Thanks for you time and consideration to this issue… and I appreciate your feedback. I’ll try to address each of your points, then, bounce it back to Rollie.

I am not a religious man; although I do consider myself to be somewhat spiritual. You’re suggesting that I am wrestling with my soul… and I think you’re probably correct. But I am really trying to not make this a personal issue. Lots of this dialogue has taken a somewhat personal path but I guess that’s necessary to make rational decisions about generalizations and principles. So, we might first discuss why each of us wrestle… then sift through our personal reasons in order to find the principle(s) that pertain to all wrestlers (or people). For me then, this discussion is really about the human condition and wrestling… and discovering a reason why we all should wrestle; not to identify or diagnose the reasons why we personally choose to wrestle.

With that in mind, I would suggest (have suggested) that many athletes choose to wrestle for what appears to be egoic reasons. I like your quote “he whom engageth in sports is merely acting to substitute the desires within his mind”… and I think this is may be accurate… but it doesn’t have to be the case. The actions of animals are derived purely from the instinctual parts of their mind. Humans have the ability to transcend those areas and reflect on our behaviors from an analytical point of view (or religious point of view, or spiritual point of view, or artistic point of view, etc). Therefore, I was curious about Rollie’s motivation… his thoughts about the sport are pretty unique and he seemed to be taking a somewhat philosophical point of view pertaining to wrestling (an area that I am personally intrigued by). Really that’s all; I’d be cool to identify some unique and progressive reasons why we should wrestle… so that we can move beyond (evolve) our egos.

As for you last point: again, if we are referring to “wrestlers” as a whole and the reasons why we choose to participate in the sport, I would have to say that the process of natural selection would likely disprove your argument. In any case, your suggestion may define the reasons why certain individuals choose to wrestle, but it doesn’t offer a rationale as to why we all collectively should wrestle.

It seems to me as if your main issue with wrestling stems from the wrestling match you are currently having, Shawn. The wrestling match with your SOUL. You are grappling with your inner demons, Shawn, and you are letting them in on your leg. So sprawl Shawn, sprawl those darn legs back and push these demons’ heads into the mat. Spin behind, score your two, and don’t let those little bastards back up. Tilt the demons for multiple backpoints and eventually register a pinfall, a pinfall for God.

You are concerned that your wrestlers are too preoccupied with winning and wrestling hard, and I share your concern, Shawn. Why should these kids be so worried about something so silly as defeating their opponents on the mat, while there are bigger opponents out there in life! They train their whole lives, and for NOTHING! I’d like to see Thomas Brandes, Dan Gabul, or Brent Metcow try to take down something really challenging (for example AIDS or the Avian Bird Flu).

My solution for you is simple Coach K. Maybe, don’t stress the importance of winning. Maybe stress the importance of LOSING. I know from personal experience, losing every match i ever wrestled has provided me with such a low expectations of myself that nothing upsets me anymore. Even when life gave me the ultimate illegal headlock (my wife slept with my brother), I was ready for that let down. Walking in on my bastard brother and that dirty tramp felt just like getting pinned in front of my entire high school again, so it was no big deal!

But, the question you raise is a bold and challenging one, and for that, I commend you. You are a brave man, Mr. K. You choose not to sit complacently and accept the fate the wrestling gods have handed you. You have chosen to ask WHY? I commend you, I hope that I can provide an answer for you.

My old college friend Sig did some research on why people engage in contact sports, rather than scholarly or philanthropic activities (as you suggest.) He suggested that sports are a form of sublimation, or carrying out desires that are intrinsic within our homo sapien brains. In his words, “he whom engageth in sport is merely acting to substitute the desires within his mind” Your struggle stems from your inability to suppress these inner desires any longer. It may help to look for other manifestations of this desire in your daily life: have you ever considered why you enjoy wrestling other men so much? Have you ever criticized the way other people dress? Do you find yourself watching Project Runway marathons of Sunday afternoons? If so, I think you might be on to something…

So if you find you enjoy the movie Mamma Mia a bit too much…maybe you’ll know why :o)

Best of Luck, and God Bless,
Dr. Headlock

I do have a couple difficult questions for you: How would you cope with a career ending injury? What would your mentality be? Would you simply attach onto another blissful activity (I don’t mean this in a disrespectful way… doing so could obviously be very healthy) or would this crisis force you to change your current perspective?

Biologically speaking… species are not likely to evolve without a change in their environment. A small change or a big crisis will spur some sort of naturally selected adaptation…; if a species doesn’t adapt it will die. I’m worried about the philosophy driving most of the professional athletes I am aware of. And I’m troubled by the athletes that I coach… they seem to place such an emphasis on winning and wrestling that they are setting themselves up for failure. Even if they are successful wrestlers… where does there mentality leave them after wrestling…maybe the UFC… say they are successful fighters, they will eventually fail and be left with what…? Money and trophies that will not meet their needs…”What if they become successful businessmen after their fighting careers?” Ok… they earn more money and compete until they retire… then they do what? “Bet on the golf that they play?” Ok… so they make more money until they lose their golf swing. Then what do they do…? “Sit back and look over their empire”. Ok, then they die wanting a bigger empire.

I admire your wrestling abilities and I enjoy reading your blog… and I’m really curious about “why” you (we) wrestle. If you are merely following your bliss… then you might be screwed for a while when you are forced to adapt… is there’s a healthy philosophy that exists that would successfully motivate world class athletes and continue to motivate them throughout there lives… and to infinity and beyond? What would that adaptation look like? Some adaptations are simple (webbed feet, etc) others are profound (flight or when the first fish breathed oxygen on land).

…… maybe without the pressure or the crisis, the species will not adapt… but the fucked up thing about this dilemma is… we are aware of the pressure and the crisis even though we do not feel it quite yet. When our human ancestors domesticated the fist dog (or wolf) the species didn’t have any idea that it was going to evolve. But humans are aware of factors like age, and death, and statistics, and growth and development, the troubled environment, etc. Why would we choose to wrestle when our neighbors are living in poverty? Why would we choose to wrestle when it (in itself) will not meet our needs when we are fathers? And at the highest level… why do we spend so much time and energy on wrestling when it will not bring us any comfort on our deathbed. Meaning, if Dan Gable is/or was obsessed with being a dominate athlete… he isn’t any longer. That must upset him dreadfully. He may have worked so incredible hard all those years to find himself dreadfully upset at the end of his path? So why would he do it? Because we must do something… that’s bullshit. The bottom line is, when you’re an athlete you seemed to be consumed in your own goals and objectives… but when you’re a coach and a father you need to give a clear rationale as to “why” an activity is not only worthwhile but absolutely essential to your being and our existence. Otherwise, we shouldn’t be wrestling.

(Sorry for being so serious… I meant for this to be quick. I’m trying to be honest though.)

Sorry for the fancy words. I don’t like labeling, but sometimes a small reference can carry a lot of weight (especially if we have both read the book being referenced). The point is… I’m the on that’s confused and I’m actively looking for clarity and dialogue. And I not used to a blog forum. Whatever, I’ll keep reading, you keep writing and we’ll both keep wrestling.

I write about stuff I like and stuff that interests me, while attempting to uncover some truths that may be helpful to readers. I am not too concerned with the philosophical implications of all this, I am merely following my bliss. So why put all these fancy labels on my writing? I’m just rambling about wrestling, but I’m glad you’re enjoying it so far.