Recommended Readings
Break Your Opponent
(Article 2 of 3)
By Steve Fraser
November 15, 2011
In my previous WIN column (October - 2011 issue) I began a three part series about the concept of “breaking your opponent.” I identified some signs of “breaking” that you can look for; and I listed the first three of twelve ways to break your opponent in practice.
Listed here in this column are the next seven tactics to break your opponent (4 – 10):
4 When you take him down you turn him right away (no stopping to let him up). When you take him down you always go immediately into a turning attempt. Most wrestlers will pause or relax after they get taken down. This is not only a chance to break him but it is a great time to score! If there is no action on the mat after you have taken him down, you don’t just let him up; you…
5 …Gently or forcibly push him up from behind - and as he stands up, you spin him around, getting right back in his face. OR…
…If you go to push him up and he doesn’t stand up (he stays down in the referees position), you circle out to the front and just push down on his head with one of your hands, then with the other hand. You continue to push his head down - two, three, four, five, six times alternating hands until he gets the picture that you will not just let up on him. AND…
…If he still does not come up - then you pull him back up to his feet by cupping your hand under his chin and pulling him up. Now, you may just snap him right back down to the mat, going behind for another takedown; or you keep him up on his feet getting right back in his face; pushing, pulling and pummeling him again.
6 If he takes you down and stops wrestling, you continue to wrestle, jumping at the chance to reverse him or take him down when he pauses or turns his back to you. The idea is that you continue to wrestle in all situations.
7 If you ever get put on your back, you always fight off no matter what – you never stop wrestling! If he stops wrestling to let you up – you come up full force, immediately attacking him. Have the attitude “How dare you just let me off my back. You just robbed me of the chance to improve on how to get off my back.”
8 If you turn him to his back and he stops wrestling… you don’t! You should always try and pin him. Then, after pinning him, you hold him for a time (snug) telling him “come on, keep fighting!” Then when he continues to struggle, you loosen your hold - a great deal - allowing for him to fight off his back. You can then immediately turn him again with either the same hold or a different one. As long as you are turning him and continuing to score, you keep him down. When and if you get tired of turning him, you can repeat tactic #5.
9 When you go out of bounds, you continue to wrestle for two seconds after you hear the whistle. One, this will always leave an impression in the officials mind that you are more aggressive. Two, whenever your opponent stops wrestling and you don’t, it will break him a bit more.
10. When your practice partner stops in the middle of your practice to tie his shoe, adjust his shorts, or fix his t-shirt…you continue to wrestle in his face. If you are kind enough to let him actually do one of these things (IE; tie his shoe) then at a minimum you hover over him, just inches away from his body, eagerly anticipating continued engagement. The moment he finishes tying, adjusting or fixing, you immediately engage again in the battle.
The main point is you become like fly paper on him. Always in his face, always attacking, always pulling him up, pushing him down, or spinning him around. He should feel like you are in his face or on him constantly. No pauses, no breaks, no rests.
Mark Churella, three-time NCAA Champion from the University of Michigan, was the first wrestler to introduce this wrestling attitude to me. As teammates at the University of Michigan, Mark and I trained together daily. For me it was “learn this intense style of wrestling or be gobbled up by this tenacious champion”.
Three-time Olympian Dan Chandler from Minnesota was another example of a great wrestler who mastered the art of breaking his opponents. “Breaking your opponent has been the cause of some of the biggest upsets in the sport of wrestling, including Rulon Gardner’s monumental upset over Alexandre Karelin at the 2000 Sydney Olympics,” said Dan.
Matt Lindland won the Olympic and World Silver medals breaking his opponents will to fight. Wrestling heroes Dan Gable, Terry & Tom Brands and John Smith to name a few all master the skills of breaking their opponents.
Look in the next issue of WIN magazine for the remaining two tactics and summary for breaking your opponent.
(Article 2 of 3)
By Steve Fraser
November 15, 2011
In my previous WIN column (October - 2011 issue) I began a three part series about the concept of “breaking your opponent.” I identified some signs of “breaking” that you can look for; and I listed the first three of twelve ways to break your opponent in practice.
Listed here in this column are the next seven tactics to break your opponent (4 – 10):
4 When you take him down you turn him right away (no stopping to let him up). When you take him down you always go immediately into a turning attempt. Most wrestlers will pause or relax after they get taken down. This is not only a chance to break him but it is a great time to score! If there is no action on the mat after you have taken him down, you don’t just let him up; you…
5 …Gently or forcibly push him up from behind - and as he stands up, you spin him around, getting right back in his face. OR…
…If you go to push him up and he doesn’t stand up (he stays down in the referees position), you circle out to the front and just push down on his head with one of your hands, then with the other hand. You continue to push his head down - two, three, four, five, six times alternating hands until he gets the picture that you will not just let up on him. AND…
…If he still does not come up - then you pull him back up to his feet by cupping your hand under his chin and pulling him up. Now, you may just snap him right back down to the mat, going behind for another takedown; or you keep him up on his feet getting right back in his face; pushing, pulling and pummeling him again.
6 If he takes you down and stops wrestling, you continue to wrestle, jumping at the chance to reverse him or take him down when he pauses or turns his back to you. The idea is that you continue to wrestle in all situations.
7 If you ever get put on your back, you always fight off no matter what – you never stop wrestling! If he stops wrestling to let you up – you come up full force, immediately attacking him. Have the attitude “How dare you just let me off my back. You just robbed me of the chance to improve on how to get off my back.”
8 If you turn him to his back and he stops wrestling… you don’t! You should always try and pin him. Then, after pinning him, you hold him for a time (snug) telling him “come on, keep fighting!” Then when he continues to struggle, you loosen your hold - a great deal - allowing for him to fight off his back. You can then immediately turn him again with either the same hold or a different one. As long as you are turning him and continuing to score, you keep him down. When and if you get tired of turning him, you can repeat tactic #5.
9 When you go out of bounds, you continue to wrestle for two seconds after you hear the whistle. One, this will always leave an impression in the officials mind that you are more aggressive. Two, whenever your opponent stops wrestling and you don’t, it will break him a bit more.
10. When your practice partner stops in the middle of your practice to tie his shoe, adjust his shorts, or fix his t-shirt…you continue to wrestle in his face. If you are kind enough to let him actually do one of these things (IE; tie his shoe) then at a minimum you hover over him, just inches away from his body, eagerly anticipating continued engagement. The moment he finishes tying, adjusting or fixing, you immediately engage again in the battle.
The main point is you become like fly paper on him. Always in his face, always attacking, always pulling him up, pushing him down, or spinning him around. He should feel like you are in his face or on him constantly. No pauses, no breaks, no rests.
Mark Churella, three-time NCAA Champion from the University of Michigan, was the first wrestler to introduce this wrestling attitude to me. As teammates at the University of Michigan, Mark and I trained together daily. For me it was “learn this intense style of wrestling or be gobbled up by this tenacious champion”.
Three-time Olympian Dan Chandler from Minnesota was another example of a great wrestler who mastered the art of breaking his opponents. “Breaking your opponent has been the cause of some of the biggest upsets in the sport of wrestling, including Rulon Gardner’s monumental upset over Alexandre Karelin at the 2000 Sydney Olympics,” said Dan.
Matt Lindland won the Olympic and World Silver medals breaking his opponents will to fight. Wrestling heroes Dan Gable, Terry & Tom Brands and John Smith to name a few all master the skills of breaking their opponents.
Look in the next issue of WIN magazine for the remaining two tactics and summary for breaking your opponent.
