Simply Believe A Celebration of Charles ‘Mask’ Lewis Jr., 1963-2009 “The people who get on in this world are the people who get up and look for the circumstances they want, and if they can’t find them, make them.” - George Bernard Shaw
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o-founder and co-owner of iconic MMA clothing line TapouT, Charles “Mask” Lewis Jr. was the perfect description of the person Shaw was referring to in his quote. Lewis had a vision, went after it despite the many struggles to see it through, and in the end, paved his own road to success with the help of TapouT cofounder Punkass and crew member Skyskrape. DUB was honored to have been in the presence of such an extraordinary person, and we are deeply saddened by his tragic passing only a day after our photo shoot and interview, which sent shock waves throughout the MMA world. His presence in this world will truly be missed, and this Driven is dedicated to the memory of a truly inspirational figure within the MMA and clothing industry that will forever be missed.
PHOTOS: GREG B.
“All About TapouT” from Mask’s perspective from www.tapout.com Life is full of influences, it’s your application that sets you apart. That’s something I wrote to myself and completely believe in. You can’t be scared to set out to do something in life because you believe it may be similar to something, or because you don’t know the clear cut path on how you’re going to accomplish your goal or dream! Just take a step towards your belief daily—fearlessly,
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wholeheartedly, digging and dreaming within yourself, believing that as you push on through sacrifice, you will one day stand alone on top of a hill that you created that now encourages and inspires others to chase their dream. Knowing that through tenacity and patience anything can be achieved. If you simply believe… (An excerpt from Mask’s final interview from the TapouT feature on page 38 on the flip side) Was there a point when the sport was having hard times, and you thought that you were going to have to leave the business? What made you decide to stick it out? Inevitably, you choose to believe in something and go forward. How did you know TapouT was going to take off, even doing what we did? Sometimes you just believe. Regardless of any outside circumstances, you choose to believe— believe in your vision. I go, “I got this thing inside, I believe it, and I can see it; I’m just gonna go with it.” When you see something on the inside, and you just believe it, you just continue to go with it. I was living out of a car, and I’d go into Barnes and Noble, and I’d read, like, Dale Carnegie’s
“How to Win Friends and Influence People.” I’d read these self-help books, these dream books, like Michael Jordan and all these guys that had a dream, and I’d go, “You know at the end of the day, the world’s gonna know my dream.” One day I will say that I just believed that I was gonna believe and chose to believe it. And I’ll be able to tell other guys, “Hey, man, you all have something on the inside of your chest that is your GPS and your roadmap. Nobody might ever get there but you. Everybody’s given their own GPS to some dream that they’re chasing. It’s your vision, your dream. Only you are going to have the fog lights when it gets foggy to see down that road.” And that’s just what it is. I believe it was that way with TapouT. And, I’m 100 percent behind being an underdog, and being a team player to the sport and to the fighters. I like taking guys like Damacio (Page), Cowboy (Donald Cerrone), and Chuck Liddell—our friends— and finding them and being beside them when they weren’t who the world knows them to be now. And now, the world knows who they are, and we’re just there [being] supportive. “And if they don’t know, now you know…I am Mask. That’s straight…that’s TapouT.” - Charles “Mask” Lewis Jr.