Tag Team

Tag Team

Fight Club, typically a boxing workout, switched things up this week. We traded jabs and hooks for takedowns and pins. YHC was the only person with any wrestling experience and my “career” ended (gulp) 22 years ago. With each segment, I did my best to recall and explain the goals and rules for each phase in scholastic wrestling.

An even four men gathered and ran a lap around the school and straight to the athletic field.

Stance & Shuffle
Down the mid-field line

Takedowns (2 points)
Double-leg
Single-leg
Sprawl defense
Snap-down

Up position/breakdowns
Elbow chop
Cross face

Down position/Escapes (1 point)
Stand-up

Pin/”Falls”
Half-nelson
Half-nelson defense

Sparring
3 rounds, 2 minutes each

Skinned knees
After each mini-lesson on movements, PAX would drill the moves for a few minutes trading off the role of offense and defense. Wrestling is a whole-body workout and it was not long before everyone started to appreciate the strength, endurance, and flexibility needed to sustain the effort. Moreover, I tried to make the point that just like boxing, wrestling is a mental sport. You can’t just think about your next move, you need to consider the reaction of your opponent. If done correctly, one can force an opponent to over-commit or lose leverage that will provide an opportunity. There’s a life lesson in that.

I truly appreciated everyone’s willingness to try something new. I hope it was fun!