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| Sharing Wisdom, Sharing Experience • Buddy Hull I started power lifting when I was 12, 13 years old. My dad was a weightlifter and some of my first memories are of going to the gym with him, at the YMCA in my hometown. My dad was a big guy. Same height as me, but same build too — real stocky and thick. And then something else that has really influenced me — I don't like to be like anybody, if you will. And it is not that I necessarily want to defy. I just don't want to blend in. I want to be me. And I knew I could be very good at strength sports. I tried every sport in the world except baseball. Playing high school basketball was a joke. I played football but I hurt my back. Tried track and field in junior high. But no matter what I did, I always went back to the weight room. Always. I like lifting weights. I like being strong. I don't really care how I look. I'm not into the looks part of it. I'm into the strength part of it. And just seeing how strong I can get. So I challenged myself with power lifting and Olympic lifting. And then when I was a senior in high school, I met Chad Braden. Chad Braden is a professional Highland games athlete who was just getting started then. And it was ironic because, at that time, I was a senior in high school and I was physically stronger than he was. He must have been around 210 to 220 pounds and he was 6'2. And he's 10 years older than me. I met him at the Powerhouse Gym in Jackson, Illinois. And he tried to talk me into doing the games. But I was a kid and wouldn't listen to him. Finally, he talked me into going out to Dixon Mounds — the Indian burial grounds down south — where they were having Highland games. Now I was used to going to the gym and definitely, without a doubt, being the strongest person my age around. I went to the games and I really sucked. I did. And I was like, "That's it. I quit." One time and that was it. About four years later — and I'd stayed in contact with Chad the whole time — I ran into him again and he's still going, "C'mon, man, you should do this." At that time, I went to school in Los Angeles. I was still power lifting. So I tried it again. Went to the Highland games in South Bend, Indiana, and there were 16 guys there. I got sixteenth place! I was strong. I was a big guy, bigger than I am now. I was 240 pounds and really strong. And I got sixteenth. So I got pissed. And at that point, I had enough maturity to know I could be good at this. And I wasn't going to quit. So from that time until the end of August, I practiced every day. Every single day. Went out and bought a 16-pound shot put, which is similar to the stone. Met up with some guys who had weights and stuff and started training with them. And at the end of August, I went to the Grant Park Games in Chicago, and placed third or fourth. From then on, I was hooked. I worked through all the different classes. There is an A class, B class and a C class. I obviously started in the C class and worked through the B class. I'm in the A class now. And at this point, I owe a lot of credit to Chad for helping me out with technique. Something I lack is height. I'm 5'10. Most of the guys who compete at the A level are much bigger than me. Much bigger. Now, understand they're not stronger than me. they are bigger than me, okay? They have longer limbs — they're taller. And that gives them a lot of advantage. Winning has a lot to do with limb length, which means a bigger rotation on the spins and that sort of thing. So I have to make up for that disadvantage with pure technique and then using my strength. Right now I'm ranked number 65 of all amateurs in the United States. My goal this season [summer 2006] is the top 35 to top 40 ranking. That's my goal. So I have to adjust a couple of things. Something I'm focusing on right now is my 28-pound weight for distance, which I know I can be successful at. I just haven't gone to an event where I can throw a good number and log it. It's the same with my open stone. Besides that, I have a good ranking on my hammer — threw an 85-foot heavy hammer. And a 13-foot [56-pound] weight over bars. Pretty good numbers. About power lifting versus Highland games I was burnt out on power lifting just because I'd done it for so long. But what keeps me so energized about the Highland games is this: when you are power lifting, you always meet a couple of jerks here and there. And people aren't so friendly sometimes. With these games, you don't run into that very often. Everyone's willing to help each other out. And really, it's all about camaraderie. When I go into a game, I don't go to win first place; or second or third. That's not it. I go to beat my last score. I go to beat my national ranking. If there are 12 guys on the field and I get twelfth place — but I beat all my personal bests — then I won as far as I'm concerned. You are really competing against yourself. The Highland games is all about consistency too. In Springfield [May 20, 2006], I didn't get first in one event — not one single event! But I placed well all day and that put me first in class. It's a point system. So I got seconds, thirds and fourths all day long. I was more consistent than anyone else in my class, which got me first place. I did not get first place in one event all day long. It's like golf. If you can hit the ball and drive it 325 yards but you get on the green and it takes you six putts to get in there? Your score just went from a two or three to a seven or eight. It's the same thing with the Highland games. It's a scoring system. The guy with the lowest points — at the end of the day — wins. Now, on the consistency, don't get me wrong. Your odds of getting first place if you place third, fourth or fifth all day long are going to slim up. But it's really all about consistency. There are nine events involved. And it's not an easy sport. You are looking at taking anywhere from 45 to 50 throws per day. Some people don't realize that being in the scorching sun for seven to nine hours and exercising throughout the whole time is hard. They just don't realize that. They're just there to watch and they're not thinking, "Shit, these guys have been out here since nine in the morning and it's five and they are still going!" It's a mind game also — being able to remember what you did on that one throw that went so well. And you have a lot of heritage involved. There are so many things that go into this sport it's unbelievable. And though it's an old sport — the oldest in the world next to the Olympics — it's still evolving every day. People are finding new ways to throw the implements, such as spinning the weight over the bar instead of standing with it. Same with the sheaf toss — spinning with the fork rather than standing. On heritage and history As far as my heritage goes, my mother's name is Means and I haven't been able to find a kilt in that tartan yet. So I wear a black kilt. No one wears black kilts and the first time I wore it, people were like, "What are you doing?" People just don't do that. It's really untraditional. I'm not trying to offend the tradition behind it, but I like to be myself. But I'm kind of a mutt too! I have probably five or six ethnicities as far as I can find! But there's definitely Scottish in my blood. With the tradition behind the games — and I know I already said this — it's the oldest game in the world next to the Olympics. Every event comes from some kind of tactic or the way of life was way back when. The weights that we throw are half of a "hundred-weight" which was used to weigh different foods and grains. And then some guy says, "Well, I can throw that farther than you." I'm serious. And so these guys were throwing it five feet and now we're throwing it 30, 40 and sometimes 50 feet, which is incredible. I've read a lot of different theories on the stone. But the best guess is it was a war tactic. It's probably the same with the caber. They used them to scale walls — and that sort of thing — so they threw them for accuracy. I haven't really gotten an article that talks about the hammers very much, but once again, it was probably a war tactic. Now the sheaf toss comes from the Scottish Lowlands. It was where they grew a lot of grain. It's where the farming was. And that's where the event stems from. But it really wasn't developed in the Lowlands as a sport. That's an Americanized event. We turned it into an event, if you know what I mean. And at some Highland games, you don't throw the sheaf. Some people really don't believe in it because they think it's untraditional. But it's an awesome event. I like it. It's just different. And there are a lot of different things involved. Everywhere you go, you get a different sheaf (a different bag). For the masters, the lightweights, the B and C throwers, they get a 16-pound bag. For the A and Pro throwers, we throw a 20-pound bag. Now, I was in Alma, Michigan, last weekend for their games and we threw a 25-pound bag. That's a whole 'nother world. That's a lot of bag at the end of a fork. You wouldn't think five pounds would make that much of a difference. But when you put that difference on the end of a fork? It's a big spread. It really affects how it feels, how high it goes, that sort of thing. There is some technology involved, to get weights to fly better and things like that. And it is an evolving sport. But it is what it is. It's one of the most traditional sports left. It's definitely more traditional than the Olympics. The Olympics are probably the most untraditional games out there as far as I'm concerned. I mean, those people are engineered. It's the most high-tech thing in the world now. I don't want that to happen to the Highland games. And our games definitely don't get enough respect. And with that, something that is frustrating me a little bit is the way some some athletes are starting to project themselves. In my eyes, this is a gentlemen's sport. But every now and then, you run into somebody and they are not a gentleman. And it's starting to piss me off. We're athletes. Drinking a beer or smoking a cigarette on the field while you are throwing because you think that's cute? It's not cute to me. And if you do it around me, I'll tell you what I think. Now, I understand that a lot of beer drinking and smoking goes along with the heritage, but don't do it on the field. I'm serious. Somebody who does that makes this sport look a lot easier than it really is. And people think, "Well, if some guy can go out there and smoke a cigarette and do this, then I can do it." I'd like to see them try. It's starting to get on my nerves. It's not against my religion or anything like that. It's just this: I train hard. I work hard to be good at what I do. I don't want somebody out there making me look dumb. And making the sport look dumb. The most amazing thing I've found out about the games is that everyone comes from a totally different background. There's guys that work for park districts and mow yards all day. There's guys like me that are at a very high level of management in their industry. There's guys that are electrical contractors. Guys that work for themselves. Across the board, you get a lot of different people meshing into one single thing with one thing in common. And the camaraderie? You know what? I've actually stuck my foot in mouth on more than one occasion. Competing at an event where I've been winning on overall points and then someone shows up and I help them, going, "Hey, try this or that." And then I end up getting beat! And I don't care! I really don't, especially if they are someone that I feel could be a better athlete than me. I would rather help them to get to that level — that Pro level or that higher level — than not share my knowledge. It would be unfair and stupid to not help! Why would you hold back on your expertise? It's stupid. Holding back on knowledge and wisdom is how you fail as far as I'm concerned. People who don't share knowledge and wisdom are the first to fail. On getting started It's actually very easy to get into the Highland games as a novice. We're always looking for good people and good athletes. The best thing to do is investigate first. Use the Internet. Look at sites and see what we do. Get on a message board, introduce yourself and start talking to people. Everyone will always be more than happy to invite you out to practice if you don't feel comfortable going to a games right off the bat. So it's easy to get started and people are generally welcomed with open arms. As long as you are a friendly person, you're always going to be welcomed and that's important to know. But it takes a lot of work to get good and some people just don't want to go there. I'm always working to get other guys into the sport. And the best athletes to get to transfer over are track and field athletes. They already have the mentality needed for the spinning, the gliding, the different techniques with the weights, and that sort of thing. But even getting them to try it is tough. And some people are afraid to wear the kilt. Some guys are very self-conscious about that. I'm serious. "I'll never wear that thing!" Okay. That's fine. So that's one barrier. You wouldn't think so, but it is. It doesn't bother me. I don't even think about it. I just put the thing on. It's comfortable. It's the heritage. And I love it. I mean, it's the number one symbol of Scotland! When you think of Scotland, what do you think of? Bagpipes and a kilt! So why would you ever take those things out of the equation. And I love bagpipes, but at the end of the day after the pipers have played all day? You still hear them! The day's over and you still hear it vibrating in your head. Where do you want the games to go in the future? Right where it is right now. I don't want it to get to commercialized. If that happens, then we're getting away from what it really is. And it's great to have people come and watch. I'd love to see 10,000 people watching a caber toss. That's great. But don't make it something that it's not. It is what it is! And don't get too technological with it. Not like the Olympics. I mean, basically, what we are doing is the same as it was a thousand years ago. So I don't want anybody messing with it. The minute you start messing with it, making it technological and commercial, then you are going to take guys like me — guys that really care about the sport — right out of it. That's what is happening to strongmen right now. So let's not get into being on ESPN every night or making it into the new WWF. It could happen! I don't want to get to that. Education is one thing. Getting too commercial or technological is something else. What I always like to see, though, is educating people and getting people involved. Bringing them in. The more the merrier, really. And I would like to see better athletes involved. I always like to see records being broken. That's good. It's competitive. It's the competitive edge that I have. I refuse to lose at anything. In my own mind, nobody is going to beat me. You may beat me but you are not going to beat who I am. So I'm always willing to open it up to people and help them out. Most events only allow a certain amount of athletes. The older games that have been around for a long time — like the Alma Games — allow 20 athletes and that's it. And it's a little bit political. If you know somebody there and they want you to come up and throw and put on a show, then they'll invite you up. If you don't get invited, you 're not going to go. But the higher you get as a thrower, then the more invites you'll get. People want you to come because they know you'll put on a show. Nobody wants to see an athlete throw the 28-pound weight just 45 feet. The crowd wants to see somebody throw it 65 or 70 feet. No one wants to see a 10-foot sheaf toss. Everybody wants to see a 28-foot sheaf toss. Everybody wants to see that bar way up in the air. People want to see a huge caber going end over end — not some toothpick they think they could take care of! I plan on competing in anywhere from 10 to 15 games this summer. I'll be doing the Bristol Highland Games up in Wisconsin, the Fife Lake Highland Games way up north in Michigan, the Kansas City Games, the Chatham Sweet Corn Festival, five miles south of Springfield [Illinois]. So there's definitely much more in store as far as the summer goes. Hopefully I don't get hurt. Injuries do happen. You can track my scores on NASGA. You can pull up national rankings, individual event rankings and all those things. It's an evolving process. You see guys on the field that are 60 years old. You got masters out there that are 60-plus years old. So it's never too late. I mean, if you start before you are 40, you're starting pretty young. Something that I definitely want to do is produce my own games, probably right here in Joliet. An none of the athletes will pay to compete. Right now, at some games we have to pay money to throw. And I understand 10 bucks, that sort of thing, to cover costs. But when you pay 20 or 30 bucks to put on a show for people who paid money to come watch? That's frustrating me a little bit. So for my own games, no one will pay. I mean, it's me! I'll produce it, Make sure everything is there. Everything is right. Everything will be paid for. I'll get sponsors for everything and athletes will come. Right now it's just trying to get ahold of the right people and make the right contacts to make it happen. I'll get to it. Really, I owe a lot of credit to my dad and Chad Braden for what they've done for me as far as lifting weights and the Highland games go. And that's about it, you know? June 8, 2006 |
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