S. Samuel
With the documentary about his historic climb to the top of Mount Kilimanjaro airing next weekend, rapper Lupe Fiasco detailed how he incorporated certain martial arts practices to complete the climb.
According to Lupe, he resorted to past experiences to help in his climb.
“I guess it was one of them ‘Karate Kid’ moments, you know? I did martial arts for, like, 20 years. My father was a Grand Master for, like, 40 years before he passed. It’s just one of those lessons that we were taught,” he laughed at the New York premiere of “Summit on the Summit: Kilimanjaro.” “We used to run in the snow barefoot, jump over cars, hang out of trees and do all types of crazy stuff, and that was just part of the training, to understand that it’s you versus yourself. The terrain is always going to exist, it’s always going to be there, and it’s whether you are capable enough to go through it. … Just some little mysticism right there, a little bit of that karate magic to keep the mind going.” (MTV)
Lupe completed the adventure with several other celebrities and activists.
“It’s been a physical, mental, spiritual challenge,” Lupe explained in an interview. “Everybody made it which is the dope part. The unity of the groups was amazing. It was a [group of] very powerful and radical and focused individuals.” (Summit On The Summit Videos)
According to reports, the climb was completed around mid-January.
After six intense days of hiking and climbing, the group set out for their final trek at 1:30am local time and after nearly seven hours reached the Uhuru peak which generally has only a 75% success rate. Each participant battled a plethora of physical and natural elements over the past week to make the ascent. Between coping with weather ranging from rain, hail, snow and the effects of altitude, including headaches, dizziness and fatigue among other ailments all made the over 50 mile journey that much more arduous. Immediately after summiting, the group descended for an additional six plus hours of hiking to 12000 feet, where they will make their final night of camp. (Press Release)
Interested fans will be able to view the intense adventure this weekend.
Before their strenuous climb, the trekkers underwent intense training to prepare for the mountain’s physical demands and extreme changes in weather. Temperatures were at nearly 90 degrees Fahrenheit on the first day of the expedition and will drop to close to 0 degrees on the last day. The crew’s climb will be chronicled in a 90-minute documentary slated to air March 14 at 9 p.m. on MTV. (The Boom Box)
Check out Lupe Fiasco speaking on the climb down below:
