Now that you've gotten an eyeful of that very unflattering flex picture, let's get to the topic of this post.

PREFACE

Enjoy the carnage.

QUESTIONS

• What are your favorite moves (giving or receiving)?
• Describe your favorite match and why it was your favorite?
  • If you don't have a favorite, then talk about what you generally enjoy when wrestling.
• What are your gear preferences, if any?
• Do you keep in contact with people you wrestle with?
• Do you prefer text, talk, Skype, or other (if other, specify please)?
  • ''If phone is preferred, do you mind my calling you? Are there times of the day that work well or do not?
• Do you have any recent pictures from the last two months or so?
  • If your profile pictures are recent, you can skip this one.
• What brought you to the site and have you met anyone here yet?
• What brought you to my profile and why do you want to wrestle me?
• Do you have issue wrestling with the less experienced?

RESULTS SO FAR

So far, since I've started asking all of this, my favorite exchange to date has been with bamm-bamm. Honorable mentions for karamazoff and sczrbill as they have been equally delightful and I look forward to meeting all of these guys and then some.

Last week on Friday, after a few weeks of chatting and planning, I had the delight of meeting this guy. Prior to this meetup for dinner, we had spoken about wrestling and all of the things we enjoy about it. During that convo, I decided that it would be best if we met before wrestling.

Sidebar: I usually prefer this because I like getting to know the people I'm wrestling with and to see if there is potential for being friends in general.

Dinner was a 10-minute drive during which we talked about our lives and jobs and the like. He's a very open person in general and it is a very nice thing. I recommend it. During the meal, we talked about a few things and this is where I point out the details of the things I enjoyed.

1. He was polite and understanding of differences while being clear about his preferences from beer to politics.
2. He had a few things to talk about and regularly took pauses to just listen to my thoughts. I did the same. Oddly enough, this made for amazing conversation. You'd be surprised how often people miss this simple thing.
3. He wasn't afraid to go into topics that were more serious. We needed a 30-minute walk after dinner to talk about even a quarter of what we could have. Why do I write on this blog? Do I have another one? Racism. Religion. Relationships and how wrestling impacts them. We really should have a podcast, PJ.
   1. He actually read some of this blog and asked me about it. Points.

You'll find out whenever I write it down I guess. :)

After a lifetime of drought, I'm happy to announce that I finally got to wrestle this weekend.

THE PREQUEL

It was five and a half hours in the cars. Prior to that, however, there was a fair bit of chat and planning. Approximately three or so months worth with this guy. He goes by Blaze in some circles.

In the time I spoke with him, I also met another guy that goes by the name Shawty. These two know each other, so it soon evolved into a meetup between the three of us. Talking to them was fun, silly, and laced with innuendo.

In short, perfect.

THE DRIVE

After a bit of planning, I setup the hotel and car rental and made the drive Saturday morning (8/29). The first half of the trip was insane as I didn't have a way to play music I could enjoy on the way up. A trip to a gas station amended this problem and I continued on, happy. I finally got into the area and called Shawty to let him know I was in the area. I then called Blaze.

Fayetteville is the kind of place that will make you scream if you don't have eyes like a hawk on every part of the road.

THE MEETING

I picked up Shawty at his home, then made my way to the hotel where we meet up with Blaze. Sarcasm from me, laughter from them. We checked in, moved the beds around and started throwing pillows. We ended up wrestling before changing into proper clothes just being playful. We did this for a few hours while watching LOTR and The Hobbit on TV. We rolled around and tickled each other a bit, but got good gauges for strength, too.

After a bit of that, we were all hungry and went to dinner. We got back to the hotel and changed into gear where we did another 3-4 hours of round robins. Again, playful with a competitive edge. It was fun. I learned a lot and they learned a lot about me in that time.

Shawty was more creative and Blaze was a bit stronger, but there was a good balance and I think I can say I was certainly no slouch in the middle of this. Most of these battles were submission-based so lots of body contact. There was the hint of erotic without being overboard and they were both very respectful in that sense. As you could imagine, this was appreciated.

There were boston crabs. There were slams. There were grapevines. There were nelsons. There was relatively little clothing. There were hobbitses!

Shawty versus Blaze was the last match of the night.

We also took a few pictures.

The following morning, we took Shawty to work and Blaze and I rolled for another hour or two before we had to finally part ways.

AFTERMATH

I have an email with a bunch of photos for me to possibly post here and elsewhere and I think I have two new friends. Shawty was the most nervous about if I wanted a rematch (which, to be clear, I wouldn't mind).

While I drove home, I had to laugh because one person I wanted to wrestle here in Athens was sick. My theory of how wrestling meetups work continues to hold true in amazingly humorous ways.

So, during the time I went to New York from June 26th till July 3rd, I met with a few people and had a lot of fun. Much of it was only semi-planned, but there were a few visits I did plan. Namely, Rick, Nick, Anthony, and Rob.

This entry is about Rob.

For months previous to our meeting, there were several hours - per day - of discussion about what favorite moves were, what our comfort zones were, how we felt about a number of topics on many levels. It was interesting and soon we formed a plan to meet during my visit. The idea would be to meet up for a meal or something and chat, then wrestle or what not if we felt comfortable around each other, and so on. Normal stuff, right?

Here's what happened: when I got there I called and/or texted every morning, every afternoon, and every evening for each day of my visit except the last one. None of these were returned. At all.

I figured that was the end of things; if you don't like someone, a complete halt to communication is one good way to make that point.

Then Monday happened. They called and asked me how things had been. After a while, I brought up the trip and how the communication went. They're response was that they thought I might end up spending the night at their house and felt uncomfortable with that idea. While we had discussed this, I mentioned I'd be with family in the area and had no problem with visiting him during the day or early evening and just crashing with family in the evening.

In short, the issue was not an issue.

I'm conflicted about how to feel, really. I'm 20% "I should try to be forgiving" and 80% "Nah, bruh..." The really annoying thing was the ease with which anything could have been said or sent or messaged like, "Hey, let's do _____." or "I'm free at _____" or anything like that.

In sum: good communication saves lives (and much frustration). Please do that. Also, if you don't talk to someone for nearly a month and a half after failing to meet up with them after making whatever plan for however long, unless you have a really good reason for doing so, you'd probably do well to apologize without excuses and move along.

/rant

I've wrestled a little bit more since my last writing and while doing so, I thought about the idea of apprenticeship.

Namely, trying to collect people that have an interest in shaping the kind of wrestler I become by providing a foundation in terms of skills, etc. I could probably youtube it, but theory only takes you so far. Besides, I learn better when I'm having fun.

I wonder how the wrestling community, like the ones here or elsewhere, address that sort of "need" if/when there is one...

Upon the conclusion of relevant research, I have compiled a list for your review of the steps necessary to meet a wrestler and start a potential friendship.

1. The wrestler must be out of state. Even if you eventually meet them in your state, it must start with the belief that you and this person will have to travel to meet. This is true 99% of the time.
2. If possible, go for the other 1%.
3. Take an interest in this person. You'd be surprised at how fun and exciting people are outside of wrestling. Invite them to a dinner. Have a drink or two or ten.
4. Be persistent. After all, squeaky wheels get the grease eventually. They will eventually run out of things to be busy with and respond. Or not. But hope, right? Right.

Congratulations if you've made it to this point, but the war is far from over, friends. Keep calm, and carry on with these instructions.

1. Respond. When your potential new wrestling victim... erm.... friend... writes back, respond with enthusiasm.
2. Pick a pub. Beer and food are good combinations.
3. Reveal your stalker side. Remember when I mentioned taking an interest in the person? That is serious work. Meet their friends. Meet their lovers. Find them on facebook. Yes, I managed to do all of this. Better yet, I did it accidentally. This will open new avenues of conversation, most of which will start with "How did you even know ____?"
4. Mention your food allergies. This will lead to fun conversation. Very fun. Afterward, you will manage to have an inside joke that would be mortifying to almost anyone.
5. Laugh a lot and often. If you're not laughing with this person, you may not long be friends.
6. Ask questions. You probably know the answer from your extensive studies, but just do it. You might learn something anyway :P
7. Ask about the whole wrestling thing. Likes, dislikes, experiences. Find out what you can and share what you can. By this point, you've been talking for hours, so more talking can't hurt. Bonus points for segue and pondering about people you know in common.

Congrats. You should have a new friend and a potential appointment for ultimate destruction.... erm... wrestling in the near future.

After visiting the Staten Island crew, I headed to catch a late train, ferry, and two buses to New Hampshire where I got to meet up with Rick from global.

This was to be the first match I had and a test of what I may or may not have learned between youtubing and laughing way too much and so many inside jokes (hiyah! hiiiiyah!).

After arriving in the evening, I talked with Rick and got a tour of the house. We ended the night with ice cream and the Kingsmen movie which was great. I slept and woke up the next day for a bit of breakfast. After I took time to write a few thoughts, it was mat time. Rick and I headed down the mat and he walked me through how to start collegiate style. I saw the wrestling shoes he wore and wanted to try on a pair. He had a spare, so he let me borrow them. These shoes are national treasures. They just feel comfortable. I need like three pair.

After showing me what the top and bottom positions were, we rolled for a bit where I learned:

1. I do better when I start from the bottom position, but the top works just as well (I'll be watching comments for jokes on this, so don't disappoint me).
2. I do really well defending on instinct.
3. I handle people above my size better than I thought, but size can make certain things very challenging.

To be fair to Rick, he was at about 10% capacity, but considering he outweighed me by about 130 lbs. and had years worth of experience, the handicap made things about even: he did manage to get in two cradles and a headlock for a submission, after all.

We watched another movie (Looper), then I made dinner. After that, we had a more light-hearted set of skirmishes and I won those, so I took a shower and we wrapped up the night. I even managed to get a pair of wrestling boots out of the affair like these:

Allow me to say I'm excited about this.

The next morning, I got on a bus back to New York where I am now hanging out with my grandparents and loving every minute. From there, who knows what other wrestling things will happen!

As I imagined, some people are not able to meet up in spite of their wishing very much to be able to and that is fine as I have backup plans for my backup plans. I'll be in the city today. Maybe I'll get to have a bit of fun yet before my vacation takes me back to GA to relax and reflect.

Happy Lion is happy. RAWRRRR >:3

Enjoy the humor inherent in the title.

That said, my flight to NY was without incident. After taking a series of buses and trains, I then needed to take an additional ferry to Staten Island where I had the pleasure of meeting Nick, Ky, Anthony, and John.

Initially, I was nervous about wrestling with other people as Nick had the normal crew at the house, but, after a lot of talking and laughter, I got over that real quick. I changed and got into a singlet and from there we talked through tactics, watched videos, and I learned a few things to include a proper armbar. Nick was hilarious and focused and patient which is all very good for the way I learn. As we went to dinner a bit later, Anthony poked fun at my being a bit distracted while learning techniques. If he reads this, I hope he reads the next entry because I got to apply what I learned the next day to great effect.

Nick did one of the best things for me in terms of wrestling with me which was just to attack me and have me defend myself. It's one of those simple ways to instantly break me out of my shell and test what I know. He's really good and seeing how people learn things and just adapting in that way. Anthony was a constantly stream of hilarity and giggles. John was a ball of energy and I hope to wrestle him one day. My sighting of Ky was scant, but I hope to wrestle with him one day, too.

They're all just fantastic people and I'm glad I met them.

I wasn't sure if I deserved to write a past opponent thing about these guys as this was more educational than not, but Nick kind of just answered that whole thing for me.

Lovely times. ^_~*

The happy lion is happy.

So I'm shaving, showering, and heading out of the door in mere hours to be in New York for a whole week. Needless to say, I'm rather excited about the change of pace and, of course, to see all of you.

I want to try to get to know some of you while I'm out there, but considering how meetups work, I've come up with a number of contingency activities for fun. That said, I am leaving plenty of time open every day for impromptu meetups.

If you want to meet up and say hi while I'm in the area, hit me up. Otherwise, see you on the other side of the flight!

It's been a while since the last time I was here, so I thought I'd pop in with some stuff.

OBSERVATIONS

1. Local wrestling is nearly impossible for the first few years. I have many thoughts on why, but nevermind that for now. Seriously, I've wrestled 4 people (love you, guys) since being a member here. 2 of them were from out-of-state and all of them weren't in my city.
2. I've had more success in coordinating matches with people out of my state as a result of the previous point.
3. Meetups require a ton of planning. A ton.
4. I don't think there is a specific definition for speedo. I thought this was a brand, but it seems to be a clothing item apart from that.
5. Most people that I talk to find themselves at a loss when I step outside of wrestling. That said, I enjoy the carnage. The fact is, I plan on making friends with the people I wrestle with. That is always the intent. Out of the people I wrestle with, there has been one I don't keep up with.

GEAR

OTHER

Also, I want to be more involved in the creative side of the wrestling community. Hopefully, I'll be able to channel that with my web design skills somehow.

Finally, I have accounts in a few places now:

• Globalfight
• Realgng
• Bearhugger.net
• Here (well, duh)

Of these places, this seems to be the place that I will probably call home for like ever. Each of these other places have their strengths, but in terms of actually communicating with people, this place is better than most. I can elaborate, but let's just say I like it here more than anywhere right now.

Now let me work on some mockups and all that and see if I can make something good from here.