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SCOTT SWANK A torn rotator cuff muscle requiring surgery and months of physical therapy might keep some people down. Not Scott Swank. The mild-mannered, seemingly stereotypical IT nerd bided his time, not only regaining his former health, but surpassing it to earn his second-degree black belt in aikido in January.
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Incognito: Senior software engineer for Vegas.com In his element: At Southern Nevada Aikikai, a dojo under T.K. Chiba, teaching and practicing aikido three to four times a week. Now approaching his third decade in the sport, Swank loves how it teaches you to vanquish an opponent by controlling his body posture and movements. “It doesn’t work in the obvious, ‘I hit you in the face’ ways,” he says. In his fridge: Pretty standard fare, consumed mindfully. “I don’t eat huge meals. I don’t eat a lot of desserts, don’t drink a lot of soda, don’t eat a ton of meat. I try not to be stupid. That’s about it.” In his words: “If I wasn’t doing something I like, I wouldn’t make it there four days a week.”
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2/23/12 10:19 AM