I have a student in class who used to be a pretty good wrestler out of Mass. Our Univ. does not field a wrestling team so this guy has continued to work out on his own and hit open tournies when he can. At any rate, we were talking last week before class and he was mentioning his training and, of course, before I could think, offered to workout with him. We decided we would meet and “roll around” on Thursday.
I’m 34 and haven’t wrestled full speed for nearly 14 years. I was a good wrestler back in high school, D III recruit, not DI material I guess. Since I wanted to go DI and running could get me there, turned my back on wrestling back then. In my mind I remeber what I need to do and it all seems so clear and easy, I guess I thought I could step onto the mat and wrestle just like I never stopped. I guess this is a trick the mind plays on the body as you get older?
I show up the other night and find that we only have two 6’X8’ gymnastic mats for our practice, couldn’t get the normal mats out for some reason. The kid I’m wrestling is my height, but tips the scales at 195 compared to my 160. Back in the day, I could beat bigger kids with speed, now on two small mats, the speed factor is removed as we decide to only work on the top and bottom positions. PLUS, years of running and other “slowtwitch” activities, my body just doesn’t seem to move as fast as I would expect. I’m simply not as strong as I used to be in that context either, he is very strong by contrast. The first 15 minutes, he really kicked my ass, no other way to state it. He was really able to ride me out and almost turned me a few times, not fun. On top I had a tough time controlling him and had no timing at all. As he got tired I was able to do better, wrestling still did not seem the same as it used to, the mind and body just didn’t seem to want to work together anymore.
The aftermath, I think my ribs are either bruised or seperted. I can’t lift my right arm above the shoulder very well. I can’t swim, riding is very tough and running is OK as long as I don’t run hard enough to cause a great range of rib cage expansion. I managed to catch a cold and my ribs hurt so bad when I cough that it make me cringe just thinking about it. This was one of the few times when I really sat back and considered how things have changed. The mind has a cruel way of making everything “seem” simple and easy, however, the body is not always up to such expectations. Even though it pains me to say it, for one of the first times I actually have conclusive evidence that I cannot merely discount due to X, Y, or Z factors that I am getting older . . .
I do know that I could back into some sort of wrestling shape, I just don’t have any reason or desire to go through that transition phase at this point of life. I think my great wrestling comeback is now over and I have a new found appreciation of my “gentle” multisport events.