And following that, it was about a year before I stepped foot in the gym again. The drive, the desire, the passion... it was all gone. I left the gym, stopped training people, found work, and got on with life. Was it me though? Was I happy? Not in the least.
I have a lot of reasons for wanting what I want, and doing what I do. And I mean A LOT. But none of them I can articulate as clearly as this one: A big part of my drive is Ken. He knew where I was going, and wanted to be. And he was the only one who believed that I was going to get there, without needing some proof or convincing, while everyone else refused to. He pushed me hard. He knew I had the potential… and this was someone that I knew less than a year. I took my approach and workout ethic back to formula with him, and I have what I have today, which has made people duck and dodge me in the gym before, and training partners quit, leave the gym, and never ever come back. Sure, I still have the desire to be bigger and harder as my drive in the gym. But Ken added to it because he is no longer here to see this. His goals… unfulfilled, are now mine… at least one of them. And it has to be done...
In 2008, I went to the Arnold Expo, and attempted to close the #3 Captain of Crush... a high tension gripper that requires 280lbs. of crushing grip power to close. I got to within 1/4 inch of the close, so it was a no go. Unlike the bodybuilding community of late that jeers and heckles you for your failures or shortcomings, the strength community is entirely different. Getting that close was to be congratulated, and the feel with those guys is entirely different. I really like that, and would like to see it return to bodybuilding. As I was saying, I did not complete the close. But I am not done yet. I have set my goal for January 2013. Ken and I are going to get together for one more good time, where I WILL close. In doing so, I get my name entered into a strength journal. I wanted to do it for him, in his name, but the rules prohibit that. However, I can dedicate the close to him, and that will be listed in the journal indefinitely. So, he still gets in. That was the one goal of his that I knew I would be able to take on, and so I have. I have been working at it all through this dieting.
I wish I had gotten the picture of us together from his last strong man competition, because there is only one out there on the web, and it is very small. It would not even make any sense to post that here. That is how small it is. Instead, I opted for his family, whom I have not seen since earlier that year in 2004.
I do this for a lot of reasons… suffer through the monotony of the diet, deal with the blinding pain of rebuilding and binding muscles, sacrifice a great part of my better years so that tomorrow, I can be more than I am today… yes, I do it for me, but in his memory, I do it for him as well. This is my drive.
There are going to be days when it seems like this world, your world… it moves in slow motion. What do we do? REMEMBER. Whatever it is that drives you, find it and hold on to it. Coming to a standstill is only an option when you are in gridlocked rush hour traffic on the way home from work. Any other time, it is full speed ahead.
I will continue to push, to see that he is honored properly and fittingly with everything that I do. I have no idea what it is that drives any of you, but I hope you find it, and I hope it does everything for you that mine does for me.
Rest In Peace, Kenneth Daniels Jr. You did well. You are a part of this spark that propels me to propel others to their own greatness. Even in your absence, your presence is still felt. I have made, and always will make sure of that.
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