bleSs
03-18-2009, 03:19 PM
16626
Charles “Mask” Lewis Jr. had all the faith in the world.
It takes nothing less to be the first of your kind, to see opportunity and potential in places where others simply do not. It takes even more to act upon that vision, to put yourself out on a limb in the face of ridicule and failure.
Lewis had faith in the sport of mixed martial arts. Through his Tapout clothing line, he championed it without a hint of hesitation to every stranger, friend, and foe alike.
Charles Lewis was one of the good guys. And that’s why his death in a horrific car crash during the early morning hours of March 11 hit the fight community so hard.
As is the case with those we cherish most, Lewis was gone too suddenly. He was on his way home from the gym with his girlfriend Lacey at 1 a.m., the only time he could fit working out into a hectic schedule. Lewis took pride in his deceiving physique, and many questioned he was really 45 years old, even after officials confirmed it.
That night, Lewis and Lacey had decided to drive by a condominium apartment they had been looking into purchasing over the next few days. It is believed Lewis’ fire-engine red Ferrari occupied the middle lane when Jeffrey Kirby and his companion came up along the left side in a white 1977 Porsche. At the scene, black skid marks snake up onto the median’s curb right as the road bends slightly, then drag for 500 or more feet across the three lanes. They indicate Kirby’s car bounced off the road’s island divider before t-boning into Lewis’ vehicle’s backend, sending the Ferrari into a 180-degree spin. The car traveled backwards before the driver’s side wailed directly into a cement light pole, slicing it into two parts.
It was the first time in a few months that Lewis had had the opportunity to enjoy the luxury ride he’d purchased over a year ago. The car had slept at a friend’s showroom until Lewis was asked to bring it to a photo shoot that day for Dub magazine. High speeds didn’t seem unfathomable under the circumstances, though friends said they couldn’t see Lewis engaging in a dangerous street race for superiority. Lewis didn’t know Kirby, nor was Lewis believed to be drinking at the time. Lewis never touched alcohol, as many will attest, including his best friend and business partner Dan “Punk Ass” Caldwell.
Lewis and Caldwell met in 1992 as sheriffs for San Bernardino County in Southern California. Both trained in boxing and kickboxing, but soon found a mutual love in Brazilian jiu-jitsu and the early UFC events.
The name Tapout was born from the license plate on Lewis’ car. It was a way for Lewis to demonstrate his unadulterated love for the art and he displayed it around town like his badge of honor.
“Especially then, when you would ride down the freeway with ‘Tapout’ on your license plate, people would come up to you and look inside and give you a thumb’s up. That’s how you knew another jiu-jitsu guy,” said Caldwell.
When a license plate wasn’t enough, Lewis went to Caldwell with an idea for a T-shirt.
Dave Mandel/Sherdog.com
Fans paid tribute to a
man who touched many lives.
“There was nothing that you could put on in that day that meant what we were feeling like,” Lewis explained in the forthcoming documentary “Underdogs,” directed by Bobby Razak. “Mixed martial arts and fighting didn’t have any identity. You couldn’t put on a uniform and feel the way we felt in the gym. So, just as a need to identify what I was feeling on the inside of myself, [I] came up with a T-shirt.”
At first, Caldwell only invested some money, but Lewis’ enthusiasm was infectious. Six months later, Caldwell was onboard to run the Web site. The year was 1997.
“Six months after that, we started really aggressively taking out ads in Black Belt [magazine] and really chasing the dream,” said Caldwell. “That’s when I broke out the credit cards and we really went for broke.”
Lewis’ drive quelled the waves of anxiety that came crashing in as the bills racked up.
“Charles has a lot of energy and passion when he believes in something,” recalled Caldwell. “It’s the passion that just emanates off of everything that he says. You can’t not believe that this guy isn’t going to give 150 percent.”
Hard work was a pre-requisite. Caldwell worked two jobs to help keep Tapout’s finances afloat, and unleashed Lewis at small local events to charm the crowds.
“I really felt like I had a guy, who was my partner, that was really gifted in dealing with people,” said Caldwell. “It was like Batman and Robin. We had the best team out there and I felt like nobody could beat us.”
Iconic referee “Big” John McCarthy was someone who took notice of Lewis and Caldwell’s tenacity in 1997, and watched them branch out into sponsoring fighters.
“You would start to see them at a bunch of small shows, selling their T-shirts,” said McCarthy. “Tapout was always there for the fighters. From the very beginning, they started supporting guys that a lot of people didn’t know. Jeremy Horn, Chuck Liddell –- when they really weren’t known yet. Tapout was trying to get them to wear their gear and giving them some money to help them along.”
In 1998, Lewis recruited longtime friend and figurative little brother “Skyskrape” (whose real name has never been published) as a third member of the group. Lewis and Caldwell also adopted the “Mask” and “Punk Ass” personas, complete with their own trademark costumes and camera poses to create more interest in their line.
Caldwell said Lewis found the inspiration for “Mask” and the others as he took long walks alone through Disneyland.
“We were creating interest beyond the clothing,” said Caldwell. “Disneyland has depth. It’s more than just an amusement park. It has a founder everyone knows, and movies behind it and clothing and so many other products. It’s so deep that you want to know everything about it. We always felt like that, that we weren’t just a T-shirt.”
It did start with a T-shirt, or a handful of them, rather.
Source-http://shitdog.com/pictures/event/the-man-that-was-mask-16626 (http://sherdog.com/pictures/event/the-man-that-was-mask-16626)
Charles “Mask” Lewis Jr. had all the faith in the world.
It takes nothing less to be the first of your kind, to see opportunity and potential in places where others simply do not. It takes even more to act upon that vision, to put yourself out on a limb in the face of ridicule and failure.
Lewis had faith in the sport of mixed martial arts. Through his Tapout clothing line, he championed it without a hint of hesitation to every stranger, friend, and foe alike.
Charles Lewis was one of the good guys. And that’s why his death in a horrific car crash during the early morning hours of March 11 hit the fight community so hard.
As is the case with those we cherish most, Lewis was gone too suddenly. He was on his way home from the gym with his girlfriend Lacey at 1 a.m., the only time he could fit working out into a hectic schedule. Lewis took pride in his deceiving physique, and many questioned he was really 45 years old, even after officials confirmed it.
That night, Lewis and Lacey had decided to drive by a condominium apartment they had been looking into purchasing over the next few days. It is believed Lewis’ fire-engine red Ferrari occupied the middle lane when Jeffrey Kirby and his companion came up along the left side in a white 1977 Porsche. At the scene, black skid marks snake up onto the median’s curb right as the road bends slightly, then drag for 500 or more feet across the three lanes. They indicate Kirby’s car bounced off the road’s island divider before t-boning into Lewis’ vehicle’s backend, sending the Ferrari into a 180-degree spin. The car traveled backwards before the driver’s side wailed directly into a cement light pole, slicing it into two parts.
It was the first time in a few months that Lewis had had the opportunity to enjoy the luxury ride he’d purchased over a year ago. The car had slept at a friend’s showroom until Lewis was asked to bring it to a photo shoot that day for Dub magazine. High speeds didn’t seem unfathomable under the circumstances, though friends said they couldn’t see Lewis engaging in a dangerous street race for superiority. Lewis didn’t know Kirby, nor was Lewis believed to be drinking at the time. Lewis never touched alcohol, as many will attest, including his best friend and business partner Dan “Punk Ass” Caldwell.
Lewis and Caldwell met in 1992 as sheriffs for San Bernardino County in Southern California. Both trained in boxing and kickboxing, but soon found a mutual love in Brazilian jiu-jitsu and the early UFC events.
The name Tapout was born from the license plate on Lewis’ car. It was a way for Lewis to demonstrate his unadulterated love for the art and he displayed it around town like his badge of honor.
“Especially then, when you would ride down the freeway with ‘Tapout’ on your license plate, people would come up to you and look inside and give you a thumb’s up. That’s how you knew another jiu-jitsu guy,” said Caldwell.
When a license plate wasn’t enough, Lewis went to Caldwell with an idea for a T-shirt.
Dave Mandel/Sherdog.com
Fans paid tribute to a
man who touched many lives.
“There was nothing that you could put on in that day that meant what we were feeling like,” Lewis explained in the forthcoming documentary “Underdogs,” directed by Bobby Razak. “Mixed martial arts and fighting didn’t have any identity. You couldn’t put on a uniform and feel the way we felt in the gym. So, just as a need to identify what I was feeling on the inside of myself, [I] came up with a T-shirt.”
At first, Caldwell only invested some money, but Lewis’ enthusiasm was infectious. Six months later, Caldwell was onboard to run the Web site. The year was 1997.
“Six months after that, we started really aggressively taking out ads in Black Belt [magazine] and really chasing the dream,” said Caldwell. “That’s when I broke out the credit cards and we really went for broke.”
Lewis’ drive quelled the waves of anxiety that came crashing in as the bills racked up.
“Charles has a lot of energy and passion when he believes in something,” recalled Caldwell. “It’s the passion that just emanates off of everything that he says. You can’t not believe that this guy isn’t going to give 150 percent.”
Hard work was a pre-requisite. Caldwell worked two jobs to help keep Tapout’s finances afloat, and unleashed Lewis at small local events to charm the crowds.
“I really felt like I had a guy, who was my partner, that was really gifted in dealing with people,” said Caldwell. “It was like Batman and Robin. We had the best team out there and I felt like nobody could beat us.”
Iconic referee “Big” John McCarthy was someone who took notice of Lewis and Caldwell’s tenacity in 1997, and watched them branch out into sponsoring fighters.
“You would start to see them at a bunch of small shows, selling their T-shirts,” said McCarthy. “Tapout was always there for the fighters. From the very beginning, they started supporting guys that a lot of people didn’t know. Jeremy Horn, Chuck Liddell –- when they really weren’t known yet. Tapout was trying to get them to wear their gear and giving them some money to help them along.”
In 1998, Lewis recruited longtime friend and figurative little brother “Skyskrape” (whose real name has never been published) as a third member of the group. Lewis and Caldwell also adopted the “Mask” and “Punk Ass” personas, complete with their own trademark costumes and camera poses to create more interest in their line.
Caldwell said Lewis found the inspiration for “Mask” and the others as he took long walks alone through Disneyland.
“We were creating interest beyond the clothing,” said Caldwell. “Disneyland has depth. It’s more than just an amusement park. It has a founder everyone knows, and movies behind it and clothing and so many other products. It’s so deep that you want to know everything about it. We always felt like that, that we weren’t just a T-shirt.”
It did start with a T-shirt, or a handful of them, rather.
Source-http://shitdog.com/pictures/event/the-man-that-was-mask-16626 (http://sherdog.com/pictures/event/the-man-that-was-mask-16626)