Hail to the Dinosaurs!
One of the most important things you can
do is feed your mind.
No, I'm not talking about special supplements
for the brain cells -- or eating goldfish or
anything else that supposedly makes you smarter.
I'm talking about filling your mind with
positive, motivating, and inspiring thoughts.
One of the great things about the old-school
books, courses and magazines -- the ones from
the 1920's, 30's, 40's and 50's -- was the
way they pushed a positive message. They
made you BELIEVE that if you trained hard
and followed the rules of good health, YOU
TOO could be successful. YOU TOO could be a
champion.
Now, you need to remember, this was back in
the days when there were very few gyms or
other places to train -- weightlifting, weight
training and other forms of progressive physical
training were about as rare as little green men
from Mars -- and buying a simple plate loading
barbell and dumbbell set was an undertaking that
often required six or more months of working odd
jobs and saving your pennies before you could
afford to buy it.
And yet, tens of thousands of young men and boys
were so moved by what they read and saw in the
old-school magazines, books and courses, that
they saved their pennies, ordered their barbells
(or found a lifting club, gym or YMCA with
weights) -- and got into some serious training.
And many of them had incredible success.
One of those young men lived in Brooklyn. His
name was John Davis. He was raised by his mother.
he never knew his father. Dad skipped out when
John was a baby. (Or perhaps even sooner than
that.)
From an early age, John was fascinated with
strength and power. He watched Tarzan movies
and wanted to be like Tarzan -- so he started
"training" by doing pull-ups, horizontal bar
work, ring work, dips, pushups and handstand
pushups on the playground equipment at a small
neighborhood park.
One day, right around this time of year, a
group of boys were fooling around, trying to
lift a big slab of concrete left behind by some
workmen. None of them could budge it -- not
even the oldest and strongest boys.
That's when John Davis gave it a try -- and
he amazed the other boys by lifting the concrete
slab to his shoulders -- and then pressing it
overhead.
And that moment changed everything for John
Davis -- and for American weightlifting.
An older boy named Steve was walking by the park,
and he saw what happened. Steve was a weightlifter
and weightlifting fan -- and he even owned his own
barbell. He invited John to come over and see how
much he could lift with a real barbell.
And that was how it started.
Less than two years later, John Davis won the World
Weightlifting Championship -- defeating the defending
World Champion and the defending Olympic champion.
He went on to be undefeated in international
competition for nearly 15 years -- and during
that time he won SIX World Championships, TWO
Olympic Gold medals, the first Pan American Games,
something like a dozen USA national championships --
and set a string of National, World and Olympic
records. At one time, he held all of the USA,
World, Pan-American and Olympic records in the
Heavyweight class -- and this was at a bodyweight
of a mere 220 to 230 pounds.
He was one of the greatest weightlifters in the
history of the world -- and in his prime, he was
the STRONGEST man in the world -- and it all
started on a cold, gray day in a park in Brooklyn.
It started with a dream -- and with a young man
who believed in his dream -- and who made that
dream a reality.
And that's how it always starts.
Yours in strength,
Brooks Kubik
P.S. You can learn more about John Davis and his
remarkable life and lifting in BLACK IRON: THE JOHN
DAVIS STORY -- which many readers say is their number
one favorite book from Dino Headquarters:
http://www.brookskubik.com/blackiron_johndavis.html
P.S. 2. You also can learn more about John Davis and
other American weightlifting champions, bodybuilders,
and strongmen in the LEGACY OF IRON series:
Legacy of Iron (book no. 1 in the series):
http://www.brookskubik.com/legacy_of_iron.html
Clouds of War (book no. 2 in the series):
http://www.brookskubik.com/clouds_of_war.html
The 1,000 Pound Total (book no. 3 in the series):
http://www.brookskubik.com/1000pound_total.html
York Goes to War! (book no. 4 in the series):
http://www.brookskubik.com/legacy_of_iron4.html
Barbells in the Pacific (book no. 5 in the series):
http://www.brookskubik.com/barbells_pacific.html
NOTE: See the bottom of the sales page for Barbells
in the Pacific for a special deal on all five of the
LEGACY OF IRON books!
P.S. 3. My other books and courses -- and DVD's,
t-shirts, hoodies and sweatshirts -- are right here:
http://www.brookskubik.com/products.html
P.S. 4. Thought for the Day: "It starts with a dream --
followed by plenty of old-fashioned hard work." --
Brooks Kubik
