What's Up DOC?!: Discussing Calisthenics, Community, & Nutrition w/ The Director of Calisthenics
"With the Urban Fitness League (UFL) World Cup Invitational competition, we were able to reach out to some of the top athletes in the sport of Calisthenics. We based selection on their performances, previous competitions, influence, you know, all of these different things, and we put together an amazing event. We had Matchups, team battles, round ones and freestyles, even performances by Artists Jim Jones, Dave East & Juelz Santana, and Mario Lopez hosting the event. This was by far the biggest event in the Calisthenics community. I'm most proud of organizing this event." It wasn't just about the success and exposure of the athletes for D.O.C., but also creating job opportunities for people behind the scenes. One of the requirements of being bossed up is making sure your crew eats, earning his Director of Calisthenics title in more ways than one, going by its acronym, D.O.C. does just that.
Since he was a child, fitness has been at the core of D.O.C.'s being. He has earned this title by not just wanting to better his own health but by being a mover, shaker, and direct contributor to the Calisthenics culture through competitions, community giveback, and mentorship. 8 minute read
"I had a Pull Up in my house when I was like ten years old, I had dumbbells...but all my information came from books. I had a library card and would get an anatomy book. I would draw my workout like in a regular notebook with a pen, trying to mimic them based on what I saw...I still didn't know the right way; I was just doing what felt right...I was doing maybe 200 pushups a day, and I thought I was pretty strong. At around 20 years old, I met a guy named Jus at Wingate Park, and he showed me how to work out properly."
Jus is credited as a significant motivator to the beast we all now address as D.O.C. Using Jus's system of Around the World, which included transitioning from pull-ups to dips, to different versions of pushups, chin-ups, then back over to pushups, this was the first strategy that taught him strength and technique. Doing most of his exercise at home limited his ability to stretch himself, literally, and on the range of skill he had on a pull-up bar. That day in Wingate Park, D.O.C.'s home base, he was pushed to increase his range of motion on an entire bar as well his entire body.
Calisthenics is bodyweight training with many facets. The ultimate goal is to increase functional strength and muscle endurance. The art of Body Building is often mistaken for Calisthenics. One sure way to separate that idea is to know Body Building is more about isolating one muscle group and developing that at its heart, while Calisthenics is about getting a group of muscles to work together to complete a task. The culture comprises of people who have subscribed to using it to become masters of their body weight in whatever way they decide to do it. "Some people are into freestyle calisthenics, Some, weighted calisthenics, and others are into just high reps and sets. When you see somebody in a gym, and they're doing pull-ups, pushups, and dips, that's Calisthenics. There's a lot of elements that might look like gymnastics," noted D.O.C. Indeed they do. If you have ever seen a person do the Human Flag, or a Front lever, techniques where your feet are not even on the floor, you will categorize these people as superhuman.
Although he assists in pushing the culture forward, his name "Director" was given because he was mainly the man behind the camera. "I was doing a lot of filming, and I created a lot of videos," he nonchalantly informed. He also created a media page with a close friend called Strictly Bar Talk. This page gave a behind-the-scenes look at an athlete. It provided information about the person like how they eat, where they come from, their style, what their team is about, their principles, etc. It was like an interview for each athlete, and then it would highlight a workout that they would recommend.
In 2010 he stepped from behind the camera and directed his 1st competition. He attached the Muscle Up Competition to a long-standing local event in the Calisthenics community named the 5 Bs: Body Built Beautiful By The Bar, it was the first-ever Muscle Up Competition in Calisthenics. "As far as I know, I haven't seen anything that pre-dated that. That's kind of like my inception, how I began." In 2012 D.O.C. was introduced by fellow Bar Master Gavin aka "ABS", to Ben Sturner and teamed up with him & other colleagues to create Urban Fitness League. Their first event was the Invitational Competition in Coney Island called the UFL World Cup. "Everybody who competed was invited specifically, and it was the first glimpse of what it would look like to be a pro athlete because, win or lose, everyone got paid. It wasn't a lot of money, but everybody got $200, you know, to perform, even if they won or lost they still got paid. And that's the future of Calisthenics. That's what I'm about, making sure athletes get adequately compensated," D.O.C. adamantly stated. The team worked so well together that they created another successful event at Coney Island beach in 2014.
In 2017 D.O.C met two of his mentors, George Daniel, former Commissioner of the National Lacrosse League, and Uday Singh, who runs a Wrestling League in India. "They taught me a lot about organizing a sport, curating events, a run of show. I met great people during this process like Frank Supveyor, who ran a Super Bowl halftime show. He taught me a lot about how to run a show." This knowledge helped him organize his biggest event to date, the UFL World Cup. It was the biggest event for the Calisthenics Community and an excellent opportunity for some of his people. The event needed photographers and referees. He was able to go and say, "I want my boy Nigel. I reached out to B-rock, Born Alchemist, my boy Moses and Keith Fields to referee," he added. His boy Zef catered Barbecue for athletes, and his boys Beast and Hannibal visited from out of town and did a demonstration towards the end of the show. "They were able to get paid, so that was like the most fun for me. And I find the most rewarding part was not just doing this event, but having the people I know are deserving of being compensated get compensated. I'm saying it's not just we did an event. People got money for this. You know, people get it, and they know that."
Every passion grows best when nurtured adequately in a supportive community of like-minded people, and that's what Wingate Park was for D.O.C. Team Wingate was founded with some of his peers early on. Team Wingate is a very prolific Calisthenics team that is competitive, world-renowned, and the root of his Brotherhood. Team Wingate is not just focused on the physical but the mental and emotional development of the community. They work out together and serve the community together, and were acknowledged by Mayor Bill De Blasio and Eric B. Adams for their community service. Along with receiving multiple awards, City Council member Vivia Morgan, President of Friends of Wingate, collaborated with Team Wingate to do things for the youth, such as painting Pumpkins in the park on Halloween and giveaways for the kids. Team Wingate helped restore the area of the lower back basketball courts by painting and recruiting the youth as well, teaching the younger generation that it's all about protecting your community.
They have also been invited to schools along with Urban Fitness League to talk about what fitness is. "I give them a different perspective on all of that... it's probably where my heart is at the most, is trying to inject positive influence into children at a very young age. I want to encourage parents to get their children involved from a young age. Bust those myths that say it's too young to get them. No, it's not too young to have your children doing whatever is best for their bodies. It's really good for them to be working out like that at a young age. I want to do stuff like that with an official junior division."
D.O.C. has participated in about seven competitions with proof of his superhuman capabilities, harboring about ten trophies in his home. One attribute of D.O.C. that is revered amongst his peers is being confident while embodying humility. It is tricky to balance, and it was displayed at one of his most memorable competitions. "In 2013, I entered a Weighted Pull Up competition in Long Island. First of all, they didn't expect people from Brooklyn to be out there, it was like in the deep neck of the woods, and we were the last ones to show up. I mean, we came in and represented pretty well. I went up against a guy who was pretty strong, pretty cocky. He was really, really cocky. And he had all his boys there because he's from Long Island. It was a weighted competition, so it was about how much weight you can lift, and we kept tying and tying each other. So the tiebreaker, he demanded that we do reps with 100 pounds. And I guess he never watched my videos because that's like my thing. He basically played right into my hand. I ended up like doubling his max. I just did double his numbers to kind of like show the difference between he and I at that particular time. But that was like my favorite moment."
It's been 10+ years in the game, and D.O.C has no sign of slowing down. Currently a trainer at Green Fitness Studio in Brooklyn, he is available for personal training, group training, and strength training for boxers alike. He wants to ensure his community's well-being and plans on creating more competitions and content to advance the movement, and bring things to a bigger platform. He envisions a prestigious, pinnacle event that culminates the hard work for athletes that will open doors to the professional league and impact individual athletes' careers.
As for his personal goal, he wants to make himself a living embodiment of health and wellness, showing that living and eating a certain way can change your life, help you with the aging process, make you faster and stronger. Prove that the older you get, the better you can be with the right diet. As a Vegan, he says this is an advantage to his workout because, "I don't have inflammation issues, I have a lot of energy. My body recovers quickly, heals itself, and it's because of my diet. The reason people are sometimes tired is that it takes so much energy to break down the food we shouldn't be eating."
"My mom used to make me walk 4 or 5 miles to the Supermarket," he says softly, as he reflects on the fond memories of his mom since her transition, "she said our community stores had the worst versions/quality of food." The dietary concern is vast in the black community as he advises, "If we don't share the information, we believe that how we grew is the right way. I get cracked on for my diet, but when those people have health issues, they seek my help. Hypertension, diabetes, fibroids, menstrual cramps, extended periods are consequences of our diet. As much as I love working out, Nutrition is the most important thing. Eliminating the things that are harming you is imperative in our community. We need to see there are options that are better than medicine. That's not meant to heal [medicine], it's meant to treat. In the holistic world there is healing, you can be fully rid of an issue."
D.O.C.'s contribution to not only the community he lives in but in the world of sports, may have some look at him as a hero. When asked if he could have one superpower, what would it be? His response was consistent with his character, "I want the superpower to heal. It's a burdensome gift. The benefit is healing with a touch, and the burden is you won't be capable of healing everyone because it will drain you, and you need time to replenish." Well, Mr. Director Of Calisthenics, I'm here to tell you that you already embody that superpower as you continue to provide your skills and information to better the mind, soul, and body of those around you. Job Well done. Continue to walk in your light.
If you are interested in Training information, Collaborative information, or general questions, you can find D.O.C. on Instagram @directorofcalisthenics. Also, check out the YouTube page for more footage on his participation in the Calisthenics Culture at Director Of Calisthenics D.O.C.