Laz3rShark

She can take a break when she's dead! ...ahem, or alternatively, after the certification.

Thanks everyone! No idea when I'm competing. I'm hitting some major technical humps and I've been forced to significantly decrease working weights for squats and deadlifts. My long arms have always made me more of a natural deadlifter (shorter legs would be nice, but definitely more of a natural deadlifter than bencher or squatter) but my muscles are firing in the wrong order and my glutes don't seem to fire at all. Surprisingly my bench seems to be the strongest and most consistent of my lifts in terms of improvement, maybe because it's the most fun.

...myself. People call me Tyson, but I can't tell you my real name because only monster trucks can pronounce it. I started swimming when I was five, swam competitively until I was fifteen, then quit and started doing martial arts. Around that time (circa 2002) I was also introduced to kettlebell training by a friendly Scottish fellow that used them to prepare for highland games. There was... well, nothing to learn from really, except for a Mike Mahler manual from when he was first getting going which was my best friend for a few months. I pieced together what I could and worked my ass off for a few years, started training with Shawn Mozen when I was 18, got my level 1 and 2 Agatsu certifications and now I'm one of his four SAKC's (Senior Agatsu Kettlebell Instructors), handling certification courses for him and commercial seminars here in Western Canada. I'm also a registered massage therapist, but after getting out of school and working for a year or so I decided full-time massage therapy wasn't for me and I much more greatly enjoyed teaching people about kettlebells. I train in and teach Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu at Arashi-Do Martial Arts, and I'm currently a one-stripe purple belt under Mike Yackulic and Sylvio Behring. I used to compete quite a bit as well, but I'm enjoying teaching a lot more now than I ever enjoyed competing, though I suspect I'll probably get back into it at some point. Right now I'm focusing on my new goal, which is to compete in my first powerlifting competition. All of my athletic training my entire life has been sport-specific either for swimming or BJJ and primarily based on power-endurance with very little emphasis placed on what I can do for one rep, so powerlifting is a huge adjustment for me. I'm finding the training extremely fun and invigorating, but it's a bit frustrating when I can handle a weight for six reps, move up ten pounds and barely eek out one because my body is programmed for efficiency. Anyway, my girlfriend Andrea (Cacaphony) told me about this forum and it sounded like an awesome idea. I've tried a few times to maintain an online log but never stick with it because I don't typically connect very well with other guys on lifting forums since I'm... well, a bit of a nerd. Anything that combines RPG's with lifting heavy things is alright with me!