Memory Lane

[Bigtex]

I found an old portable har drive and found pictures I forgot we even had. Lots of memories....

Anthony Clark and two friends of our from Brazil who are both powerlifters traveled to Houston to visit

Tiny Meeker hitting 815 at one of my meets and 900 at another meet

Here is me with 500 and the next is my Inzer squit suit

Pro powerlifter 148lbs TJ Horner almost 700 lbs at one of my meets

 

[OldPLer]

Great pictures, walk down memory lane

 

[Bilter]

ONce upon a time I was a big fan of Clarks.............. His reverse BP was amazing (as were his other lifts)/ He died far too young

 

[The other Snake]

Great shit right there! Brings a smile to your face doesn't it?

 

[JackD]

Great pictures! It’s always nice to walk down memory lane

 

[Bigtex]

TJ Hoerner was an exceptional lifter. I remember when he showed up to my meet he looked like he didn't lift. We was with a big team of guys from Vidor Texas. TJ went on to squat 805.7 a year later. He weighted in at 146lbs. Anthony and I went the an APF meet in Vidor once and and he was treated like a kind despite being in a town run by the KKK. Needless to say I was a little nervous about going there.

Tiny Meeker I met in maybe 1995 as a teen. He was a very good lifter and I thought he has some potential so I got him hooked up with Inzer for sponsorship. What potential he had.

Anthony Clark, I also met as a teen. What a guy with a heart of Gold. Never met anyone so kind. He would do anything for anyone. Anthony was also a minister and he spent a whole lot of his personal time working with underprivileged kids. We sat at dinner many a nights helping each other through some trying times in both of our lives. Anthony will always have a place in my heart and I never forget the things we talked about and the advice he gave me as a minister and friend. It was one of the saddest day in my life to watch him die. My wife and I later traveled to Brazil and Argentina with bags of Inzer gear to help the lifters there. We signed quite a few big lifters up with Inzer sponsorship packages. I honestly hate that over time I lost contact with these great people.

 

[rawdeal]

. . . and the next is my Inzer squit suit

. . .

Not just an Inzer squat suit, but one of the original "Leviathan" suits, @Bigtex ?

disclaimer: I would not have known any of that had I not just tried to go down Memory Lane via google. I was looking for Inzer history, and all I found was sales oriented catalog stuff. Bigtex, is my tattered old memory correct that the very first bit of supportive gear was invented by Inzer back in the late 1970s or early 1980s ... and that it was simply called "Squat Suit?" Or did earlier versions of the belts come first? (I DO remember that before belts being 4" all the way around, guys had to wear an OL belt backwards so that the 4" half was in front where a PL wanted it instead of in back where the OLs wanted it)

Squat Suits or belts, it was Inzer's early success that saw him develop specific supportive gear for each of the Big 3, evolving improved versions of each, and inspired the inevitable business rivals?

Can't remember Inzer's 1st name, seem to remember he was not quite world championship level himself, BUT was a very accomplished lifter at 148, 165, somewhere in there?

If Wikipedia would get its ass together, I wouldn't have to ask you all this stuff

 

[Bigtex]

Not just an Inzer squat suit, but one of the original "Leviathan" suits, @Bigtex ?

disclaimer: I would not have known any of that had I not just tried to go down Memory Lane via google. I was looking for Inzer history, and all I found was sales oriented catalog stuff. Bigtex, is my tattered old memory correct that the very first bit of supportive gear was invented by Inzer back in the late 1970s or early 1980s ... and that it was simply called "Squat Suit?" Or did earlier versions of the belts come first? (I DO remember that before belts being 4" all the way around, guys had to wear an OL belt backwards so that the 4" half was in front where a PL wanted it instead of in back where the OLs wanted it)

Squat Suits or belts, it was Inzer's early success that saw him develop specific supportive gear for each of the Big 3, evolving improved versions of each, and inspired the inevitable business rivals?

Can't remember Inzer's 1st name, seem to remember he was not quite world championship level himself, BUT was a very accomplished lifter at 148, 165, somewhere in there?

If Wikipedia would get its ass together, I wouldn't have to ask you all this stuff

Absolutely that is one of the original Leviathan suits. I was squatting in the high 700's with the poly 2x suit and this one was like a dream. Easy to get into, comfortable and I was now doing the same weight with no knee wraps, belt and straps down and having problem even getting parallel. The suit took me up to 950 and I probably could have done more that day, possibly 1000 because the 950 just popped right up.

The 1st squat suit was made by Marathon. It was single ply and a far cry from what is available now. While I lived in Longview Texas and trained with JOHN Inzer he developed the bench shirt and came out with the 1st on in 1983. John lived in a small 1bdr apartment next to the small gym that was an old chicken shack. No ac/no heat and was in horrible condition. Later in the 80's he started making some huge improvements on the squat suit then got into knee wraps. Next came the denim stuff and extra plies. I believe Inzer was the 1st to get a patent on his equipment has had to be involved in a lot of litigation from those who continued to steal his designs.

John was a teen world champion when I met him and went on to do very well. I am not sure his deadlift record of 780at 165 has ever been beaten. I knew he also squatted 760 at the World Record Breakers in Maui, Hawaii. in 1986. I use to have the entire video of his all time best deadlift but here is the 2nd attempt. It was John Inzer who got me to powerlift in 1980 and taught me how to deadlift. He mentored me through my career. John has been involved in every aspect of powerlifting including meeting with IOC officials in Europe trying to bring the sport in the Olympics. He has been a true friend for over 40 years. A guy with a heart of gold but is VERY humble and accepts credit for nothing. If I am not mistaken, Inzer was the one who started the sumo deadlift. He taught me to lift that way and it worked well.

 

[rawdeal]

You don't disappoint, Bigtex.

My guess for popularizing the Sumo style mighta been Hideaki Inaba, many times 114 champ from Japan, but I obviously knew far less about Inzer than you do.

Thanks, Memory Lane is more fun with an experienced guide ......

 

[Bigtex]

You don't disappoint, Bigtex.

My guess for popularizing the Sumo style mighta been Hideaki Inaba, many times 114 champ from Japan, but I obviously knew far less about Inzer than you do.

Thanks, Memory Lane is more fun with an experienced guide ......

Could have been, I forgot he did it too. I forgot also about Mike Bridges. Hey, let me tell you about this one. Jim Cash was my room mate for a while as well as a business partner for a short time. We lifted together for a period of time. He was the one who told me I was a very good lifter but would never advance until I got a job working during he day time. He said I was screwing up my body working at night. I listened to hm.

 

[BackAtIt]

Thanks for the thread, ST!!!...Really enjoyed the pics and read!....Like I've said before, it's really an honor to be associated with u and the rest!...


.

 

[rawdeal]

Could have been, I forgot he did it too. I forgot also about Mike Bridges. Hey, let me tell you about this one. Jim Cash was my room mate for a while as well as a business partner for a short time. We lifted together for a period of time. He was the one who told me I was a very good lifter but would never advance until I got a job working during he day time. He said I was screwing up my body working at night. I listened to hm.

Back when the 220 was a new weight class, all the reigning Stars were in other weight classes. Jim Cash is the first name I learned @ 220. (similar memory about the then-new 275 weight class; Larry Kennedy was the first "name" there that I remember). Pretty sure this was all around the time 198 was all Pacifico, 242 was Doug Young, and Kaz was the next great Super.

(there was no 308 back when I became a fan)

Mike Bridges ... HE was "all that" around that time too. His fame came from being the guy who toppled legends like Crain + Gaugler @ 165, and from gh abuse gossip discussing the size of his forehead. What I'll always remember most was how he described PL-style Squats as looking like Grandma easing herself back onto a chair ... as opposed to how OLs and BBs did Squats