Barbells: Artists & Killers

Right now I'm more interested in writing than reading, so I won't dig through my bookshelves and piles of books to see if perhaps it really was Miyamoto Musashi who said, "to know one thing is to know one thousand," or similar words.

The thing is I put a lot of time into becoming good at chess, and over years I made it into the top ten percent of tournament players, which is about 9.9 percent away from making any money.  But I did learn much about chess, and more importantly I learned how to learn.

I read somewhere else again a novel approach to classifying chessplayers.  The only two classifications I remember are artists and killers, and they are the only two I needed in chess and now that I've transitioned to the barbell.

The archetypal artist was perhaps former World Champion Vasily Smyslov who said, "no fantasy, however rich, no technique, however masterly...can make a chess game a work of art if these qualities do not lead to the main goal - the search for truth."  This contrasts starkly with the archetypal killer, former World Champion Bobby Fischer, who said he loved to watch his opponents squirm.

I tried and tried to be an artist, and in fifteen years I played three beautiful games which really is not bad; many amateurs will go a lifetime without producing any good games.  I also won a few tournaments, notably the 2004 US Amateur G/60 Championship.

Yes, I won a national championship, and that was only because I could shift into killer mode.  When my efforts to create a great game failed, I still had a flair for throwing the last hard sucker punch, and I was okay with that because winners don't get questioned.

With the barbell I try to be an artist.  Possibly I put more effort into lifting 45 pounds than I do lifting 300.  I believe that when I can consistently lift 45 the way I will have to lift 400, I'll lift 400.

But I play this game, powerlifting, and if I good morning up 440 pounds with blood running out my nose, I'll feel every bit as good as if the lift had been given all 10's by gymnastic judges.

I am consistent.

As a coach, I love my killers, and I love my artists.  Yes, I am prejudiced.  My favorites are the starving would-be artists who shift into killers when the situation demands.  That after all is what I am.

But above all, don't make an axe murder of a stiletto job.

I've been a killer longer than you, and you can consider it both a compliment and small remnant of sanity when I take your barbell away.

Afterthought: is it possible to be a killer artist?