Wrestling a match

Place the emphasis on the word ”wrestling”. On Saturday 15.11.2014 I stepped in the ring to face a promising newcomer Jami Aalto. Due to the opponent’s Greco-Roman background it was the kind of match I had been waiting for, an opportunity to challenge both my skills as an old school wrestler and the audience’s perception. I expected Aalto’s athletic ability to be on a level better than average, whereas I had the experience and my hybrid style. It would be too much to say that Aalto never had a chance, but remains the fact that probabilities were on my side.

It was obvious from the start that we had an extra gear. Even finding a way to get the first hold was a competition, which Aalto actually won by having me in a waist lock as I tried to manipulate his arm and pull him sideways, a trick most typical in his original game. Knowing that he would go for a suplex I immediately hit the mat, defending until he had to change his plan and we got up; that was when I threw in some Muay Thai-type of techniques. The upper hand was soon mine so it was time to calm down and wait for Aalto to make a mistake.

It was easy to lure him into a half-hatch after which I would take him down and put him in a position he surely hadn’t been during his amateur career. Still, it was too early to have him pinned so I decided to take things a bit further – I wouldn’t call that a mistake from my behalf, but Aalto certainly proved his agility and quickness by countering some of my moves while standing up, so I wisely retreated to break the spearhead of his attack, making it somewhat of a mind game.

Back to the groundwork we went, and to take away Aalto’s speed I started working the legs. He soon had no other way to go but to try to get on his feet, by which he practically offered me a chance to put him in a sleeper hold. This didn’t end the match but clearly led to the final phase which did. There was still enough fight left in him for one more plunge: a series of moves you wouldn’t necessarily expect from a rookie, then again it definetely wasn’t his first match to begin with. Being mentally stronger of the two I was capable of standing the charge and driving him down once again to apply the ultimate hold in wrestling. When the bell rang the power of the Constrictor had been proven as usual, despite of Aalto’s resistance and him being undeniably an exception among the people I have previously battled in the ring.

There’s an element in pro wrestling that brings it closer to real fighting than most forms of combat sport: that is the grey area. The reality of the match is that the wrestler can bend the rules, which I do, not to let them limit one’s doings but rather to use them as a tool to destroy the opponent’s endeavours. For example, a rope break doesn’t indeed have to happen immediately; it is the referee’s count that tells you when to let go. So you have time to make your move. Even if the wrestler chooses to release the hold he may still take the opportunity and deliver a blow with a possible effect to the outcome of the bout. Think ahead, set traps and make it difficult for the opponent to succeed in any of his attempts – create several paths for yourself to follow and finally overcome.

Saturday’s match was something that isn’t normally seen in any wrestling show because of the tactics, because of the grappling aspect of it and because of the competitive approach of both men. Those things were also the reasons why the audience would still react as expected. It was the spirit of the duel that made it a fight to behold, reminding everyone which way to go as long as we keep claiming that pro wrestling is the very arena where modern day gladiators meet. The main difference to Rome then must be that I have no Caesar to hail. I’m there for myself, my own master - only the arms of Mercury surround me.

The unstoppable blow

The night sky is dark because it’s an endless abyss. What is most often admired as beauty in it, is nothing but a colouring made by sunshine, the sun itself being just a spark flashing for a tiny moment in the cosmic blackness. The blue cover hides the true nature of what surrounds us, and by this mask protection is provided to those who are in need of such. As we let darkness look into us our vision grows deeper until our eyes can look back in time into the blackest night of all.

The opposite of things ostensible is of course what's essential, which also rules over its partner. The two can be put together though, not by driving them towards one another on a straight line but by a detour of personal experience. In cases where learning would otherwise become difficult, we choose to try creating some scenery by visualization to help the brain, or sometimes the whole body, receive instruments of understanding the matter. In other words we are using imaginary training.

Let us think that we’re to hit an object with an iron bar using as much force as possible. If we’re already scared, despairing or under any kind of pressure in the situation, we tend to tense our muscles to the limit; the stress of one’s mind thus becomes that of the body which, with all its movement been turned compulsive, begins to fight itself. The blow then, despite of its energy or the qualities of the bar making it destructive, would be one lacking spirit. If the body is set free instead by relaxation it will literally let the move happen, not to mention what happens when individual techniques must follow each other with the circumstances constantly chancing (“flow”).

An agricultural tool called flail has also been used as a weapon in history. A hammer-like section attached to an ordinary staff with a very simple mechanism can be swung in a way extremely dangerous by a skilled fighter. Speaking of unarmed combat we might say to clarify the idea that the forearm and fist are to be the outer part to swing freely with the movement of the upper arm directing this energy. Taking the next step from this point would mean the whole arm being used as the hammer, the shoulder-line being the staff-section of the flail, the body being the hand that swings it etc. The same principle of keeping it elastic can be applied when one is using a stick or a sword, them being intertwined with the body via the hands. The weapon is then moved in a “lively” manner as the body also moves along the similar way with the swaying of the weapon.

From the flail was developed an instrument of battering even more fearsome, the Kettenmorgenstern. What if we imagine that the fist is an iron ball, the forearm is a chain and the upper arm is a staff those are swung with. The penetrating energy is increased for as the tool becomes “heavier” the body will have to move in a way more explosive in order to perform the strike like it should, so the movement will be more relaxed, very loose indeed.  This is where momentum grows out of; the strike will come even more steadfast and the hand will not only hit the surface of the target (to prevent the impact from affecting itself) but just go on with full force. The blow is to be directed towards the opponent’s spine, we must go for breaking the posture and unbalancing, and also remember psychological damage to be done.

Let us dive on deeper into the magic of the mind: the iron ball this time is placed inside the thick part of the forearm. It is attached to the shoulder with a strong metal chain that is the upper arm, the fist being but the tip of the aura of the hammer. By the feeling of this immaterial nature the hand will have no inhibition when striking, so instead of just giving a slap the fist will have an intention to go through, proceeding many inches to where the actual body of the target would be. This, if anything, is the Empty hand in practice, of – as Funakoshi expressed the idea – the hand of Emptiness.

Pursuing the results we start with the physical, travel through metaphysics and finally enter the reality of undeniable facts. Devastating blows do not emerge from trying but from executing.

In case the opponent reacts to what we’re doing (which will inevitably happen), it may lead to situations most undesirable, yet the flail-like body of the fighter, being loose enough, can still be kept moving on to the right direction even with the circumstances changing all the time; thus it is possible to maintain the attack. When advanced one will be able to expand the use of the method to all moving, breathing included, and eventually it will be one’s mind that’ll work as the Kettenmorgenstern, directing its force without any limitations.

Biomechanics form a tool we are to utilize just as anything. Even in a combat most intense the arm must not be frozen with the tension, nor must the fist be clenched any harder than a ball of iron is clenching itself. As the power comes from the centre the wave of it will move on to the outer limits, just like what is done when a dragon lashes with its tail.