Gazza: Inside the Mind of a Fantastic Shiny Bastard My name is Gary Hunt and I BEND STEEL! People on www.grippermania.com and the www.gripboard.com know me by my screen name “Gazza” which I liked to be called on and off the boards. I was born in Liverpool home of the Beatles and Liverpool Football Club in 1961. I was 6 weeks premature and weighed well under 4lbs at birth. When I was born I was promptly baptized and given the last rights as infants that premature did not have a high survival rate in those days. My real father abandoned me and my mother at an early age but later my mother remarried. I was adopted by the person I called my DAD as he was that and more till the day he died! From an early age I was skinny and wore glasses which led to me being called names and bullied by the bigger boys. At the tender age of 11 my dad started taking me to work with him on weekends and holidays. He introduced me to his occupation which was commonly referred to as a Hod Carrier. A Hod Carrier is laborer who carries supplies to bricklayers and masons which you can imagine hauling bricks all day requires one to be fit and strong to carry out this very physically demanding job day to day. I think my early participation in this tough job helped shape me into the man I am today. Although at the time I didn’t know it was going to set me up for what I am capable of doing now but I did know that it instilled in me a level of discipline and work ethic that would stay with me for life. At this time in my life I lived in Birkenhead a tough inner city town where I hung around with a gang of lads that seemed to get loads of mischief. Like most young lads I started to get into fights mostly because people called me names because I was small and skinny. They found out quick that I was strong, fit and fast from all the work with my dad on weekends and holidays which was making me tougher both mentally and physically. I started to fight more often with one lad in particular but he was a lot bigger and heavier than me and would always overpower me because I tried to foolishly think I was as strong as him I was giving away to much bodyweight to overcome that with strength alone. One evening I was in my shared bedroom with my younger brother and I was crying with frustration because I had been beaten in a fight with this lad again. My brother told my dad and my dad marched me across the road to the other boys house and said enough is enough you both sort it out once and for all so my dad takes me aside and says you have to use your speed and fitness stay out of his way wear him down and be clever. We get down to it and this time I did not try to wrestle with him I just hit and moved and after a few minutes with his nose and lip cut he gave up and I learned a very valuable lesson that day to not give up ever and use your bodies advantages to the fullest. My dad told me right then and there that if I truly believed in myself then I could make it happen. I enrolled in Shotokan Karate and did this for a good few years winning comps, medals etc…even got my Black Belt 1st Dan but this did not satisfy my need to fight and see how tough I was. A friend’s brother was into boxing and one day we ended up sparring and I was hooked because the next week I was joining a boxing club. I thought this because I could mix it with people and see how much of a beating and pain I could take.  I never backed away from a fight or challenge because I loved seeing how much punishment my body could take. At 16 years old the Punk Scene hit England big time and I was already rebelling against everything so it was a natural fit. I was born to be a Punk Rocker because it allowed me to be who I thought I was at the time and the fighting was a big bonus. I thought this was living on the edge until I lost my 2 best friends to drugs. I had always been anti-drug and even anti-smoking because my father was a strict disciplinarian and in that way I was the lucky one it could have so easily been me dead from drugs and one of my friends the survivor but that’s all part of life and the paths we choose to take. At 17 and still a punk rocker with no friends I was starting to drink heavily and things started to spiral out of control which led to more fighting and getting in trouble with the police. I was really going off the rails which landed me in Borstal which is like a prison for juveniles. Well guess what happens when you put one scouser Liverpool lad with 300 jordies Newcastle lads well it ain’t pretty. What you get is caged chaos where fighting is the way you prove yourself and I proved myself daily. I came out even more anti-establishment and rebellious as ever. I really thought I was jack the lad which of course led me into more trouble with the police and more time in the slammer but I was 18 by now so it was the big house for me. All was not lost because it was in prison that I was first introduced to the Iron. I was took under the wing of a huge Black man who used to train with Bertil Fox when he was younger and I was introduced to squats, deadlifts and other heavy exercises. Although I was getting a shit diet I was starting to build a half decent physique. Soon I was squatting decent weights because my legs were very strong as was my lower back due to all the hod carrying up and down ladders all day. The hod carrying also had helped me built lots of muscular endurance for my size and this new weight routine seemed to add to that. When I was released I went back home but my dad  told me “your not welcome here anymore” so I did what I always do when challenged with authority I rebelled and went out fighting again this time though it was gang fighting seeing who had the toughest gang. The fights got worse and worse until I hurt someone really bad. My dad had always said that if I did not learn to control my temper it would be my undoing. I did not control it and ended up putting a couple of lads in hospital which got me thrown back in jail for 2 years for grievous bodily harm. Trying to find something positive out of this experience I got reacquainted with iron again this time though I did some power lifting not bodybuilding. My squats and deadlifts went through the roof and I soon landed a job as an orderly in the prison gym which allowed me to train everyday from weights to circuits to football and basketball sometimes I did everything in one day you can imagine that this made me super fit. I came out and my mum and dad had disowned me because of all the trouble I had gotten myself into. I found myself at a proverbial crossroads with two ways to go. I could either keep going down the path of destruction I was on or try and make amends for my wild ways. I chose the latter thankfully. I started to eat good food and train on the power lifts whilst still doing my job as a hod carrier despite me always getting into trouble with the law and being in prison my work spoke for itself and my old employer always took me back. I left the building trade when I was 38 because I needed to get a mortgage to buy my house and being self employed I could not get one so I left the building industry. I was used to working with hairy arsed men and tough guys but I now found myself having to work with all types of people. I found this very hard to adapt to and I drifted from job to job during this time. By now I had lost my dad and other family members to cancer as well as close friends and the grief just got too much for me bare. I was prescribed strong medication for severe depression a period of time. I was even evaluated by a psychiatrist and was almost sectioned but thank God I wasn’t. During this time in my life I felt very alone and that everyone was against me. My employers were not very sympathetic about my condition in fact one of them said I was a nut case- lol. These same employers even tried to use corporate bullying tactics luckily I was able to dig deep inside myself and overcome this. I just remembered how I was bullied when I was younger and the will to never surrender helped me. I have given a brief account of my background as I hope it helps people understand what makes Gazza tic, who he is and why I bend the way that I do. I am not proud of some of the things I have done in my past but let him without sin cast the 1st stone. A little more about me and my family and then I will talk about BENDING! This year I will have been married for 22yrs and have 3 daughters’ ages 20, 15 and 13. For the last 18 years I have lived in a small town called Pensby on the Wirral Peninsula in England. My wife Julie is a good woman and has stuck by my side even when I have done bad things but she also thinks I am nuts- lol. Being anti-drugs and anti-smoking etc... I have always admired the pre-steroid strongmen of old. They had to work hard and eat good to get their bodies and the strength that came with it. Don’t feel sorry for them because they didn’t have the designer steroids and all the new fangled supplements because despite this they were stronger pound for pound than most modern day weight trainers. They other thing is that they were first and foremost healthy specimens that usually had not only great strength but also great muscular and aerobic endurance. Whilst researching the above in 2002 I came across an article by David Horne announcing the 2002 British Nail Bending Championships. I phoned David up and asked if I could come along as a spectator. When I arrived that day Jim Wylie, David and others persuaded me to get into the competition in the novice category which to my surprise I won despite never touching a nail before. I was hooked on the thrill of competition so I entered the same year in the British Grip Championships coming in 5th out of 5 in the novices. I really enjoyed this but I found bending was my real love. I joined the Gripboard and later Grippermania when it was created. The grip board bending wise was in its infancy at the time and Pat Poviliatis was the man pushing unbraced short steel bending and John Brookfield was the man when it came to hand strength and at the time in fact he was the only man who had officially bent a RED nail. At this time Pat was destroying Grade 5 bolts and making his way to the Grade 8 which was considered a world class bend at that time.-lol During this time I was buying boxes of 25kilo boxes that held around 500-550 nails 60ds from a builders merchant. I was using the Terminator Style of bending now known as Reverse style which was popularized by Pat Poviliatis. We were all using one piece of material for bending which was usually a small towel. I started corresponding with Pat via emails and pms and Pat was kind enough to send me a box of bending goodies bent horseshoes, bars, bolts and nails etc… and a rolled up frying pan as well as some unbent nails and bolts. I was awestruck by these bent objects you see I had never actually seen bent Grade 5 or 8 bolts in person. I quickly wrapped up the unbent Grade 5 and went at it.. Nothing Natta- Zilch! I was humbled and realized I had much work ahead to get to that level. I read everything on the gripboard site that Clay, Eric, Big Steve, and Pat wrote as these men were all doing g5s and pat was ahead on g8s. Pat and David Horne put together some bending rules I personally think that Clay, Eric, and Big Steve should have been consulted over David as I feel that bending wise all these other men had more knowledge at that time. A little while later Gavin Holle turned the bending world on its ear when he became the second man to certify on the IRONMIND Red nail and with a different technique than everyone else. It is now used by the majority of steel benders and you know it as double overhand style or just DO. Pat and others quickly adopted the double overhand style then came Pats 1st public video of a 6.5 inch IM Red Nail which was featured on the gripboard. Inspired by Pat and Gavin’s Red Nail bends I soon bent the G5 bolt while a few others were now kinking and getting the g8 bolts but Pat and Gavin were still ahead of the pack. I started to train with cut 60ds as well as 60ds for volume this was laying the foundation but I was really holding myself back by not getting and training on the right stock this cost me probably at least a year of progress. A short while later I made an attempt at the g8 bolt that Pat had sent me. I put a decent kink in it Reverse style but injured my wrist in the process. Even though I was injured I was also full of anger so the following day I attacked the g8 bolt again but this time I managed to bend it to 90 degrees. This came at a great price because it made my injury a lot worse and to my dismay it took me along while to recover. I went and visited the Holle brothers at Chris James house and Gavin, Craig and Jay put on a display of bending their bending strength. I had been given cert bars by David Horne for the Holles to try and was asked to get video evidence for the gripboard. I told the Holles this and they said that they don’t bend for David Horne or the gripboard , only just for themselves and friends. I was pleasantly surprised when they said the considered me a friend so I respected their wishes and did not video tape the bending but myself and Chris James both witnessed the awesome bending that day. I was blown away because I had never witnessed such bending in person I received lots of crap off the gripboard for not getting video evidence but what else could I do. A week later I visited David Horne to be a witness for him and Jim Wylie to certify on the challenge bars. I told David about the Holles bending when David asked did you get video I said no so he said then we will never know will we. This remark has annoyed me to this day as it says to me that I just can’t take your word rather I need video evidence. I don’t believe your word is good enough which is why I was so upset over all this business with Pat and some others that challenged my word. I only bring it up again here to try and let people know why I feel the way I do because this insulted my integrity and morals. The only good thing to come out of this is that I was able to channel this overwhelming anger into the actual act of bending. Whilst at David’s I did some bending but was still carrying an injury from the g8 bolt it was also the start of me using the DO style of bending. Then came the debates over bending wrap rules which were laid down by Pat and David and now 2 pieces was the new standard. Soon came the ridicule and arguments about the Double Overhand style versus so called folding. There were a select few that stirred up more shit than a dung beetle and tried on numerous occasions to downplay the achievements of DO benders. This has caused me quite a lot of frustration and anger over the years but I have used it to propel me to great accomplishments in bending steel. A man name John Beatty owner of the Fat Bastard Barbell Company began selling steel bars, graded bolts, nails and more for people to certifiably bend. This gave more standardization to the bending stock and stuff because it was coming from the same source. This suddenly allowed people to compare their bending strength to others bending prowess on the same stock. My friend Maxwell Thompson brought back 3 FBBC Benders Bags plus some extra steel from the U.S. I feel this is what made my bending take a massive leap forward as I then had the correct stock to train with which meant there were no excuses now. Like it or not DO style bending is here to stay no one will ever get past a magnificent bastard using Reverse or DU style but with DO there seem to be NO LIMITS at least I try to think so! The Reverse bending style has been resurrected by David Horne which led to John Beatty making a Reverse and Double Underhand style bending certification list in the Kings of Steel page on his FBBC site. A Ironmind Red Nail was once saw as the pinnacle in un-braced short steel bending who knows what it is now. Join me next time as I talk about how I made the journey to the Fantastic 4 inch Shiny ( stainless steel) Bastard and the way I trained my mind to overcome the pain of bending big steel. Gary “Gazza” Hunt.