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July - September, 2008

Olympic Observations:

Here is a look ( all on one e-mail) at the skill set shown at RAW 241 sessions being executed at the Olympic Games:

http://www.nbcolympics.com/video/share.html?videoid=WR2H-BJ-SD14-081908-092504  - This example is Olympic Champion Henry Cejudo using a ls/ls WADA at the 1:28:00 mark ( just scroll to the designated time)

http://www.nbcolympics.com/video/share.html?videoid=0820_HD_WRM_EN163  - this example shows 3 x Olympic Champion Bouvaisa Saitiev demonstrating the Rub the Tummy in his Olympic final last week - at the 47 minute mark

http://www.nbcolympics.com/video/share.html?videoid=WR1H-BJ-SD13-081908-092502 - this illustration has Olympic Champion Henry Cejudo performing a wrist roll set up to a single - at the 2:05:00 mark


Without question, TEAM USA needs some work ( 1 medal for 7 weights) but take solice in the fact that the wrestler who was most fundamentally sound was our lone medalist. 21 year old Henry Cejudo was the very definition of "technically sound" in his run to the Gold medal. He used a cut back double several times and the aforementioned skills noted above as well...he performed well for TEAM USA and represented our country well. Congrats to him and Coach Jackson and Coach Kemp - as well as the private coach for Cejudo - Terry Brands. Well done!

The best wrestler in the WORLD today is Bouvaisa Saitiev ( he will now retire) who won his 3rd Gold last week. His skill set is not the type that can be compartmentalized. He is a special human being who can dominate using a plethora of skills. Saitiev,from Russia, is like a basketball player who can control the paint and base-line as well as take three's(Jordan). He's like a quarterback with the runing ability of Mike Vick yet he can maintain in the pocket and deliver like Joe Montana. He's like a MLB starting pitcher who can also bat 300. This man is unreal. To start his Olympic final last week his very first take down was a Rub the Tummy!

After viewing these examples and really absorbing it and making sense of it - you will notice that the JROCK STYLE that is being redundantly performed in the RAW sessions is a style that is not only modern, but also used by the WORLDS finest wrestlers.

If we include the last US Olympic Gold Medalist ( Cael Sanderson) we can easily see that takedowns and an open stance attack prevails. Cael won his Gold when he adjusted mid match from collar ties in the first period to open stance in the second ( using two low singles in the process) to derail his Olympic finals opponent. Obviously Cejudo is a head snap and club guy - not a collar "tie" guy. He attacks the head very aggresively and quickly prior to many of his shots. But he doesn't HANG on to the back of his opponents neck like we see so prevelantly here in the states. In fact, the collar tie guys can conveine and have their pity party following the Olympic Games. No one of World level ability in this sport is really going to allow you to grab them by the back of the neck and settle in for 15 seconds to adjust the hold to your liking while they sit back and wait ( please ignore my poor sentence structure:) Members of the USA who still endulge in this offensive ( or defensive) strategy need to take a wheelbarrel of dynamite to that school of thought and put it to rest. Conversely, those ( Cael and Cejudo) can execute "in open space" ( open stance) are much more prepared , or so it seems, to operate at the highest level of this sport...a la John Smith, Kevin Jackson, Kenny Monday - guys with Gold medals from The Games of yester-year who refused to live by that dated mind set.

If you watch a lot of the matches from the video's provided above, you will be shocked at how little the guys hang onto the collar. Especially if you are accustomed to seeing americans wrestle other americans - it may seem a bit like Dancing with the Stars. But who am I to try to separate their true union?? I just don't want to see the kids I work with get married right there on the mat while I'm watching. I'd prefer if that were the game plan from the beginning that they take that "stuck in the 80's" gameplan to another venue...away from public eyes who have paid to see some excitement and action. Even in '04 the 133 Gold winner, Yandro Miguel Quintana, was devoid of collar ties and used a post/snap as his method of attacking. The USA's Stephen Abas made it to the Gold medal match without the assistance of the collar tie as well. Ban the collar tie! Protest against it, send letters to the government, boycott watching teams that adhere to it as thier base attack...we need change in this country, and we need it fast. Otherwise our 1 medal out of 7 will be the norm and not an abherration.

As an educator in this sport I try daily to prepare a group of "attack dogs" - kids who are willing to roll up their sleeves and get after the competition. All the while, being very rule savvy and win with skill. This is what sports in general are composed of: offensive minded approaches - which brings in fans and new prospects. People like excitement and action. Any deviation of those components is an issue we have to battle against in wrestling from a national standpoint. American coaches who are implementing "funk " wrestling and collar ties as a primary set of skills are doing their wrestlers a disservice ( IMHO). As evidenced in last weeks freestyle wrestling, that formula was short on success. Not to beat a dead horse here, but, those who used space well and were offensive were those who came away with Gold. Make no mistake about it - this is no "trend" otherwise the 3 Olympic champions above that I noted from the US ( who all won medals in the late 80's and early 90's) would not have been as successful as they were. Smith is the USA's greatest freestyle competitor with his 2 Olympic titles and his ability to impose his style of wrestling on his opponents in a way that not many , if ever, have done. Clearly, that's what I want from our wrestlers "impose their style" onto their opponents. When a guy tries to collar tie and slow down tge tempo of the match: wrist roll, Russian, Iranian, elbow pass, shallow hook etc. No reason to look baffled at the sight of a collar tie; they have been beaten before and they will be beaten again.

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