USAWA

By Eric Todd

I first met “Scottish Johnny” Strangeway in the summer of 2010 or 2011.  I was promoting “Missouri’s Strongest Man: The Gus Lohman Memorial” strongman meet.  We were holding it at the “Belton Hanger” which was an airplane hanger on the old Richards Gabaur airforce base.  At that time, it was occupied by a snow removal company and a strongman training group headed by Dave Kraft and Conan Wass.  Conan, at this time, was my co-promoter.  We were there early, completing our set-up for the meet.  There were some of the training group who were not competing that were there training.  That is when Conan introduced me to Johnny.

Conan and I were trying to get the sound system up and running.  Came to find out we did not have the correct connection to get our music to play over the PA.  John volunteered to run and pick us up what we needed.  Since I did not really know what we needed, and I had lots of other stuff to be taking care of, I took him up on his offer.  He came back, set us up, and the show went on without a hitch.  It was not long after that when he began his competitive career in strongman.

John started his lifting career much earlier than that however.  He started lifting back in Scotland when he was a fourteen year old lad at the local leisure center, where he would perform the classic 3×10 routine (the same one I cut my teeth on) before going for a swim.  John played soccer and rugby in high school, but his main focus was the martial arts, which he began when he was 15.  That is when he first started studying karate. He then shifted his focus to  Lau Gar, which is a style of Kung Fu.  He attained the level of 3rd degree black belt in that discipline and is currently working on a fourth.  He also holds a black belt in kick boxing.

In 1999, John met his wife, Carey on AOL.  She was from here in the United States, and they ultimately decided he would come over so they could meet in person.  Apparently they hit it off, because after a few trips back and forth, Scottish Johnny decided to stay.  They were wed in the year 2000.

Once in the states, John started the JHS Martial Arts Academy, which was the first Lau Gar school in the US.  As with many eventual strongmen, he began watching the greats on “World’s Strongest Man” on ESPN.  Upon mentioning it to a co-worker, he found out that they did that kind of training at “the Hanger.”  He went in and met Dave Kraft.  Johnny started training with Dave, Conan and crew from the hanger, and was hooked.  Due to being rather shy by nature, Scottish Johnny had to be coaxed by Dave to enter his first competition, but he did and the rest is history.  John’s accomplishments in strongman are as follows:

For a number of years, there had been a quite large crew in Kansas City and the surrounding areas.  The group that trained at the Hanger was probably one of the largest.  I would go there to train from time to time, and the environment and camaraderie was fantastic.  Unfortunately, in 2011, the guy who leased the hanger lost the bid for it, so all the equipment had to be moved out.  The group splintered into factions, and it was never the same again.

During Kansas Strongest Man in 2014, Johnny suffered an injury.  He was pressing an axle, and ended up tearing his right rotator cuff.  While in the process of having it fixed, he told his surgeon about pain he had been having in his left shoulder.  Turns out, it was the same injury.  However, due to the amount of time since it had happened, the muscle and tendon were badly degraded.  Though he had it fixed, it tore again two more times.  Ultimately, the surgeon noticed the sub-scapular nerve was trapped and had died. This time when the shoulder was repaired, he was told in no uncertain terms not to lift weights any more.

This injury sidelined Johnny for a while.  Though he was still practicing martial arts, the absence of strongman and heavy workouts were taking a toll on him mentally.  He had been aware of all-round since the beginning of training at the hanger, where he would hear about upcoming competitions and so forth.  Wanting to fill the void, Johnny contacted me about getting involved in the USAWA.  Since getting started, John has been a very enthusiastic member of our organization.  He is often looking for advice on lifts or ways to make further gains in the sport.  He got interested in the heavy lifts, and had quite a knack for them, coming in 3rd at his very first chamionship.  He added a 2nd place in the world postal, highlighted by a 415 pound front squat, as well as a second place finish at the 2018 Old Time Strongman championship.  He has also been very active in the postal series since the beginning of his involvement in the USAWA.  In his relatively short tenure in the USAWA, John has already set 14 national record.

Scottish Johnny has been a fantastic addition to the KCSTRONGMAN USAWA club.  His enthusiasm is infecious.  With the excitement he has shown for the all-rounds so far, I cannot wait to see what his future in the organization brings.