Hudson Power Team: Bio

Hudson Power Team is not a real powerlifting team, though it could be if I were the type with an ego requiring that sort of indulgence. Rather, Hudson Power Team is simply recognition of a simple fact of life in strength sports: my individual success as a powerlifter has been made possible by the contributions of many training partners, coaches, and lifting friends. In other words, my success as an individual powerlifter has been a team effort. Indeed, in my more than two decades in the sport, it has been the friendships developed through training and competing that have added the richest dimension to my powerlifting career. Hudson Power Team is my way of recognizing this team aspect of my accomplishments. To those who have been part of my journey, I remain . . .

Federation Affiliations - I'm currently a member of the World Association of Bench Pressers and Deadlifters (WABDL). In the past, I've lifting in the American Powerlifting Federation (APF) and the United States Powerlifting Federation (USPF). I served as Illinois State Co-Chairperson for WABDL from 2004 to 2007, and I've been Texas State Chairman for WABDL since moving to Texas in 2007. I also serve as National Collegiate Chairman for WABDL. I am a World Judge for WABDL, as well.

Team Affiliations - I'm one of the four founding members and also a lifetime member of Illini Powerlifting, the powerlifting club of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. In my capacity as Illinois State Co-Chairperson for WABDL from 2003 to mid-2007, I also organized Team Illinois for meets, particularly the annual WABDL World Bench Press and Deadlift Championships. I was Team Captain of Team Illinois, the Team Champions of the 2005 and 2006 WABDL World Championships. In my position as WABDL Texas State Chairman, I organize the Team Texas rosters for the WABDL World Championships. I am also Head Coach of UHD Powerlifting, the Powerlifting Club of the University of Houston-Downtown, WABDL National Collegiate Team Champions in 2008 AND 2009.

Hometown - I grew up in beautiful Petoskey, Michigan. I've lived in many places since then, including Grand Forks, North Dakota, Red Lake Falls, Minnesota, Jochiwon, South Korea, and Champaign-Urbana, Illinois, but I now call Houston, Texas home.

Education - A.A. in Liberal Arts with Highest Distinction, North Central Michigan College, 1988; B.A. in American Studies, Cum Laude, University of North Dakota, 1990; M.A. in English, University of North Dakota, 1993, Thesis Title: "Edith Wharton's Businessmen"; Ph.D. in English with Specialization in Writing Studies, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2007, Dissertation Title: "Silent Readers, Silenced Readers: LGBT Student Perceptions of LGBT Representation in Composition Readers." Two very dear friends wouldn't want me to forget to add that I'm also a Minister ordained by Universal Ministries of Milford, Illinois.

Work - I'm an Assistant Professor of English at the University of Houston-Downtown. In my previous job, I was a Visiting Lecturer at the Intensive English Institute (IEI) of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign where I was Head of the Academic Reading and Writing Component.

Hobbies and Interests - Powerlifting, of course, and strength sports in general. I'm also a huge fan of college football. I like the University of Illinois Illini, of course, but my favorite teams are the Michigan State Spartans and my alma mater the University of North Dakota Fighting Sioux, Division II National Champions in 2001 and runners-up in 2003. Pro football, however, doesn't do much for me. Other than that, my dissertation keeps me too busy to devote much time to my other interests, which include travel, genealogy, cooking, music (I play piano), and reading widely. I also love pets; I have a Cockatiel, four Parakeets, two Canaries, a White-Eyed Conure, and a 30-gallon reef tank. I enjoy traveling when I can.

Sports Background - I was a nerd right up through freshman year of high school. My only extracurricular activity up to then was band. Sophomore year I tried wrestling, stuck with it, and by my senior year I was pretty good. I also had the priceless opportunity to get revenge on a couple of childhood bullies while wrestling. In the Articles and Advice section I tell the wonderful story of how I struck a blow for bullied nerds everywhere and extracted payment in flesh in wrestling practice after wrestling practice. I later wrestled for one season at the University of North Dakota . . . a tough way to earn a scholarship. At the college level, wrestling truly becomes more than a sport: it's a way of life. If wrestling is your passion, more power to you, and I wish you success and joy in the sport. I have nothing but the utmost admiration for those who devote themselves to wrestling. But if you're only in it for the scholarship, take my advice: get your grades up and earn an academic scholarship, or get a job.

Lifting Background - I have always admired strength. As a kid growing up in the '70s, I treasured any chance to see the great Soviet weightlifter Vasily Alexeyev crushing record after record on ABCs Wide World of Sports.


Vasily Alexeyev: Super Heavyweight Olympic Weightlifting King in the '70s

I started lifting in 1980 for wrestling. At first I used Nautilus equipment at the local tennis club. What a joke! Fortunately for me, my stepfather cared enough about my training to drive down to Traverse City, Michigan and bring back a home gym free-weight setup. It was basic and it was standard plates, but it was infinitely superior to Nautilus, let alone the worthless Universal machine at my high school. Along with the weights came an unexpected delight: a book entitled Inside Powerlifting by the great super heavyweight lifter of the '60s and '70, Terry Todd. This is a book a strength fan can get lost in. In it, Todd profiles some of the greats of powerlifting from the formative years of powerlifting in the '50s and '60s up through the '70s: Paul Anderson, Larry Pacifico, Doug Young, Don Reinhoudt, Mike MacDonald, Vince Anello, and more. This wonderful book inspired me. It stoked my dreams. I would look at the pictures and imagine myself being so strong and lifting such huge weights.


The Great Paul Anderson	Don Reinhoudt: No Wraps and No Suit for a 900+ Squat!	Vince Anello: Check Out the Stance

It would be some years, though, before I would have the opportunity to try real powerlifting. I strength trained for wrestling throughout high school, then did the best I could with the old standard weight set after graduation. In 1985, I was working the night shift at the 7-Eleven in my hometown of Petoskey while I took classes at North Central Michigan College. One early morning I started a conversation with Ron L'Huillier, who always stopped in for coffee on his way to work. Ron was clearly a lifter, with broad shoulders, a thick chest, and legs that looked powerful even in jeans. "You don't look like a typical humanoid," I told him. From that fairly stupid conversational gambit, one of the most important friendships of my life began. Turned out that Ron was a powerlifter, so I told him about my pathetic training. He told me about a meet coming up in Charlevoix, a nearby town, the 2nd Annual USPF Muscles for Muscles Lift-a-Thon promoted by Steve Kehrer, owner of Charlevoix Health & Fitness Center. The meet was a neat idea; lifters were to get pledges for each pound that they would lift, and then all proceeds would go to the Muscular Dystrophy Association. On top of that, there was to be an appearance by Bill Kazmaier, arguably the greatest super heavyweight powerlifter and strongman of all time. So I started gathering pledges and made plans for the meet.

On meet day, I showed up with shorts and a t-shirt, ace bandages for knee wraps, and a belt borrowed from Ron L'Huillier. I was entered in the 242 weight class, Open Division, weighing in at around 225. I somehow managed a 350 squat without hurting myself, a 250 bench, and a 425 deadlift for a 1025 total. At least in one lift I seemed to have some potential. But much of the early part of the meet was a total embarrassment for me. Instead of showing my strength, I was confirming my pathetic weakness in comparison to the fine lifting that other competitors were doing. I was even out-lifted by one of the women's competitors, Lynne Boshoven, who I didn't know was one of the top women in the nation in her weight class. Fortunately for my ego, I managed to stay 10 pounds ahead of her in the bench press, as she "only" managed 240 at 181.

But three things came together that day to turn the embarrassment into a sense of accomplishment and a desire to try more powerlifting in the future. First, lifter after lifter gave me encouragement and advice; they made me feel welcome and actually seemed glad to see a novice like me at the meet. It didn't occur to me that maybe they had started out in powerlifting much the same way I was starting out, embarrassed and out-classed. Second, for some reason only one other lifter had entered the 242 Open Division, so I "won" second place by default, and was handed a trophy that I keep to this day. Medals in wrestling were nice, but this was real hardware! I immediately had visions of my own personal, overflowing trophy case after a long career of lifting.

Finally, one person in particular made an impression on me with just a few words of encouragement: Bill Kazmaier himself. Kaz had done some exhibition lifts in this meet the previous year, but this year he wasn't lifting. He was just there as a guest. After my squats I asked him for his autograph. All I had for paper was the meet announcement letter. He signed it, gave me some advice on my squat technique, and encouraged me to "keep at it." Keep at it. A few words of encouragement can mean the world to a beginner.


Bill Kazmaier Making Short Work of Atlas Stones

Following the meet, Ron L'Hullier and Steve Kehrer invited me to train with them at Steve's gym, Charlevoix Health & Fitness Center. Of course I was very eager to do so. At the same time, however, I worried that I would be in their way, that they would get tired of unloading and reloading the bar for someone so far behind them in strength. Little did I know at the time that my worries were the nearly-universal concerns of beginning lifters. And like so many other beginners, I quickly discovered that my worries were all in my head. Steve and Ron took me under their wings and began teaching and training me. They were welcoming, encouraging, and seemed genuinely glad to have me there. When I consider just how much I learned from them, I realize what a debt of gratitude I owe them. Their coaching forms the basis of the old-school methods that I still follow successfully to this day. And in turn I've passed on those methods to the beginners that I've coached over the years. In addition to methods and technique, Steve and Ron also passed on to me their love of the sport. They imbued in me an enthusiasm for powerlifting that has only grown over the years, an enthusiasm that I try to pass on to younger lifters. Ron described it best as "lighting a fire."


Steve Spotting My Squat: Wedged Boots Were In	Ron Squatting Me and Steve: My Shorts were Lovely

Steve and Ron at the '85 Budweiser Open: Dave Waddington was at this meet. He dumped 925 across the arms of the guy in the yellow shirt in the left of the photo. It was a good lesson in why dumping the bar will get you kicked out of meets.

Steve and Ron coached me for several years and in a number of meets. The two highlights of those years for me were winning the USPF Michigan State Championship in 1987 and placing 5th at the USPF Collegiate Nationals at Temple University in 1988.

In 1988 I graduated from North Central Michigan College and moved out to Grand Forks, North Dakota to continue my schooling at the University of North Dakota. While at UND, I spent one season wrestling for the Fighting Sioux squad while trying to maintain a modicum of strength in the powerlifts. It was my strength that kept me in most of my matches. Following my stint as a UND wrestler, I would lift in one more powerlifting meet after 1988: the 1991 USPF Power Plains Collegiate Championships at the University of Nebraska in Lincoln, where I finished runner-up.

From 1993 to 1999, I was teaching at Korea University - Seochang Campus in Jochiwon, South Korea. Training was difficult. Unlike training facilities at American colleges and universities, the pathetic lifting equipment at Korea University was reserved for students and faculty of the Department of Physical Education, hardly any of whom actually used the equipment and none of whom could out-lift me on my worst day. Denied access to the under-utilized equipment of the Department of Physical Education, I negotiated with the management of the men's dormitory on campus to set up a portion of the dorm basement as a gym with what standard plates and K-Mart-quality equipment I could find, all of which I had to pay for myself. Korea is a minor power in weightlifting, but in the years I lived there powerlifting was unknown. Thus, the equipment was a catch-as-catch-can mix of light-duty, made-in-China crap. A good number of the boys living in the dormitory, however, were thrilled to have the chance not only to use the equipment, but to have someone who knew what they were doing show them how to use it correctly and effectively. I soon had a loyal group of trainees three nights a week in the basement gym. With this arrangement, I was able to maintain some strength and even put on a few fun bench meets for students there. In fact, I put out a challenge to the Department of Physical Education to field a team of their best against my boys in a bench press battle. They quite wisely declined. The crushing defeat that they would have suffered would have made them lose tremendous face in the eyes of the entire university community.

In August of 1999, I moved back to the States, to Champaign, Illinois to pursue my PhD at the University of Illinois. There I met Stacie Sakai, and by 2001 we were training together. I coached her in her first meet in 2002 . . . a meet where the powerlifting bug bit me again very hard. Specifically, I had the pleasure of watching Al Baehr lifting on this day. Al was lifting in the 275s as a submaster and put up some impressive raw numbers. But it was my favorite lift, the deadlift, where he really showed his strength, pulling 700+ in only a singlet. Watching Al having such a great meet inspired me and I began planning my return to the sport. I intensified my efforts in training, focusing on technique and meet preparation. In early 2003, I met Joshua Westbrook, another UIUC student, and we began training bench and deadlift together. Josh was a great training partner for me as I had to chase him in the bench and he was chasing me in the deadlift. Having someone push me was the missing ingredient I had been needing in my training. And so it was that on August 3, 2003, I was ready and back on the competitive lifting platform again after an absence of twelve years. Also that August, Josh and I met Nick Lepine and Ryan Harth, two budding, young powerlifters looking for training partners and the right atmosphere. Together, the four of us started Illini Powerlifting, which in its short existence has become without a doubt the most successful university-based powerlifting club of the twenty-first century. 2003 was a year of new beginnings, not only for this new chapter in my powerlifting career, but also for many young lifters at UIUC.