Thanks for sharing with us.
RIP
thanks
Thank You Guys for all you have done and will continue to do.....
Good to hear from you Skyskrape.
I wish the best for you and your team, I wish you could have your beloved friend back but that's just not possible.
Thanks for everything Tapout has done for this sport.
:)
ttt for the whole tapout crew!!! sorry for your loss skrape and punkass. ttt for the MASK
Graffight Blog: March 17th, 2009
Its already been almost a week since the death of one of the most recognizable ambassadors the sport of mixed martial has ever had in Charles Lewis, more affectionately known as “Mask” from the infamous TapouT Crew. In the days since his death I’ve seen countless threads on message boards with people posting their stories about what they remember about the man and their experiences or encounters with him, I guess that goes to show how many people he had a positive impact on while he was still with us.
It may be of no comfort to the people who knew him best, but I am a firm believer that we never really lose the people we love or appreciate the most, they live on in our minds and their memory never dies as long as we continue to shares our stories and experiences about our friends and loved ones who we have unfortunately lost too soon. I for one am writing today to do my part to ensure the mixed martial arts pioneer Charles Lewis lives on through a story that I will undoubtedly share and continue to share for as long as I can.
It was Summer last year, I was covering ASR Virtue or Action Sports Retailers Convention in San Diego California. I was walking through the vast arena floor, making my way through the maze of countless surfing apparel companies and skateboard companies that spanned the floor as far as you could possibly see.
The one thing that became abundantly clear after my first foray through the madness of the event was, “Not one of these companies cares about the MMA fan” it was actually a little depressing since we are just as big of a draw if not more then any of these traditional action sports, I mean when was the last time you saw a skateboard event or surf competition on Pay Per View?
Right as I was at the peak of my disillusioned state I came across a familiar site, a 6′ 4″ white guy with an Afro standing head and shoulders above the people surrounding him, it was of course the famous Sky Scrape, one of the 3 legs of the TapouT tripod. I immediately moved in that direction and to check out they’re boot, but mostly it was to be around people I could identify with. As I walked up one of the girls asked me, “would you like to take a picture with the TapouT guys?” of course I would!
I walked into the booth where the guys were and Mask immediately began talking to me, “Hey bro, where you from? What brings you out to this place?” I told him I was writing a piece for MMAPayout.com about the transcendence of MMA Apparel into the mainstream. He laughed and said “Don’t forget to write something bad about us”. He asked me what my name was and I told him “Gary Ibarra” he said “hey, like Juanito, right?” I of course told him yes, and that Juanito was my cousin. I immediately followed that with my standard answer after anyone makes the correlation between me and my famous family member, “I usually don’t like to tell anyone that because I want to know I’m making it in this business on my own, without my cousins help” I still remember the expression on his face after I said that, it immediately changed from laughing and happy to a serious, but not an upset serious, more like an appreciative serious expression.
He put his hand on my shoulder and said ”You want to make it on your own, that’s cool. I respect that, bro, good job” I told him thank you, and that a comment like that from him really meant a lot to me and it did, I wouldn’t be telling the story almost a year later if it didn’t stick in my mind as memorable moment.
I’m sure when he made that comment to me it wasn’t something that he thought would have some profound effect on my life, I’m sure he was just expressing his feelings about what I was trying to do with my career and letting me know he respected what I was doing. From what I know of Mask through the mutual friends we have is that, this was the nature of his personality, the kind of person he was. Accommodating, quick with a compliment, and respectful of other people trying to make it in the world just like he had in the past.
I regret that I didn’t get to the point where I knew him a little better before his passing, he seemed like a great person with a wealth of knowledge not just in business but in life. I wish I would have been given the opportunity to learn more about the man that was intrical in giving the sport of mixed martial arts it’s relevance to the mainstream, and while that is no longer possible, it falls to us, the friends, the family, the people who knew him, even the people like me who shared an experience with him once, its our job to tell those stories and ensure his life continues to influence the future of the sport we all love through the sharing and retelling of our memories. Thanks for reading everyone.
Respect.
Ez!
ttt for scrape. I'll keep you and all Charles's friends and family in my prayers, the sport has lost a great figure, person, and asset. He will be remembered always
Skrape, I think it would be great if someone could compile all interviews, etc. into some kind of book or something about TapOut and Charles as an entrepeneur.
I for one, would love to real all accounts of his thoughts on vision, passion, the creative process, and what it took to build the company from the ground up.
I would think anyone who wishes to better themselves can benefit from Charles' story.
My thoughts and prayers are with the family and friends.
Glad you decided to post Scrape. Keep your head up man cause its on you and Punkass now to keep the Tapout family strong
skrape I wont let you down bro as Charlie would say Im gonna make some legendary shit with the Underdogs film, Rest in Peace Charlie
Bobby razak
yo Skyskrape I hope you and Punkass continue to be succesful with Tapout and I hope you guys gain more fans, respect and a new outlook on everything over this sad tragedy
keep up the great work
RIP MASK
it still gives me chills man. rip and carry it skrape. we are all with you. 100%
Skrape!! Love to you and Danny bro. It's been way too long and I'll be down this summer to hang. RIP to the biggest badass this world has ever seen! Charles will always be missed...and I'm sure he's already got the pearly gates logo'd with Tapout stickers!!
"I've failed at a lot of things in my life...but I've also failed to quit"
-Charles "Mask" Lewis
he was truly a badass.....keep it alive brutha
ttt
Skrape
God Bless
K-Dub-"T" -
Everytime someone puts on TapouT gear, slaps a TapouT sticker on their car window or even mentions the brand name, Charles' memory will live strong.
Thanks for posting Skrape. My thoughts and prayers are with all of you guys.