Wrastlin' with girls!

We have a couple guys who wrestled in college who have been helping us recently but I realized that I can only get so much out of it if I'm always wrestling with guys who are bigger and stronger than I am. So on a whim a few weeks ago, I started searching the internet for female wrestlers to train stand-up with. I thought I had struck out and had almost given up, until on a last ditch effort I found a local college wrestling coach who also taught private lessons and ran clinics for high school and middle school children.

My last shot in the dark, I sent him an email asking if he knew any female wrestlers (college or high school) who would be willing to train with me in the off season. I volunteered to go wherever they were; he responded quickly with a note saying he knew a few but was out of town and he'd get back to me. Well I didn't hear back for a long time, so this week I sent him another email asking if he'd found anyone interested. And the best news came back to me! "Can you be here on Thursday at 4:30?" You bet I could!

Ryan drove me out to his gym, neither of us having any idea what to expect. Is it a big class? Is it just a open mat? Is it a big deal that I don't have wrestling shoes? Who knows...

There was one high school female wrestler just a little bigger than me (maybe 10 or 15lbs) and one teenage guy, it was basically a small group lesson. We learned and drilled for an hour and a half! I learned setups, shots, and throws and so many small details I'd never seen before AND could execute everything without straining under too much weight! Even more amazing, I had a female partner who responded with the appropriate movements...AND he invited me back!

We haven't talked price yet but the instruction was freaking fantastic. He was like the Ryan Hall of wrestling...in the way he focused on proper body mechanics and the rules of movement and control. And of course the fact that he likes to talk a lot about the "why's". I like this approach, it allows me to take a concept and apply it to other positions or instances in training/fighting. To top that off, he actually made a concerted effort to apply what I was learning to BJJ as well.

Instant Euphoria!

And today my quads, glutes, hamstrings, and calves are more sore than they've been in AGES!

Still Euphoric!