YOUNG ACHIEVERS

Story: Hayley Leibowitz Story: Hayley Leibowitz

Matthew Stewart (Matt) in training using a training block made from Aratu Forests' billet wood.

BUSHMAN, BODYBUILDER, AXEMAN, RUNNER… ANY ONE OF

these titles fits Matthew Grant Stewart (Matt) like a chainsaw mitt. His love for the bush gelled well with his passion for fitness, and combining the two to become a competitive axeman was a natural progression.

It all began as a child, sitting on his dad’s knee in any number of skidders, diggers, haulers or loaders.

“Dad (Grant Stewart) is a bushman and I would go to work with him at a young age. I put my first back-cut in a tree with Dad’s assistance at age three or four. I also used to jump in the bulldozer that put the skids in with forestry legend Gordy Adams down in Dunedin,” says Matt.

After leaving school at 15, Matt (now 30) went to work with his father at Stewart Logging in Gisborne. “Over the space of about three months Dad and I both knew it wasn’t going to work out at that time,” he says, “so I did a general engineering apprenticeship. After three years I had finished my time and Dad needed a breaker out, so off to the bush I went, this time determined to make it work, because once you have sap in your veins it’s hard to turn your back on the bush.”

All in the family, along with five other crew members, the Stewart Logging crew consists of Grant, Matt’s Mum Loryn, his brother Dan, sister Alyse, brother in-law Denis and his wife Anita who is learning IT from Loryn when the kids are both at Kindy.

“I’m the foreman and currently driving our big tower Thunderbird TY90 hauler. I also look after all the Health & Safety and help out with planning. I’ve been in forestry for 12 years now so can also do all other job roles. What I enjoy most is our team. All our guys make it a fun place to work but still put in the hard yards and get the job done," says Matt.

The gym lifestyle Matt is no stranger to hard work. He got into “hitting the gym” when he was in high school: “I did powerlifting for a year or so but went back to various other sports including rugby, boxing and MMA as I liked the fitness side of things at that stage. Once we moved to Gisborne, a couple of people I met asked me to hit the gym with them which was about 10 years ago now. As time went on I got deeper and deeper into the gym lifestyle. I lived and breathed it for seven years.”

What he loved about the gym was its impact on his mental health – walking through those gym doors “provided an escape from all the crap most people go through”. It was challenging too and Matt says near the end of his bodybuilding career he struggled with the dieting. “Cutting down to 4% body fat really takes its toll on you and tests your mental strength in a big way. In saying that, I am still happy I gave it a go and put 100% of my time and effort into it, with a very supportive girlfriend (soon to be wife back then).

“One of my greatest challenges with bodybuilding was when I was six weeks out from a competition, also tree falling at the time. I would be at the gym at 2.30 am getting my cardio done so I could do my strength training in the afternoon after work. Now that I look back at it, I was a mad man but all the hard work paid off when I won

Top: Matt with his Dad, Grant Stewart (left), planning for the day with the Thunderbird TY90 hauler in background.

Middle: Matt (centre) in his bodybuilding days, taking top honours at the Manawatu/Wanganui/Taranaki area physique open event.

the Manawatu/Wanganui/Taranaki area physique open event which was a great success in my books, not to mention how strong I got which helped out a lot at work.”

Onto the axe Intrigued by competition wood chopping since he was “a young fella” and his parents took him to the A&P shows in Mosgiel as a nine-year-old, Matt says he had “no idea” how to get into the sport.

“I kept asking around until about a year ago when I met Laurie Honey at Patchells in Rotorua who is right into chopping in a big way. I asked to see some videos and then the big question came next, ‘How do I get into it?’

“Laurie said I lived in the best place, as an axeman legend lives in Gisborne – Terry Wilkins. I have stuck by Terry’s side since the day I met him and he has stuck by mine. He’s the reason that I am where I am today with my chopping adventure and we are both really good mates now, along with Laurie too.”

Matt’s hard work paid off, taking two firsts and two seconds at the January 2022 Rotorua chopping meeting, scoring at other meetings too. More recently at the Putaruru/Tokoroa Axeman's Club competition, he took third in standing chop 250mm, third in underhand chop 275mm, second in underhand chop 250mm, first in standing chop championship 250mm and second in the underhand chop championship 275mm.

Other than the obvious hard work involved, Matt says he thinks all axemen would appreciate that getting the blocks for shows or for training “isn’t the most fun thing to do”.

“It’s bit of a challenge but if you have no blocks you can’t train or get any better at competition chopping. Working in the bush helps with chopping as I get training blocks out of the billet wood, thanks to Aratu Forests. If I couldn’t get those blocks it would make it very hard to train.”

Matt and Terry train most days. He says training with Terry is “one of the highlights of chopping” as Terry is an ex bushman. “We tell the odd bushman’s story from time to time which always ends up with us both having a good laugh,” says Matt. Another thing he really likes about competition axe chopping is that at the shows

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“everyone there is like a big family, always keen to help, which reminds me of the bush”.

There are usually chopping meetings (competitions) on most weekends throughout the country but COVID has ruined that this season, says Matt, adding that hopefully next season will be better.

Bush basics Matt says wood chopping training has changed his mindset. As a 117kg, 171cm tall hauler operator he says he was “slowly getting larger in the wrong areas, as most machine operators do”.

“But now I’ve dropped a bunch of weight playing squash and going for 5km runs, bike rides and walks with my wife and children. I now have a lot more energy which definitely helps at work and I hope I can inspire other machine operators to get active even if it’s just for short walks – it all helps.”

He sees himself working in the bush until he retires “unless something drastic happens”. “The bush is part of who I am and I love it out there.”

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1. Matt takinig First at the recent Putaruru/Tokoroa Axeman’s

Club competition.

2. Matt showing off his awards.

3. Matt walking away after winning the underhand chop at the January 2022 Rotorua chopping meeting.

4. Matt operating the TY90 hauler.

5. Enjoying a day’s work in the bush.

6. Matt standing proud at the January 2022 Rotorua chopping meeting where he took two Firsts and two Seconds.

7. Matt in training.

Matt says he does struggle with the uncertainty of where forestry is going in the future. “I know forestry has been unpredictable for years but it’s different now with COVID and all the new Health & Safety stuff that keeps popping up.

“I think that most of the attention is on guarding machines up when the attention should be on the men on the ground, so having more trainers available for tree fallers and breaker outs would be good. Another thing is that there should be the same requirements throughout the whole of New Zealand in forestry.”

His advice to those new to the industry? “If you are looking at getting into the bush I’d have to say have a go at it and give it your best – always think what could happen between A and B destinations and stick close by someone who is safe. If you feel unsafe don’t do it… ask for help.”

Future forward As for the body building, Matt gave that up not long after the competition he won. “My wife and I had our firstborn and I wanted to help as much as I could,” he says. “I also stopped it because of how hard it is on the body getting competition-ready. I’d like to think maybe one day I will pump some tin again but at this stage I feel like I thrashed it too hard.”

And the wood chopping? “I would like to do that until I physically can’t anymore. It’s a great sport, especially when the family gets involved… my three-year-old, Max, trains with me at home sometimes with an axe that I made out of plywood and he also has a little hytest tomahawk that I let him use on special occasions.”

His wife, Anita, is also training and has been in a competition for Jack & Jill sawing which Matt says is a two-man handsaw “similar to what they used in the 1800’s to fell trees alongside axes which is a part of why I love chopping, as it’s all history to forestry”.

Anita has also started training on the underhand chop, the horizontal log that you stand on and have to chop through, he says. “That’s what it’s all about,” says Matt, “getting the family involved in an awesome sport with a lot of history behind it.”

He couldn’t have done any of it alone and is quick to thank his ‘team’: “Laurie Honey for getting me into chopping; a big thanks to Terry Wilkins for the training, friendship and getting my axes competitionready; to Stewart Logging for helping me out with axes and handles and gear that I need to chop, the support behind the scenes and the support on comp days; also Shaw’s Wire Ropes for the axes, handles and support, cheers Matty and Jonny I couldn’t do it without yas! It makes it all worth it when you have a good team behind you.”

Then there’s a big shout out to his wife, Anita, and their boys Maximus and Maverick for coming to the shows. “Nothing is better than hearing your wife cheer you on and your boys yelling ‘Go dad, Go!!’ ”. NZL

Top: Terry Wilkins with Matt after finishing an 18-inch underhand butchers block at the Putaruru/Tokoroa Axeman’s Club competition.

Bottom: Training with axeman legend, Terry Wilkins.