Brews, Barbells, Badassery, and Bohurt

It has been a while since I have home brewed. After moving to North Carolina, time just got away from me. Then I bought a keggerator and my life was filled with great  kegs of beer I could easily buy without having to waste a half day making my brew. Then a GoRuck Tough buddy donated his entire homebrew supplies to me on top of my mountain of gear I had to make all grain. I couldn't turn it down, and I sure wasn't about to just let it go to waste. So, after a major garage renovation, I had room to store my gear and I finally decided to dust off my old recipes and make something new. This batch will be an experiment as I am changing my tried and true recipe to something a little lighter and should have a simpler finish. Most of my melomels have a silky finish and very high alcohol volume. This should be around the right alcohol volume and hopefully has the lighter, fresher finish. I have made many different versions of mead. My preference of course is always to the s

Oh... So you think you are the Strongest Knight do ya'? Well yeah, so come and prove me wrong! So, the idea of the strongest knight is something I have been talking with fellow strength athletes who also compete in the sport of armored combat/bohurt. It is to be a friendly, and honorable, fellowship of men and women who truly aspire to be the best of the best. So, basically it is an open competition whereby combining strength, and deeds of arms. Not only do you have to be strong comparatively, you also have to beat the current strongest knight in a battle of three duels agreed upon between the competitors. The current strongest knight can never turn down an open challenge of a qualified competitor. To qualify, you must have a Wilks Score greater than 300. This is a score given to based upon the lifts of bench, squat, and deadlift as it compares to your body-weight. If the 130 pound fighter (male of female) can achieve the score, they have earned the right to challenge the

Picture from New World Cup 2017 “We’re teaching our players: Sleep is a weapon.” — Sam Ramsden, Dir. of Player Health and Performance, Seattle Seahawks   I first really started to pay attention to sleeping after one of my favorite professional strongman competitors talked about how he uses a CPAP machine. He went on to say it helped him recover faster, and get much more quality sleep. As you get stronger, specifically powerlifting or strength training, your neck gets thicker. This could lead to sleep problems by obstructing the airflow you need as you sleep. Others like myself fall into the category of just bad genetics whereby the mouth and the nasal cavities are formed in such a way to be the perfect storm for sleep apnea. It didn't help that I was also overweight   Sleep is an important component of maintaining your health and performance. For Bohurt athletes in particular, proper sleep is a weapon in their arsenal for overall success.  Worcester Effigy,

You have to be an athlete in the sport of Bohurt/Armored Combat/Steel Fighting/Deeds of Arms ath·lete ˈaTHˌlēt/ noun noun: athlete ; plural noun: athletes a person who is proficient in sports and other forms of physical exercise. If you cannot watch the video, here is the audio: Having been in the martial arts my whole life, competing in full contact kickboxing, and your normal tournament style martial arts, one thing rings true. The better the athlete, the better the practitioner of the martial art.  Considering complex movements, strikes, speed, techniques, patterns, being able to close distances are all something someone can learn. Being a better athlete is simply makes all of these things easier. Not that an athlete will master every nuance of a particular art right from the beginning, they will however have a distinct advantage over those of equal background but have lessor athleticism. As an older fighter (about to

And... I am back. Here is my new video for this week. If you can't watch the YouTube video, you can listen to the audio version here: I needed some time to change my programming and training to answer the demand of becoming the best fighter I possibly can be on the field. I have done a lot of soul searching and put in a lot of work. The results are amazing. I have lost over 50 pounds, kept most of my strength, I have more explosive power, and now I have more capacity to keep fighting more than ever. I have become exponentially better than I was just a year ago. A picture of me fighting at ITOC 2107 with my Step Mom To keep track of my current progress, follow me on Instagram @grumpystrongman. You can also go to  @grumpystrongman . So, what is changing? My goal is to post weekly which will include photos, videos, and general ideas as I find them on my journey to be the best I can possibly be. I even created a new YouTube channel that you can subscribe to. That li

So, you are still sticking with this 'medieval fighting' thing? Well, good! But realize that the only easy day was yesterday whippersnapper and it is time to step up your game. You cannot expect to perform better just because you bought armor and you get together a few times a month to hit each other. More importantly, you have to take a careful look at what you suck at and OWN THAT SHIT. We all have things that we are great at. Rarely in the gym do I see guys or gals focusing on weaknesses. It is always focusing on what you are comfortable with. Runners will run, lifters will lift weights, yogi's will yoga, and then you have those weird super-set guys who run around with weighted vests, screaming, and doing high reps of everything in this weird cycle of whatever. One thing that I am sure most people fall short in is in Conditioning and Recovery. Conditioning is basically getting your body physically fit with a regimen of exercises. What does that mean for us? Well,

getting a picture from one of the ladies who made the Team USA taberds So I finally did it. I trained hard and succeeded in joining my fellow knights on the battlefield of Barcelona for Team USA's 21 man team. I lost seventeen pounds, hit new strength personal records, and I also had plenty of cardio to fight well. It was an honor to join these great men and women on the field to test our mettle against those who would stand against us. We won and lost on our own merits. We stood side by side and faced the challenges together. We broke bread, we made new friends. This is one experience and memories I will keep as a treasure and look fondly upon it as the first of what I hope to be many more campaigns. Below, I wish to dedicate my thoughts and time to communicate some of the lessons learned to travel abroad. I hope to reflect upon this so that I combine the thoughts of those who have shared many of these lessons before my writing this. Flight Mistakes When I purchased

I am one of those guys who does well when he had a big, gnarly, audacious goal to train for. This training cycle everything has been focused on preparing for Battle of Nations in Barcelona, Spain. Countries from around the world will be sending their best team to armor up and do battle at La Monumental which looks like the Colosseum from the movie Gladiator.  For me, I am fighting on the 'Royal Team' or better known as the 21 versus 21. I take pride that I am representing Team USA abroad, and I am doing everything I can to make sure I am bring my very best for myself and my team. My coach Steve Slama and 10th Legion Fitness has updated my programming to some crazy hybrid workouts. He is creating me into a physical monster so I can deliver crazy hurt bombs upon my opponents, have agility and mobility, and the stamina to keep standing when your lungs scream for reprieve. With his programming, I have hit all new personal bests in bench and deadlift while my squats are

Two Men Enter, One Man Leaves! I had my first EMP (Empire of Medieval Pursuits) experience two weekends ago. It is kind of like SCA but with more in your face full contact fighting. There is still the pageantry, they also include rattan in all their fights. At first I was hesitant, but it was a great experience and an excuse to head south for warmer weather. It was great to see it truly was Conan re-enactment and just cool all around. You can find more information at  Riddle Of Steel First stop was to pick up some fellow passengers from a bus stop here in Durham, NC. Fellow Steel Fighter Orlando Mendez and his wonderful girlfriend took a bus down to Durham and ride with me on the way down to Orlando to keep me sane. I picked them up, and took them to breakfast. We had a few hours to kill before heading off and Orlando got to watch Conan the Barbarian for the first time. I think he should lose some nerd points for never having seen the greatness that which is this movie.

Got all Viking at Disney's Epcot over Christmas Holiday Hello fellow steel fighters, nerds, and general bad-asses. I know that it has been a few weeks since you have had a blog post from your favorite bearded warrior. So, it is a new year and time to remedy that. Since my last post, a lot of things have happened. While it means a few changes,  most of it for good, and some bad. But life isn't about sitting around and wasting your days. It is about getting the most of life through experiences and relationships. So, for 2017, I have set my Steel Fighting Calendar. I am adding events as I hear about them. If you have one not listed, let me know and I will add it. My goal is to travel and fight and much as possible. You can find that calendar at the link below. This calendar includes ACL, HMB, AMCF, and other organizations events. MOST EPIC BOHURT / STEEL FIGHTING CALENDAR FOR 2017 So, let's get the bad out of the way... So, let's get the bad out of the way. F