Meanings of Ironman (Part 1 of 3): Origins and Intellectual Property Issues

I was reading this discussion forum thread with meandered into a debate on the meaning of Ironman.  Ironman, Iron Man, 140.6, etc mean a lot of different things to different people. Let's look at some of the historical, current, and various uses of the term "Ironman."

Old School
If we are going to be thorough we should acknowledge the very first Ironmen.  During the Iron Age of mankind (~500BC to 800AD) life consisted of hunting, various agricultural activities, and a war every now and then.  

Iron Age men existed a long time before the rest of these versions. 

Comic Book Character
In more contemporary terms, Iron Man was used by Marvel Comics for the character of the same name, pictured below.  Like many other Marvel characters, Iron Man has been made into a movie recently.  I will give credit to Robert Downy Jr and everyone else involved, they've done a good job.  

 

Comic book geeks like myself know that this iteration of Iron Man is actually known as War Machine, which is a lot like the approach of some Ironman triathletes.  Personally I never was too into Iron Man comics...I was more of a Punisher and X-Men reader.  

Body Building, Etc.
Another historical use of the term Ironman refers to guys who look like this:

Photo: Ben Greenfield displaying one version of an Ironman performance.

Ironman (in the body building sense of the word) is some kind of empire of magazines, competitions, and product.  I'm not sure which is more of a caricature...the comic book Iron Man or the guys in this video:

 

Seriously though, these guys ARE intense athletes.  They have to have a very strict diet and rigorous training program.  I am not writing this to bad mouth anybody.  Besides, at least these guys still wear speedos, unlike triathletes in 2010.  

Not to be outdone by those strictly going for size, aesthetic development, and really dark tans, there is another kind of Ironman/body building/size/strength thread out there, namely people who want to be able to bend iron.

 Another version of an Ironman:   "How to Bend Nails" 

This movement is both a reaction to training for aesthetic reasons, and against commercial gyms.  It includes Cross Fit, kettle bells, boot camps, TRX, and all manner of improvised workouts.  My friend CJ Ong writes about the Free Fitness Movement on his blog the Crucible.  Before forming opinions about CJ, be aware that he has done Ironmans, Triple Ironmans (Ultraman,) AND body building competitions. So he is not just an Ironman, he is all the different kinds of Ironman except the comic book character and the Iron Age man.

Sabbath
Our overview of Iron Man would not be complete without name-checking the Black Sabbath classic.  By now it is somewhat of a parody song.  For this reason I don't enjoy it as much as other Black Sabbath songs from this era, which are hard without being TOO hard if you know what I mean.  With this album they basically invented metal. 

When the recorded Iron Man the psychedelic movement was still in full swing. Damn that Ozzy Osborne is crazy as hell. Check out their video for Iron Man here.  It is really crazy.   Although I guess if you were going to do an Iron Man in the late 1960's, you could at least have the benefit of an Aqualung which might help you with the 2.4 mile swim. 

The (First) Ironman Triathlon, M-Dot, and the WTC
When 15 guys lined up on the shore of Waikiki in 1978 to settle a bet, there is no way they could have imagined the behemoth that the race format would eventually become.  The whole premise began with the argument, "Who is the best athlete; runners, swimmers, or cyclists." 

Evidently some legal wrangling and business deals have had to occur for all the different versions of Ironman co-exist.  You know those Medieval dudes have some really nasty lawyers!  But seriously if you want to know how the tradmark business go settled, then you really read this article written by Dan Empfield on Slowtwitch.com (the older version not the new one.)