Bobish owes much to Dick Hartzell's jump stretch bands

The bands helped his training for an Ultimate Fighting career.
By BOB ROTH
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
YOUNGSTOWN -- Dan "The Bull" Bobish is a prime example of strength, conditioning and perseverance being ingredients for athletic success.
At 6-foot-1, 350 pounds, Bobish is an imposing figure and that thought certainly must occur to rivals of the 34-year-old cage fighting champion.
A native of Maple Heights who played football and wrestled, Bobish parlayed his strength into a tryout with the Cleveland Browns in 1994.
At the urging of some friends, he became involved in Ultimate Fighting shortly thereafter. He was entered in a tournament in Brazil.
"Without proper training everybody thought I was crazy," said Bobish. "Then I came up with a pair of wins that took me to the title fight. I was winning for the first six minutes fighting with that broken hand, but [his opponent] caught me with an inside trip, pounded my head and fractured my jaw."
Quit in 1997
Bobish continued to fight through 1997, when he got married and gave up the sport.
He returned to the cage fighting circuit in October 2001 and five months later he was introduced to Dick Hartzell's Jump Stretch bands through his trainer, Marcus Marinelli.
Flexibility, conditioning and explosion in the ring were instant beneficial factors for Bobish from his daily training with Hartzell's stretch bands.
"As a fighter the bands made training for me much easier," he said. "I could do 10 different movements with the bands in half the time with the same amount of intensity. I could work out in my hotel room and I saved a lot of time and had better workouts."
That was a major factor for Bobish when he defeated Eric Pele, a 380-pound Samoan, for the King of the Cage super heavyweight world championship in February 2002.
"I had this natural problem of tiring when throwing a lot of punches," said Bobish. "Dick gave me a breathing technique that I used against Pele. Just as I was tiring and trying to rest against the bar of the cage as he came at me, my coach [Marinelli] yelled 'Remember what Dick told you.' I did just that and finished Pele."
Provides remedy
Hartzell again provided a remedy when Bobish was training for a title defense in suburban Cleveland. Four days before the fight Bobish severely sprained his ankle while running.
"I called [Hartzell] and he said, 'Whatever you do, don't put ice on the ankle, because it will delay the healing process and you won't be able to fight.' "
Hartzell put Bobish's injured ankle in traction, using a flex band and 20 minutes later Bobish was training at full speed. This is one of many reasons that Bobish is a frequent visitor to the Hartzell's Jump Stretch gym on Meridian Road.
Bobish recently signed a contract through December 2005 with Dreamstage Entertainment, which owns Pride Fighting Championships. In October Bobish is scheduled for a bare knuckle bout in Tokyo that will be on pay per view.
While there Bobish hopes to open the market for Hartzell's flex bands.
"The best of it is to know a guy like Dan, who is a joy to work with and we are just happy to be a part of his success," said Hartzell.
"Whether it happens to be a paraplegic, a disabled individual, the elderly or the young, from the top to the bottom on all levels, it is a joy working with everyone and I don't just like it, I love it."