| Focus October 1, 2004
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Even though Canadian
fitness star Nadia Moussa hasn't competed since 2002, she's still remembered vividly today
for her originality onstage.
(photo June 2002 by Doug Schneider) |
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Originate, Don't Duplicate
In the movie world it’s well known that sequels pale
in comparison to the original. Think Rocky II versus Rocky, or either Matrix
sequel, whether it’s Reloaded or Revolutions, compared to the original The
Matrix. The list could go on and on, but the point is that although there are a few
exceptions (The Empire Strikes Back is generally regarded as superior to Star
Wars, for example), sequels rarely approach the quality of the original. In fact,
oftentimes they’re not even close to being as good. Remakes, which are not even
sequels, but out-and-out copies, are usually even worse. The movies studios, though, never
seem to get it.
But then again, many fitness and figure competitors
don’t seem to get it either. Many think that if they copy the look or style of
the previous year’s winner they’ll be the winner the next year – kind of
like being "Last Year’s Winner: Part II." Some even take it further and
copy their favorite pro competitor, past or present, and think that somehow, through
mimicry, they’ll replicate the same success. Their logic: that must be what the
judges want, so I’ll do it too. If it were only that easy.
Take a look at a few of the 2004 winners I described in
this section over the last couple of months. Did the 2004 Canadian Figure Champion Debbie
Leung look anything like 2003 Canadian Figure Champion Jennifer Thiel? Debbie is short,
quite heavily muscled, and exceptionally lean. Jennifer is rather tall, fit, and lean, but
not ripped the way Debbie is, and certainly not packing near the same kind of muscle. In
short, they really look nothing like each other. In fitness in 2004, Mindi O’Brien
smoked her competition, but did she look anything like Janie Keith who won in 2003? The
only similarity that I could see is that they’re both in the Medium class. Otherwise,
Janie has dark hair and dark features, and her 2003 routine had a definite
"country" vibe about it. Mindi is blonde with lighter features, and her routine,
which had a more dance-music feel, was night-and-day different from Janie’s or
anything else we saw in 2003 and 2004.
I have no idea who the winners will be in 2005, but I do
know this: more than likely they’ll have little resemblance to the previous
year’s winners. I also know that a good number of competitors won’t heed this
advice and will come in looking just like Debbie or Mindi, or maybe their favorite Fitness
or Figure Olympia competitor after that’s over this year.
What makes a champion is not imitation and duplication
– a champion is an original, someone who stands apart from the crowd. Think back to Rocky.
Even though it’s just a movie, what happened to him mirrors what happens in real
life, and I believe it’s what helps make this movie so inspiring and so timeless.
When the promoters chose a competitor to go against world champion Apollo Creed, they
didn’t pick someone who looked like Creed, they picked someone who was basically the
opposite of Creed. Why? They already had an Apollo Creed. Who needs another one? Rocky
became the underdog and, as a result, the one everyone ends up cheering for. He was an
original, not a duplicate. In The Matrix, Neo was "The One." Ask
yourself: When you have "The One" do you really need "The
Two"?"
So if you’re a serious figure or fitness competitor
who is now looking out to the 2005 season, I have one key piece of advice: be original.
Forget what you think the judges are looking for and give them something they never
expected. Get onstage with your own style and your own look, and you might be amazed at
how well you do. In fact, you might be the one whom everyone else is trying to copy
in future years.
...Doug Schneider
das@seriousaboutfitness.com |
