Author Topic: Looking Back - Blasts from the past  (Read 344099 times)

Joe Roark

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Re: Looking Back - Blasts from the past
« Reply #400 on: October 25, 2014, 02:13:47 PM »
Hi Joe, he was born September 1953 and died January 2004 aged 50.

Thank you. The reason I asked is this reference in Flex:

 # F 1-96 p 155 Sonny did not know how old he actually was
          until birth records surfaced three weeks before this
          contest [ on Sep 9, 1985Masters Olympia] and he learned he was three years older than
          he had thought..

So he thought he had been born in 1956?

Donny

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Re: Looking Back - Blasts from the past
« Reply #401 on: October 26, 2014, 02:55:36 AM »
Yes just coming to the end of our 7th series.

Started over 10 years ago and now on free TV every week.

You can watch on youtube as well. Every episode is archived here.

http://muscletv.tv/

nice.A PHA training circuit? I think so.. keeps the blood flowing throughout the whole body.

Tony Doherty

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Re: Looking Back - Blasts from the past
« Reply #402 on: October 26, 2014, 04:03:46 AM »
Thank you. The reason I asked is this reference in Flex:

 # F 1-96 p 155 Sonny did not know how old he actually was
          until birth records surfaced three weeks before this
          contest [ on Sep 9, 1985Masters Olympia] and he learned he was three years older than
          he had thought..

So he thought he had been born in 1956?

No, the truth is, he always knew how old he was and where and when he was born.
He didn't want to do the masters for 2 reasons.

1.  He didn't want the girls to know he was over 40.

2.  He thought the judges might treat him differently in the open if they knew his age.

When he turned pro, he was around 36 so we wound back the clock from day one.

HonestBob

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Re: Looking Back - Blasts from the past
« Reply #403 on: October 26, 2014, 11:52:04 AM »
Tony - am I right in thinking you have some of the Watson fat grip dumbbells in your gym?

If so, how are they holding up in a hardcore bodybuilding environment where they'll get slammed on their edges?

Tony Doherty

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Re: Looking Back - Blasts from the past
« Reply #404 on: October 26, 2014, 10:52:27 PM »
Tony - am I right in thinking you have some of the Watson fat grip dumbbells in your gym?

If so, how are they holding up in a hardcore bodybuilding environment where they'll get slammed on their edges?

No not yet.

I will have them in the new year. I think they will be OK here as we teach the members to respect the equipment and pretty much have a no dickhead policy.

HonestBob

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Re: Looking Back - Blasts from the past
« Reply #405 on: October 27, 2014, 11:42:30 PM »
No not yet.

I will have them in the new year. I think they will be OK here as we teach the members to respect the equipment and pretty much have a no dickhead policy.

Even so your'e going to find after a supine press type movement, even if they put them down semi sensibly, the threads on the heavier will bells will wear away.  I don't think a 60kg plus one would last in a busy hardcore gym.  At the lighter weights they are awesome.

gmk6350

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Re: Looking Back - Blasts from the past
« Reply #406 on: November 16, 2014, 09:20:22 AM »
Awesome thread Tony!! Thank-you for sharing!!

nunzie

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Re: Looking Back - Blasts from the past
« Reply #407 on: November 20, 2014, 06:19:00 AM »
  Thanks for the memories. You looked great, too.

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Re: Looking Back - Blasts from the past
« Reply #408 on: November 23, 2014, 02:13:30 PM »

Howard

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Re: Looking Back - Blasts from the past
« Reply #409 on: November 27, 2014, 03:53:34 PM »
I have been through boxes and boxes of photos that I have taken over the last 25 years of promoting and had them all scanned. Thought I would start a thread where I can share some pics most of you will have never seen. I will tell a few stories as I go, it's funny how a pic can remind you of a time and place and even bring back stuff you may have forgotten.

These are my own photos that I have dug out after many years.

Here we go!

I've read/skimmed look at the entire thread and want to offer my humble THANKS for  posting this great stuff

Howard

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Re: Looking Back - Blasts from the past
« Reply #410 on: November 27, 2014, 04:01:44 PM »
This is the best thread on getbig, EVER.
none better ;)

Tony Doherty

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Re: Looking Back - Blasts from the past
« Reply #411 on: December 08, 2014, 11:03:51 PM »
none better ;)

Thanks Howard, glad everyone is enjoying it. I better lift my game and post some more pics and stories.

Montague

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Re: Looking Back - Blasts from the past
« Reply #412 on: December 13, 2014, 03:14:14 PM »
This photograph is from March 1994, interviewing the great Flex Wheeler at the IFBB Southern States show. The reason this is significant to me is that it was this night that I announced that Doherty’s Gym was going to open in Brunswick 2 weeks later on April 8th. Which means that it is 20 years ago today that it all really started for me.

I knew that this was my last shot at it, as I had nothing and owed about $200,000 which was loaded against my parents home. They had backed me from day one and I had let them and everyone close to me down. I had pissed it away and partied like a rockstar, thinking I was shit hot. Thinking I was bulletproof, a success in my own mind. Truth is, I was delusional, dazed and way, way ahead of myself.

I opened the doors on April 8th without a single member, no staff, no money in my pocket, nothing in the bank. I had no idea how I would get through the first week, let alone the first year. I just waited for someone to come in and train and after a few hours, a young couple came in and joined up. That first day I had about 10 people come in but no one else joined. This went on for a while and I just kept at it. Kept showing up, day after day, week after week.

The first year I sold everything to keep the doors open, house, cars, furniture, you name it, I lost it. The phone or power got cut every month, at least. I had no where to live and no car, all I had was a vertical grill and a rice cooker. I slept on the couch at the gym for that first 12 months, I would get up in the morning and walk up to the main road to get a paper and a coffee. This way it looked like I had actually come from somewhere. Then I would walk to the gym to open up at 6AM. I would work through to 9 or 10PM, most days on my own until everyone had left, once again I would lock up and pretend to head home until everyone had gone, then sneak back and let myself back in.

I developed a saying that I still use to this day. “Don’t worry about what you can’t do, worry about what you can do.” So with that in mind, when I couldn’t afford to buy new equipment, I would buy a can of paint. When no one came in, I would move everything in the gym. I would dust, clean, re-arrange everything. After a while, people would come in and say, “Hey you are always doing something.”  That inspired me more, I thought if people come in and I’m sitting around or complaining, they will pick up on that crap energy. If they come in and I’m busy, they will know I care.

Slowly I started to straighten myself out, killed the ego, got back into heavy training, lost the ponytail and kicked myself until I got up and about. I realise now, how far I had fallen and how close I came to falling through the cracks. I knew that from then on, I would give life everything I had. By that I mean, I made a deal with myself that I would never have regret, or die wondering. No  more excuses, no blaming others, no turning back.

I’m writing this for anyone doubting themselves. Anyone thinking about giving up, or thinking they don’t deserve success. For the ones out there that have made stupid mistakes and bad choices. For everyone that has been told they are no good, everyone that has been written off and laughed at. You must never quit, never give in, never let the doubters wear you down. You gotta be tough, you have to stop worrying about what others think. You have to find it within yourself. You have to hold your head up high and stay humble, no matter what, you have to grind. You have to get up every day and attack it like it is your last day, your last chance. When you put you head down at night, you have to know you did everything today, that you could to move forward. Sometimes it will seem fruitless, useless and slow. That is when you dig in harder, you must trust the process, trust yourself and most of all believe in yourself, I mean deep down inside where no one else dwells, that’s where you have to believe in yourself.

Grind hard - Don’t quit!


This is very easily one of the best posts ever made on this board!!

Wiggs

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Re: Looking Back - Blasts from the past
« Reply #413 on: December 14, 2014, 04:52:59 PM »
This photograph is from March 1994, interviewing the great Flex Wheeler at the IFBB Southern States show. The reason this is significant to me is that it was this night that I announced that Doherty’s Gym was going to open in Brunswick 2 weeks later on April 8th. Which means that it is 20 years ago today that it all really started for me.

I knew that this was my last shot at it, as I had nothing and owed about $200,000 which was loaded against my parents home. They had backed me from day one and I had let them and everyone close to me down. I had pissed it away and partied like a rockstar, thinking I was shit hot. Thinking I was bulletproof, a success in my own mind. Truth is, I was delusional, dazed and way, way ahead of myself.

I opened the doors on April 8th without a single member, no staff, no money in my pocket, nothing in the bank. I had no idea how I would get through the first week, let alone the first year. I just waited for someone to come in and train and after a few hours, a young couple came in and joined up. That first day I had about 10 people come in but no one else joined. This went on for a while and I just kept at it. Kept showing up, day after day, week after week.

The first year I sold everything to keep the doors open, house, cars, furniture, you name it, I lost it. The phone or power got cut every month, at least. I had no where to live and no car, all I had was a vertical grill and a rice cooker. I slept on the couch at the gym for that first 12 months, I would get up in the morning and walk up to the main road to get a paper and a coffee. This way it looked like I had actually come from somewhere. Then I would walk to the gym to open up at 6AM. I would work through to 9 or 10PM, most days on my own until everyone had left, once again I would lock up and pretend to head home until everyone had gone, then sneak back and let myself back in.

I developed a saying that I still use to this day. “Don’t worry about what you can’t do, worry about what you can do.” So with that in mind, when I couldn’t afford to buy new equipment, I would buy a can of paint. When no one came in, I would move everything in the gym. I would dust, clean, re-arrange everything. After a while, people would come in and say, “Hey you are always doing something.”  That inspired me more, I thought if people come in and I’m sitting around or complaining, they will pick up on that crap energy. If they come in and I’m busy, they will know I care.

Slowly I started to straighten myself out, killed the ego, got back into heavy training, lost the ponytail and kicked myself until I got up and about. I realise now, how far I had fallen and how close I came to falling through the cracks. I knew that from then on, I would give life everything I had. By that I mean, I made a deal with myself that I would never have regret, or die wondering. No  more excuses, no blaming others, no turning back.

I’m writing this for anyone doubting themselves. Anyone thinking about giving up, or thinking they don’t deserve success. For the ones out there that have made stupid mistakes and bad choices. For everyone that has been told they are no good, everyone that has been written off and laughed at. You must never quit, never give in, never let the doubters wear you down. You gotta be tough, you have to stop worrying about what others think. You have to find it within yourself. You have to hold your head up high and stay humble, no matter what, you have to grind. You have to get up every day and attack it like it is your last day, your last chance. When you put you head down at night, you have to know you did everything today, that you could to move forward. Sometimes it will seem fruitless, useless and slow. That is when you dig in harder, you must trust the process, trust yourself and most of all believe in yourself, I mean deep down inside where no one else dwells, that’s where you have to believe in yourself.

Grind hard - Don’t quit!

Tony, thank you for sharing this.  Congratulations on all your success. Great story,and great words of wisdom. Certainly one of the best I've ever read here in 16 years. 8)
7

andreisdaman

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Re: Looking Back - Blasts from the past
« Reply #414 on: December 14, 2014, 07:08:10 PM »
awesome thread

old-school-lifter

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Re: Looking Back - Blasts from the past
« Reply #415 on: December 21, 2014, 04:47:24 PM »
hey tony

merry Christmas to you and have a great 2015

any chance you can please put up some pics from ROnnie's visit to you just after he won his 8th O?


crownshep

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Re: Looking Back - Blasts from the past
« Reply #416 on: December 23, 2014, 06:39:11 AM »
Saw you the other day Tony on channel 5 over here in the UK,presenting the prizes to the strongmen at the australian giants live event.

crownshep

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Tony Doherty

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Re: Looking Back - Blasts from the past
« Reply #418 on: December 28, 2014, 09:18:32 PM »
hey tony

merry Christmas to you and have a great 2015

any chance you can please put up some pics from ROnnie's visit to you just after he won his 8th O?



Here we go. I will find some more later

Tony Doherty

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Re: Looking Back - Blasts from the past
« Reply #419 on: December 28, 2014, 09:42:59 PM »
I've posted these before but here they are again.

Tony Doherty

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Re: Looking Back - Blasts from the past
« Reply #420 on: December 28, 2014, 11:12:55 PM »
Some never seen shots of the New Zealand Pro in 2001.

We all got as drunk as hell after this show, Chris got the drunkest and Ronnie had a good go as well. Funniest weekend I have ever had.

njflex

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Re: Looking Back - Blasts from the past
« Reply #421 on: December 29, 2014, 07:27:35 AM »
INSANE MASS...IN HID PRIME..PAID FOR IT THO,,,

Montague

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Re: Looking Back - Blasts from the past
« Reply #422 on: December 29, 2014, 11:22:11 AM »
INSANE MASS...IN HID PRIME..PAID FOR IT THO,,,


Fukkit...
It was worth it!!

 8) 8)

Donny

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Re: Looking Back - Blasts from the past
« Reply #423 on: December 29, 2014, 12:32:23 PM »
Ideal for some but for me nothing to do with shape and symmetry... :-\


Donny

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Re: Looking Back - Blasts from the past
« Reply #424 on: December 29, 2014, 12:44:19 PM »
This is...