If I had to use one word to describe Emma Horner, it would be intense.
How else would you describe a woman who has embraced practically every hard core combat sport and come out on top? From wrestling to Ju Jitzu, to boxing and beyond, Emma has honed her body—and her mind—to its maximum potential.
Let’s begin with wrestling.
Emma started wrestling in high school at the young age of 14 years. It seemed to suit her just fine. While already involved in x-country running and weight lifting, she found that wrestling was a sport that went well beyond the usual challenges of other sports. “Wrestling requires more than just talent,” she says, “It requires an intense amount of perseverance and brain attitude.” She relished the intense work outs and the busy schedule: classes during the day, wrestling practice at lunch, weight lifting during her spare, more wrestling after school and then an evening club wrestling practice or Mixed Martial Arts, depending on what day of the week it was.
She attributes her dedication to a high school coach who gave her an analogy she uses to this day. “It’s like putting water into a bucket. You can start in a sport where your competition has more experience than you and the level in their bucket is higher than yours. But with dedication and practice you can increase your level and go beyond theirs. You get what you put into the bucket. Simple as that.” And Emma has put a lot into her bucket.
Her walls are covered with wrestling medals won in high school and from when she wrestled with the Lakehead University Thunderwolves team; medals that include two Provincial golds and silvers, as well as three silver and two bronze medals from Nationals. Her most valued medal is her first bronze won at the Nationals. “I lost by only one point. It was a good lesson for me. I knew then that I could do well and all I needed to do was work harder.”
Then came the body building.
“I started body building because of taking MMA, Brazilian Ju Jitzu, Kick boxing and Bang Mauy Thai boxing. I believe you need to be dynamic as a person, that you need to take care of your body and look the part.” And judging from her second place in the Regional Ontario Physique Association show held in Thunder Bay last year, she has done just that. “Being athletically aesthetic can give a person confidence, and the stress of the competition can help you to focus that stress to perform at your best. Without stress a person won’t feel compelled to do her best.”
And then there’s the Strong Man Competition.
“I loved lifting weights in high school and my coach encouraged me to compete in the States when I was in grade 12.” With no age limit in her category, Emma knew she was in for some steep competition, but it didn’t seem to faze her. She walked away with a gold medal and the assurance that she could do even better.
She joined the Strong Man Gym and trained with her eyes set on the National Strong Man competition.
After winning the Regional, she went on to qualify in the Provincials and really put her nose to the grindstone, so to speak, with her mind set on winning gold at the Nationals. “There’s intense competition at these events. And it isn’t just a matter of simply lifting a bar bell over your head.” Looking at the photos taken during the competition I couldn’t help but agree. There’s the log press where the competitor must overhead press a 105 lb log for repetitions in a minute, and the Farmer’s Walk, where one must carry 145 lbs in each hand and run a 180 foot race. And if that isn’t enough, there’s the Tire Flip (flipping a 500 lb tire for 80 feet), the Dead Lift (lifting 300 lbs and doing as many repetitions as possible in one minute) and the Stone Over Bar, where the competitor must lift 4 atlas stones weighing 195 lbs in total and drop them over a 55 inch bar.
Intense right? When the dust settled and the scores were added up, Emma placed second, a mere 1/2 point behind the gold medalist.
“I’ve learned a lot from these competitions,” Emma says. “It’s important to learn from your mentors, but you need to know that while you respect and learn from others, the most important person you need to listen to is yourself. You know your mind and your body, and only you can push yourself forward. At the end of the day it doesn’t matter what you’ve done—it only matters if you’re happy with yourself, that you feel fulfilled.”
That being said, perhaps there are now two words that describe Emma: Intense and fulfilled.