Keep Those Hands Up Grandpa

Last night I learned about the tragic loss of a friend; Tom Puckett. For a period, I got to workout and hang out with this one of a kind individual. He was rugged as they come but he was as honest as can be. He was a former student of the God Of Pro Wrestling Karl Gotch. He learned his craft from Gotch of Catch Wrestling, Conditioning and Toughness. Tom was a Grappler in various early MMA bouts including a tour or so in Japan. A soldier to the very end and one of the toughest dudes I ever met.

I first got a hold of him years ago when he was still training off and on. He lived less than an hour away from me and went to a gym called Peak Fitness in Hayden, ID. He would go there Tuesdays and Fridays doing some Bodyweight Training & Weights just to keep up his shape because even then, internally, he wasn't in the best of shape. He was a bodyguard and consultant to some very high political leaders overseas. He didn't tell me very much about it but he did tell me what happened to him and it just didn't let up on him.

Even with his condition being severe, he still fought as big of a fight you couldn't possibly imagine. I still couldn't keep up with him when we did our warm-ups together. He was still capable of doing 250 Hindu Push-ups & 500 Hindu Squats each in a row. When I was working out with him, I only managed maybe 120 Hindu Push-ups & 300 Hindu Squats so his influence made me step up my game. After our warm-ups, he would do some free weights and show me a couple of bodyweight stuff he learned from Karl Gotch. At one point, he even showed me a few catch wrestling submissions (Neck Cranks mostly) which I can tell he was reluctant to show me since he wanted to keep Karl's legacy alive with the teachings of not showing any holds until you were in the conditioning shape Karl believed a person should be in. I was lucky enough to learn a few of these and still remember them to this day.

It was a shame that I stopped training with him because mostly, I felt off that I couldn't keep up with that type of exercise at the time. I did call him up or talk on facebook from time to time. Most of our conversations didn't last too long but he would always tell me straight up how he was feeling even if it was a little thing.

Now I know what you're thinking "What does the title of the article have to do with this man?" Well it is a funny story and one I'll never forget......

One day, we went to the park like we did on a couple occasions and we would swing his custom made Mace (Gada) that weighed 50 lbs and had a thick handle. We did the deck of cards workout together and unlike me, he blasted through it and I struggled but finished it with him. We got to doing Bridging and it was tough for him at first since it had been some time since he did it, I would push him to get into a full bridge and he got back at me for it when I did my own bridging. We timed each other in the Front & Back Bridges, the Back Bridge was a cakewalk for me but the Front Bridge was always awkward and I rarely kept my arms off the floor at that point in time. He was timing me and when I felt like quitting and putting my hands on the grass to take the pressure off but still hold he shouted at me "Keep those hands up grandpa" and I did and held it for 3 full minutes.

He pushed me to get better and I guess it's one of the reasons why I've kept myself in greater shape since then and inspired me to do 500 Hindu Squats again for a period. Whenever I bridge now either in the front or back I'll always hear those words from him. I will miss him and never forget the time we had together.

If you want to see Tom in action, check out Conditioning For Combat Sports or see some of his bouts from Japan on youtube along with some incredible wrestlers from The Land Of The Rising Sun. He fought the best of his abilities and kept many people safe during his travels as a trained bodyguard. RIP my friend, say hi to Karl for us.