Some more notes on fighting

I love to wrestle. I've been an avid practitioner of the sport for seven full years now. More than once, I've tried to talk about wrestling in the stories I write. It's not easy to include a sport in a story without making the story about the sport. Especially when it comes to wrestling. There is nothing more brutal, involving and transcending as a good submission wresting match. Maybe an MMA fight, but that's beside the point. Might as well describe you what it's like to wrestle somebody on the mat.

There are a lot of clichés about the sport, tying it with homosexuality. I have yet to know of an homosexual wrestler. They are the manliest, most rugged people I know. Wrestling not about caress and hugs, but more about collisions, squeeze and rubbing forearms across people's faces. It's brutal, painful and being on the losing end of a wrestling match is unpleasant. What's the appeal of it then? What makes grappling so much fun?

The fact that there is no strikes thrown gives an intellectual turn to the sport. It's where sport becomes martial art. Submission wrestling is no different than a wrestling match, except that the fight continues on the ground. Points are scored differently with the usage of sweeps and guard pass and you can submit your opponent,using a variety of submission holds. When two strong bodies collide, one one think that the strongest of them would prevail and the other would fall. Sometimes, but it's not always the case. I would go as far as saying that it's a minority of the cases.

There is an understanding of the human body in wrestling that goes as far as five thousand years. The leverages offered to an experienced and well-read wrestler are infinite. If he works his body well enough in order to acquire the right timing, he'll be able to control any kind of physical confrontation, even when there are punches throw as long as he's the best wrestler. It's not a question of being particularly strong of fast. Being in a good shape will do, but it's a question of being smart and smooth. That's what makes wrestling so endearing for its athletes.