The Zen Master: Coach Nick Hawkes

The Zen Master: Coach Nick Hawkes
Interview by Invictus Member Ilya Signayevsky

For those of you who do not know or have never seen Coach Nick Hawkes, you may recognize him as the morning and noon trainer with tattoos and the occasional beard and beanie. While Nick’s exterior appearance may be intimidating for those of you who are new to Invictus, rest assured he is an easily approachable, knowledgeable, and friendly trainer who loves helping any member at the gym.

For both long time and new members who do not know Nick, I have attempted to demystify the man, the myth, and the legend with a few interesting tidbits of information. While the story of a man of Nick Hawkes’s caliber cannot easily be told within the confines of a thirty minute interview, I hope these facts will lead the reader to better get to know their trainer.

Nick received his first tattoo at the age of 17. You may notice that his most recent tattoo was of an octopus on his calf. The story behind the ink begins at Ocean Beach’s Dog Beach. One day Nick was walking his dog when he came upon a large group of people standing around the shores. The crowd was staring at a large octopus stranded on the beach. Being the good hearted saintly individual which Nick is, he took it upon himself to save this creature. Nick used his keen intellect to quickly gather a large pile of kelp so as to avoid the octopus’ sharp beak. The octopus glanced directly into Nick’s eyes with a sign of gratitude and respect and quickly climbed aboard the makeshift kelp vessel. Nick, being an experienced CrossFitter, utilized a reverse sled pull method to drag the octopus into the water. No medal and no ‘thank you’s were necessary as this was just an ordinary occurrence in the interesting life of Nick.

Nick grew up in the suburbs of Salt Lake City Utah and ended up in San Diego after joining the Navy at the age of 25. While in the Navy, he was a helicopter gunner, and assisted inserting and extracting troops during his tour in Iraq. While in the Navy, Nick discovered CrossFit. He believes that CrossFit is the best modality towards general physical preparedness. CrossFit will give you the physical and mental resilience necessary to succeed in daily life, because through CrossFit, you learn to push through obstacles which naturally carry over into your daily life.

Nick competed in the 2nd CrossFit Games in 2008. He also owned his own CrossFit Gym in Jacksonville, Florida. From 2010 through 2013, Nick ran this gym, taking a team to Regionals twice, one time as a member of the team. He personally wrote the programming for the gym and also followed CJ’s training program. His Jacksonville gym had the same family and community style vibe as Invictus, only on a smaller scale. The heat eventually drove Nick away from Florida and back to San Diego.

Before beginning CrossFit, Nick was practicing Jujitsu. To this day Jujitsu is still a regular practice for Nick, with the ultimate goal of one day achieving a black belt – don’t mess with Nick.

At the age of 20, Nick became a Father and is currently the proud parent of his 16 year old son. While there is currently no Mrs. Hawkes, he is accepting applications.

Nick strives to keep balance in his life with a regular meditation practice and by going into nature. Whether it’s a day at the beach or hiking through a national park, Nick believes living a balanced life is important for overall happiness. Nature is a major part of Nick’s life because it helps him to connect internally and to reach a place of calmness. His favorite places to venture to are the Florida Keys for fishing and snorkeling, Zion National Park, Strawberry Point Overlook, Lake Powel, and Snow Bird for snowboarding.

Nick has had a daily meditation practice for the past year which he believes everyone can benefit from. He meditates in order to clear his head and to set a purpose for each day. He focuses on his breathing for a few minutes every morning and has experienced that with meditation he is able to deal with whatever life throws at him in a more gentle and calm manner.

In sum, if you need marital advice, meditation advice, camping and/or hiking related tips, or want to know how to build to a heavier clean and jerk, Nick’s your trainer to ask!