Sean Jones
Featured Cover Model - February 2011
Sean Jones - To The Extreme
You have probably seen Sean Jones on our Fall 2011 cover, in the X-Treme PH Sports Water ad, Jet Fuel ads, as a Hot Bodz clothing model, at body paint shows, and in other magazines. We go behind the scenes with Sean and go deep to find out what makes him tick. We all have probably read interviews and the likes on the internet and in magazine about him but, we are searched deeper to find out more about him.
Sean Jones was born in Trinidad; the most southerly of the tropical Caribbean. Growing up in a tropical environment affords you limitless access to outdoor activities and he was certainly one to behave as part of the wildlife. He had an insatiable desire for fitness and he exploited every opportunity to indulge in anything that constituted some form of athletics, as long as it was fun.
He delved into track and field and martial arts, largely due to the fact that eastern culture is strongly embraced by the West Indies. Oddly enough, art was one of the few things that can keep him focused long enough to finish a protein bar. In retrospect, his fascination with bodybuilding was inevitable, considering the sport is a marriage between art and athleticism. Carving a stone or a piece of wood into a work of art takes talent and effort, as does sculpting a physique. He thinks accomplishing the same via human tissue presents unique challenges, largely due to the fact that muscle growth or any type of physique augmentation over abbreviated time periods, are negligible at best. It's common knowledge that anyone with an appreciable level of development, has invested years of effort. An expert craftsman can quantify the time needed to forge his final product, whereas bodybuilding is an infinite art in progress.
Sean has always been a TV and movie fan. His youth was de-void male role models, thus, he was highly impressionable. Super heroes made a big impression on him. They exuded strength, poise, and they were incorruptible. They gave him exactly what he needed something to believe in. One of his most significant sources of inspiration was the image of the Hulk. That image of a green Lou Ferrigno is just too awe inspiring for words. The notion that there was a possibility that he can look anything like that one day was more than enough to be enthused.
He had a classmate who had subscriptions to muscle magazines, so Sean took the liberty of reading them and acquiring notes that were applicable to his task at hand. There’s not much that Sean Jones has not done or cannot do, so we will skip many a detail, but we should mention that he is a skilled welder and have been since his early teens. So, he acquired some materials and welded up some Draconian looking contraptions and made weights by pouring cement into buckets and allowing the mixture to solidify around a pole he had centered on the middle, to form the hole for the plates. These en-genius devices served their purpose for a while until there was need for a more practical approach, so he joined a gym.
Progress was steady, but never fast enough, largely due to his own haste and need for immediate rewards for his efforts. Sean tends to be very diligent in his quests and tasks, so his results were not typical. Nothing he did was without rhyme, or reason, and the discipline of logic was in all that he did. If he was dissatisfied with the progress of a movement or a body part, he attributed it to something he needed to learn. He also did what most modern day gym rats fail to do; he listened. He thinks foolish people simply do not learn from their mistakes; smart ones do. Brilliant people, however, learn from the mistakes of others, so he endeavored to be brilliant and paid attention to those that were educated enough to have the knowledge he needed and more importantly, benevolent enough to share what they knew to a kid with nothing to offer in return. It fascinates him to this day that human nature is evasive (or at best, not completely receptive) when offered a concept that deviates from what they know. “Human physiology teaches us that the body is incredibly resilient. Change is the essential process of all existence. So, that being said, I trained hard, ate well and learned a lot. That was and always will be my ingredients for progress and success”, says Sean.
Sean moved to America in his teens; initially to New York, then to New Jersey. Coming from a culture that celebrates diversity, New Jersey was completely contrary to what he was prepared for. He had to face contend with more malice and negativity there than any other environment he has seen. He had distasteful occurrences, too numerous to mention, but he had to survive so he endured. Though they were few and far between, there were some blessings in the Garden state.
“I met Bill Grant; a bodybuilding legend who was profoundly impressed with my knowledge and my bodybuilding potential. Bill yelled at me for years to compete, but I waited. I waited for one little ingredient that was not quite there. I needed to be complete. I always use my images of super heroes to set a standard of excellence, so I trained and I waited. I chose a target; a show called the “Suburban” and I scheduled a shoot prior for a clothing company that took me on to model their clothing. I was pleased with the condition I had attained for the shoot, so it was damned the competition, warp 9 to the NPC. And the rest, as they say, is history. I won the heavyweight class and overall in my very first show; beating the now unstoppable Kai Green”, Sean stated.
Sean always had a tremendous amount of respect for Kai, mainly because athletes like him quickly dispel preconceived notions that lay men have of us, regarding out intellect. “Anyone that has mastered any craft and can display their expertise by way of conversation, commands attention, I give kudos to him.”
The following are the fruits of my Sean’s competition efforts:
You will notice some repeat wins. Contrary to Sean’s critics and haters, he was not being a trophy hunter, nor was he intimidated by national level shows. “At the time, I was in the process of acquiring my United States Citizenship, as the NPC did not allow non-citizens to do national level shows.”
When the 2nd place at the Junior Nationals was announced, the audience booed non-stop. He did the honorable thing and motioned to them to cease and that it was okay. Although Sean can remember that day perfectly; “Honestly…I’d rather be in my position than in his. It was all over the internet the next day and the thing that makes me most pleased about that day is my conduct.”
He thinks the zenith of his competitive career was winning the Muscle Beach and the plethora of events that followed. Here he is, standing on an outdoor stage he had recognize from videos of Lou and Arnold pumping iron and not only is he announced as the winner, but best poser and the opportunity to shoot at Gold’s in Venice Beach! Prior to his Gold’s gym experience, he shot with Ian Sitren; a world class photographer in the fitness industry and he was impressed with Sean from start to finish, so that alone was worth the trip. So, Sean walks into Gold’s and then it happened; Lou Ferrigno walks up to Sean and says, “Wow, who is this kid? He looks great!” “A compliment from the source of my inspiration! Yeah, I’d say I had a good weekend.”
In retrospect, bodybuilding had a profound impact on Sean’s life in ways that transcend far beyond the stage. Applying that much effort to anything requires unshakable fortitude and discipline he had not fathom, prior to being involved in the sport. Bodybuilding has afforded him the ability to tunnel-vision his focus and master the art of preparation, as it is indeed an event specific state where the pre-contest look is acquired. There are so many nuances to the finished look of a champion bodybuilding physique that a mediocre mind cannot devote the focus required to achieve such a state.
Off stage, Sean reaped the benefits of his blood, sweat, and tears by seeing his physique captured by many a lens of a skilled photographer. “I’ve been doing my share of physique and fine art modeling, internationally. Much like Kai Green, my forte on stage has always been theatrics and the theatrical part of me yearned for a stage with no boundaries and no limitations, but like most humans, I lacked the diligence to throw myself out of my comfort zone. Most of us need a good kick in the arse to chase excellence and such was the case with me.” Coupled by the fact that Sean craved something more than what actual competition had to offer, he was bored with the usual nature of idiotic gym goers that seem to find pleasure in vilifying others and never have a single thing positive to say about their chosen target. Sean needed something more than an obscure sub-culture that did not allow him to exploit the gifts he was blessed with.
Many think “blessed” is a strong word and that Sean should reserve credit for himself. He never dare subscribe to that theory because something, somewhere afforded him the privilege to acquire the ability to do what was necessary. Far be it from him to have an assumption of normalcy and expect people to be nice, understanding or even cordial, so when he’s being fired upon, he knows he’s doing something right. One very gracious female called Sean the “dumbest person she’s ever met.”
“To be frank, I used every ounce of my humility to not just agree with her, but use that occurrence as a pivotal point in my life. I called upon my fortitude to force myself into swim in bigger ponds and use my gifts; not just enjoy the fact that I have them. The cruel words fueled me to use mediums that allowed me to let my talents be seen. Those of you who have seen my work over the past few years know that I’ve made a transition into body paint modeling. A field that not only allows me to transcend what the human body can look like, unassisted by paint or special effects, but one that puts me on international stages with 30 plus thousand people in the audience. I’ve worked with the best painters in the industry and I’m grateful to them for believing in me. It’s a big risk to use someone of my stature, considering most models I meet are areal acrobats and ballet dancers. Grace, flexibility, style, confidence, theatrics; all these are factors that determine how well a body art is displayed.” Sean is currently getting ready for the Canadian body paint events held annually in British Columbia, as he is a featured model for the “Bodygras” team, who sponsor the events.
Sean will be directing his expertise toward gourmet for athletes and others seeking to be in shape and healthy, since his recipes have been gaining some popularity and he need to say thanks to Lana from Lana’s Egg Whites for inspiring him for the past few years.
In closing, Sean wants to remind everyone out there that regardless of your goals; be it weight loss, muscle growth, strength; whatever, find happiness in what you do. Be grateful that you have the choice to do what you do in a gym. Be thankful.
“Happiness is not some mystical destination that’s meant to be chased. Happiness is the journey and the choice to pick up that weight or not…to put down that slice of pizza, or not. It’s a choice and it requires the same amount of calories as being unhappy, so either way, you win!”, quoted Sean.
For more pictures of Sean Jones, you may visit our our model albums. In addition, we are planning to feature a series of his workouts, recipes, and articles in up-coming magazine issues. We will be featuring more photos by Adrienne Irizarry Photography..
