Wheelchair Rugby Player Chuck Aoki Joins The Armless Archer, Matt Stutzman, For A Drive 🚘

MATT: Is this your first time riding in a car MATT: with a guy without arms? CHUCK: This is the first time exclusively being CHUCK: driven by feet. MATT: Chuck! MATT: What's up buddy? CHUCK: How's it going? CHUCK: Pick up for Chuck? MATT: A pick up for Chuck? CHUCK: Pick up for Chuck? Is that is that you? CHUCK: Can I hop in? MATT: Yeah. Do you need a hand or two? CHUCK: I need two hands. MATT: Two. CHUCK: Yeah. MATT: Okay. Here, let me help you with that. CHUCK: Thank you so much. Thank you. CHUCK: Hustle hustle hustle hustle. CHUCK: So we got places to be. MATT: My name is Matt Stutzman, three-time Paralympian. MATT: I live in Iowa, shoot archery. MATT: But today is not about me. MATT: Today is about Chuck Aoki, CHUCK: Hello everyone. MATT: who is also a three-time Paralympian MATT: and his sport is wheelchair rugby. ANNOUNCER: In perfect and Aoki arriving ANNOUNCER: flying onto the ball. MATT: Before the Paralympics and all that kind of MATT: stuff, like what's what's your story? CHUCK: My story starts not far from here actually, CHUCK: up the road up I-35 in Minneapolis. CHUCK: That’s where I was born and raised. CHUCK: I grew up with a disability -- using my CHUCK: wheelchair since I was about 10-years-old. CHUCK: But then I saw a documentary about wheelchair CHUCK: rugby, and as a 16-year-old boy, I was like, CHUCK: well, hell yeah, let's play that sport. CHUCK: So I showed up to a practice in Minnesota. CHUCK: I got promptly destroyed. CHUCK: I loved it. That was amazing, I had so much fun. CHUCK: You get this a little bit. CHUCK: Growing up disabled, you kind of can have a CHUCK: bubble put around you sometimes. CHUCK: But this was the first sport where I truly, like, CHUCK: was alive. MATT: Where's Chuck and Team USA at the moment? CHUCK: USA is still ranked number one in the world. MATT: Yes! Let's go! MATT: How's it feel to be number one in the world? CHUCK: It feels good, but it's gonna feel a lot CHUCK: better with a gold medal in Paris. CHUCK: So, we got some work -- we got some work CHUCK: to do still. CHUCK: Yeah, but I have a question CHUCK: for you, though, Matt. CHUCK: Technology is changing so CHUCK: much these days. Right? CHUCK: Right. We get all this new tech, stuff like that. CHUCK: And yet a really popular CHUCK: trendy thing is like handsfree features. CHUCK: Do you feel like it just, I don't know, CHUCK: like you were there first, like, CHUCK: and people were just kind of stealing your idea? [Matt laughs] CHUCK: I just, I every time I hear “handsfree”, CHUCK: I was like, Matt was doing handsfree like CHUCK: a decade ago. MATT: I mean -- CHUCK: And no one was paying attention to it, you know? MATT: I didn't have no stock in it when it, MATT: you know, went public. So, like, I'm not... CHUCK: Oh you sold early? MATT: Yeah, I sold early. MATT: I'm not making, I'm not making all the money. MATT: I was the guy with the idea behind it. CHUCK: Right. Yeah. Well yeah. That's what I was saying. CHUCK: You're kind of the creator of it. MATT: Obviously you face some issues MATT: in learning what you're supposed to do. MATT: Now for me, like, I got calluses and MATT: blisters on my feet or whatever from shooting a bow. MATT: What was, like, one of the main hurdles MATT: or things you kind of had to figure out, MATT: because I noticed your hands are used, MATT: like, not only for catching the ball, but then MATT: you got to push the wheelchair. CHUCK: You know, I think equipment is such an CHUCK: interesting part of Paralympic sport, because CHUCK: it's so unique to what we do. CHUCK: Really, what's been so cool lately is that CHUCK: Bridgestone has actually come along with CHUCK: these, sort of, like personalized hand CHUCK: sort of hand shields we almost call them. MATT: Mhmm. CHUCK: Right? They're like fit to my hands, cause I CHUCK: have pretty unique looking hands, you know? MATT: Yeah. CHUCK: And fingers. MATT: [Laughs] We have arrived. CHUCK: Oh my gosh. We are here. MATT: We're pulling in at the facility. MATT: Do you want me to get the stuff out of the MATT: trunk for you? CHUCK: Would you mind? CHUCK: Thank you. [Matt laughs] MATT: So, I remember, I remember seeing MATT: this chair from, like, MATT: way up top in the -- in the stands. CHUCK: It's like a little tank. CHUCK: It's built for combat. MATT: Wow. CHUCK: I don't know if it'll work on your foot just yet. CHUCK: What do you think? MATT: Like my toe? MATT: I could probably put my toe right through there. MATT: Just the feeling of it, though. MATT: I like that. CHUCK: That's the thing. Is it just -- it takes you CHUCK: to that that extra, next little level. MATT: Those look phenomenal. MATT: Tell me a little bit more. CHUCK: So this is some of the coolest like -- CHUCK: really the best way to put it is some of the CHUCK: most innovative tech that we've CHUCK: got in wheelchair rugby today. CHUCK: And so what Bridgestone has done is they've CHUCK: created these hand mounts that basically just CHUCK: lay right over, MATT: Okay CHUCK: provide that extra grip, CHUCK: the extra sort of performance against like CHUCK: wetness and, you know, variable conditions. CHUCK: Super incredible. MATT: Okay. So as you know, I like competitions. CHUCK: Yep. MATT: And I know you're competitive. MATT: Whoever wins has to sign the MATT: other person's shirt. MATT: Focus. CHUCK: Alright. ANNOUNCER: Three.... ANNOUNCER: Two... ANNOUNCER: One.... ANNOUNCER: Go! CHUCK: Oh, God, I'm getting nervous. CHUCK: Why am I so nervous? MATT: Don't be nervous. You're a world champion. MATT: Oh, [laughs] what was it? CHUCK: What's our time? MATT: Was that, like, six seconds? ANNOUNCER: 9.1. CHUCK: 9.1. MATT: 9.1 seconds. CHUCK: I think you might be able to beat that. CHUCK: I panicked a little. MATT: Uh... okay. MATT: It's... it’s about to get real. CHUCK: Yeah. MATT: So I'm going to. I'm really -- CHUCK: The shoes are coming off people. MATT: Shoes are coming off. CHUCK: The sock is coming off, even. MATT: Alright, I’m going to start sitting down. CHUCK: That's fine. MATT: Okay. CHUCK: I started sitting. [Matt laughs] CHUCK: Oh, getting, oh! MATT: I’ve got to bring that... CHUCK: You're gonna have really good torque from this way. MATT: Yeah, I got to bring this in. MATT: Then I got a push. CHUCK: This is good. MATT: Nope. I missed it again. MATT: This is a lot harder than it looks. CHUCK: Yeah, well. CHUCK: I usually don't do it with my feet. MATT: Yeah. MATT: I'm still going to get it. CHUCK: Yeah you are. I think you have it. CHUCK: There it is. CHUCK: I think you got it. CHUCK: I think it's in. CHUCK: Look at that. MATT: Done. CHUCK: Look at that. ANNOUNCER: 26.1. CHUCK: 26.1. MATT: Woo! Let's go! CHUCK: Hey! CHUCK: Well done. MATT: I'm really flexing the muscles at the moment. CHUCK: I'm gonna write, “Go USA”, on there. CHUCK: Is that okay? MATT: I just have one more question, alright? MATT: So, what is it for you, as far as, MATT: like, the road to Paris? CHUCK: Well, we've got, you know, a few more training CHUCK: camps for the team, kind of fine tuning those CHUCK: last little bits, getting that 1% better, CHUCK: and then at some point saying, “alright, we've CHUCK: worked as hard as we can do, CHUCK: it’s time to get on that plane and go CHUCK: and just hopefully bring home CHUCK: a gold medal for Team USA.” MATT: You're going to have fun doing it? CHUCK: It's always fun. CHUCK: You know, this whole process is fun. CHUCK: Getting to be part of Team USA and CHUCK: Team Bridgestone. It's such a privilege, and CHUCK: yeah, I can't wait. MATT: How do you get better from here? MATT: Like, what's going to elevate you, I guess, MATT: to the next level? CHUCK: You know, I think there's two, two aspects CHUCK: I look at in terms of like, you know, CHUCK: always striving for greatness, right? CHUCK: Technology and training. CHUCK: What are these little things I can do? CHUCK: What are these little edges? CHUCK: Like, you know, is it better tech from Bridgestone? CHUCK: But I think the second thing and this CHUCK: actually, in some ways doesn't have much to CHUCK: do with my, my career right now, but it's CHUCK: important for the sport. CHUCK: And it's like, you know, what really matters CHUCK: is what is going to come after you? CHUCK: I think a lot about how can we really improve CHUCK: this sport and all Paralympic sports really CHUCK: across the board. CHUCK: Like, that's what really matters to me is CHUCK: what is the legacy we're going to leave CHUCK: behind as Paralympic athletes? MATT: Alright, Chuck, listen. CHUCK: Yes? MATT: We are MATT: almost to MATT: where I'm dropping you off. CHUCK: Yeah. MATT: So I want to say, MATT: thanks again for coming along on this journey. CHUCK: Thank you for having me. MATT: Thanks for swinging by good old Iowa. CHUCK: It's been a -- I can't wait to come back. MATT: I got to learn a lot about what really MATT: matters to you and the MATT: pride that you have in everything that you're doing. MATT: Anyway, I'm hoping that, MATT: at the end of all this, we can kind of get MATT: together and clink some medals together. MATT: And good luck on your road to Paris. CHUCK: You too, my friend. MATT: I appreciate it a lot. CHUCK: Thank you for having me. MATT: Yep, thanks for coming along for the ride.