Hunting Goliath

Ryan Greenspan • Jul 15, 2020

Gabon, Central West Africa - A fishing destination?

I have always had an affinity for Africa. Ever since I was a kid, I have wanted to visit the mysterious continent.  My first trip was to South Africa with a few of the guys, Yosh, Alex, Davey Williamson and our manager Eric, and it was the trip of a lifetime. Since then, I have been to Africa more than 10 times and learned to really enjoy the people and cultures in each section of the continent. While some aspects can be a bit dodgy, the place is magical.

Just a quick geography lesson for those of you who are unfamiliar, Africa is a continent made up of several individual countries, similar to Europe.  This is important to remember, as each country is unique and there are vast differences across the continent. Africa is filled with beauty, excitement and danger, everywhere. Some of the danger is due to lack of government stability, other areas are dangerous due to the wildlife. Just like anywhere else, you need to do your homework and know where to go, where to avoid, and when you need a guide. Keeping your head on a swivel at times is also advised.

Not too long ago, I had the unique opportunity to do some spear fishing off the coast of Gabon with a friend of mine, Fred. I had visited Gabon once before after my first trip through South Africa. Yosh and I took the trip several years back, much to the disapproval of some of our South African friends at the time; “Bru, Central West Africa, are you kidding me!?” was the general South African native’s response to us going up there. Yosh and I spend a very memorable New Year’s Eve (Bon Anniv) on the beach with a wild crew of Assalas, the humans, not the elephants. Anyway, we had a blast and I had promised to come visit again! 

While it is considered to be the most stable of the West African countries, Gabon is still located on the equator of Western Africa bordering the Congo and Cameroon which gives it a very real African feel. Boasting Africa’s youngest and longest term “president,” the country is essentially ruled by a dictator, although without the NY Times headlines that you normally would associate with the word dictator. Aside from the charm of, Gabon is also host to one of the world’s largest proportions of protected forest. Home to a myriad of wild animals, it is also home to a species of forest elephant called the Assala, which is basically a smaller than a normal elephant. Gabon’s paintball team also happens to be named the Assalas (of course they play paintball here).

The invitation from Fred was open ended, so when I was in the area, he told me to get ahold of him and come on by. Yea, like come on by is an easy thing to do in that part of the world. But, I kept the options open and when I found myself in the region again, I had to make a trip over. And, believe it or not, I just so happened to be out “in the region” after summiting Kilimanjaro (Eastern Equatorial Africa). So I hopped on a flight to Libreville, the country’s capital, to meet Fred and go on a spear fishing trip that I will never forget.  
 

Yes, Spearfishing, another obscure hobby of mine.

I had taken up spearfishing a few summers ago in San Diego as a hobby. I am not much of a hunter and I honestly don't like killing anything, I don’t even like to kill spiders. I guess I have no problem swatting mosquitos and flies, but other than that, I really don’t like unnecessarily hurting anything. This is where my hypocritical sense or reasoning steps in; I do, however, feel that with spear fishing, I am putting myself on the fish’s level. I am diving deep into a cold dark world, without any air tanks. My lack of gills, combined with my need for oxygen makes the hunt a bit more balanced, right? The feeling of taking a single breath, and going underwater without knowing what lurks below is both terrifying and exhilarating. There is a sense of euphoria that you get when you dive down and push yourself to your body's limits. That sense is heightened when you come up for air and a slight tingle comes over your body. That is caused by your mammalian dive reflex and what is called vasodilation. Essentially your body is cutting off blood flow to non-essential parts of your body to keep itself alive. No big deal really, just standard honestly. Either that or it's nitrogen narcosis, which is a bit more dodgy. But hey, I am still here and I have a hell of a story left to tell. Basically, I have to manage my breathing, or lack thereof once I dive, or I may end up dead or blacked out several hundred miles from anything that resembles civilization. 

Within the first ten minutes of jumping overboard and being in the water, I was 40 feet under when I saw and subsequently shot my first barracuda. It was an adrenaline rush like I had never experienced before. The barracuda was the first of a slew of fish that I caught, including skip jack and red snapper. Then, I saw the Goliath Grouper. 
I first spotted this Goliath lurking around towards the bottom, around 60 feet below. At that depth, and my skill level, this was a multi dive hunt, I knew that I had to push myself much further outside of my comfort zone. During each of my dives, I had to find the grouper over again as it slowly lurked along the sea floor and in-between the pylons of the oil rig above. I knew I was pushing my limit, but with each dive I was able to stay down just a little bit longer and dive just a little bit deeper. Every time I broke the surface of the water, I was gasping for air. I would calm my heart rate down and breath in and out to oxygenate my lungs again and do it all over. Then, when I was about 55 feet down, about 50 seconds into my dive, and ready to turn back to the surface to do it all over again, out of the corner of my eye I caught a glimpse of the grouper about 15 feet away. It blended in with the backdrop, almost perfectly camouflaged. I knew that I should surface, my lungs were starting to burn; however, I did not want to lose this fish. I knew that my body could take a little more, I knew that the feeling in the back of my throat was my dive reflex kicking in and alerting my brain that my body's carbon dioxide levels are rising. I ignored this very common first response reflex and pressed on. I knew that, with a fish of this size, I would have to be very accurate with my shot or it would take off. If that happened, I would either have to drop my gun, or risk drowning in order to fight the Goliath. I swam over, close enough to stare directly in the eyes, and I took my shot! It was not a perfect shot, as my spear pierced it just under the eyes, which was just below the sweet spot. I held on tight and flew to the top like my life depended on it! It was a dizzying ascent; my heart was racing with a mix of excitement and fear. With every muscle in my body aching, and my lungs feeling like they were ready to explode, I swam to the surface, fighting the huge fish as I headed towards the surface. The sheer strength that a fish that size has when underwater was incredible. It was in it’s own environment, I was not, and I was not sure who would win this battle.   
I was kicking as hard as possible, seeing the surface become closer and closer. My lungs were on fire, my fingers were starting to tingle and become numb, that dizzying euphoria had set in. Even when I breached the surface the grouper was fighting me, frantically swimming in every direction to get away. My friends had started to worry about me, as I had been down much longer than any of the previous times, even though they had eyes on me the entire time. They started to swim towards me to aid in the fight. I tried not to show any panic, pretending that I was totally at ease and well able to handle this daunting task. The Goliath fish was a bleeding and thrashing several feet below me, pulling me under again and again. I had a reel on my gun, but the line had become tangled within the pylons below. To top it off, the tension control on the reel of the gun was not working properly, and with the blood in the water, I had a thought, sharks... 

Just when I felt I had hit the peak of my capabilities, the tangled line became taught around one of the legs of the oil rig and I was given a reprieve from the fight. However, it also meant that I would have to go back under, cut the original line and secure a new one to the fish. By this time I had been wrestling in the water for about 20 minutes now. I had little more to give. I knew I had to finish the work and that meant a few more dives. I took a breath and went under about 30 feet, with another gun, secured a new shaft into the fish, in a better position, cut the line and secured the fish. Lucky for me, the Goliath was about as exhausted as I was, at least I thought that was the case. I found out that he was not quite ready to give up, and the fight went on another 45 minutes. My friends and I were now at the edge of the boat brainstorming ways to get this (as it turned out, a 112 pound Goliath Grouper) into the boat. I remained in the water, holding onto its bleeding body while my friends attempted to lift it into the boat. I was keeping a keen eye out for any signs of sharks. I just wanted to get my dangling body out of the water as quickly as possible.  

We knew we could not top this one and we were all exhausted after lifting the fish into the boat, so we headed back to the city of Libreville with our catch. That was another daunting task as one of our engines had failed. We motored through the night and made it home, just barely. We ended up donating the fish to the local people around the docks who use the fish for a source of food and income. We kept only the red snapper that we ate that night for dinner. But we all kept the memory of the day we caught the Goliath 112 pound grouper. 
SPREAD THE WORD
Goodles Noodles

GOODLES: The Nostalgia is Real and it is Cheesy

By Ryan Greenspan • 22 Nov, 2021
MAC IS BACK, Baby -Let me introduce you to GOODLES, a new company who has reimagined mac & cheese that has all the YUM, PLUS protein, fiber and 21 nutrients from plants and 14g of plant based protein!

WIN WORLD CUP - 2021 NXL World Cup - Clean Layout Download

By Ryan Greenspan • 29 Oct, 2021
trim the fat, get rid of the grid! Clean Layout Map downloads for the 2021 NXL World Cup

OPKIX - The Ultimate Barrel Cam for Paintball

By Ryan Greenspan • 07 Oct, 2021
The OPKIX Camera has been making it's rounds through the Paintball Community and it is a massive HIT! Barrel mounted cameras have been the way to go to really capture that feeling of being in the game with a POV perspective. This is where you can backup all your claims throughout the day of how many eliminations you really got! Traditionally, however, the barrel mounted camera go to has been the GoPro, which is bulky and blocks a lot of precious view, especially if you are rocking the OG camera. The OPKIX, is unbelievably small and comes with an array of accessories that help you take it everywhere. The camera is waterproof, to a certain depth, and best of all, it is barrel mountable thanks to their silicone barrel mounts. I use the small size mount and it fits perfectly around my Acculock Barrel System. The best thing about having a barrel mounted camera, believe me, is that you tend to make moves that you wouldn't normally. I find when I lend the camera out to a teammate or a friend, they try to bunker more people, cause why not get the best shot you can for the gram right? The camera shoots 30fps at 1080p, which isn't the highest resolution available on the market, but when you see the size of the camera, you are blown away by the footage and what it is able to do. Like I said, the paintball community has adopted this tiny camera system fully and I have had nothing but great, positive feedback. I highly recommend getting the two camera system. As you can imagine, the battery life isn't fantastic on the camera, but it is a perfect design with the two camera system anyway. The way it works is similar to a pair of AirPods or any of these fancy bluetooth headphones these days. You have a hard drive charging device, nicknamed "the Egg," to which you use to store your cameras. The Egg serves as a home base and your point of contact for downloading the content to your phone. I charge my Egg on the way to the field to make sure I am topped off when I arrive. Then I will mount a cam to my barrel, play about 5-7 points, or until the camera no longer turns on and then I just swap the cameras out. The Egg then downloads the full unit and recharges the batteries while I play another handful of points. Then just rinse and repeat for the remainder of the day. After I bunker someone or have an epic point, often times they go hand in hand, I immediately send the content to my phone and brag to the team that I shot someone. Easy as that!

The SPICK & SPAN Signature Series Design Contest

By Ryan Greenspan • 10 Mar, 2021
Here it is, your chance to make it to the big time, kinda. Like the pro players who have come before you, your artwork will be on display in front of the masses during a live episode of the SPICK & SPAN SHOW at the end of the month! All you have to do is create a radical Force design and submit it to us! RULES: Please download or save this image, print it out, and draw out your best piece of artwork and submit that artwork to me ( email , Instagram , Facebook , etc). Please note, we are trying to make this as kindergarten as possible, so all entries must be drawn in fat tipped pens (preferably the ones with the fruity scents, OR with crayon.) No entries drawn in colored pencil or artistic pens will count. The winner will be chosen LIVE on the show at the end of the month MARCH 22nd . The overall winner will take home a signed ALEX FRAIGE JERSEY and possibly some more sponsored goods!

That was a tough week - PROLON Fast Mimicking Diet

By Ryan Greenspan • 01 Mar, 2021
I had been staring at this PROLON box for nearly three months before I was able to muster up the courage to tackle the five day fast. Actually, I had planned to take it when I received it back in October, but I was also prepping for a little event called World Cup, so I didn't want any distractions nor did I want to possibly have my training hindered by lack of energy or whatever it was that I may feel as I embarked on this journey. Fast forward through a handful of excuses and it was the first week of January and what better time to fast than to kick off the New Year. Like I said, I have wanted to do a full on fast for a long time and this PROLON fast in particular was very appealing for various reasons. This box was tempting, or taunting me for the better part of two months so I had to jump in. I have documented my journey to give you some insight into my joy and pain during the week of my PROLON fast. I do wish I had taken before and after photos/videos, but I was just laser focused on making it through the week to be honest. I will do that on the next fast, if there is one...  Sunday night 158 lbs Day One: Monday morning 156.4 lbs = loss of 1.6lbs Good morning to a new day and a new week supplemented with the PROLON Fast Mimicking Diet. This morning started with a nut bar that offers just about 200 calories and healthy fats to power me through till lunch time. I was slightly uncomfortable around 11am and was ready to start lunch which was slated to be a tomato soup, a small packet of olives and five kale crackers. The meals are understandably small, but today is the big eating day with just over 1000 calories before tomorrow dips below 800 and lower as the week goes on. The test is getting through today and pacing myself to prep for the long haul. Monday night 156 lbs Tuesday morning 154.2 lbs = loss of 1.8lbs Today was for sure the hardest day. Waking up I felt grumpy I felt tired I felt starving! Today was also my worst planned day, breakfast included the L bar (nut bar) then I had lunch planned as a mushroom soup and olives followed by an afternoon snack of olives. However the day's plan didn’t allow me to have my much needed soup for lunch. I had an appointment across the border, in Mexico, for my dog to have her teeth pulled and cleaned. Getting there is never a problem, only about 45 minute drive from my door to the dentist, but the process took about four hours and getting across the border takes another hour and a half or more. I packed both packets of olives but I certainly wasn’t prepared to watch Camille eat two rounds of delicious tacos while I licked the inside of the olive packet dry. I didn’t get home that afternoon until around 4pm and I was doing everything in my power to not be a grouch, I think I did well despite Camille’s attempts to poke at me. This tough day ended up being a bit of a blessing in disguise as I ended up eating my lunch time soup closer to dinner time and my dinner soup was basically a bonus which would inevitably help stave off hunger for tomorrow morning. Rationing the calories is the key to success here. Two days down, three more to go! Tuesday night 154.3 lb Wednesday morning 153.3 lb = loss of 1lb This morning was actually much better than yesterday my energy levels feel like they’re higher and all around I feel better. I wasn’t groggy this morning, I wasn’t even that hungry. The pain that usually sits in the pit of my stomach was nonexistent. However when I open my day three box and look at the menu, I did notice it was a little lighter than previous day’s. I feel like I’ve had a good system and I’ve rationed my meals out pretty well throughout the day. I try to eat my dinner as late as possible and I have really leaned on that little chocolate crisp we get for dessert each night. I’ll nibble it for about an hour before and after my nightly soup and I manage to continue the chocolate crisp to just after dinner. I did that the first day with my kale chips as well, I don’t devour everything all at once I try to make each meal last as long as possible to savor and hopefully trick my brain into thinking it’s not over. What made tonight especially difficult was that my golden goose, my chocolate crisp wasn’t in my meal kit. This was slightly irritating. I was in a groove, I was conquering this thing, I had it beat and now they throw this at me! The chocolate was my rock, how could they do this to me!? Wednesday night 154.6 lb Thursday morning 152.7 lb = loss of 1.9lb This morning is the best I’ve felt so far bar none! I actually started to notice yesterday morning that my face looked different. I looked noticeably more vibrant and it look like I was more hydrated even. I drink a lot of water already, but I am supplementing food with water and tea. Some of my more defining wrinkles were less pronounced and I have a slight glow to my face. This morning that “glow” was even more prominent and my face just looked younger, it is hard to describe and I kick myself for not taking pictures of a before and after now looking back at it. I do not feel hungry, yet, which is a huge bonus. I ate my soup last night at around 7pm I usually try to drag out the meal process as long as possible, like I said before to really extend the experience. Unfortunately last night, there was no little chocolate dessert. That tiny chocolate paradise is really what helps me get through the nights! Usually I'll start to nibble The little chocolate treat around 6 PM and make it last until maybe having one or two nibbles after I’m done with my nightly soup. Today was particularly interesting because to this point I have not been exerting any excessive energy. I have been trying to preserve energy assuming that I would need it to make it through tomorrow, but that just hasn't been the case. Today I went surfing for a little over an hour and the only fatigue I noticed was actually just due to my arm strength weakening slightly. I wasn’t exhausted physically or mentally, more just cold. I had just assumed that this fast would zap my physically, but this wasn't the case. I just ate my packet of olives before I went out and I was good I’m looking forward to the chocolate crisp that I get to eat with dinner tonight! Not to mention tomorrow’s the last day of this extended torment. Thursday night 154 lb Friday morning 151.4 lb = loss of 2.6lb Alright, it’s pretty much over, I can see a definitive finish line and it has gotten easier and easier with each passing day. Honestly, looking back on it, aside from Tuesday being lousy, the week hasn’t been as bad as I had expected. Today was a bit difficult, however, because I was flying to the East Coast for an event. I started the morning earlier than usual so I was certainly worried about that. I was worried about the temptation of food in flight and at the airports. I couldn’t bring my lunch and dinner with me in the form of soup because I knew that I wouldn’t have anything to mix the soup with/in. That being said, I had my bar in the morning even though I wasn’t really craving it. I rationed it like normal, first bite was around 615am and I put it in my jacket pocket and finished it before I boarded my flight around 730. Writing that out sounds crazy actually. Then I packed my Kale chips and had those before I landed in Charolette which was about three and a half hours later. Landing in Boston, I was not really hungry, but I will end up eating something lite and small for dinner that is not the soup that I am used to. This being the final day of the fast, I am not so much throwing in the towel as I am conceding due to lack of proper preparation. I ended the fast a few hours early and without my last two soup packets. Beginning weight 158lb End weight 151.4lb Net weight loss 6.6lb

2020 NXL WORLD CUP Field Layout

By Ryan Greenspan • 30 Oct, 2020
This is for all the marbles! We know World Cup is HIGH STAKES PAINTBALL, but this is a whole other story! HERE WE GO! So, what have you been doing the past eight months or so? Prepping for the 2020 NXL World Cup? I hope so. I am sure that you have played some paintball here and there, but high level of competition, not likely, at least not for our guys. I have done a handful of coaching gigs, so hopefully that dials me in for this NXL World Cup layout breakdown but for the most part, paintball out this way has been slow or locked down. But things just got extra exciting when this wild 2020 NXL World Cup Layout just dropped! The dorito side looks insane! the "snake" is a fortress that owns the 50-yard line. Then the center ripe for a run through! You may as well take a moment and check out the BKI School of Paintball ‘s field breakdown, It is FREE for everyone to enjoy and there will be a followup breakdown for members onl y next week with key bounce shots and detailed game plans for everyone. Right now, w e must focus on getting familiar with the 2020 NXL W ORLD CUP layout and dial in some game plans . As we all know, preparation is key, and it is a crucial element in your team’s, as well as your own, success. Be prepared to fight against your opponents by taking every necessary step. Taking these steps goes far beyond just the hours on the practice field. You may have heard me say before that you need to control all of the variables that you can. This is a great example of that preparation and this is a great step to controlling one of those variables. As some of the teams who I coach will agree, game planning is one of their major keys to success. With that said, our fearless leader and coach extraordinaire, Rusty Glaze has ma de some adjustments to the normal field layout map that everyone should be familiar with at this point and therefore should be a staple in everyone’s field planning. I would recommend following his lead, as it has paid serious dividends to Dynasty and to other local teams that we coach! The BKI Team have also added a FIELD BREAKDOWN FREE for everyon e to enjoy. This is just a preliminary walkthrough. There will a full GAME PLAN REVIEW with several BREAKOUTS along with a detailed description on how to execute those plans coming out for WEEKEND TWO! So check out the LINK above then sign up for BKI PAINTBALL to get access to over 400 pieces of unique paintball and fitness drills along with
Split sage eye exam

Split Sage - MIT developed Blind Spotting Exam

29 Oct, 2020
One of the most critical assets to excelling in the sport of paintball is your ability to perceive what is happening around you as quickly as possible. This is called situational awareness. People think they see like a camera with a wide-angle lens seeing everything at once. NOT TRUE
New Balance Team Store

New Balance x Dynasty Team Store

By Ryan Greenspan • 28 Jul, 2020
Dynasty's discounted New Balance Team Store is back and waiting for you and your team to get laced up!

Dynasty 20 year Clinic - BOSTON PAINTBALL July 17

By Ryan Greenspan • 15 Jul, 2020
Dynasty celebrating their 20th season by dropping some of their best knowledge on the East Coast! Sign up now for the one day event!
ryan greenspan pro paintball clinic ASG

ASG PRO CLINIC JUNE 27

By Ryan Greenspan • 10 May, 2020
Ryan Greenspan is hosting a PRO Paintball Clinic in Southern California at Action Star Games in Perris, CA. Join Ryan JUNE 27 for a full day of training and drills. This is something you do not want to miss!
Show More
Share by: