Many of us are generally aware of the sport of wrestling, however very few people truly know what it means to be a wrestler and the lessons you will learn from wrestling. Attacking your opponent in a violent clash of strength, technique and creativity is only one side of wrestling, today we will dive into and learn about the often overlooked sides of the sport.
Wrestling teaches you so many life lessons that will impact you for the rest of your life. Even though these lessons are often hard to learn, they are necessary to be successful in every aspect of life. Mr Gust, the head coach of the SPASH wrestling team had this to say when asked “What are lessons and skills you can take away from wrestling that you can’t find elsewhere or in other sports?”: “Because wrestling is so individual it teaches you to be responsible for yourself and teaches you the importance of preparation, every loss you have to take you have to entirely own it unlike team sports, it’s all on you in wrestling”. This highlights the harsh reality that wrestling is and how big of a spotlight is on you. Throughout your life especially in your early years you almost always have a helping hand whether it’s a teacher walking you through an assignment, a friend helping with a group project or a parent helping you cook food. Wrestling gives young athletes their first look at what it’s like to be alone and to fight for themselves. This gives wrestlers an advantage in life because they understand what it means to truly be alone in a mental and physical aspect, even though we may have coaches in our corner it’s just you out on that mat.
Wrestling improves your skills and abilities not only on the mat but in your everyday life as well . According to Andy Weller, a varsity wrestler at SPASH, “My work ethic, school and work seems so much easier now because of wrestling and I now see the point of putting hard work in every aspect of my life. I now see the importance of putting time into things”. This shows how the skills learned in wrestling and even just wrestling in general carries over to every aspect of life. Even for a busy teenager still trying to figure life out, this allows a path for people to see these skills applied in real life because everyone either goes to school or works or even both and hearing that these things can be made easier would peak anyone’s interest. As well make them wonder what they can do to improve these skills within themselves. Not only will these skills impact you as a young athlete but they will stay with you in every aspect and circumstance you come across for the rest of your life whether it’s school, work, dealing with financial problems or even just the everyday challenges that we as humans face, these skills will be embedded within you and at your disposal forever.
According to author and former Olympic wrestler Danny Zhu “Likewise, in life, most people are so crushed by their burdens, their heartbreaks, their struggles, their existing circumstances, and their fears that they freeze up and seemingly put their lives on hold. They don’t aggressively pursue things because they think that they are in an inferior position to do so”. This is something that feels almost too relatable to most of us, so many times in life you feel like you’re on top of the world and then “boom” tragedy strikes. Whether that’s as big as losing a loved one or as “small” as failing your math test that you felt so good about. We get in these situations and think there’s nothing we can do, we say things like “I studied so hard and still failed, it doesn’t matter what I do I’m just going to fail” or “My grandpa died he was the only one who believed in me” and we give up. Wrestling teaches you to never give up even when you feel like you’re on the bottom. You might be winning the match by 8 points and in the blink of an eye you drop your guard and are on your back being pinned. Moments like these in wrestling prepare us and teach us that even when we lose or fail or find ourselves on the ground with seemingly nowhere to go, we can always fight and giving up is never an option. Next thing you know you flipped your opponent to their back and pinned them or studied even harder and aced your math test. This truly once again shows how wrestling teaches you countless skills that carry over into your everyday life and that by having these skills you are much stronger as a person and are prepared for almost anything.
This truly shows how life changing wrestling is. These facts are easily relatable to anyone and everyone who might be reading my article and highlight essential lessons that people need to learn and how wrestling is the way to do it. I myself have learned many skills and lessons from wrestling. I’ve learned how hard work and dedication pay off, why never giving up on yourself is important and most of all, how to be confident in myself and rely on myself when challenges arise. I challenge you to find something that will push you to be your best self everyday like wrestling does and see for yourself how life changing it will be.
