My friend and I were just talking about this very thing, and how people think wrestling comes 'naturally' to some.  You know, the whole 'freak of nature’ argument you hear so often.

And the assumption is that certain athletes are so naturally talented, they don't have to work hard to excel.

While there is such a thing as genetics, and those genetics domake a difference, here's the ugly truth:

the natural wrestler doesn’t exist.


Its a fallacy that attributes another person's success to luck, or genetics, or anywhere but where it belongs:  squarely on the shoulders of the individual who earned it.

Another truth:  when you see a young wrestler chiseled like stone, he didn’t get that way from eating potato chips while watching game of thrones on his couch.

It takes a ton of hard work to make wrestling look so easy.   Wrestling isn't like running – there are real skills, and complicated ones at that, to be learned and refined.  Those who make it look easy, do so by putting in a lot of hard work.

Like the local tennis player I was talking about last week, who appears to be 'good at everything'.  All the while, nobody sees the 500 balls a day (or more) he's hitting to refine his groundstroke, his serve, his net game, etc.  And nobody sees when he sneaks in my building for strength training on my pegboards and ropes either, or throws my medicine balls around.

When you see what athletes do behind the scenes, their success becomes crystal clear.

Their hyper focus (including attention to detail, work ethic, heart and drive) is on full display –  behind the scenes.

That path will be explained in fine detail in Chapter Three of my upcoming book.  The chapter's working title is Rapid Risers Handbook, and that chapter goes to every athlete who trains here this summer.

Warning:  Choosing the path is your decision – I can only lead the horse to water.

go here if you're ready to challenge yourself

Randy

In fact, despite being constantly overshadowed by Johnny Bench, he always hit for higher batting average than Bench and was also a defensive wizard.  He had a lifetime .296 batting average, the 4th highest career batting average for a catcher in the last 80 years.

He also rarely walked or struck out.  Unusual that he didn’t strike out more since he was known as a ‘bad ball’ hitter, often chasing balls way outside of the strike zone.  He used to infuriate pitchers who would expect to strike him out with a throwaway pitch, and instead give up a base hit.

He once shared the secret of his successfully unusual hitting style.

Here ’tis:

When he was a kid growing up and playing street baseball in Panama, “everything was a strike.”  You had to swing or you struck out.

As a result, he learned to hit the ball wherever it was – way up high, in the dirt, way outside, etc.  

And, all the practice of taking his cuts at the ball, no matter where it was, paid off.


Just as Manny learned to hit by constantly taking his shots, wrestlers who take their shots, and go for itin practice, tend to develop their offensive skills on their feet more quickly – meaning more takedowns and more wins.

Its why coaches (and parents in a lot of cases) need to let them use practice for practice – and not sweat giving up practice points.  The more you go for it in practice, the more quickly you will be scoring takedowns in matches.

You can discover how to ‘hit it out of the park’ on your feet this summer by training in our HS/Jr High attack system takedown master camp, or youth takedown master camp

In our system, you can attack your opponent 5 different ways using a handful of setups, drill to precision and test yourself at the end of the camp via our final exam.

go here now to check out all 7 camps we offer, including the younger youth skills camp

 for grades 1-3.

Randy

One of them, I call him Jeff (although his dad calls him Jeffrey), a particularly talented athlete (ended up winning 3 state titles), had just scrapped with me, and his buddy was next.

His buddy asks him, any advice?

Jeff replies, Yeah – just don’t touch him.

His way of saying he was about to get owned in handfighting.

Every since I became a competitor, I’ve loved handfighting – and have seeked out winning methods from near and far to add to my arsenal. Through my years competing in high school, college and international style, plus an additional 30 years of training athletes (woo, that’s old!), I’ve carefully crafted a system of handfighting that has helped wrestlers stymie top level opponents for decades.

So much so that it has helped many a ‘lesser’ athlete control and defeat athletes far more gifted than themselves.

Which goes hand in hand with this fact: most of the really talented athletes are lacking in handfighting skills. It leaves them vulnerable to athletes who learn how to handfight effectively and can tie them up in knots as a result.

Case in point, last year’s Big Ten championships where I observed a top level former national champion struggling to control his opponent, missing wide open handfighting opportunities – and losing as a result.

Here’s how you can tell if you struggle in handfighting….

If you get out of position (head down or away, elbows away from body, etc) when the opponents:

• Grab your head
• Get a two on one
• Grab your wrist
• Put a hand on you
• Get an underhook
• Get an over/under

Then you are potentially missing out on a ton of points and wins due to handfighting.

Even more:

If you struggle to flip ANY of those positions to your advantage, well…

Handfighting Superiority can help you

Even if you’re not convinced yet that you want to wrestle the Olympic styles of freestyle and greco – joining the club to supersize your handfighting skills is more valuable to your wrestling bottom line than just about anything else you can do.

Its a big reason why Freestyle and Greco will help you accelerate your handfighting skills to higher levels that are nearly impossible to reach without them.

Especially in my room where:

• I don’t take 100 kids or pack it in as tightly as possible
• I keep the number of athletes I accept to a level where every athlete gets my attention
• Have a question? I will always make time for you (stay after, see me at water break time – we’ll make it happen)
• Our culture here is built around support – veteran wrestlers often help less experienced athletes with their skill (my training regimen is designed to make this even more possible)
• Video training throughout the spring to re-enforce what was taught in the room
• Freestyle/greco essential DVD that every club member gets (and includes some excellent handfighting in it even though I rarely talk about that
• Systematic fast implementation training methods developed over decades, meaning you have an opportunity to retain important details at a much higher level than ever thought possible
• A full travel schedule that allows you to test your skills against athletes far and wide, not just in your back yard.

Speaking of numbers….

Because I insist on working with every athlete, and only take as many as I can work with in sessions, I strictly limit the spots available in my trainings.

Further, we are rapidly running out of openings. If you want in, grab your spot now before its gone.

Randy

Which is better to have? Luck or Skill?

Well, being successful does involve a bit of both…..

For instance, being lucky enough to

• Stay injury free
• Stay flu free
• Stay skin-funk-free
• Avoiding slipping on a slick spot on the mat
• Avoid wardrobe/equipment malfunctions
• avoid tripping under a ladder while steering clear of the black cat on the way to mat 3
• A host of other unlucky things that can go wrong

But its also true that the harder you work…

And specifically the smarter you work…

The luckier you get.

For instance, the luck o’ the Irish is likely to shine down on you more if you:

• Are ox-strong
• Have excellent hips
• Are brilliant at handfighting (ala, every time they put their hands on you – your advantage)
• Are lean and in excellent physical condition
• Are skilled
• Possess a great mental game (wrestle with high confidence, recover from adversity quickly, pre-match routine prepares you to wrestle your best every match)

Back to the above question…..

Let’s have both.

This spring, while you are dramatically accelerating your wrestling skills, and developing instinctive hips…..

Now there’s even more.

This year we have added two new features to our Olympic Styles Program, Club Simpson:

Introducing:

1. Handfight Superiority. One day a week is dedicated to winning the Handfighting wars. Every time they put their hands on you – Your Advantage.**

**This is a Club Simpson elite feature. Club Simpson athletes will have the option of joining us for Handfight Superiority every other week).

Get the edge on rival clubs, teams, and opponents – beat them as soon as they make contact with you.

2. Strength Blast – Built right in to training to help you gain your own ox-strength

Apply now to join us while there’s still space

Randy

PS After carefully observing and taking notes at this weekend’s junior high state, as well as the recent High School state……and studying our adversaries and rival clubs….

I have some very specific game plans in which to attack our adversaries. Some methods these clubs use over and over again that we can exploit to our own benefit. I will start to unveil them at Club Simpson, which starts a week from Wednesday.

3 mats, 6 excellent wrestlers. I couldn’t wait for it to begin!

After one period on each mat….ZERO points.

That’s 6 minutes of wrestling from 6 of of the state’s best wrestlers without a single point between them.

Two kids crawling around on their knees.

Two dancing and not making contact.

Only one shot attempt in the whole thing.

I’ll reserve my suggested rules changes for another time (including: wrestler crawls around on his knees, ref starts counting. 1-2-3, stalling)

instead, my suggestion is for wrestlers to do this:

Adopt the Attack System mindset: put the opponent on defense, keep him there, and attack relentlessly.

Here’s a sure-fire way to see more action:

Take in a freestyle tournament this spring.

Freestyle promotes more action by:

• forcing you finish fast and react quickly
• Attacking and taking chances is rewarded not punished
• Playing defense gets you beat because the sport is built to reward attackers
• a lot of crazy-OMG action!

Freestyle and greco also require a whole ‘nother level of handfight to win.

Its why we focus on it heavily every spring, especially this year because….

I have a surprise in store this spring to elevate handfighting to an art form (details to follow soon so keep reading the emails).

There may also be an Easter egg of sorts here.

If you’re ready to have a ton o’ fun and see some crazy-exiting action (no snooze alarm needed), go here.

Randy

That’s all for now, I’m heading back to the tournament now.

Good luck to all participants!

Randy