Tonight we are heading down to the Navy Classic. For the past 2 weeks the guys have been working on their technique and whatever mistakes/errors they made at the Pentagon. It has been nice to have the 2 week break because we did not have to jam a bunch of technique into a small window of practice time and completely overwhelm them. This past week we have been focusing on match intensity and the overall "attitude" needed on the mat to be successful. This team is made up of a great group of young men. Most if not all of them will go on to be successful leaders in their chosen fields. They are respectful, courteous, and caring towards each other and everyone else they come in contact with. They represent the program and college with the highest regard but unfortunately they aren't able to turn off the "niceness" as easily as is necessary to be successful in wrestling. Our sport can call for extreme intensity and harsh actions when it is competition time. As a wrestler you must be able to harness your inner animal and use it to your advantage during that 7 minutes. When you are out there on that mat it is not unlike those shows you see on National Geographic or Discover Channel. You know the ones I am talking about, the lion and the gazelle, the crocodile and the buffalo, the shark and the seal. Right now we need to be able to become the lion, crocodile, and shark otherwise we will end up being the gazelle, buffalo, or seal. That is what we are working on. That is what we need to get to the next level. To score that winning takedown in the 3rd period we must be the shark. To get out from bottom in overtime we have to become the lion. Until we can become the predator we will end up being the prey. We will get a great feel for where we are in this metamorphosis this weekend and I look forward to seeing some of you there or in the upcoming weeks at another one of our events.
Also here is a clinic I did at Apache Wrestling Club in the Philly Area where I broke down "Old Faithful". Old Faithful is my front headlock. It was my best position throughout my career and is the one situation I feel you will almost always end up in every time you step on the mat. You can get there from your own setups or initiative or you can end up there through defense or counter wrestling. We work with our guys daily on this technique and we will definitely be seeing a lot of Old Faithful as the season moves forward.
*those of you who get this as an email, you have to go to the blog to see the video for some reason, just click here for all the juicy goodness...
Matt and Mike,
ReplyDeleteAs a former wrestler at F&M under Mark Faller, Dave Gable (now at Dallastown HS) and a few other coaches, we were always taught to turn off that niceness and find that warrior spirit. We used to have a painting on the wall that was in the Conan the Barbarian style, and some of us tried to draw on that for motivation during home match warmups. Whatever it is that the wrestlers are off the mat, which is commendable, based on your comments, that needs to take a distant second to the priority of the reason one is on the mat.
I enjoy your blog, the email updates, and what you are building...when i have the time, I plan to come up to the room and/or a match.
Final thought...if Christ were a wrestler, I am sure he would not hesitate from being the best, the toughest, the most perseverent, and the most intense while doing everything within the rules to excel and win...Neil Turner from Lock Haven gave us this insight years ago to help us unlock the BEAST WITHIN.
Best to you all in this year's campaign,
Rob Nusum '91
By the way, not slight those "other coaches" in my comment...They included Fran Presley and Ken Wilson, two of our daily practice partners who made a significant difference in how we battled.
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