We are talking about one of the oldest sports in history. Running, jumping, throwing, and wrestling formed the backbone of the ancient Greek Olympics. How much more natural can you get than that?
Unlike other sports such as track and field, weightlifting and bicycling, wrestling has remained mostly free from doping scandals. There are rarely any judging or refereeing boondoggles as there are in figure skating, synchronized swimming, or soccer. Wrestling is the national sport in countries such as Turkey, Iran, much of Asia, the Balkans, and many former Soviet block countries. Wrestling is a top sport in Europe. Iran and the U.S.A. are distrustful military foes yet visiting American wrestlers to Iran are adulated like rock stars. Amateur wrestling transcends politics!
In North America people think of the circus-like, staged showmanship of professional wrestling when they hear the word wrestling. Amateur wrestling is under appreciated in North America but Canadian and American wrestlers have enjoyed much success on the world stage.
The world wrestling body has even brought women's amateur wrestling into the fold. They have been good citizens of the international sporting world. Yet how has wrestling been rewarded for all of it's modernistic, forward thinking action? It has been dropped from the roster for more so-called 'T.V. friendly sports' such as skateboarding and golf. The excitement of wrestling has been unfairly underrated.
Gadzooks! Where is the justice in all of this?
At one time amateur wrestling was a staple high school sport. It was inexpensive and people of all body types and sizes could participate. It also gave kids something to do besides watch the tube or play video games. Lately the sport has been struggling to keep up numbers at the grass roots level. Losing Olympic status could be a nail in the coffin of this sport in North America. The Olympics was one of the rare times that amateur wrestling would get any significant exposure. Now the exposure will be be almost non-existent. My fear is that the sport could go into a decline from which it might not recover.
Why am I so concerned? This sport was an important part of my past. Wrestling enabled a shy, scrawny, undersized teenager to gain some measure of self esteem and confidence. Throw in a simultaneous discovery of the joy of the weight room and I stumbled upon the ways to back the bullies off.
( I was also a distance runner but that didn't have the same deterrent effect. If you want to clean out a biker bar, who are you going to bring with you -a Kenyan marathoner or a Bulgarian heavyweight champ?) During my teenage years, telling on goons just got you bullied worse. You either ran away or you built up your physical and psychological armor. I did both in my days. However wrestling and weights helped with the preferred latter method. (My advice to a bullied teenager today would be to out the bully to an authority figure but also consider getting involved in an activity that helps build confidence.) It should be noted that wrestlers are never bullies!
Wrestling also gave me a competitive purpose that you didn't get from going home after school to watch T.V. Now it seems possible that a whole new generation may grow up without exposure to this character building activity. They will instead be inundated with trendier activities that lack the noble historic roots.
They may even just opt out and play computer games all day.
My Fitness Training career also has some wrestling ties. I was a fitness adviser to a nationally ranked wrestler who has won a medal at the Canadian championships. It is a sport where strength and conditioning can be crucial.
Of course, there was also my planned wrestling comeback for the 2020 Olympics! I figured that if the the favorites were preoccupied with laying hip tosses on each other, Little Bobby Strong could sneak in though the back door to glory and fame. The ultimate long shot could make the ultimate score!
(Since when have I let a lack of talent and technique stand in the way of my dreams.) Sadly, thanks to the
corporate takeover of the Olympic movement by the forces of the ostentatious entertainment industry, it will remain as just that -a dream!
Life will go on. I'll always have Fitness Training!
Until next time,...keep fit!
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| An Olympic decision to drop wrestling from the program. A comeback dream shattered! (Picture compliments of my apartment complex security cameras) |
Little Bobby Strong
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