ideamark

Thanks to wrestling forum stars Spider and Denny -- along with Shelby Wilson, Jack Marchello and Les Anderson -- for their willingness to share what it was like to wrestle back in the day...

Old-School Strategy

High school and college wrestlers in the U.S. wear one-piece singlets and headgear, and wrestle on foam mats. But it hasn't always been so. What was it like for wrestlers who competed in wool trunks and tights, without shirts and without headgear, on cotton or horsehair mats? Did old-school mats and gear have an impact on the way they wrestled? See for yourself in Mark Palmer's latest article for Rev Rewind.

http://revwrestling.com/articles/399...chool-Strategy

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Peace
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M Richardson

Thanks for bringing back the memories!

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tpay

Ah yes, the memories of mat burns on my knees, forehead, elbows, shoulders, etc...from the canvas mats at Ventura Boys Club back in the 60's. Doesn't get any better then that....

DoubleGrapevine

Ideamark, great article. Wrestlers back in the day sure had it tough.

M Richardson

Nine minute matches, no tech fall, and a variety of holds that have since been deemed too dangerous to use. Let me tell you how it was back in MY day . . . .

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Spider

. . . and we liked it!

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"Love never dies." The Beatles

ideamark

And a pin-fall lasted longer than one second! (In the 1920s and 30s, it was three FULL seconds!)

You guys have hit on one of the things that drives me crazy when today's wrestlers and fans fail to give their props to those who've gone before. (For example, the NCAA 75th Anniversary team, which had only three guys who wrestled before 1970... as if the sport was garbage before then. It would be as if automobile enthusiasts were asked to name the most significant cars of the past century, and refused to even consider the original Mustang or Corvette or Model T because "they're old."

Sure, I understand the arguments about today's wrestlers wrestle more matches, and that they go up against more evenly matched competition from a wider geographical area, etc. But... as the article -- and posts in this thread -- point out, there were considerable challenges for wrestlers back in the day that Baskren or Cael never dealt with. Like mat burns and other mat-caused infections, or wrestling in sweat-soaked wool... or trying to get a grip on some sweaty, half-naked guy. Or being the recipient of a punishing hold that's now illegal.

By telling how it once was, maybe we can open some eyes, and change some minds,
Mark

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denny

Yo Mark,

First time in these here parts for me.

Mark, it certainly looks like I am getting plenty of mileage out of that dang photo. Lots of miles out of that Midlands dealio as well.

Bottom line. Article is a good read. Takes me back to those happy competitive days. Nine minute bouts. 'Dyin' on the vine' at about the 7 minute mark. I think that I was inspired to gun for the stick so that I would not have to deal with that gasin' in the 9th minute.

ideamark

Welcome aboard, Denny! Glad to see you here!

(For those who might not know, Denny = Dennis McCabe, one of the legendary grapplers (along with our own Spider = Jack Alkon) who were kind enough to subject themselves to an interview with me, which I would assume to be about like going nine minutes with Mocco wearing wool tights on an old horsehair mat. ;-)

Mark

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tpay

Just remembered a match I had way back in high school where I had 11 take downs and won something like 27 to 14 in a 9 minute match, what fun that was.