Just for fun: Moustache Mayhem

Everyone in the military has heard about it.  When people deploy someone is bound to do a Moustache Mayhem, Moustache Madness, whatever you want to call it.  Sadly I have been bribed into one......it wasn't easy to agree to but I did.  I cannot stand the idea of having a moustache!  I just feel like I am going to look like an IDIOT....or a creep.

kip from Napoleon Dynamite

But darn my wife and her convincing ways.  For anyone who has had the pleasure of eating at my house or trying Airin's cooking you know what I mean.  Any of us would be willing to wrestle a rabid grizzly bear or swim through a tank full of ill tempered giant squid with lazers attached to each arm for a taste of this fine cuisine.  Especially if it was her thanksgiving spread.  So my wife knowing my weakness told me that the winner of this ugly moustache competition would get a bag of baked goods specially mailed from her.  Yes I know that being married to her I will obviously get stuff sent anyway, but if I can score additional treats then I will rock the stache proudly!

This man is one of the few people with an iconic moustache

       So I have rounded up a few volunteers and the competion has officially started as of December 26th.  There is no official time limit yet but it will probably be a month.  Now we will probably not look as cool as Don Frye (pictured above)  and some of us will more than likely look like a Yeti with a skin disorder.  but we are going to try...... So here it goes!

Paddy Doyle Challenge Results- Part 1

As stated in my last post I knew that I would probably not come close let alone beat any of this mans insane records.  Not only was I right, I was brutally honest with myself.  I decided to start with the step ups and push ups challenges.  I am not sure what in me thought that these were going to be possible feats.  Maybe it was because in the list of records I read the step ups number looked so much smaller than the squat record (4,708).  Or maybe it was just a mix of insanity and boredom.  Either way this didn't go well.

Yes.....I did consider doing 'girl push ups' towards the end.

  First lets talk about the pushups, I figured hey lets be smart about this and figure up the math.  I totalled up his average push up per minute and it was 29.  I thought hey thats not so bad......  After a few minutes I was thinking other wise.  He did 1,705 push ups in 1hr, I did 760 (man, I need to work on my push ups)  His average per minute was 29, mine was 12.6.  Meaning that he averaged 16.4 more a minute than I did and did 945 more than I did.  Bottom line he did awesome I looked like a sissy.lol

  Next you have the 15 inch step ups with a 40lbs pack.  I will say that I was way more impressive with these atleast.  His record was 1,619 in an hour making his average step up per minute 27.  One every 2 seconds already sounded rough to me so I knew I wasnt going to match this one.  I gave it all I had though and ended up with 1,054 putting my average step per minute at 17.5.  Which is not to bad for someone who has never bothered with this kind of a workout before.  In total he did only 565 (only haha) more than me, and averaged 9.5 more a minute. The odd thing is that my legs feel fine but my lower back is KILLING me. 

So there you have it.  So far Paddy Doyle is obviously in waaaay better shape than I am, and I am dreading the squats and burpies.  For any workout goo-roo's out there that think you can beat the guy be my guest.  Because I honestly dont think you have a shot.  Thanks for reading and dont forget to check out the organizations page on your way out!

His thoughts"Man I am running out of places to put these!"
borrowed from: worldendurancechampion.co.uk

My Paddy Doyle Challenge

First I should probably put the disclaimer out there:  I do not know and in no way have any endorsement from Paddy Doyle to advertize for him.  I just want to say he is a hard core athlete and I wanted to attempt some of his crazy feats.  So with that said please dont sue me Mr. Doyle.

So Angry!
 Image borrowed from worldendurancechampion.co.uk

Ok, So there is no way I can do or even attemp all of his recored because there is somewhere between 150-200 records that he holds.....about 200 more than me.  Some being european records and others being Guinness Book Records.  There are several books, sights, and articles dedicated to his feats of endurance.  The man is insane and is probably the most fit guy in the world.  When I first read these records I thought it was pretty far fetched, but Guinness Book confirmed them and there are plenty of videos to back it.  This man hold records like:

Most push-ups on back of hands in an hour with a 40lbs pack-663
Most burpies in one hour-1,850 (no thats not a typo)
Fastest mile run with 40lbs pack-6:56
Most squats in one hour-4,708 (insane)
13 exercises of the World Marathon Fitness Challenge- 18:56:09 list
Most consecutive martial arts bouts-141

This CAN'T Be good for the joints!
Borrowed from worldendurancechampion.co.uk

Again the man is insanly fit.  I am going to try only 5 of these records and beat none of them I am sure.  But I would like to see how close I can come along with a few more victims.  I plan on adding to the list and trying new ones in the future if I have fun with this but lets just start small for now. I will attempt the following listed with thier original record:

borrowed from http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com

push ups 1hr-1,705
sit ups 1hr with 50lbs plate-1,130
squats in 1hr-4,708
burpies in 1hr-1,850
15in step ups 40lbs pack 1hr-1,619






I will have to space these out and do maybe 1 or 2 a week, because I am coming off of an injury and am a little out of shape, and honestly I will be dead after each one.haha  But this should be fun and atleast a good workout....and who knows, maybe I can beat one.....yea right.  So!  You can expect my next post to be on two of these insane feats, I just pray I dont hurt myself trying this out..... 

Awesome food post: Primo

Ok, so normally I wouldn't post about a restaurant that is usually my wife's thing.  But the guys who own this restaurant are fighters, and they are awesome....and the food was AMAZING!  Today I am going to fill you in on an Italian place in Naha called Primo.  The owners of this place are Masato and Naoya Teruya (pictured below) also known as the Feather Weight and Welter Weight kickboxing champions of Tenkaichi Stadium.  Before I started fighting I used to love going to the fights to watch these guys kick the crap out of people.  They don't just win, they make the other guy feel really dumb for thinking they had a chance.haha

This was after my August fight and Naoya's title defense

During our anniversary trip my wife and I wanted some good Italian food so we decided to give it a try, needless to say they did not disappoint.  We ordered the Carbonara, Caprese, pizza, and this salad to share all of which were probably some of the best we have had.  

Masato also hooked us up with some of their chocolate cake, which again was amazing.  Thank you Masato!

The atmosphere is pretty relaxed and romantic...yes I can say romantic on a manly blog.... All of the food is given a little extra care and even plated fancier.  Just about anything you order will taste great and it is all very well priced.  So if you are looking for a great place to take your wife/lady friend this is a good pick. 


Directions:  The place is located just down the street from the Naha Jusco, not to be confused with Naha Main Place.  If you are standing by the monorail and facing the Naha Jusco turn right and walk about 2 blocks and you will see Primo on the 2nd floor to your left.  Warning, the menu is not in English, but there are lots of pictures and no matter what the food will be good.  The sign is pictured below....

So if you are ever in Naha and want some REALLY good Italian food give these guys a try, I promise you won't regret it.  Also as a side note they should be opening one close to Chatan in the future, I will be sure to let everyone know where it's at.  Thanks again for the awesome food and the awesome fights Masato and Naoya, you guys rock!

Workout Program of the Month: Brazilian Juijitsu (BJJ)

It's probably one of the fastest growing martial arts in popularity ever since Royce Gracie blew everyone's minds at UFC 1 back in 1993.  BJJ is known as the one martial art that the "small guy" can take and beat the big guy.....much like Royce Gracie did against Chad 'Akebono' Rowan where there was about a 308lbs weight difference....yea insane.

I borrowed this from: marrajj.homestead.com

But factoring out that we may all one day face an angry sumo wrestler with a 300lbs weight advantage, there are great advantages to practicing BJJ over other martial arts.  I have tried multiple types of martial arts and still practice a variety, but I would have to say that when done right BJJ is the "safest" and most versatile.  I say "safest" because if done wrong or if you let your pride get in the way it is potentially....maiming.  When practiced in a professional environment (not letting your inexperienced friend try what he saw on tv) with the right training it can be a very educational, and humbling workout.
  I have practiced BJJ for the past 6 years earning my purple belt and have seen how awesome of a martial art it is.  Throughout that time I have had the privilege to teach BJJ as well as lead an inductive bible study that incorporates grappling with the word of GOD and how to apply it to your life (so if you are ever in Jacksonville NC and you are curious, go to Calvary Chapel on Sunday morning).....that was a plug for you there Jerry.haha  I have also had the misfortune of suffering strained ligaments in my knee, ankle (twice), and back , all as a result of my own pride and not tapping out as a dumb kid....I'm only 23, can I use the dumb kid excuse?   By no meas am I an expert or a grand master of fighting but here are some of the pros and cons that I have noticed:

Pros:

• It is a martial art that is tailored to all sizes and body types. (tall, short, fluffy, skinny, strong, weak, young, older)
• A lot of schools have programs for all age groups...and kids are scary good at it.
• BJJ is by far the most humbling martial art I have even done.  You think you are tough as a muscly 18 year old (like me) until this tiny 110lbs guy ties you in a knot over and over again....like me...
• If done with a bit of competitiveness and not laying around it can be a seriously great cardio workout and can definitely put you in great shape.  You will by no means look like Arnold Schwarzenegger but you can lean down.
• You will experience improved all around flexibility and dexterity.
• Unlike striking martial arts you can do several full speed sparring matches back to back and still feel pretty good (if cardio permits).  Where as with striking usually after having someone punch me in the face for a few rounds I will probably have a head ache and a black eye the next day.
• If you are looking at something for self defense this is a pretty good option.
• The curriculum is not as strict as some martial arts.  You can put your own spin on things and tailor it to yourself, in fact its encouraged.
• You can never learn ALL of the moves, this art is ever growing and someone is always finding a better way to do something. For example the Chaotic Arm Bar....who thinks of these things?!

Cons:

• This isn't as much of a con as it is a warning.  If you are easily frustrated or dont like losing then DO NOT DO THIS.  No one likes grappling a sore loser and this will take a LONG time to get really good at.  I lost maybe 30 times before I got my first tap out on someone.... and it was from smothering them with my Gi...dont you judge me!haha
• Accidents happen.  Someone accidentally pulls to hard, you fall the wrong way, your opponent doesn't feel you tap.  You will if you spend a length of time in this sport get hurt at least once.  But I will say from experience that most injuries are from pride.  I now know that it is better to tap out and lose than to get hurt and lose.
• Depending on who is teaching you, you can be REALLY good at one thing and REALLY lacking at another.  For example I can from on school to another and I was great at guard work but horrible at leg locks/leg lock defense.  Until Jerry threw about 20 heel hooks in a row on me, then he helped me improve in that area.

Borrowed from Napoleon Dynamite

 Obviously after the time that I have put into learning this I would say it is a great martial art to try out.  But it all depends on who you are and what you are looking for.  If you read the pros and cons and liked what you saw then give it a shot.  If you didn't then try something else like maybe Rexquando (for those who have not seen Napoleon Dynamite I am kidding).  Either way thanks for reading and don't forget to check out the Organizations page on your way out.  God Bless

My MMA Fight Video From August 28

Ok, so we finally had time to get this thing on here for everyone to see.  I am sorry it took so long, but here it is!  For anyone who didn't know from my pictures and recent post I finally got to step back into the ring again after about 2 years of being away.  While I was stationed in New River I really didn't have the time to get into MMA like I wanted to so I just took the 2 years to study.  I had been spending a lot of time training under the Jiujitsu Master Jerry Roeder while I was in the states.  After having that man kick my butt for me on a weekly basis lets just say I have learned A LOT.  So one day when I finally decide to take a fight to the ground, you will see it in action.lol  I would like to thank everyone again for the support and for encouraging me.  It was a lot of fun and I am so glad I can get back to fighting.
All of the proceeds that I received from this fight went to the Im Jai House orphanage in Thailand. A few years back, I got to go on a mission trip to Chaing Mai (with the Harbor), where they're located, and got to hang out with and minister to the kids during VBS. So if you want please donate, it doesn't take much.  The exchange rate is like 32 bat to $1 ....which is insane.....basically $5 is 140 of their dollars......you can afford it. lol

Sorry the video uploaded a little small. If you want to watch it larger, go to the Youtube link HERE

August 28th MMA Fight!

Hey everybody!  I have been out for a while dealing with....life.  Work has been long and dramatic, and I have been training nonstop for my fight that I didn't have the time or energy to post on here.  Now things have slowed down and I can get back to having fun with my wife, and trying ridiculous new things to put on here again.  As some of you know I just fought this past couple of Sunday's ago and it went well for me.  Lucky for me I had my hot wife there to take some pics for me.  Check them out...

Blocked kick

I threw a head kick like every 5 seconds in this fight for some reason.  I REALLY wanted a head kick KO.lol

Right hook that connected, shortly after I dropped him with a combo.

I have to take some credit from myself on this win and say that this guy was a last choice filler.  My original opponent hurt his knee and they asked this guy to step in a few weeks out.  Either way he gave it his best and I thank him for coming out to fight.

It was such a rush to get back into the ring and fight again, I really did miss it.  Unfortunately I may not be able to step back into the ring for some time due to a possible deployment.  But we will see what happens....   There was a decent chunk of money raised for the Im Jai  House Orphanage, not thousands (unless you count it up in their native dollar then it is thousands) but a decent amount.  I just want to thank everyone who came out to support me, and I will have a video posted soon.  I would also just like to thank my wife for helping me out and being so supportive.  I just had another fight offer recently in Tokyo, as soon as she heard about it she jumped up and was finding hotels that were open and trying to help me get ready.  The fight ended up not happening but I still got to see how much she cared.  I really do have an awesome wife, thanks babe!

Guest Post from the Wifey

Hi everyone! This is Mrs. Caveman. I kinda hacked Chase's blog because he never has time to update this thing and he'll generally not talk about himself. This Sunday, he has a fight coming up. I'm super excited as he's been waiting a long time to get a chance to step into the ring again and has been working around the clock on his training. Please pray for him not to get too injured (ie: his elbow or knee getting bent the wrong way) and to be a good witness in this sport. Thanks for reading! :)

   

Workout Program of the Month: Body By Jake Tower 200 Gym (Randy Couture Gym)

Anyone who is a Randy Couture fan has seen the commercial at least once and wondered if this thing was legitimate.  I will admit when I first saw it I thought "oh yea, just another one of those dumb 'As Seen On TV' things."  Honestly how many times have we seen the latest and greatest workout equipment on TV?  Total Gym, Bow Flex, 6 Minute Abs, Shake Weight (kidding me right?), the list goes on.  So its no wonder that everyone would see this gym and think nothing of it.

      But one day back in February my wife and I were walking through the sports store and saw it.  One thing leads to another and for some odd random reason I end up buying it on a total whim.  Now before telling you how I rate it as a workout I must tell you how DANGEROUS it is.  I being a highly capable and INTELLIGENT (yea right) manly man did not feel it was necessary to read the instructions.  I pulled it out of the box threw the book and warning sign to my wife and began installing it to my door.  A few minutes later I was staring at at my door quite pleased with myself and my new Tower 200......but the frame was a little crooked.......so I tried fixing it.......bad idea.  Like any intelligent manly man I decided to force things and not follow the instructions on how to loosen it.  But as I pushed up on the bottom of the frame the 200+lbs of resistance cables pulled it down.....into my head.

That is just a very small amount of the blood.haha  The irony of it is that the edge of the frame that hit me was also where the warning sticker was located.  That paper I tossed Airin, said that several people got hurt doing that. Yes.....I am now a statistic.(smacks self in head)  

       On the brighter side of things this gym is actually pretty good.  It comes with a workout video that had this kinda goofy and over motivated guy on it doing the workout to some intense guitar music.  The guy looked like he ACTUALLY used this gym and not like all of the other work out guys you see like this guy to the right.  "Cut your hair like mine and I will pump you up!" (said with the Arnold accent) But the cardio workout that he tried didn't look bad.  I am not much for following along with a video so I did my own workout and it turned out surprisingly good.  Here as the pro's and con's that I saw:

Pros:

• Fits on any door just about.
• Good for a quick workout if you are in a rush.
• You can do almost anything imaginable on it,  make up some workout.
• Good for muscular endurance and strength building.
• Easy to store, move around, and keep out of the way.
• Easy upkeep.
• Will go up to a decently heavy weight for any workout you want.
• Mixes into a cardio workout very well.
• Can be used for a range of fight exercises like punching and kneeing the mits.

Cons:

• It WILL hurt you if you dont set it up the right way.lol
• You need a pretty sturdy door for it to latch onto.
• It might mark up the door way around the top where the cables stick out.
• It will only get you so far depending on what you are looking for, don't expect to get huge with it.
• It will not make you as good of a fighter as Randy Couture.... I tried. :(

      Overall I would say this is a good piece to add to your workout routines but not something that's good for doing all by its self.  You will not look like the guy on the front of the box or good old Randy, but you can get into some good shape with it.  I am using it for the end of my workout and throwing punches with it and things like that.  So is it worth the investment?  Depends on what you are looking for I guess.  I think it adds well into what I do and my wife thinks it is especially good for women as it tones instead of bulking you up.  She had a lot of fun with it.  So give it a try if you are interested.

Workout of the Month: Stair Sprints vs. Distance Runnning

We see them all the time in commercials, football shows, and most importantly ROCKY.haha I have always seen people sprinting up stairs and never gave it much thought other than "MAN!  I would hate to fall down those!"       
          But when I got back to Okinawa and took over the PT program for my shop I was curious.  I remembered this set of stairs that my friend Robert showed me just off base.  They were about 3-4 stories straight up and running up them was TORTURE!  I want to keep my pt program interesting so I brought them out there and sure enough things got interesting.  After only a mile run there, 6 races up the stairs (losers had to do 7), a mile back, and 3 people puking they all decided that it was harder than it looked.  But in an odd and masochistic way.....fun.  So we kept doing it.  After about a month I have noticed great improvements, we have already extended the run and found an even longer set of stairs.  Soon I will have to start running them with a pack on!  Not only did the stair sprints get surprisingly easier each time we went but my leg power and endurance have increased immensely.     

     

        In comparison to distance running stair sprints are much more ideal for what I do (MMA).  Here are a few of the pros&cons of stair sprints:

Pro's:

• Much stronger and larger legs than distance running.
• Improves your speed.
• Offers a much quicker and intense workout vise a long run.
• Gives you much more explosive strength in your legs, which greatly benefits your (sprinting, jumping, striking, etc) power.
• They will improve your vertical jump.
• Mixes well into a Crossfit type workout.
• They do not destroy your knee's, hip's, and lower back like long road runs do.  Trust me I did a marathon, I know. 
• It makes it a lot easier to keep an eye on and work out a large group of people no matter what their running pace may be.  Where as you always have stragglers falling way back on a long run.

Con's:

• They can be slightly dangerous in terms of tripping.
• It might be hard to find a good set of stairs to use.
• If you already have bad knees you may not want to start these.

 It has only been a little over a month and I am a hardcore fan of this workout.  It really does beat distance running for the sake of time and intensity, not to mention results.  Don't take my word for it though, find some stairs and give it a try.  Trust me you will love me and hate me for this.haha

Heroes Hall Of Fame Post #2

2.TEAM HOYT

I wish I would have thought to post this on Fathers Day because it really fits the holiday.  Our next hero or heroes I should say is Team Hoyt (click name for official site).  These guys are my personal favorite because they are truly epic!  Here are the highlights.  In 1962 Rick was born to Dick and Judy Hoyt, due to some complications he was diagnosed as a spastic quadriplegic with cerebral palsy.  Instead of letting him live in a hospital his parents decide to take him home and make sure he lived life to the fullest, which is already a hard task.  Soon they could tell that he was a very intelligent and capable young man and fought for him to be able to go to school (which later results in him getting a degree from Boston University in special education).
     In the spring of 1977 Rick hears about a 5 mile benefit run for a Lacrosse player who was paralyzed and tells his dad that he wants to run it.  Dick was not the running type but out of love for his son he agrees to do it anyway.  Rick said that night that running made him feel like he wasn't handicapped.  Little did they know that this would start them on a crazy and inspirational ministry.  Now they travel all over the U.S running races and raising awareness for the Hoyt Foundation.  Putting their count to 1042 races in total as of February!  To include 6 Ironman Triathlons, 7 half Ironmans, and 68 Marathons (27 Boston Marathons).  I don't know about you but I can say from experience that running a Marathon is PAINFUL!!!!  I know I couldn't even do an Ironman.  This guy is 3 times my age and does all of these races while pushing his 110lbs son.  When swimming on the Triathlons he pulls him in a boat!  With that said I am willing to admit that he way more hard core than me.haha  When asked Dick said that his motivation is his son and every time he feels like stopping he just looks in the chair in front of him and keeps going.  If I could even be half the dad that he is I would feel pretty accomplished.haha  Which is why Team Hoyt is no doubt a hero in my book.  So check out their organization and testimony and ask yourself how you could better emulate their Father-Son relationship?

Challenge For The Month: Krispy Kreme Challenge

Ah yes!  The Krispy Kreme Challenge by far one of the grossest and most messed up ideas I have ever seen for a race.  I will probably regret EVER trying this but if anything it will make plenty of people laugh at my expense.  The real challenge is held in Raleigh NC and is designed to benefit a children's hospital.  But I will not be in the states for the next one so I decided to "recreate" one of my own.  The race rules are simple: run 2 miles, eat 1 dozen Krispy Kreme Doughnuts, then run 2 miles back.  You must do all of this within an hour and you cannot throw it up.....I was pretty confident up until I read the DO NOT throw up part.  I am not a teenager anymore and quite frankly even the thought of a single doughnut mid-race sounds like a bad idea, not to mention a dozen.  But either way I gave this thing my best shot.
         So!  With the assistance of my awesome co-workers Reynolds, Ira (his name is actually like 26 letters long but Ira is easier), and my lovely wife, we got together on a nice Saturday morning and grabbed up 3 dozen doughnuts.  We couldn't find anywhere on island that did Krispy Kreme so we had to go with Dunkin, which I will point out now was a BAD idea.  Fun health fact: 1 glazed Krispy Kreme has 217 cal, 1 Glazed Dunkin Doughnut has 290 cal.....you do the math.haha  Here is what happened......

As you can see we went in there confident and came out with our butts handed to us.  The first 2 doughnuts were AMAZING!  Nothing like ending a run with pure sugar, haha.  But when you get to about doughnut number 6 you start getting that dry mouth, hard to chew, just want to spit it out stage.  Once I hit 9, I was pretty sick, so 12 wasn't happening for me.  I will say that with a little bit of training (how do you train for a heart attack?!?!) and some practice it seems like a pretty doable task.  But I do not plan on ever trying this again or eating a doughnut for a little while.  Thanks for reading, check out the Favorite Organizations page before you leave, and don't eat doughnuts while running!

Heroes Hall of Fame

Below you will find the most EPIC and Awesomely hardcore heroes of our time.  This is by no one's standards but mine and I am not putting them in order or making one sound cooler than the other.  I just want to point out people that you may have not heard of before that I thought were doing something great for others.  If you have a favorite that hasn't made the hall of fame shoot me a message I would love to hear about this person and maybe post about them.  (Please note that to qualify as a "Hero"  this person needs to be someone who does something truly extreme for a completely selfless reason.)

1. JESUS CHRIST!!!

   Honestly how can I not start with our Lord and Savior.  If it wasn't for Jesus doing what He did and taking our sins to the cross then we would all be destine for a pretty bad eternity.  He is my GOD and man am I thankful for that!  To look at the "physical" side of what He did, its unbelievable how many miles He hiked to spread the gospel from city to city all out of love.  Plus he did it on these flimsy hard sandals, not the comfy ones like my Flojo's.  Then the biggest thing is what He went through the day He went to the cross.  The beating, the loss of blood and sweat, how far he carried the cross, being nailed to it.  Then enduring GOD's wrath to top it all.  I know I couldn't do it!  That is why He is our Savior.......that and He is a perfect GOD where as we are not.  I am inspired by Christ, and He is no doubt my #1 Hero.


2.TEAM HOYT

I wish I would have thought to post this on Fathers Day because it really fits the holiday.  Our next hero or heroes I should say is Team Hoyt (click name for official site).  These guys are my personal favorite!  Here are the highlights.  In 1962 Rick was born to Dick and Judy Hoyt, due to some complications he was diagnosed as a spastic quadriplegic with cerebral palsy.  Instead of letting him live in a hospital his parents decide to take him home and make sure he lived life to the fullest, which is already a hard task.  Soon they could tell that he was a very intelligent and capable young man and fought for him to be able to go to school (which later results in him getting a degree from Boston University in special education).
     In the spring of 1977 Rick hears about a 5 mile benefit run for a Lacrosse player who was paralyzed and tells his dad that he wants to run it.  Dick was not the running type but out of love for his son he agrees to do it anyway.  Rick said that night that running made him feel like he wasn't handicapped.  Little did they know that this would start them on a crazy and inspirational ministry.  Now they travel all over the U.S running races and raising awareness for the Hoyt Foundation.  Putting their count to 1042 races in total as of February!  To include 6 Ironman Triathlons, 7 half Ironmans, and 68 Marathons (27 Boston Marathons).  I don't know about you but I can say from experience that running a Marathon is PAINFUL!!!!  I know I couldn't even do an Ironman.  This guy is 3 times my age and does all of these races while pushing his 110lbs son.  When swimming on the Triathlons he pulls him in a boat!  With that said I am willing to admit that he way more hard core than me.haha  When asked Dick said that his motivation is his son and every time he feels like stopping he just looks in the chair in front of him and keeps going.  If I could even be half the dad that he is I would feel pretty accomplished.haha  Which is why Team Hoyt is no doubt a hero.  So check out their organization and testimony and ask yourself how you could better emulate their Father-Son relationship?



3. David & Shirley Callahan (Faithful Heart Foundation)

For the life of me I couldn't find their
picture so we will just use their logo...

Here is a couple that knows what it means to let everything of this world go for Gods glory. David and Shirley were retired in South Carolina and set up to live the "American dream". They had a check coming to them, house, car, and no reason to have to work again or really worry about anything. But they knew that wasn't what God wanted them to do. So what did they do? Get a bigger house on the beach? Get a dog? Or maybe join a country club and relax the rest of their lives?.......no, no, and NO! Instead they sold and gave away EVERYTHING they had and moved to Thailand to open an orphanage. They are now independent missionaries funded by their local church and a few people who just want to help. Talk about a HUGE leap of faith! I can't imagine what that took, thinking about it kinda freaks me out...... But they knew that was where God wanted them and because of that they trusted Him to take care of all of the unknowns. Now they have grown to multiple houses or branches if you will for these kids. This is inspiring for me in a big way. I feel so lame when I think about what I wonder and sometimes wimp out on. "Well God, times are tight right now so can I just cover the tithes on the next pay check?" or "Hey God I know this kinda doesn't feel like what you want me to be doing right now, and I should probably drive myself and my wife on over to the Harbor for church. But I am REALLY tired so maybe I can just go twice next week?" or when I go "Yea God I know this guy at work just brought up some stuff and I could probably help him, and witness to him or at least take him to church. But what If he says no, and thinks I am a weird Christian???"

Here is our missions group visiting one of the hill tribes. (I am the guy in the
bottom with the dog and a kid playing with my beard.lol)

I had the awesome opportunity to go with my church back in 2009 to visit this orphanage along with the Im Jai House, and go to the hill tribe as well which is another focus of their ministry at Faithful Heart Foundation. It was crazy seeing how much they were doing for these kids! They were teaching them more than the average American kid would learn. Not only being educated but they were being taught a lot of great agricultural skills as well. Like how to grow rice, and mushrooms, also how to raise chickens and other animals. It was an amazing experience and to be honest if I wasn't with this amazing woman who is now my wife I might have just thrown away my passport and stayed there. My pastor who was there might have advised against me going UA from the Marines though.haha Attached below is the link to the blog they wrote about our awesome visit, check it out.
http://faithfulheartministry.com/callahan-corner/2009/03/village-visit-mar-30-2009

These people would never claim the title hero and obviously that just shows where their hearts are. But I will call them hero's and I know to every single one of those kids they are hero's. So check them out on my organizations page if you get the chance, they are pretty awesome. If you feel led to, donate. What is $20 to us anyway? thanks for reading and God Bless.

James 1:27 Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.

Workout Program Of The Month: Crossfit

So I chose to start with my current favorite program: Crossfit.  This is one of the things I have used for the past several years to prepare for my fights and other events.  The Awesome thing about Crossfit is that you can do this EPIC workout that is tailored towards strength and cardio at the same time, but you only have to spend like 20 minutes doing it.  This is perfect for me, because when you work in a shop you only get so much time for lunch anyway.  But, like any workout program there are pros and cons to this.  Here are some of the ones I noticed:
 

You will learn that tire flipping is my favorite workout...

        Pros

• Quick and efficient 
• You can do half of their workouts virtually anywhere, with almost no equipment.
• It is fairly easy to tweak the provided workout if it is too easy or too hard for you.
• No goofy video to watch or long process to read, just write down whats on the blog and do it.
• They have their own competition every year called The Crossfit Games, which is where the truly insane athletes go.
• You can actually get certified in this and put it on your resume, or even open your own Crossfit gym.

        Cons

• The workout days are NOT in a set order (Monday=Chest, Tuesday=Back, etc.) of any kind, so your workout week might look more like this:  Back, Cardio, Back, Legs, Chest/Legs.....
• NOT always easily used for a group of people (like morning pt), due to the lack of equipment or just the simple fact that no one wants to wait on the slow guy doing 50 burpies.lol

One of my long time workout partners, Jason Gipper.  The dude is a BEAST!

If you are looking for a new program to try out and want something quick but seriously effective I recommend this.  If you are new to working out and don't know a whole lot about building your own schedule or program then I would recommend something maybe a little more structured.  But overall I would have to give Crossfit a pretty high rating on how efficient and practical it is.  Sorry for the lack of pictures, we are in the middle of our PCS to Okinawa so I did not get the chance to take a lot of pics for this post.  My next program post will be better, Promise!  But I can tell you from experience that this program is good to go.

Challenge for the month:The Tire Challenge

This is by far my most favorite challenge/workout to do.  I will admit I am a little biased due to the fact that it was created by myself and 2 of my really good friends.  About 4 years ago while working in the tire shop on MCAS Futemna, I was bored and trying to come up with new ideas for a workout.  I had seen in the past people do tractor tire flips, and all kinds of other just really brute strength based workouts.  So starting with a used C130 tire, we (Jason Gipper, John Underwood, and myself) started collaborating.  Then the tire challenge was born!(sounds so epic I know.lol)  Taking a 275lbs tire we would flip it around a 132 meter course racing the clock dong the following exercises along the way: 30push-ups, 20sprawls, 20pull-ups, 40hammer swings, 50crunches, and finishing it off with picking up and slamming an 80lbs tire to the ground 10 times. 

Gipper hammering down on one of our tires.

Whats friendship without a little trash talk

We did this thing weekly, sometimes even daily and as we did the crowd of curious bystanders grew.  Before long we had people lined up wanting a piece of this insane challenge.  So we had to up the challenge for ourselves and started doing it with gas masks on. 

Try this with the Okinawan heat and humidity in August!

 The idea worked as there were only 5 of us who could complete it with a gas mask on.  But I must say I don't think anyone is man enough to top Wes who used to do it while chain smoking smoking cigarettes.haha

The results we saw out of this workout were amazing!  When you finished your back, bi's, legs, core, EVERYTHING was hurting.  Now that I am back in Okinawa I will be doing this thing constantly.  So if you are on Futemna and want a good challenge to try come by the MALS 36 Hydraulic shop and hit me up.  Or if you are back in the states and have access to a REALLY heavy tire give this thing a try.  You wont be disappointed.

Tough Mudder Georgia

So!  Here we go, the first blog post.  Lucky for me, it gets to be something really hardcore!  On March 12th, my wife and I went to Cedartown, Georgia so that I could run the Tough Mudder for my birthday.  This event truly is TOUGH!  12.4 miles of rocky mountainous (not to mention muddy) terrain, completing 20 obstacles along the way.  This event was definitely a kick in the butt.  In my defense, I will say that it has been over a year since I have ran anything over 5 miles. So I was NOT prepared for this.  By the end of it I had SO many huge cuts in my feet from all of the rocks in my boots. But this was probably the most fun race I have ever done.  So check out the pictures and ask yourself: Do you have what it takes to be a Tough Mudder???

 ^This is my shirt of choice for the race.

 ^All along the trail they had signs like the one above taunting you.  There was another one that said "Stay on the trail or the velociraptors will eat you" Lol.

There were several other obstacles that I took pictures of but none of them really turned out well.  But this is one my AWESOME wife took.  This is the electro-shock therapy portion where you run through charged cords right after swimming across a lake (making you soaking wet and more vulnerable to electricity).  Some of them were a couple thousand volts. It was funny seeing peoples' faces when they hit those! haha

 

Here are the before and after pictures of me, needless to say I was not a very happy camper. 

So like I said it was a really cool (painful) race.  They are sponsor the Wounded Warrior Project and help raise a lot of money each race for it. In 2010, Tough Mudder (US) raised in excess of $600,000 for the Wounded Warrior Project. So, if you get the chance, you should definitely look into the race and donate. Don't forget to check out the Organizations page and I'll be working on my next blog post soon.

To Do List

The List that never stops growing....

1. Okinawa Marathon (never again please)
2. Tough Mudder
3. Iron-man Triathlon (at least a Half one)
4. Olympic Triathlon
5. Strong Man Competition (again) 
6. Krispy Kreme Challenge (make my own)
7. Spartan Race
8. Warrior Dash
9. Fight In Pancrase  
10. Fight one of Wanderlei Silva's former opponents
11. Break A Guinness Book Record 
12. Peak Snowshoe Half-Marathon Challenge
13. Peak Death Race
14. Go to the Crossfit Games

About Me

Hey!  My name is Chase, thanks for checking out FIGHT FOR THE BROKEN.  The idea behind this blog serves a dual purpose.  It lets my family back home see what I am up to and it raises awareness for various organizations in a much more meat-headed and fun way than usual.  Each week I will post reviews over things such as: My latest workouts, Challenges I have attempted (whether it be events or Guinness Book Records), Hero recognition, and my latest fight.  Most of my pictures will be taken by my AWESOME and BEAUTIFUL wife Airin Owen.  The reason why this blog is titled FIGHT FOR THE BROKEN is because through each event I compete in I will be doing different things to help raise awareness for these organizations.  All of my fight winnings or any other money that could be earned will go straight to these organizations as well.  I can't say this is a ground breaking and mind blowing way to raise awareness.  But this is at least something I can do in addition to what God has handed me here in my day to day life.  These organizations work for those that really are broken or hurting. Their mission is to do things like free child soldiers, sex slaves, and feed orphans.  Most of these sites allow you to make either one time donations or monthly ones(because honestly what is like $20 a month to us?  You can't even pay for a dinner for 2 at that price).  So if you are interested in donating to any of these organizations please check out the Favorite Organizations page on this blog to learn more about them.  Thanks for stopping by.

"But by the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which was bestowed on me was not in vain.  but I labored more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me." 
  1 Cor 15:10

Chase "Caveman" Owen

Favorite Organizations

Listed below are a few of the organizations that we have either had the privilege of working with or that we support.  So take a look at some of them and feel free to click on the links to their websites.



International Justice Mission
http://www.ijm.org/

This organization specializes in stopping human trafficking and slavery.  They are working constantly in breaking up sex trades and child slavery and they are doing an awesome job of it.  They constantly updating their blog website with news and recent break throughs.




Invisible Children
http://www.invisiblechildren.com/

Invisible Children was started by a handful of college students who went on a trip to Uganda to do a documentary on the civil war there.  The rebels kidnap children from the surrounding villages and brain wash them, forcing them to fight in this war for them or die.  Shortly afterward the college students started the organization Invisible Children.  Working to free these children and relocate them to where they can live a much better life sleeping and eating in homes and going to school. This an AWESOME organization making a HUGE impact so check them out.




Cadence International
http://www.cadence.org/Default.aspx

This is an organization that sends missionaries out to start churches and minister to the military around the world, reaching them in countries where Christianity is rare.  You can go to their website a pick one of the missionaries to personally donate to.  The church we attend in Okinawa is a part of this organization and they do an amazing job.












Imjai House
http://www.imjaihouse.com/new/

Here is an orphanage in Chiang Mai Thailand.  This place is awesome, they take children in from all over and give them an amazing life with some seriously good education (probably better than most American schools).  Our church goes there every year to do a Vacation Bible School with the kids and it really was one of the best experiences of my life.  I strongly encourage you to check these guys out and sponsor one of these orphans.

Compassion International
http://www.compassion.com

 Compassion International is a Christian child advocacy ministry that releases children from spiritual, economic, social and physical poverty and enables them to become responsible, fulfilled Christian adults.  If you would like to sponsor a child check these guys out.


Faithful Heart Ministry
http://faithfulheartministry.com/

Started by a couple from South Carolina, this ministry is dedicated to raising funds and providing management/oversight for several small orphan homes.  These guys rely on what little money they have and whatever their sponsors will donate to these children resources are limited so whatever help is appreciated.