What Can We Learn From Wrestling?

Is it possible that a sport with armbars, cradles and double legs can teach us anything about life? Is there anything to be learned counting down the seconds in a neck bridge while your opponent is trying to capture the pin in the last seconds? Some might use the thought of a neck bridge as a reason to avoid the sport of wrestling, others know that there are valuable life lessons to be learned on the mat.

Mike Riordan, an ex-college wrestler, HS coach and sports writer for the Bloody Elbow and Intermat, recently wrote about how wrestling teaches us perseverance. Here is an excerpt:

The beauty of wrestling lies in the precious lessons it teaches us about life. In wrestling we learn to deal with extreme pain and heartbreak, and to keep on going. When I was coaching, I remember a conversation I had with an athlete I coached after he quit at the end of a match to get eliminated at a big tournament. I asked him why he gave up.  He said, "I didn't want to give up Coach, but he kept punching me in the nuts, you and the ref couldn't see."

I responded, "I understand, and he shouldn't have done that, but remember, one day life is going to punch you in the nuts a million times harder than that kid, and you won't have the option of lying there on the mat."

Using this moment to impart one of wrestling’s greatest lessons was pure coaching genius!

While no one likes to see their favorite wrestler loose a match, everyone wants them to succeed off the mat, where it really counts. Surviving a cradle or holding off a pin in the final seconds can help prepare us for real life trials and challenges.