Ted's Take: It's been a few days since Tapout's Charles "Mask" Lewis' death, and I've thought about it from time to time, and watched some videos of him and the rest of the Tapout crew. What I realized is that regardless of what you thought of the make-up, and the bombastic behavior, the man was an American original. He started Tapout from nothing, endured the jeers of the non-believers and engineered it into a multi-million dollar company. He supported the sport - with his heart and soul - when not many others did. Once the company was a success, he didn't sit back, he kept pushing, and encouraged others to follow their dreams. For that, the entire MMA world needs to give Mask a huge "Thanks bro."
themmafiend.com had this quote from Mask:
Life is full of influences, it's your application that sets you apart. That's something I wrote to myself and completely believe in. You can't be scared to set out to do something in life because you believe it may be similar to something, or because you don't know the clear cut path on how you're going to accomplish your goal or dream! Just take a step towards your belief daily - fearlessly, wholeheartedly, digging and dreaming within yourself, believing that as you push on through sacrifice, you will one day stand alone on top of a hill that you created that now encourages and inspires others to chase their dream. Knowing that through tenacity and patience anything can be achieved.
If you simply believe.
- Charles "Mask" Lewis
Leave a comment