WORLD OF RAWR

This entry is about meetups. It's that time of the year I end up either loving or lamenting because of how many people I have/haven't locked up with even with them living in the same state. It's a lot of time without a lot of rolling this go-round and that is what it is. However, in the times that I look into the meetings I've set up or failed to set up and execute, I find that there are two major factors:

• Time
• Interest

The order is such on purpose. No matter how much interest I may have, if I don't have time then the interest is a moot point. I would add priorities here, but honestly if you are a member of this website who also bills and those bills are not paid by wrestling people here, then the priorities will be skewed as such.

I think we should be more understanding of that. Keeping that in mind we have 24 hours. About 8 of those are spent at work unless we're on vacation and not dealing with familial obligations. That's fine. What's not fine is scheduling things with people when you know your priorities don't allow that.

This was addressed in a previous entry, but again: everyone has their motivations. I don't want to wrestle every wrestler I've met. That is fine. Every wrestler I've met doesn't want to wrestle me, either. That's also fine.

Where you get someone with the interest and the time to meetup, then let battle be joined and let's keep hoping (and making plans along those lines) for an amount of free time that lets us satisfy our interests.

For example: my upcoming trip to New York :D

Today, we are going to talk about meetups. Specifically my experience here, but by extension, yours (well, some of you).

In particular, following this entry about bodies, we should talk about the next logical thing which is choice or why do people pick who they pick or don't. That's usually pretty simple stuff, but our ego tends to get in the way. Without that, we have:

• People who wrestle competitively.
• People who wrestle for fun.
• People who "wrestle for sex"

The third is in quotes here because some people can be very erotic in their wrestling and have no interest in intercourse. Most of these three things exist on a spectrum; people are rarely purely one or another of these things because we're not simple like that which brings up a major point:

Some people wrestle people just because they are attracted to them physically. Again, no interest in intercourse, but they must be attracted to the people they wrestle on a physical level. This is where we get people who have an unusually long list of qualifiers for people they wrestle.

So now we get to the point of this entry which is: Why won't this person wrestle me? I'm mad about it. There's no reason they shouldn't.

Here's the thing, right: We should wrestle or work to wrestle with people that want to wrestle with us. The rest can go provided they aren't being awful. The exchanges and frustrations we feel could easily be lessened by simply wrestling people who are interested in wrestling with us.

Additionally, being aware of your audience is key. If you're going to be dealing with highly competitive people, there's going to be a level of fitness you'll need to have. If you're dealing with more erotic things, your appearance and the attraction between you and another person will be a factor.

That is going to be a thing with any person on the site and that is fine. People can just not wrestle people and that not be an offensive thing. Disappointing? Certainly, but it's not something that we should punish someone for nor something that warrants punishment. We only have so much time and that should be used to embrace that which embraces us back. I have emails in my inbox right now where I said, "Wanna wrestle" and got a "no thank you" back. I have just as many where nothing has been said at all in response for months. Each of those get treated the same: a clear note to move on to whatever else is happening out here because as important and cool as we all know we are, we just aren't going to appeal to everyone.

That's OK. We don't have to. We only have to appeal to the ones we're "meant for" where the comraderie is there and the bonds built will be strong. It's almost like romance except it isn't... most of the time.

I don’t know how or why, but somehow I’m profile of the day today.

Thank you?/! I’m stunned. Also, I hope everyone reads the profile and enjoys.

Today, we are going to talk about bodies. Specifically mine, but by extension, yours (well, some of you) with a thick layer of humor on top.

In particular, I want to talk about my ongoing battle with "I have so many things I can do that are athletics or mostly athletic with ease, but I still don't look like these people I want to meet up with because I like cheeseburgers and also how the hell am I appealing to any of these people I've met so far?"

If that's you, keep reading.

After being here for nearly four years now and having about 7.5 matches per year (which seems damn-near miraculous considering where they came from), I spend a lot of time wondering whether the next four years will continue to find people who think I'm worth the effort to wrestle. Mind, the answers are in DMs and inboxes and text messages and past opponents, most of which mutually agree we will wrestle in the future, but that doesn't stop the thoughts like this one from rearing it's ugly head at 5AM for at least 30 minutes when I walk into the bathroom and turn on a light.

In those few moments, I either feel like I'm worth the space I occupy or I'm not because that the thing right: no one sees this moment but myself and dealing with myself usually brings harsher responses than are probably healthy ranging from heavy critique to "let me sit down and study every single thing that's ever been written about bodybuilding and nutrition" with a dash of why the eff haven't you done this yet before I ignore it all and start peeing.

Cue walking past the mirror on the way out, nodding with approval or sighing with something like "whatever" and then walking out.

I've sat here for some time trying to determine what to do and have only come to three honest conclusions which, of my nature, come with heavy internal dialog. Feel free to follow along.

• Go super hardcore vegan and commit myself to the monastic life of never doing another thing in life except the study of God and gains. At least, that's what it feels like. There's just so much to do and it never seems like you can do a small thing. Everything after a point is like: wake up at 6AM, workout for like 3 hours, run a marathon, swim for a mile. Every other day. Before breakfast. Like... I cannot. The gym is a bit better; I'm getting more comfortable there with the equipment, but you can't just pick things up, right? Like you need a plan for that. It's a daunting thing and they just opened up a fried chicken spot next door...
• Just wrestle and see what happens. Alright cool, let's see what we can do with that. I'll just wrestle as-is and pick things up along the way. Sounds great. I'll just check this profile. *Fifteen profiles later*. Everyone looks like Atlas, I'm going to take a walk and punch a tree.
• Some in-between thing. I've tried randomly experimenting just to do see what I could do if I want to do it. So far, I've tried doing 100 pushups every other day. That went well until I got unfocused. Same thing with pullups. Same thing with a few things. Accountability is easier with friends or other reminders that you have things to do and being tired/unmotivated is not on that list.

Well, Synxiec, you either have to do those things or not instead of writing an entire blog about it. Wouldn't it just be better to actually fix the problem.

Well, my dear opinionated reader, I already have. This blog isn't for me. This blog is for people like me. Now, shhhh and go away or offer your personal training services and fee schedule to someone who needs a boost.

Nah, this blog is to let you know that these problems are common ones. As things are now, I live here and don't have a car. That means I need to either take a cab, bus, or bike to go places. Everywhere I walk involves hills, so unless I have a need to get to a place by a specific time, I walk there. Aside from that, I have a casino rueda class I go to every week for 2 hours. Here's what that looks like. It looks cool, but making this stuff flow takes work. I've been at it for a year. Classes are once a week. I went from 1 hour to 2 because I had to have that.

But none of that or those combinations of things makes me athletic-looking. That said, that look has little to do with what I'm actually capable of doing, which is a fair amount of things. Therein is the point of fitness. Attractiveness to possible wrestling partners, regardless of the reason, the point of all of this fitness we do is so that we can physically do what we want to do when we want to do it without concerns about impacting our health from overexerting. I normally dance for two hours, but I can dance for 4 if I want to and not be concerned. Everything else is aesthetics and we have to be aware of that.

If you are going to exercise, then start there: what do you want to do and what condition do you need to be in for the most enjoyment of that thing you want to do? Pursue that. Exercise isn't a weapon for conquering insecurities (although that can be a side-effect). Exercise is a means to an end. That end is always enjoyment. Whether it is endurance, an extra sub, the admiration of your peers and so on. However, you are fine as you are. You're not just a body regardless of who is or isn't attracted to it.

This was a bit long of a blog for a single point.

Well, if insecurities weren't a labyrinthine maze, we wouldn't be here. But they are, aren't they?

Merry Christmas from Athens, Georgia. I Hope today is good to you and your families.

It’s been a while since I’ve written but I have more things to say now so that helps, I Guess ;)

Things have been wild lately, but taking things back a month or two, at the tail end of a family vacation, I went up to Atlanta and meet some friends for a trip to Chicago.

There were a few contacts here and there, but I was with my friends most of the time and so free moments were limited. I wish I had the time to catch Coleman on this trip, but it was not to be. That just leaves me something to look forward to. I did, however, get to meet this guy which ended up being a fun match the day before I went home.

Since then, I've been visited by a few people: like this guy, this guy , and this guy. Each of those matches have been splendid. I'm about to meet Marc today. It's been a wonderful whirlwind of people just passing through, so I'm going for everything I can catch and enjoying.

I hope you're all doing the same.

Now let me get myself out of here and to a cup of coffee.

o/

I finally got to meet up with this guy this week and it was lovely.

He happened to be in town and hit me up on the way in. We met at my place on Tuesday night,, got somewhat acquainted with each other and got into the roll. First thing: you have to pay attention to everything he does. Otherwise, you'll end up in a triangle or some other thing he just manages to sneak in on you somehow. I avoided most things at the last minute, but he did get a tap or two. Dude had skills. After about two hours of that, he went on his way for the night and we're already planning what to do when he's up here again now that we're more comfortable with each other.

And this is what we all came here for.

That said, one thing that came up - and often does - was the fact that I look either super zen or just "bored" when wrestling. The thing is, for me, wrestling is a rare experience in that it almost entirely clears my mind. There's just you, your opponent, and thinking about what movement they are making or might make.

I get wrapped up in that and its... well... peaceful for me. The feeling and the experience is just something I quietly enjoy.

That aside, I don't wear my excitement on my sleeve until I'm in the thick of things per my nature.

More matches, please.

I wonder how one goes about finding out if people on his cruise wants to roll. It's been a long summer with lots of activity, but not much in terms of the wrestling. I'm starting to cook up some things that may be exciting, but if it weren't for LikeToPin and shawty333, I'd be a lonely wrestling soul this summer (shoutout for Hanky, Opon84, and Nakofi for the spring this year. Mwah.)

Sure, I have Casino Rueda (google it, it's cool) to pass the time, but I'm tryna have these matches.

Aside the cruise, I'll be in Chicago for a few days as well. If you're in those areas and have a few hours free between September 1-3, let me know and let's try to arrange stuff!

Recently, I posted a Match Request as Work announced an impromptu flight to Canada this week.

However, I couldn't get a full confirmation of that plan, I've deleted that post for now until I get full agendas so I know when I can meet with you Canadian fellas.

IF YOU CONTACTED ME

IF YOU DID NOT CONTACT ME

o/

I almost forgot to mention! I went to Italy for vacation in April and let me tell you that it was pure magic.

Pure.
Fucking.
Magic.

But you're not going to want to hear about what I did with those 15K steps per day (on average), so I'll just tell you that I got to meet a few wrestlers along the way.

• Opon84 was a delight as always even when I accidentally broke him (he'll beat me up for that). We stayed up talking until the wee hours of the morning instead.
• Bamm-Bamm was everything I had hoped and then some. We went at it and there's just something about being in a good roll that makes jet lag melt away. I think I was stronger than he expected and that's always fun. I need to do that whole part of my trip again for like a week at least. Maybe I should just move.
• Hanky was really cool and although it was a bit shaky to catch up, it was a lot of fun when we did. There was a lot of laughter and he's a strong guy. I was a bit more intentional in jobbing this go-round, but threw in a couple of moments of "I could turn the tables if I want" in there just for fun.

Honorable mentions to go Johan and eGambler who were awesome hosts and super friendly people. I plan to meet them both again whether in Italy or elsewhere.

This was my first solo international trip, so that was an extra bonus. I absolutely must do more wrestling trips more often. Far more often. Hot damn.