Showing posts with label Competitor. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Competitor. Show all posts

Thursday, September 29, 2022

Rippers & Hookers


Sounds like a bad serial killer novel involving the world's oldest profession doesn't it? The funny thing is, it's far from what you might actually think. Back in the day, wrestlers who were known to literally break and tear people apart were called Hookers where they would hook or put an opponent in a dangerous hold where they could if given the chance cripple the guy and be one feared motherfucker. You would not want to get on the bad side of these guys.

These days, nobody would use the term hooker to describe a wrestler, now the word ripper is another story. Like the Hookers of yesteryear, a ripper can be used to describe a wrestler or grappler who could handle himself and tear limbs, tendons or ligaments. Some of the most feared wrestlers of the day were guys like Farmer Burns, George Tragos, Ad Santel, Tom Jenkins and even the legendary Robert Fredrick aka Ed "Strangler" Lewis. These days, the last of the Hookers or Rippers of the old school were men like Karl Gotch & Billy Robinson


The men I mentioned above were specialists in knowing the dark side to physical anatomy and could make you tap before you really had a chance to take a breath. These were WRESTLERS and had levels of stamina and mind that they were considered inexhaustible geniuses of their time. Catch Wrestling has it's roots mainly in England for the last 150 years but long before that, you had other cultures that would showcase styles of wrestling that were brought to other countries and became a molded sculpture in today's world. The old timers are long gone and quite a bit of their style of Catch has been left in the dust. 

Now in today's world, Catch Wrestling isn't as big as it used to be and other arts such as Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, Kickboxing and Amateur Wrestling dominated the landscape in how we see today's MMA. If BJJ is considered the "gentle" art, Catch is considered the violent aspect according to Former MMA champ and current Catch Teacher Josh Barnett. There are competitions purely on Catch and has taken extremely small steps to becoming a larger form of fighting since the early 1900's. You can arguably say the last known competitor in the art was Billy Robinson. The man would be considered the Einstein or Steven Hawking of Catch Wrestling. 

Although the hookers and the rippers don't have that fear factor today, you can still learn some form of that old school style with a small group of fighters, teachers and students of the old art. It's used more of a competition but can it be used in the streets? Afterall, street fights are very unpredictable and sometimes what you may think you know could get you killed or be sent to the hospital but if you were able to not necessarily make a shmuck tap but to save your life using techniques that won't kill the man but put a damper on the limbs he uses would it be worth it? Would it be worth it to save a loved one, defend yourself against attackers or send a message telling them not to fuck with you (in the sense of not upping up somebody like a douchebag but making sure you're not some weak punk). 

Now if you're in law enforcement, would certain techniques help restraining a suspect or defending a fellow officer? Catch can be used in many ways and possibly lifesaving if it came down to it. There are people out there who may understand Catch but wouldn't know how to use it, others have incredible knowledge and have great success, it just depends on whom you learn it from. There isn't a one-way of learning this art and everybody who teaches it especially today can be a gamble as opposed to back in the day where you could go just about anywhere and learn from the masters. All in all, whether a competitor or someone going down on the wrong side of town, Catch can be beneficial.   




 

Monday, September 16, 2013

Is Everything A Competition???

           Many of us have that competitive spirit, the will to not give up until we have accomplished a goal or try to beat another person or group of people. Why do we become so competitive that it overshadows our way of being a good sport? I’m not saying competition can’t be positive, it is but to a degree. We compete to be the very best over something else (mainly sports) and beat our rival or over run a team.

            You don’t always see the smallest sides to competition and most of the time they don’t always matter at all but on the other hand, competing against something else that truly matters and not always competing just for the sake of competing. We all find something that we want to beat or just make a note of it whether it’s in business, sports, culture, exercise or whatever and we want to find that edge that trample over what we have to overcome.

            In m opinion, you can find fun in competition. It’s not always trying to over rule your opposing man and finding a way to hurt them whether physically or mentally that’s not fun at all. I understand that it sucks when you lose but also it’s not always pleasant being a winner. Learn to value that you fought through it and still came out alive. I get it that there are certain things at stake but you made those odds or you got caught in the cross fires and now have to deal with certain modalities. Having fun with certain forms of competition can give you a sense of no matter what the outcome you’ll either learn a valuable lesson or you use strategy on how to be better and not so much bitch about it and make it the end of the world.

            When it comes down to it, there’s one competitor that you have to deal with no matter where you go, who you’re with or whatever happens in your life from the time you’re born to the day you die, it’s YOU!!! That very same person you look at in the mirror is your ultimate competition and how you handle it is up to you. You cannot compete with anyone else because everyone else is temporary but you’re still there.

            I know what it’s like to fight myself and beat myself up in my own mind and there’s no such thing as a perfect record. To this day, yes I have issues but I’m not going to let that part of me take over what I truly want in my life because if you let your personal issues, demons whatever you want to call them get in the way of what you desire and what you want to accomplish, than you haven’t learned how to face them and make them your personal bitch. We all have issues and problems no matter what but that doesn't define us unless we choose to make it.


            Learn to love who you are, have fun with what you have, become what you desire and giving you a reason to keep living with vigor, vitality and great health. You are more than you ever think you can be and there’s no reason why you can’t be truly happy and climb that ladder of success because you have the power to do so. Be strong, be happy and use that competitive spirit to overcome the very things that try to tackle you down. 

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