new-found respect

..for wrestlers.

Took my first wrestling class at R1 Gym, taught by Vladimir Matyushenko. Jesus, that's a workout. My background is solely BJJ (90% with the gi) so I was a little in the deepend. I think most of the guys in the class either currently wrestle with a program or used to.

Anyway, starting to realize why all wrestlers are freakishly strong and conditioned. Definately going to invest in some headgear, my ears are aching.

But what's with the forearm club upside the head? Everyguy I sparred with pulled that, after awhile I was startin' to see stars

 

damn right wrestlings tough

 

Cool, man. Glad to hear it. Wresltling is one of the most unappreciated/underestimated sports around.

The forearm thing that your talking about... are you talking about a cross-face?

 

"damn right wrestlings tough"

Yup.

Good luck, man, and keep training.

 

nah... although brutal cross-faces seem to be a favorite at this gym. No the forearm thing happens when we're trying to enter the clinch, but instead of clamping down they just whack the side of your head.

It's all good, just went down to the jiu-jitsu pro-gear shop, got me some headgear and a mouthpiece.

 

your damn right, none of that falling back and relaxing crap or grabbing to hold for dear life, in wrestling if you pull any of this youll get slammed.

this past friday i brought my friend (a state wrestler) to the Jiu jitsu gym. So there were to Jiu Jitsu guys doing takedowns and the whole class says hey hey hey go with this new kid. Then the jiu jitsu guy (purple belt) says in a horrified manner, "im not a wrestler" with nothing but fear in his eyes. and the whole class goes booooooooo just do it, so they square up and my friend is setting up a takedown then the Jiu jitsu guy pulls guard, then i start the booooooooooos followed by the class.
looked just like Kerr vs Duarte

poor guy who knew someone could be so terrified of wrestling.

 

yeah, let's just say that pulling gaurd is frowned upon at R1. I feel like i'm startin all-over in a way, but ya gotta know how to take someone down if you wanna be a groundfighter.

Also, it's kinda hard not do things on instinct. Last night I got taken down during sparring (just wrestling) and on instinct transitioned into an armbar from my back. Got some looks on that one.

 

Lonewolf I know it's a stupid question but can you see real good advantages coming from doing the wrestling aswell? Do you think it will alter your general MMA game in the relative parts?

Thanks man.

 

Yeah, wrestling is intense. A lot more than the BJJ I ahve known and it doesn't have the stalling that I see all the time in ne-waza judo. Funny thing is, that people who don't know the sport, and many who do, do not even consider it a martial art (unlike their holy reverence for TKD, Kung Fu and Karate). It is one of the best IMO, up there with Mai Tai, judo, BJJ, and Western Boxing and a few others.

 

must be cool to train with vlad

 

How much are the monthly fees in R1???

I am a beginner in BJJ but also want to learn submission wrestling

 

LL: it's 150 for unlimited classes. That includes BJJ, Sub Wrestling, Muay Thai and Wrestling Takedowns (there's also an MMA Class for the fighters but I don't know what the deal is with that.) You also get access to the weights and conditioning equipment anytime.

Swerve: I think wrestling is fundemental to an MMA game. Not that I'm really interested in competiting in MMA.

Vladimir is cool. Very relaxed teaching style. I think I need to prove myself in his class to really get to know him. I was suckin' major wind halfway through the class and he could see that. I think i was getting visibily frustrated during sparring too. But, nothing to do but keep training and learning.

All in all, R1 is a great all-around gym. Solid instruction with an emphasis on wrestling. Lots of serious, tough guys training there. It's a fight gym, plain and simple. I do however miss training at Rickson's from a pure BJJ, beauty of the art, point of view.

 

Wrestling is a bit more of a power sport than BJJ... the thicker your neck and faster your sprawl, the more likely you are to succeed. In time you'll learn to hate snapdowns as much as I do.

 

already there man.

 

Who was it?

 

I think wrestling is the hardest sport.

I ran cross country in high school and thought it was tough to have to run 6-7 miles every day. That was pretty stupid of me.

I went to a wrestling practice in 10th grade. I had trained in some submission grappling before so I knew a little bit on the ground. I figured I would hold my own.

I got my ass kicked. I was so winded and everyone pinned me real fast. I really wanted to go back and keep practicing but I got sick the next day real bad for two weeks. When I got better, I figured I had missed too much.

Wrestling is awesome conditioning and a really tough sport. Everyone who does it seriously has my full respect.

 

lol

 

lol, very true. I love snapdowns, my go to move is the front headlock.

 

Does Vladimir know Sambo?

150 dollars a month, thats cheap.