Wrestling Beast's blog

In my last blog entry, I talked a bit about the "sumo" match my opponent and I had together. On further reflection, "sumo" is not the best term to describe the match. Instead I would like to call it a Force off the Mat match.

My buddy came by recently and we had the opportunity to do it again. We used the same room, same 8x8' square mat and the same rules. Essentially we would start at opposite corners, count 1,2,3 and then rush at each other. The goal is to force the opponent's feet off the mat or his back to touch the wall fully. Since my room is long but narrow, we use this compromise.

We go at it for a set number of rounds. The first time we did it, I went five times, with me winning all those times. However, we were making it up as we went along. This time we went seven times, but my opponent improved, he forced me out of the ring or against the wall twice. Because of his size and strength, this is no walk in the park for me. These kinds of matches work best wehn the opponents are close in size and strength. Finally, he can get some payback for all those submissions and all those punches.

True Sumo this isn't. There are no throws off the mat, no intentional forcing an opponent to his knees and we are not engaging consciously in face slapping. But like Sumo, these rounds can be over very quickly or can take a minute before they are finished. Also, they are very exhausting after a few rounds.

I posted some screen captures of two force off the mat "rounds" of my latest encounter with my opponent and added some captions to help explain the action. I hope people will appreciate them.

The last time I met my wrestling buddy, we met again at a Motel 6. This was a different Motel 6 than the one described in my previous blog entry. Unfortunately, the bed was screwed into the wall, requiring us to wrestle on the bed and box around it. It was just a little disappointing as a result.

I had never hosted a match at my house but I had a good sized unfinished basement which was relatively uncluttered. I had obtained some interlocking workout puzzle mats some years before but never had been able to use them for their intended purpose. However, the stars aligned and I was able to have my buddy over my house and host with little cost to me and him yesterday.

My workout puzzle mats were arranged in a 4x4 square with edge pieces, almost 8' per side and 1/2" thick. Wrestling on this mat was no difficulty, even for two big guys like me and my opponent. We did not have to reset even once. I have a heavy bag in the basement and we took turns working on it while the other held it, a nice workout.

Next came the body boxing, which is always a part of our matches. We started bare fist and I was not really pulling my punches at his big chest and gut. Before too long we switched to MMA gloves. Then after a while I switched to boxing gloves and allowed him to remove his MMA gloves.
No matter the handicap I was not the one covering up. He said "You don't even flinch" as he threw a punch into my gut. Finally I took off my gloves and had him put them on so he could batter my form with them for a while. Every so often I would slap his flesh or throw a knee into his gut to keep him alert. We had to have been going at this off and on, mostly on, for twenty five minutes.

One of the odder things we were able to try was a bit of impromptu sumo at the end. I suddenly had an idea to rush at my opponent and smash my chest and belly against his. I love the sensation when two big guys clash bodies, so we did it a few times and then I locked my arms around him and tried to force him off the mats. Between the two of us there is 600 pounds of flesh and bone coming to an impact when we smash our bodies together. When I did I said something to the effect of "We have to try this again." So we went to the opposite corners of the mat, and at the count of 1,2,3 we rushed at each other, grabbed each other and tried to force the other off the mats. While you can win a sumo bout by throwing or forcing your opponent to his knees as well as forcing him out of the ring, due to the concrete floor around the mat that was not going to happen. We both refrained from the slapping prevalent in sumo. I think we did it about five times and I felt like I had exerted myself to perhaps the greatest extent during out time together. I know this is only a mockery of the true sport, but I had fun doing it and he agreed with me that it was fun.

I met an opponent privately for the first time on Sunday, and we agreed to do some body boxing along with our wrestling. We met at the agreed upon motel and worked up a serious sweat wrestling. I earned all the submissions and then I was the victor in arm wrestling. After we were rested, it came time for our body boxing match. I had been the victor in several such matches with a regular opponent before, but my new opponent was heavier than I was and strong enough to lift me four feet in the air. I was concerned that he may be able to best me in body boxing because he had more padding to absorb blows than I have. I bought a pair of MMA gloves that morning because that was all he had. When I compared his to mine, I noticed that mine had more padding, potentially putting me at a further disadvantage.

So I set up the camera to record our match and we came out and touched gloves. Later when watching the video I see that I was visibly excited, there was tenting in my briefs. The last time I did any body boxing was five months ago. I asked myself “Have I lost my edge? Will he be able to drop me?” It had not happened in years, but I was out of practice.

We started throwing at each other and I was in my zone. I whipped out jabs to his chest that made him say “ouch”. We clinched and I worked over his overhanging gut with uppercuts. I I leaned on him with my weight and used my height advantage to push him around. When we would clinch I tied up his arms. I worked him into the corner more than once and fired shots whenever I could find a target. Because I saw he can take a punch and was not going to fall to the floor or turn away to recover, I often threw combinations. For his part, he threw plenty of punches at me. Unlike him, I made no effort to cover up my stomach. Body boxing works best when each man is unafraid to take the shots from the other. I pride myself on my ability to absorb punches and keep on throwing.

My punches were having an obvious effect because my opponent instinctively tried to cover up. In this situation, boxing gloves are often too big to find the weaknesses in the opponent's defense. On the other hand, I would have almost certainly have hurt my hands on his arms and elbows if using unprotected bare fists. In this case, MMA gloves were the right choice.

My senses were in another world during this match. I anticipated hearing every smack, grunt and yelp of pain, seeing my punches shake and jiggle his masses of flesh, and feeling the impact shoot up my arm and the clash of our thick bodies. Even though its not that hot out, we are sweating so much that the mirror in the room is covered in moisture and the laminate floor became slippery under my bare feet. Two or three times I nearly lost my footing when throwing punches at him.

Like in other body boxing matches, I allow my opponent opportunities to throw several punches at me without answering him back. Most of the time I will eventually strike back with a stinging blow or a combination that will move him back. He says at one point “I'm not even phasing you”. I say no and would not have admitted it even if he did. He also said later that he felt like I was holding back. While I did not feel like I was pulling any punches, I refrained from using my knees because of my height advantage.

There were no rounds and no rest breaks. While there are lulls in the action, I could not let up on the pressure. We were fighting until one of us gets dropped or quits. Eventually we were both starting to tire. I could see the pain and frustration in his face. I felt like I was working over my heavy bag, but now it was punching and pushing back. We are both breathing heavily and I had slowed down quite a bit from the fury of the initial minutes of the match. At one point he pushed me into the wall but he was not able to keep me there for long.

For thirteen minutes we fought and I later could see the sweat on our backs, which the camera does not always capture. After the final hard exchange of punches, I finally heard the concession I was waiting for: “I submit, I submit”. At that point I had even more respect and friendship for the man who gave me such a hard fought match and a fairly earned victory. Now of course I can't wait to do it again!

Update - You can see screen captures of the video I took of this match in my gallery.

If you can't host, then you have to find somewhere else to wrestle. I would recommend Motel 6s. Motel 6s are probably the cheapest chain in the industry in the United States. Rooms are not huge and amenities are sparse. The rooms are reasonably clean, but I would not recommend staying there overnight. The mattresses are hard, there may be burn holes in the sheets and they are stingy with the soap. Refrigerators may be extra. If you want to use a pool or a workout room, go elsewhere. Takeout may have to be eaten on the bed.

Even so, the Motel 6 is especially good for budget wrestling. The box springs are not attached to the floor and they do not even have a separate metal bed stands. It is usually an all-in-one job that can be moved to one side. The rooms are not cluttered with furniture, but the nightstands are built into the wall, so you will still need to exercise some care. In the summer, there are many free-standing AC units going to help mask the noise of a fight. This is one of the benefits of a more down-market place, noisy free-standing AC units instead of central air.

The floors now use wood-laminate. On the plus side, you do not have to worry about staining the carpet or rug burns, but on the downside the laminate does not absorb water and sweat and the floor is hard. Be prepared to wipe down the floors and bring extra towels.

What makes for a good profile? There are a lot of profiles out there, and some are not likely to get many signs of interest.

I have no interest in people who put a profile up just because they feel like it. I have seen profiles with little to no effort attached to them. The first issue I have is with profiles with no photos. I don't judge a potential opponent by any measure of physical attractiveness, but I would like to know that what I am seeing is something close to the stats given. No photo really shows a lack of motivation to meet and wrestle. Good photos can really help work up enthusiasm for a new opponent.

The second issue I have is with short introduction. I do not mean to say that an introduction needs to be fancy like mine with lengthy paragraphs and bullet points. However, a few lines about what you like, what you want to do and what you do not want to do would go a long way to letting people know whether they should make the effort to contact and try to meet up with you.

A lengthy introduction entry can go some way to a lack of photographs. I get it that not everyone is technologically inclined, but a one line description and no photos tends to suggest a fake or uninterested profile.

Lastly, one thing that annoys like no other is profiles that have been on this site for some length of time and have no opponents to show for it. Unless the member's profile states that their sole interest is in cyber or watching, there is little excuse for going 2-3 years from joining without at least one confirmed opponent, especially in well-populated areas.