I was 17, It was time to get out and the army seemed like a good way to do it - I wanted to become an athlete in the forces. But by 2007 I was serving in Iraq, based in the Central Operating Base at Basra airport. I was 19 and skinny; weighing 65 kg or 10st 3. I was training in the gym about twice a week, lifting weights and trying to gain mass. After training for 3 months and not really knowing what to do, not much improvement had been made.
During one training session we came under fire. Dropping the weights, I hit the ground for cover. Lying on the floor with my body armour partially on, sweating into my helmet, I decided that there must be another way to train. One where every time we were in danger, I wouldn’t have to stop training.
A few weeks before my Sargent Major Karl Hilton, also the boxing instructor, came in to the gym and ridiculed me and some other lads for being in the gym. He explained to us that lifting weights didn’t make you hard or even that strong. He then proceeded to call us fairies and left the gym. Well I wasn’t having that… so I started boxing. I was terrible, couldn’t do it to save my life. Despite this I kept boxing and having refused to lift weights again, I began body weight training.
I slowly began to develop a routine. I used to do random press ups at the side of my tent and sit ups in my bed space. Every time I saw something to hang off I would start doing pull ups. (If you think you are strong try doing 20 pull ups and see how weak you really are). The boxing improved along with my general strength and I won all my fights to become an Army champion.
The beauty of training this way is that you can do it any where any time and use anything to work your whole body. Without any protein or weight supplements I’ve been able to develop a stronger, bigger physique using only my body.
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Since leaving the Army I’ve never lifted a weight again. While working as a personal trainer in the beginning of 2011 I started to go at the body weight training hard. Developing moves and training techniques in order to keep progressing.
During that Summer I was training in the “hood” park with my older friends Bubba and Gavin, who I’d met when I was in a dance class, 10 years old. He was always teaching the youth fitness, in his own time. Every day we would hit the bars in the park, during this period I began to make real developments, increasing my strength and ability. Both Bubba and Gavin helped, no, inspired me to train.
One day in August I was training in the park with Gavin, teaching him how to hold the flag position correctly. I taught him how to position his hands properly and he did it first time. Holding it for about 5 seconds. That was the first time I have ever seen anyone do the flag first time!
I was leaving the park, when i heard a gun shot - I spun back to see Gavin falling to the ground and I ran as fast as I could to catch him. Some guys had pulled up in a car and shot him from close range in the face with a shot gun and sped away. I administered first aid as best as I could with the lack of medical equipment. I called Bubba to come and help me. We kept Gavin alive until the ambulance came nearly an hour later, but his injuries were so severe that he died a few days later in the hospital.
R.I.P Gavin Gatewood 12/08/2011
The next day we went training on the bars because I had a lot of aggression that I needed to get rid of. Bubba spoke to me saying all you have is yourself and these bars and you can do a lot…… Don’t be mad but inspire people to train. My friend Chris offered to put me up whilst I built a new life in London. I left within a few days, and with his help began my personal training business in West London.
Determined to make some sense out of everything that had happened, and to make parks safer places, I developed the Spartanfam philosophy, inspired by my friend Charlie Dark’s rundem crew and all the community champions that had trained me since I was young. I found some guys to train with and it all developed from there…
I returned to give evidence at Gavin’s murderer’s trial and he was convicted and sentenced.
Gavin’s legacy of community training will not be forgotten. Spartanfam will make sure of that.
Homecoming…. Candice did da ting but the ting hurt bad.
