Muscle Nerds

A few years ago I was training a coworker who's a classic "muscle nerd."  A muscle nerd has that duality of being both a jock and a nerd at the same time.

Anyway this guy was a big guy.  Not only was he tall, but he had a musculature built from years of collegiate wrestling, with the signature cauliflower ear.  He later expanded his ground game into Brazilian jujitsu.

This guy's a bit of a hothead.  He's a good guy, but at times I always had to restrain him from acting on his impulses.  After talking to him and getting to know him better, I found out his lack of impulse control and poor anger management was something he had all his life and really didn't give a shit about.  He had gotten into fights ever since he was a little kid.

He had related how when he was a teen, he and a bunch of his friends were angry that some big kids from another neighborhood were using the public pool in their neighborhood and pissing in it.  They decided to confront the larger kids and told them to get the fuck out and don't come back.  And when these kids refused, they pulled out bats and beat the shit out of them.

The cops responded and detained as many kids they could.  The cops asked Mr. Hothead, "What the hell are you doing?"

And he responded, "What you're supposed to be fucking doing.  Cleaning up the neighborhood."


So what do hotheaded kids do when they grow up but still have violent tendencies?  They join the military.  Of course you're probably more likely to get into fights when you're in the military (depending on the branch), because you're in a stressful environment with a lot of other stressed out men itching to kick some ass and release some tension.

And of course, that's what happened.  When Mr. Hothead was stationed in Germany he was accosted by 2 skinheads.  Unfortunately for them, they picked on the wrong Chinaman.  Mr. Hothead wrapped one guy in an armbar and broke his arm.

But despite his propensity for brawling, Mr. Hothead is a big nerd at heart.  He's an avid collector of Star Wars toys and a big anime fan.  His daughter can identify each of the Transformers in his collection by name.

In the Asian American communities, I think there are a lot of muscle nerds.  I consider myself one, since I have a wide range of interests from the physical (i.e. strength training) to the intellectual.  In fact, muscle nerds tend to use their intellect to transform themselves physically or to acquire physical skills.

The brawny fella with glasses.  The scrappy little Asian guy who's physically unassuming, but can choke you out within 20 seconds.

Watch out!  These are muscle nerds.

Smart guys are dangerous.

But smart guys willing to put in hard work are deadly.