You are probably thinking the toughest competitor today is a boxer, hockey player, football player, or heck, maybe a professional wrestler. But he's none of the above. This competitor is in a league of his own. He strikes fear into his opponents' hearts, his name alone causes all others in his field to give up hope for their own glory. The toughest competitor today that I know is Japan's Takeru Kobayashi, The International Federation of Competitive Eating (IFOCE) star among stars, the champion of Competitive Eating.

Takeru Kobayashi is like the Michael Jordan of basketball, Tiger Woods of golf, Muhammad Ali of boxing and Hulk Hogan of wrestling. He is an eating machine. Watching Kobayashi eat is like watching a black bear at an all-you-can-eat buffet in Las Vegas. Kobayashi comes from Nagano, Japan. He is only 27 years old and weighs 160 pounds, and yes I did say 160 pounds. Kobayashi is considered by experts to be the greatest competitive eater in the history of this sport.

Are you asking yourself: Why am I writing about this? On Oct. 28 Kobayashi swallowed 97 Krystal's Square hamburgers in eught minutes. I will repeat it again, 97 Krytal's Square hamburgers in eight minutes! Of course Kobayashi broke the record with the 97 hamburgers as the previous record was 69. Kobayashi is known worldwide for being the six-time Coney Island: Nathan's Famous Annual Independence Day Hot Dog Eating Contest champion. He broke his own record this year in Coney Island, eating 53 ¾ hotdogs and buns in 12 minutes. His previous record was 49 hotdogs. Kobayashi also holds the following records: 58 Johnsonville Brats in 10 minutes, 57 (17.7 pounds) Cow Brains in 15 minutes, 20 pounds of Rice Balls in 30 minutes, and 41 Summer Shack Lobster Rolls in 10 minutes. This is just amazing as any other record Kobayashi holds; Kobayashi consumed 83 vegetarian dumplings in eight minutes and the next day he ate 100 roasted pork buns in 12 minutes. Like I said before Takeru Kobayashi is an eating machine.

I'm asking myself, how does a 160-pound male consume all of this food? Here are his training techniques that I found on the web. Kobayashi expands his stomach for a contest by eating larger and larger amounts of food. He then exercises to ensure that all of the fat will not impede expansion of his stomach during a contest. According to the 2006 documentary on MTV's "True Life" Kobayashi has a condition called gastroptosis, an abnormal downward displacement of the stomach. This condition plays a role in his eating ability because his stomach is able to expand below the rib cage unlike most people allowing him to take in large portions of food. Kobayashi is also known for his trademark body wiggle, aka "The Kobayashi Shake". He uses this shake to force food down his esophagus and settle more compactly in his stomach. This method must work because in every event in the United States, Kobayashi hasn't lost.

I'm a true believer that practice makes perfect. I can go outside and shoot free throws every day for a month and improve my free throw percentage but I'm almost positive that no one can practice eating habits. Consuming 97 hamburgers in eight minutes can't be practiced. Kobayashi is a freak of nature, the only other living thing that beat him at his sports was a bear. In 2003, on the show "Man vs. Beast," Kobayashi lost to a Kodiak bear, he ate 31 bunless hot dogs in two minutes and the bear ate 50 bunless hot dogs. Still, he only lost to the bear by 19 hotdogs and I'm sure the bear was a heavy favorite. Michael Jordan has always been my favorite athlete, not because of all the rings he brought to Chicago, but for his domination of his craft. In my eyes Kobayashi is one of the most dominating athletes today. Just don't invite him over for dinner.