“Once you’ve wrestled, everything in life is easy.” — Dan Gable
Wrestling. The word is synonymous with struggle, and for good reason. It is perhaps the toughest sport man has had to endure. It takes immense strength, cat-like speed and agility, tactical wit, and the heart of a Lion. It is also among the most ancient of sports, with every single culture in the world having some form of unarmed contest in which two individuals compete in an impressive display of dominance and strength. It is no wonder why many ancient nobility and militaries throughout history and around the world trained their heirs and soldiers in this sport. It tutors them in tactical brilliance, teaches them the importance of speed and deception in war, and develops in them mental fortitude and as well as physical prowess.
“Wrestling is a Metaphor for Life”
Despite its roots in competition and combat, wrestling also has value for the common person, teaching life lessons to every individual that has trained in it. Wrestling is a metaphor for life. As a young high school wrestler, the value I took from the sport was not the mediocre record I had, nor the pride I had for being an athlete — but the lessons and values I gained and still utilize throughout my life. Of all the sports I have competed in, Wrestling taught me the most about life.
Here are 10 life lessons that I learned through my experiences in Wrestling:
Lesson 1: The Battle is not on the Mat, but in your Mind
“Every battle is won before it is fought” — Sun Tzu, The Art of War
Wrestling matches are oftentimes won or lost before you even step on the mat. Besides hard physical training, developing your mental fortitude and mindset will oftentimes dictate whether you will find success on the mat. The match is against yourself in your mind, not your opponent on the wrestling mat.
Likewise, whether you find success or fail in life is oftentimes already dictated before you step into the interview or testing room. Fears and limitations are internally constructed, so they can be internally conquered as well. It is a difficult battle that most if not all people have not yet mastered.
Lesson 2: Continuous, dynamic movements and maneuvers are the keys to success
In wrestling, if you are being pushed one way by your opponent, you can redirect your their energy towards another direction and use it to your advantage. If you stay in one spot, you are putting yourself into a position to be taken down by your opponent or pushed out of the mat. Coach always told us to circle around our opponent instead of being pushed around. By circling, you are putting yourself into positions of opportunity in which you can exploit for a takedown. Keep maneuvering and circling and eventually you’ll find a weakness to attack.
In life, stagnation and conservative action can be your demise. In a constantly changing world, be open to change and new ideas — these can give you the edge to see and take advantage of an opportunity that comes your way. Keep moving and putting yourself out there to maximize your chances of stumbling upon success. Who knows, maybe your future boss, business partner, or spouse could be at that meeting that you are thinking of skipping.
Lesson 3: You can (and should) score on bottom
In wrestling, if you are on bottom position, meaning your opponent has taken you down and is on top of you, you can get 1 point by getting up and escaping, or breaking free from his or her grasp. It’s such an easy point that many coaches, including mine, oftentimes put wrestlers on bottom position when we choose which position to adopt between periods. To the untrained eye, the bottom position looks like we are in the inferior position, but to us it means we will usually score. Additionally, you can score a reversal (worth 2 points) if you go from bottom position to top position through various maneuvers. Just because you are on bottom, doesn’t mean you can’t score!
Likewise, in life, most people are so crushed by their burdens, their heartbreaks, their struggles, their existing circumstances, and their fears that they freeze up and seemingly put their lives on hold. They don’t aggressively pursue things because they think that they are in an inferior position to do so. However, most successful people have learned how to achieve despite less than ideal conditions. Either by getting back up from failures, or turning the tables on the situation, you can do many things about your inferior situation to make it better. Both ways require fortitude, persistence, and bravery.
Lesson 4: When life knocks you down, get back up to score and score big
Piggybacking off of the previous point, when you are taken down to the bottom position, you can easily score one point by getting up and breaking free. But, if you let your opponent crush you and hold you down, you’re never going to score. Additionally, once you break free to neutral standing position, you are able to now get two points by aggressively pursuing a takedown — or forcibly taking your opponent down into an inferior position. But you can’t do that if you are still on bottom.
In life, you will be taken down, hard. You will fail, get hurt, get injured, and have setbacks. But you need to get back up to score. If you let life hold you down you will never be able to score again. Once you do get back up though, you are free to pursue and take down whatever objectives you wish to with aggression.
Lesson 6: Set up your Shot for success
In wrestling, many common leg takedowns require you to shoot in underneath your opponent to grab their leg(s). If you don’t time it right, your opponent can sprawl his legs back, crushing you underneath his hips, and putting him into a potential position to score. In order to shoot in successfully, you need to “set up your shot” — utilizing feints, careful timing, maneuvering, misdirection, and “heavy hands” — or relentlessly pounding on your opponent using your hands (legally, no punching or blows!). Once they are distracted, you can easily shoot in, grab a leg or two, and take them down.
Likewise, in life you need to put yourself into the best position for success. Through intense preparation, careful planning, and relentless execution you can set up your shot for that next promotion or ace that next exam. If you don’t take precautions and scramble in too quickly, you may find yourself in a difficult situation to get out of.
Lesson 7: In Life, as in Wrestling, you can lose everything or win everything in a blink of the eye
In wrestling, if you are behind by a lot of points, there is still a chance of winning if you “pin” your opponent — or holding putting your opponent’s back onto the mat. Because this position requires you to have taken your opponent down and forcibly “pin” him or her onto their back, it is the ultimate display of dominance in wrestling and thus is a “sudden death” condition of winning. I have seen some wrestlers, many points ahead of their opponents, become overconfident and get pinned just seconds before the match ends — thus causing them to lose in the worst way possible.
In life, even though everything may seem like it is falling apart and you are constantly working so hard with no avail, things can turn around in a split second and you can find yourself winning. Or, if you feel like you are ahead of the competition and become complacent, you could end up losing everything you worked so hard for. The tide can turn in the blink of an eye, be careful and hopeful.
Lesson 8: Wrestling, like Life, is an individual sport
Ultimately the burden of the win or loss falls upon your own shoulders. You can blame your drilling partner for not pushing you hard enough or your coach for not teaching you what you need to know to succeed, but in the end it really is your own effort that got you to where you are. You can sulk in defeat and complain — or you can get back up, train hard, and succeed.
In life, you can blame others or your circumstances for the position you are in. They prevented me from doing what I wanted to do, or They are just lucky or born with talent unlike me are things that many people say. It may or may not be true, but ultimately, success lies in what you choose to do despite others’ actions or despite your environment. Many have come up with so much less than you and yet have achieved so much more than you will ever achieve. Read. Just read and you will find these stories.
Lesson 9: Teammates are important
While it is your sole responsibility whether you win or lose, having a strong network of support is very important in any sport. Your teammates will push you to do better every day, give you tips and tricks to navigate your journey as an athlete, and provide moral support in the background.
In life, find a team to help you through your challenges, give you sound advice when you have doubts, and be pillars of support for your mental and emotional health. The “Self-Made Man” is a myth. It’s a lie. You can’t really go through life alone — we humans are social animals — and finding your team can provide you with a strong anchor of support to keep you grounded during the darkest of storms.
Lesson 10: The Injuries and Lessons alike will stay with you forever
I dislocated my shoulder on my birthday in wrestling practice during my last season. Great birthday present. Since then, I’ve dislocated it 4 more times. None of the injuries I sustained in my life are as long lasting or as impactful as this one, and it really challenged me. Fear of further dislocation during movements and exercise, discomfort while sleeping on that shoulder, and shoulder soreness after exertion are things I deal with every day. The recovery process has been long and is still ongoing — and may never end. Despite my injury, I am still able to lift weights (although any shoulder movements or overhead movements I am still extremely careful of) every day and keep in shape. I may have to be cognizant of my shoulder injury throughout all my life and may even need surgical intervention later in life. But the lessons l learned through this experience and wrestling in general will stay with me forever.
Life, like Wrestling, is a contact sport. You cannot be afraid of engaging because of risk of injury. You will have to learn to deal with wounds and scars of failure, heartbreak, betrayal, trauma, humiliation, emotional pain, or physical injury. It’s a part of life. You can’t avoid it. If you don’t have any form of injury, can you even say you’ve lived life at all? But the things you learn from it — the recovery process you go through, the day to day coping mechanisms you find, the mental fortitude you build from these wounds — will forever stay with you in your journey in life.
