beaugeste's blog

As many of you, the Covid Pandemic stopped my wrestling. Two sweaty men, chest to chest, breathing hard and inches from one another just did not seem to be the right thing to do. A contagious disease running rampant, no vaccine available, and seemingly healthy people dying. So at 68, I took a three year break. At my age, this Covid wrestling hiatus could have been my retirement.

Fortunately, I am a more glass is half full guy and said why not, "nothing ventured, nothing gained" . See what you can still do, at 71. Not that I was a good wrestler at 68.

I got back on the horse, so to speak, and had my first match with someone I never wrestled before. While I have lost some muscle mass and strength think mostly due to aging and not inactivity; I did better than I would have thought against a guy 5 years younger and at least 20 pounds heavier.

For me it is less about the match. It is about getting a bit of exercise, maybe practicing holds, and the man to man contact. I may not "win", but if I did well holding my own, it helps me both mentally and physically.

Getting back into wrestling was a good decision for me. Knowing you can still do something that you thought you could no longer do, is a big ego booster. I welcome any ego booster I can get.

Aging was so much fun when we are young. So many new life's experiences and choices were offered to us in our teens and twenties. Now in our 60's or older, aging is not as much fun. Many of the pleasures life gave us are being taken away, or no longer possible. However, be careful. Sometimes we prematurely take these pleasures away from ourselves. Think it is due to fear. In fact we still may be able to do a lot of what we did, albeit more slowly or modified. Be careful to avoid injury, choose who you wrestle wisely, but try to see what you can still do, rather than saying that you can't or shouldn't.

Good luck in your aging process.

I started wrestling late in life, but fortunately have remained fit and in good shape/health; so was still able to participate in this activity. My first wrestling match was in late July 2017, so I have been doing this for about 9 months and have officially wrestled eight opponents, plus another seven men that for a variety of reasons are not listed on my profile. Am writing this to help me, and perhaps you; how to best interact with others on this site.

THE TOTAL PACKAGE

Strength, wrestling skills, fitness, flexibility, endurance, weight, agility, ability to strategize, attitude, and lots of other factors intertwine to determine how good of a wrestler you are. You likely are stronger in some traits and weaker in others, but the combined interaction of these attributes determine how competitive you are. I am trying to improve in areas where I can, especially if there is also overall health benefits. Given my age though, I am swimming upstream.

WHY WRESTLE?

Probably this is a crucial question. I am doing this primarily for the fitness and fringe benefits. While there are limits due to my age, wrestling is great way to stay in shape. Secondarily, the man to man contact is a great fringe benefit that can occasionally have an erotic arousal. If I am controlling my opponent, great; if he is controlling me, that's almost as good. Wrestling can be an almost intimate act. The sensuality that sometimes happens is not sex, but can be on the road to. Why not wrestle for both the exercise and possible excitement benefits?

WHAT DO YOU WANT; FANTASY, PRO, COMPETITVE, SEMI-COMPETITIVE, EROTIC MATCHES?

I am a semi-competitive submission wrestler who likes to win, but the wrestling journey itself is the reward. A lingering match, especially if you and your opponent trade control of each other is great exercise and can be fun. For me, the mano a mano struggle of the two men, the body to body contact and the trading of holds are more important than who actually wins the match. I don't need to defeat an opponent to feel that I have had a good match. I am competing against myself trying to get better, measured by my success against different opponents. Being competitive against stronger and more experienced opponents is an indicator of my progress. Gently sore muscles the next day and two guys happy they squared off is a good match.

MAKE AN OPPONENT SUBMIT OR CONTROL HIM?

To avoid risk of injuiry, I will tap out if discomfort becomes pain. I never knowingly try to hurt an opponent. I break holds immediately and expect an opponent to do likewise. Perhaps because of this, I tend to prefer control holds and not submission holds. Often submission holds utilize pain to get an opponent to submit and concede. These can also cause injury. I prefer to try and dominate an opponent by trying to control him and tiring him out. I don't want to obtain an opponent's submission by inflicting pain, but one can use a submission hold to the point of pain to obtain control. I may need to learn to properly execute less risky/intense submission holds.

While the wrestling outcome is similar, psychologically I would think there is a difference between wanting to win by dominating/controlling an opponent versus obtaning a victory by submitting an opponent to pain and getting his submission.

WHO DO YOU WRESTLE/FIGHT?

I have been lucky and enjoyed all the guys I have wrestled and have had no bad experiences or injuries. I tend to prefer opponents about my own age, and having stats and interests similar to mine. It makes for a more level playing field, and possibly lessens the risk of injury. But since I am fit, I can be competive with many guys a bit younger and bigger. It can be fun to wrestle different opponents, going back to favorites. I also prefer for the outcome of the match to be a surprise. Perhaps, another reason to choose someone close to your stats. Of course you can pick opponents you can easily defeat and you can always will be a winner. For a 165 pound guy, wrestling too big of a guy can be the kiss of death. If an opponent has even 20 pounds more on me in weight, it is a good weight advantage. I try to wrestle guys that weigh not too much more than I do. I then have to find a way to offset his weight advantage, and this is hard to do.

I have occassionally wrestled much bigger and younger men and held my own. But it gets harder to out wrestle an opponent with a significant weight advantage unless you have lots other things in your favor. Some big guys will wrestle down and use less of their weight advantage. When I have wrestled a big guy, over 225 pounds, there has been trust and an agreement that this a friendly, give and take, non-competive match. These guys can also "wrestle down" and not fully used their weight as an advantage. I always thought I need wrestling midget friend to tag team and even up a match against a 250 pound muscle bear.

Found out that taller guys of about the same weight can have a significant advantage over shorter guys like me when starting out a match and in applying scissor holds. Be careful if you are short as I am and take on a tall guy. Even if he weighs about about the same, he has a longer arm reach and longer legs. Wrestle taller guys, but have a strategy to try and offset their reach and leg advantage.

Experienced guys with wrestling skills can be the best to wrestle, especially if they are willing to be coaches/mentors. You wont win the match, but you will learn. I have been lucky to have had a couple of the more experienced guys try and help me get better. It is a slow process and my age is not helping.

The site is called Meet Fighters. Expect that some men will be agressive fighters eager to test their skills on you or play out their fantasies. If you both have the same fantasies great, but if not, this could be an issue. Talk to your perspective opponent. Pick what is right for you, and be prepared to walk away if the situation does not feel right.

I would be careful with guys that are too competitive, aggressive, or on the other side of the spectrum, inexperienced. Very innocently, a very nice inexperienced guy trying to execute a move he saw last night on a MMA fight can cause big time damage. Older muscles, joints and bones are not as resilient as youthful ones. It is OK to trade holds and practice, but be sure there is enough trust between you and your sparring partner. Having similar stats as your opponent helps, but it is more an attitude thing. I won't set up a match unless I can talk to the guy first and make sure we are both looking for the same type of match and gauge his attitude on the phone. Texting does not take the place of hearing a voice and learning more about a perspective opponent. Look at the guys he has wrestled. Perhaps you have a common past opponent. Better not to wrestle a guy you are unsure of, than to wrestle a guy that can cause you an injury.

Going to WrestleFests or other tournaments has been a good way to meet and size up many perspective opponents in a safe environment. It is a wrestlers smorgasbord of sorts. You look the guys over, watch them in action, talk to them; and pick what is right for you. Probably will go to the July 2018 Wrestlefest in Pennsylvania. This would be my third.

WHAT NEXT?

I need to improve my fitness by doing more cardio and strength training. This should also benefit my overall health. As I continue wrestling, my skills are getting better, but only very slowly and the aging process is really working against me. I need a coach and/or regular sparring partner close to home to make more significant progress in improving my wrestling skills.

I may want to in 2018

• explore the pro wrestling scene, since I enjoyed it as boy on TV. Am considering Clash of the Titans in Atlanta, late in May, 2018.

• try a three or four man match, or possibly an oil match.

• explore the aspects of erotic wrestling, but also am happy where I am.

I am enjoying my wrestling journey. Good luck and best wishes on yours.

Dear Wrestling Diary,

I was anticipating at least a few matches while wintering in South Florida, but no luck.  I needed the exercise and improve my skills.  I thought that surely there would be more older, experienced wrestlers in South Florida.   Surprisingly, many of the wrestlers in Miami where I was, were young or perhaps I am just getting older, so of course everyone else is younger.  In any event, the older Florida wrestlers were further away in Palm Beach county and I just was not able to line up any South Florida matches.  Tried several guys about the same weight and age, but they were busy or not interested.  Just as well, I suppose.  I left my lucky singlet back home.

Fortunately, I visited New York in February to attend a trade show which coincided with Wrestlefest.  Although I was not staying at the Hotel Pennsylvania, the Wrestlefest host hotel, I was at a Midtown Manhattan hotel close by.  I met up with guys I had seen last summer at the Indiana PA Wrestlefest.  The New York Wrestlefest had about 125 guys participating, both locals and out of towners.  I was able to set up a couple of really good matches with guys from the UK.  One of the guys was an especially good coach.  Probably will do Wrestlefest in New York next year.

Also had a roadtrip match in South Carolina on my drive home from Florida. Nice guy, and a real strong wrestler. A lot stronger than would expect.

The lesson is perhaps that you can plan, but often it is just about luck. "Man proposes but God disposes." Perhaps there is a divine factor in wrestling?

WrestleFest July 2017 was a well organized, fun activity.    A roster is set up so you know who plans to attend. This helps you decide who you want to wrestle.  In my case there were only two or three guys in my weight class on the roster, but I still decided to participate.

 I initially thought of wrestling only opponents around my weight, since most of the 20 guys participating were 200 pounds and more.  Being relative unskilled, older, and weighing 165 pounds; I was concerned about wrestling heavier, younger and more skilled opponents.   As WrestleFest progressed, I felt more comfortable wrestling bigger and more skilled wrestlers; and was glad I did.

Fortunately for me, WrestleFest attracts a really nice group of guys.  The more skilled men will wrestle down, at least some, to your level and the big heavy guys did not fully use their weight advantage.  This does not mean they will throw a match and let you win. They all wrestled to win and pushed you to do your best.  I mostly had to tap out, but did win a couple of matches and enjoyed even the matches that I lost.  I hopefully learned from my mistakes and received coaching from a couple of the wrestlers.

Brawlmart, our host, was a very gracious in offering his home which provided great space for the matches.  Two nice mats, one in the house and another one, larger, in the garage.  Some guys were able to stay at Bralwmart's house and others in nearby motels. The hotel cost was not too high.

WrestleFest is a great guys weekend.  You wrestle, drink a little, probably eat too much, revisit with friends and make new ones. PERFECT!  Consider adding this event, held in Indiana, Pennsylvania, which is not too far from Pittsburgh, to your schedule if you can.  You should enjoy it as much as I did.