There I was on the mat facing off with the All-Conference, All-State 145 pound High School Wrestling Champion. At the time I was a 17 year old, 147 pound bean pole. I had a total of four wrestling matches under my belt. I had been on the wrestling team for 3 weeks, and I had won 3 out of the 4 matches I'd had thus far. This 5th match against the all state champion was a huge jump up in the level of competition though. The champ stood about 5 feet nothing, with bulging muscles that looked like twisted steel. I wasn't scared even though he looked like he weighed way more than 145 pounds. I was going to show this baby hulk the two moves I'd perfected over the last couple of weeks. I remember he lifted me off my feet in a bear hug so tight it took my breath away. Then in one smooth motion he threw me behind him with both of us landing on the top of my head! As I watched the gym lights on the ceiling spin around in a circle, I was counted out before I even new what was happening. Then the referee asked me the question you never want to hear when you are in a fight. "Are you okay," the ref asked. You know your not doing so well whenever the ref asks you that question. "Sure," I said. The champ pinned me two more times in a matter of seconds each round. That was pretty much the end of my wrestling career right there. 

This long forgotten memory came back to me in the gym this morning like it had just happened yesterday. The gym was closing shortly after lunch for the holiday, so it was packed with more folks earlier than usual. One of the guys there reminded me of the wrestling champ that whopped my butt all those years ago. He had on an Elevation Training Mask and was doing muscle ups on the chin-up bar when I walked in. After that he started doing box jumps with the tallest box in the gym. I was quite impressed. He was training like he had an upcoming fight. You know, I wonder were that old wrestling champ is now. I want a re-match.

Daily Grind Monday December 31, 2012

Warm-up

--Standing Drills #2

--Ropa Dope 10 Spot

--Indian Clubs 10 Spot

Superset

--Incline Barbell Bench Press 135 pounds 10 sets of 10 reps

--Seated Cable Row 120 pounds 10 sets of 10 reps

Tai Chi 10 Spot 

Spin Bike for 30 minutes