I believe there comes a time when inevitably, you lose your edge. It is usually not permanent, but merely a disruptive occurence that all serious athletes go through. However, the quandry is that many times, you do not realize that you have lost it all.

I had a very productive year. I realized that although I may fight once again, it is really Greco where my heart belongs. I have never participated at this high of a level, sacrificed as much as I did, and competed with the type of people who do it all with such ferocity and intensity. Greco Roman wrestling, for the most part, is passed off and misunderstood by the majority. What people do not know is that basically every national level participant does so out of pure love for competition and the physicality the sport brings.

And it is physical. To me, it is the toughest sport in the world, bar none, and that is coming from someone who has fought MMA, been knocked out, all that. Greco is intense, and sometimes brutal, and you have to put everything aside to be proficient at it. Everything, EVERYTHING has to be secondary. Now, you can say that about your sport, but is it really true? Or better yet, do you really mean it? Because the one thing I can promise you is that most every US Greco wrestler does mean it when they say it.

However, I did not accomplish all of my goals this year. That is a failure, one I am most disappointed about. The positives I take from it though are everlasting. My devotion, discipline, and desire for the best training and competition only grows stronger each day. I have met and befriended many other great athletes who share my views. In turn, I have once again been motivated to try and reach my competitive potential. The journey in such is what has returned me to edge, my mental edge that had helped me so many times in the past. With my FAITH in GOD to guide me, I hope to further demonstrate these beliefs.

 

 

Well, the bulk of the year's competitive goals have come and gone with my exclusion from participating in the Olympic Trials. That was my only goal this year. Not to place in the Nationals, or win a tournament, but just to get to the Trials. Of course, placing top 7 in the Nat'ls gets you there as well, but I was hedging my bets, so to speak.

I trained hard. But unfortunate for me, hard work isn't always the smartest work. In order for me to compete at the level I need to, I have to surrender myself to more high-level training, and that is going to be a lot of hard work. Greco-Roman wrestling, as it exists today under the current format, is highly specific and specialized. It is bereft of many traditional characteristics of wrestling the way we in America come to know it. And although I love the sport, it is cruel and unforgiving in that respect. It is almost like a game, a really advanced one, and in order to play, you have to know and understand the rules, and whats more, be able to employ them to your benefit. I haven't become proficient at either. Not yet.

I will continue to train, and to set new goals. I am not giving up. I do not know how many more tourneys I have left in me, maybe none, maybe a couple of hundred. But I am going to keep on supporting and pushing Greco, because even in my disagreement with the current rules structure, I believe in it. Us Greco guys have no choice but to stick together. We aren't appreciated or celebrated, and the only people that come to tourneys as spectators are familes and tournament organizers. In NJ, its even less. No one cares to take Greco as their sport after college, hardly ever anyway. Its either freestyle, coaching, or nothing. Well, Greco in this country needs more participants, more interest. I hope to help any way that I can.

And please support my friend Nate Engel (55 kg-Sunkist Kids) and his journey to make the Olympic Team. Visit his site by looking under my top friends (55 kg!!!!!!), click on his photos section, and ordering info is on there. Every little bit helps with funds for traveling and training, and Engel has been nothing but a good dude to me during all of this, as his words and support have been paramount. I hope to reciprocate. Good luck Nate!

Hello:

I would feel more comfortable being able to write about my "comeback" tournament and to subsequently pass it off as "I wrestled like crap." Unfortunately, that is only part of the case.

I was thoroughly and decisively beaten this weekend at the NYAC Holiday Open. It was a very tenuous, exciting, and humbling experience. The calibre of wrestlers that I was priveleged enough to compete with and against was truly astounding. Many terrific wrestlers from literally around the world competed, in what is this, an "Olympic Year." I have felt in the past year that it was time to concentrate on the sport of Greco-Roman wrestling basically full-time, while still adhering to my other activities in the realm of combat sports. I decided, while I climb into the latter years of my "twenties", that now is the time to really put my abilities and desires to the test.

In order to prepare myself for competition over the past 4+ months, I engaged myself in a routine and focus that I haven't had in quite some time. Through trial-and-error, dedication, and the desire to compete, I strongly concentrated on the elements of conditioning that I felt were crucial for this sport. I studied, I learned, I drilled, and I put myself through intensive workouts in order to acclimate myself for the fiercest brand of competition available. I have also been lucky enough to have been able to train with some very special people whose undying belief in me made this possible to even comprehend.

I do not have any excuses. With God's understanding hand, I have for the first time in a long time (if not ever) was able to remain in very good condition breathing wise, and that has been a gift only those close to me would appreciate how special that truly is. And the fact that I competed with the amount of energy and capability that I bought onto the mat is a testament to my faith and hard work. And that is the most important gift I take from all of this.

For those who have wondered in support if my rib-intercostal injury played any part whatsoever in my performance, I would answer with an emphatic NO. While it is true that the injury slowed me down and cut back a large part of my training, I have been without serious pain the last couple of weeks, and it certainly was not a factor in the tournament. Bluntly put, I was "outclassed." Not out-muscled, out-hustled, or slow, just not on the same level. Greco-Roman wrestling is a SPORT with rules, procedure, and a skill-set that is very unique to its own existence, and plain and simple, I was not prepared for what I was set to face. That is no one's fault. To go after what you want, you have to do the very best to put yourself in position to reach it, and that is perhaps where I fell short. The sport itself is different in the way it is wrestled and adjusted as opposed to the last time I competed. But then again, the competition level I faced previously was not nearly as high as the level I faced early yesterday.

I do believe in my ability, and always will. I felt extremely comfortable and "at home" on the mat, and was thrilled to be there. I was delighted with the physicality of the contact, and with more experience and practice at this level, I still believe I can be successful. In order to do so, I will have to adjust my training and preparation methods, and find other avenues of competition to hurl myself in. At the same time, I do have other "life goals" currently that are perhaps of a more proritive substance, and it is crucial for me to do what I can to attain them before I can say for sure where I am to go from here competitively.

Presently speaking, I am still going to be going after the things in life that I need to, while taking a step back over the next few days to reflect on this experience. This was a big deal to me in an awful lot of ways, and make no mistake about it, I am hurt and disappointed over the results. The positives I take from it though are lasting, and I learned a little about myself and the sport that I hope to take with me as I move forward.

I'd like to thank God for his grace and presence in my life, and for having blessed me with the ability to be myself and for giving me His love and the chance to compete. I would like to thank both of my brothers Lee and Keith for just simply believing in me and staying with me through all of this, and to all the people that have passed through the doors of the Inner Circle Wrestling Academy. I'd like to thank Thomas Velasquez and Eddy Rolon of Team Endgame, whom although are not wrestlers, have been great enough to let me use their bodies in the practice room. Danielle Hobeika for all of the encouragement, help, and words of wisdom that have made all of this way more easier than it could have possibly been. "The Monster" Kevin Randleman for the awesome words and for being an inspiration for me during what has been a tough time for himself. Mr. Charlie Moss for his interest, support, and inquiries into my training. Nate Engel for the just sound and steady advice as I got to know him (and just a little bit more recently!) and really has it to be one of the best wrestlers around. Steve Maciosi, my friend and training advisor at Retro Fitness. My Maureen, most of all, for her strict belief that I am capable of great things (even though I sometimes beg to differ), and for putting up with me and being my strength and angel through what has been an awfully tense and crazy time in my life. I'd also just like to thank everyone I have trained with and been around over the last few months that have been behind me in all of this, and for just allowing me the honor of making an impression. Thank you.

Although I am not currently surrounded by reporters and photographers, I still feel it my responsibility to inform all of those who support me that I will not be competing this weekend at the Sunkish Kids International Open in Chandler, Arizona. My injury to the upper-right intercostal has not progressed in the manner that would be fit for competition, and at the level the tournament holds standard, to compete at anything below 100% full ability would be rolling the dice, and the sport of wrestling lends itself to higher risk factors than a mere game.

I do believe with the appropriate amount of rest and treatment, the injury will subside, and I will be able to hopefully soon resume training at a very high level. But this is extremely disappointing, as this tournament has been a primary objective for me as a launching pad, one in which I had been preparing for since July. The idea that I will not be able to use this outlet as a viable platform to re-introduce myself to the sport bothers me greatly.

But as I say, I have hope that the status of my physical capability with return to full capacity, and I will be able to train once again, with my all, and aim for November at the NYAC Holiday Tournament. I want to first and foremost thank God for keeping me healthy enough to concentrate and train, and although I may not be competing in the Sunkist, He has still blessed me dearly by allowing me the ability to train at a higher level than I ever have before, and hopefully, He will see me through the rest of my athletic endeavors, especially the ones on the horizon.

I'd like to thank everyone who has supported me in all of this, and anyone who has shown interest. Please stay on board and in touch, because by no means do I intend for this to remain a major set-back, as I still feel that I am capable, with God's grace, of making a deep impression on the sport of Greco-Roman wrestling this year, chasing after the competition and successes that I desire very much.

Thanks,

Timmy Hands

ICWA

 

I am not going to call the ball yet on this thing, but the injury to my right intercostal (top) has not progressed to the point where I feel confident and ready enough to compete next week at Sunkist. I have not made an iron-clad decision one way or the other, although at this juncture, with the overall sensitivity of the area, it is hard for me to picture it being good enough to go all out at the tournament, which is what I what need to do due to the nature of the competition.

As you can tell, I am leaning towards rescinding my interest in competing at The Sunkist Kids Intn'l Open due to this injury. I am hopeful that the next couple of days brings me a better frame of mind, and under any other circumstances, seemingly, this would not stop me from my goal, which is to make a deep impression and impact at this year's tournament. The Sunkist Kids tournament is a tournament I've been wanting to compete in for quite some time, and only over the last year have I been able to realize the brunt of my potential in the sport. To miss out on this would pain me greatly, but for the greater good overall, and the hopes of competing in other high-level tournaments coming up, I am beginning to think that perhaps skipping this one in favor of being 100% healthy for the others would be the way to go.

I have not decided on this all the way yet, but when I do, I will post it here.

Thanks,

Timmy Hands

 

The three main components to training for competition, especially in regard to specifics, is to train for singular motions, reactions, and timing. Training is not merely doing hard conditioning or calisthenics. To train means to teach yourself to perform action(s) in a timely and appropiate manner. To react.

It is hard for me to over-state this. The underlying belief that many hold is to enter training and concentrate solely on being "in shape." While that is extremely important, it is more important to train to be able to do something. Boxers typically enlist sparring partners who fit a certain mold or style congruent with their potential opposition. Wrestlers for a long time concentrated on conditioning and merely drilling moves over and over. Wrestlers nowadays have adapted to wrestling in and out of positions, a natural evolution. MMA fighters, often stuck between trying to perfect different styles at once, often skimp on their strengths or weaknesses to concentrate on one or the other, which in my mind is what makes it such a tough sport. Its not the physicality-wrestling is more physically demanding. Rather, it is the conundrum of juggling which parts of the game to "train" at a specific time.

To train and practice certain movements and motions is to prepare for the chance or opportunity to be able to perform them in actual competition. I love sprints, I do them religiously. I won't be sprinting in competition, therefore, I tend to mold my training around the competition and simulate it as best as I can. The lift and twist of a rever-lift, for instance. If I am not lifting up a teammate of mine over and over, I do certain exercises that accentuate this movement to further embed it to my muscle memory. That way, when the time to lock the position arrives, I will react on instinct and not have to think about the lift, but rather just concentrate on my feet and where I am in relation to my opponent's size.

I try to take everything in account when training. I know that in actual competition, the intensity will be fierce and unforgiving. My chest will be heaving, my legs will be burning, and my arms and shoulders will be grinding away. If I am not just straight wrestling live, one of my favorite things to do is to perform sprints or jumps in between periods to better prepare myself for the dehabillitating nature associate with real-time matches. Because there is a "chance" I will need to have that extra in reserve to keep pushing.

I find that many athletes often feel the way I do. You just wish there were 36 more hours in a day to train more. There is no worse feeling than entering a competition feeling ill-prepared. But if you concentrate your training around the actual movements and reactions necessary for confidence and success, then success you shall receive.

 

Timmy Hands

ICWA

As a wrestler, the one thing that seperates you from most other athletes, is that the season NEVER ends. In fact, it is cyclical, revolving, and just has different phases of competition and training. As a true competitor, you must realize that most serious wrestlers nowadays wrestle year round, and continue their training accordingly.

The competitive season for a scholastic/folkstyle wrestler is the genesis and benchmark for success. It all starts and ends here. As September arrives, the competitive season thus is only a few months away. Combined with school and outside interests, it is difficult to manage your wrestling goals when not in the thick of your scholastic season. It is even more difficult when it is the oft perceived "off-season." That is a main reason that Inner Circle Wrestling tries to maintain that there is "no off-season." The drive to be a better wrestler does not know breaks, change in climate, or amount of homework. It simply cannot know such things. The truth is your next competitive season should already have been wrestled: through practice, conditioning, and maintaining focus.

Study your technique, your "chains" of offense and defense. Make sure you are doing your strength and endurance training, but limit this to only a few days a week. You don't want to overdo it now-you'll get plenty of that once formal practices kick in. Instead, concentrate on making yourself a better "wrestler", and the the best way to do that is to practice and simulate the moves and actions of actual wrestling motions and competition. Keep and maintain a training log, so you can keep tabs on what you are doing, your strengths, weaknesses, and other things you want to work on. It is the little things like that which will help elevate your training and focus, even if your next match is a couple of months away.

  Athletes and coaches alike appropriately put a strong emphasis on technique, and rightfully so. You cannot win without skill, instinct, and know-how. Wrestling is a reactionary sport, predicated on motion, position, and will. The right move at the right time is everything, and always will be. However, strength can not be ignored, as it has become almost a stigma to be known as just "strong."

Last time I checked, strength and power were not outlawed in the rules. And while wrestlers with just strength obviously need improvement on their other skills, the ability to be able to power into or out of a move or position is a necessary part of successful wrestling. In wrestling, I always understood the big 3 in order as technique, endurance, and strength. As I get older, I have noticed that those 3 may not necessarily be the best order for all athletes.

Wrestling is built around the participants' ability. Ability can encompass strength, speed, technical prowess, and endurance. Ability is what you have to work with in the present. Potential is what you might have in the future. An athlete's ability is based largely around their body types, the system they are coached in, their will, and the counter-balance to a given opponent during a match. Physical strength is always somehwere to be found.

Strength when needed, is an equalizer. The need to be able to show dominance in a match is ever-engrossing, and not everyone is blessed with the same physical gifts. Some wrestlers are naturally fast and flexible, taking down their opponents with ease, gaining control, and quickly scoring. Other wrestlers win simply by staying in the game long enough to "out-last" their opposition. And some wrestlers are successful when they counter moves with blunt force and will themselves out of disadvantageous positions. Some fans and observers of the sport scoff at these kinds of wrestlers, while I applaud them. Winning doesn't have to be flashy and pretty. Sometimes it is one wrestler's physical and mental will that garners victory, and victory anyway you can get it is always the objective.

I say practice your moves, drill non-stop until the moves and motions are second-nature. I also say do your push-ups, pull-ups, and weights. Sometimes, that little extra strength is what is needed to accomplish the task. In baseball, good pitching beats good hitting. In wrestling, that is only half-true. While the more skilled wrestlers seldom lose, sometimes it is the strong ones who break the more skilled wrestler's will by frustrating them into defeat.

Quick training tip: During post-conditioning, it is a good idea to attempt to simulate the intensity of a match. After the live-wrestling portion of the workout is over, try sprints/suicides in conjunction with different strength and muscular endurance exercises. A good example is to sprint non-stop 3 times to the edge of the mat and back. After the 3 sprints, chin-ups, pull-ups, or push-ups to failure. Repeat this  3-5 times. You (or your wrestlers) will be building strength, muscular endurance, and increase the anaerobic threshold (stamina) by a great degree.

It is common knowledge that if their is one thing that lacks in this country wrestling-wise, it is involvement in the "international styles" of wrestling. Certainly, many kids are starting to wrestle freestyle and greco at an earlier age than ever before, and in some cases, overall involvement in these styles is up than in previous times. But the US will always continue to lag just a bit behind other countries for the sheer fact that most US wrestlers, if not all, grow up wrestling freestyle or greco for only a few months out of the year. And mostly it is just to pass the time before the next folkstyle season.

USA Wrestling has done everything short of making tournaments free to involve more athletes. There are more tournaments than seemingly ever before, clinics, camps, developmental tournaments, special team duals, anything you can think of. But kids don't get scholarships to college wrestling freestyle, they get to college wrestling scholastic, or folkstyle. And that will most likely never change.

The remedy therefore is not simple. It is not necessarily fair for a kid's future to make him or her concentrate on freestyle or greco, and not wrestle for a high school team, but rather a club team. And that age group is not usually privy to big international style tournaments during the fall/winter months anyway. Also, you don't want to burn out kids by encouraging them to wrestle both scholastcially and international style at the same time either. It would probably be overkill.

There is no easy answer, and I am certainly not here to provide one. What I do suggest is the only way to keep the US competitive overall, their has to be an inherent need to point out not only the similarities the international styles have towards folkstyle, but accomodate the differences. The way a freestyle match is wrestled (or at least-was wrestled before the rule changes) is very similar to the higher levels of scholastic style wrestling: Takedown oriented, quick control on top. Low shots, high crotches, and snaps & spins are staples of freestyle. Aside from being able to "clasp", the turns from par tierre can serve as a decent foundation to get further creative with tilts and pinning combinations. You might not try a leg-lace in a folkstyle match, but you can trap a two-on-one and roll. The only difference is that in scholastic, you try and hold it.

Greco is great for neutral wrestling in folkstyle. Maybe you cannot simply throw and slam opponents, but you sure can use all of the fantastic set-ups to approach shots with. Little things in Greco like head-shucks, slight-snaps, and inside-Russian ties go a big way in folkstyle when it comes to maintaining control from standing to set up other takedown opportunities.

I implore coaches to get more involved with this effort. It will help make your scholastic wrestlers better, and in turn, help make our wrestlers better internationally. The differences may seem daunting, but they can be advantages if used and trained correctly. There is just too much good that can come from utilizing international style elements that go way beyond building a more complete wrestler. It might help build a more complete country.