en-us Copyright 2006-2009 Flocasts Inc Fri, 20 Nov 2009 16:14:29 -0500 http://www.flowrestling.org/assets/portal/simple30/images/logos/flowrestling-logo.gif http://www.flowrestling.org/blogs/blogger/Jimharshaw/9322-top-10-excuses I'm a wrestler. I competed successfully from six years old through college with some international experience. I coach. I've coached at the high school and D1 levels. I have the wrestling mentality. "No excuses." However, for some reason there is a pervasive segment of the wrestling community that is missing the "no excuses" mentality when it comes to the success of our sport. I'm frustrated by the answers I get when I hear wrestling people talk about why wrestling isn't more popular, is being dropped, isn't on tv more, doesn't have more participants, doesn't get more media coverage, doesn't have more attendance, doens't get more administrative support. They talk as if there is some inherent flaw in our sport that holds us back. They no longer hold themselves accountable as our great sport has taught us. WE are the reason why. I am the reason why. And we hold the keys to changing all of that. I have set out to make a difference. So have a select few others- including the clients of Riot Sports Marketing. You can too. Top 10 Excuses Invalidated 10. "Wrestling is too hard to understand" Try explaining football to my wife! 9. "Wrestler's get burned out since so many do it year round" Every youth sport has this issue! You can play baseball, soccer and most other sports year-round too. 8. "Wrestling is not a 'ball' sport" Neither are NASCAR, MMA or boxing! 7 "Wrestling is not exciting enough." And golf is? Don't use the NCAA finals as example- look at the Superbowl- quite often the most boring game of the season. 6 "Wrestling is not a team sport." Yes it is. Regardless, NASCAR, MMA, boxing are not team sports but have huge followings with lots of media coverage. 5 "Wrestling isn't lifelong activity like tennis, golf and other sports." Neither are football, NASCAR or MMA 4. "The media doesn't care about wrestling at my school." Have you tried? Do you send them "newsworthy" info not just a tourney promotion? Do you make it easy for them to follow your team? Your individuals? 3. "No one cares for wrestling because the same team wins every year." What about the NBA-Bulls, NFL-Steelers, MLB-Yankees. 2. "Wrestling isn't fan/tv friendly." Wrestling has a commercial/bathroom break after every match. Dual meets are 2 hours long. Perfect for tv. 1. "I just don't have time to market and promote my program." No longer an excuse. Riot Sports Marketing is the solution. Become part of the solution. Riot Sports Marketing photo credit: iirraa Jimharshaw http://www.flowrestling.org/blogs/blogger/Jimharshaw/9322-top-10-excuses Mon, 16 Nov 2009 13:40:00 -0500 http://www.flowrestling.org/blogs/blogger/Tambot/9300-what-if-you-were-gable I ask myself that sometimes. What if I were Gable? What if I came into a program that was failing by my standards? What if it was up to me to create a system better than any other system? I have no precedent. I don't know exactly where to go or what to do. I don't know who to go to, who I can count on. All the people I count on may have their own failures but they may have something they are very good at. Would I know what to take and leave the rest? Would the culture of where ever I am stop my system from succeeding? Could I build enough support to change the failing system in place? Would anyone follow me or would they say "great idea, not for me"? Is there any way to keep the system alive when I am gone? Maybe Gable just got lucky with Iowa at the time being the perfect place for wrestling. Or maybe Iowa got lucky with Gable. Either way a system was put in place that equated Iowa with wrestling not just in the United States but throughout the world. Just like I know that Dagestan is the place to be for wrestling in Russia or Mazandaran is the place to go in Iran, the rest of the world knew that Iowa was the place to be for wrestling in the US. Is the system in place failing or succeeding right now? what is our measure of it? Celebrity? Being in the mainstream? The fact that a wrestler can't survive on wrestling alone? Programs that don't reach an audience beyond themselves? Is it the medal count? The number of weight classes? Are we competing with Ultimate fighting for a market? I do not know. But I do know that if you choose to take part in a system you have to ask yourself that question. What if I were Dan Gable? Can you look at the system and see a better one to put in place? If you choose to take part in a failing system, their failings will soon be yours. But if you can see the failure, then even from the humblest position you have the opportunity to create change. Tambot http://www.flowrestling.org/blogs/blogger/Tambot/9300-what-if-you-were-gable Sun, 15 Nov 2009 10:39:00 -0500 http://www.flowrestling.org/blogs/blogger/Jimharshaw/9225-how-your-wrestling-mentality-holds-you-back Wrestling makes us mentally strong and independent. When our coach asks us to run through a wall we simply ask "Head first or shoulder first?" However, we tend to believe that we don't need any help when it comes to running our program. We can do it all ourselves. We did it as competitors and we'll do it as coaches- or CEO's- of our program. I can do it all. I NEED to do it all.If you think of your program as a business executive thinks of his business then you will see that you shouldn't do it all. You probably have a to-do list a mile long and only get 60% of it done if you're lucky. THAT IS WHAT'S HOLDING YOU BACK. Where is your time best spent? What tasks can only you do? What tasks should only you do? Running practices? Then spend your time developing the best practices possible!Planning the season? Then develop a season plan and make sure your program is adhering to it on a daily, weekly and monthly basis.Administrating? Then fill out the forms your admin wants in a timely manner!Fund Raising? Then plan and implement it flawlessly.Marketing? Then build a marketing plan, consult an expert and make a difference!Recruiting? Then think about the best ways to do it, plan it out and get after it in a big way!Is there a better way? Can someone else do some of these tasks? Sure, they may not do it as good as you do- in fact they won't do it as well as you do. Accept that and move on. The fact is that your program will be better off with you doing the tasks that YOU have to do. I hear the excuse already... you don't have anyone to help. If you don't have an assistant then what about a manager, an intern, a teacher whose class needs a project, an alumnus, a booster, your wife, your kids, the annoying local die-hard wrestling fan that has been asking how he can help. It's only an obstacle and you're a wrestler- figure it out.Or you can stay where you are, continue working hard instead of smart and operate at 60% capacity. Jimharshaw http://www.flowrestling.org/blogs/blogger/Jimharshaw/9225-how-your-wrestling-mentality-holds-you-back Wed, 11 Nov 2009 14:15:00 -0500 http://www.flowrestling.org/blogs/blogger/Mister74kilo/9113-message-94-keep-believing-in-your-miracle Don't quit the moment before your miracle... your breakthrough... your SUCCESS!If you keep believing your breakthrough will come. Your success will come.One way to keep your dream alive is to constantly visualize your success. Role play it in your mind. Then step out of your mind and role play your future success by acting it out.Really act it out. As a young wrestler I used to make an award stand in my bed room and role play getting up on the #1 spot after hearing the my name announced as the champion. Sounds corny but this stuff works.Another way is to make a feature film of your success in your mind and create a "highlight" trailer and play it constantly in your mind. www.LeeKemp.com Mister74kilo http://www.flowrestling.org/blogs/blogger/Mister74kilo/9113-message-94-keep-believing-in-your-miracle Thu, 05 Nov 2009 14:15:00 -0500 http://www.flowrestling.org/blogs/blogger/Mister74kilo/8902-message-93-are-you-holding-back The next question is WHAT are you holding back? For example; energy, effort and love, ect. We all hold something back. Holding back is the key reason we have Mediocre performances and experiences. Giving all you've got is the Key to Exceptional performance and experiences. Do you want to be EXCEPTIONAL ... or ... average? Just by waking up in the morning...You've Made it to the "Average" Club. What you do after that makes all the difference. Holding back is why people sometimes fail. When you hold back you never fully know what may have happened if you went "all out". Have you ever seen a person Passionate about something 'holding back"? Great Desire and Intentions are wonderful things to have... but ... Great Effort is more important. This is the classic "thinking about doing something versus actually doing it". "Remember Doing Something and Thinking about Doing Something Yields Entirely Different Results." The reason why some people don't "go all out" and give (what ever it is) all they've got is because they have a belief that what ever it is they are giving; energy, effort, love etc., is LIMITED and needs to be conserved and rationed, for fear it is going to run out (kind of like time in a day). By having this belief we gauge, on a case by case basis, how much we're going to give to something. Another reason for not going "all out" is Fear of Faliure. I'll address that in a later blog entry. IF WE GUESS WRONG BY GIVING "TOO LITTLE" .... often times WE FAIL at what ever it is we're doing! This scenario is especially bad because if fosters failure and mediocrity, and if we succeed it's just as bad because if fosters an attitude of low output EXPECTING good results. Strangely enough... WHAT DRAINS US OF OUR; ENERGY, EFFORT, LOVE (what ever) is the act of holding it back... not giving it 100%. WATCH THIS.... The more you hold back, or conserve something i.e., your ENERGY, EFFORT, LOVE (what ever), the more NARROW the channels through which "it" can flow WHEN YOU REALLY NEED IT or WANT IT! If you give it all at 100% the channel opens and flows freely. Example; if you hold back physical effort in athletic practices... the more difficult it is to give it (and express it) when you need it - to have the desired performance outcome. Another EXAMPLE; the more you hold back love... the more difficult it is to give it (and express it) when you need to. This applies to everything. Think about it... People that freely and fully give 100% of their Effort towards something seem to have an unending supply of it... and are usually successful at what ever they're doing. YOU DECIDE WHAT YOU WANT AND THEN GIVE IT EVERYTHING YOU'VE GOT...EVERY DAY! www.LeeKemp.com Mister74kilo http://www.flowrestling.org/blogs/blogger/Mister74kilo/8902-message-93-are-you-holding-back Thu, 22 Oct 2009 11:56:00 -0500 http://www.flowrestling.org/blogs/blogger/Jimharshaw/8867-why-not-us <!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> Normal 0 false false false MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if !mso]><object classid="clsid:38481807-CA0E-42D2-BF39-B33AF135CC4D" id=ieooui> </object> <style> st1:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } </style> Jimharshaw http://www.flowrestling.org/blogs/blogger/Jimharshaw/8867-why-not-us Mon, 19 Oct 2009 14:23:00 -0500 http://www.flowrestling.org/blogs/blogger/Tambot/8781-when-success-is-convenient It happens. A while back Mitch Hull was telling me a father called in and wanted to know what he could do so his kids would be Olympic champions. His children were 3 and 5, and Mitch described how ridiculous the question was. And I agreed, it is completely ridiculous. But I’ve also been to little kids tournaments and I understand how serious some parents take it. Chances are those two kids are going to get some serious beatings unless they get good. So I’m going to tell you the secret to success. Someone on Flo said that I was the only one who knows the secret to success. I got called out for hiding it. So I will tell. There are a ton of books out about success. Malcolm Gladwell almost got it right in outliers. However, he beats around the bush so much you’d wonder if he really knows the answer. Convenience. If success is convenient, it will happen. Most great cities are located near water. It is much more convenient to support more people. Agriculture made surviving a lot more convenient. The printing press made selling books more convenient. And cars make traveling more convenient. The internet has made the transfer of information much more convenient. This is the success of whole industries. The most important factor for the individual is still convenience. I always tell people school is a waste of time. Going to Northwestern just happened to be convenient. I got accepted. I didn’t work incredibly hard in high school or grade school. Most of the time I didn’t even do my homework until five minutes before class. But I was always surrounded by smart people; it made it easy to learn. I grew up in the right area of Illinois for wrestling. I went to a school in one of the best high school conferences in the nation. I had world class coaches and the best competition. And then I went to a college that had a lot of great wrestlers at my weight with more great coaches. The world around me made the real difference. Talent, hard work, and dedication just separated me from a very few other guys with the same opportunity. (and most of them had roughly the same success) By convenient, I mean without difficulties, not necessarily easy. I wake up in the morning and I have to walk two minutes to practice. I don’t have to search everywhere for someone to wrestle. And they are the best wrestlers and coaches at my fingertips. It’s all there. My only requirement is to do what I need to do. Simple. Money makes things everything more convenient. This is the true measure of money being equated to success. It is much easier to succeed at whatever you want when you have money. Punishment and reward is a failing system. People rarely measure the outcomes of their actions since we often see things turn out in a way we didn’t expect them to. Outside of the direct consequence of feeling guilty or proud, or the immediate emotions before we do something, we will make our decisions based on what is convenient. The first person to smile at us is the person we befriend. If that friend does drugs, we’ll do drugs. If that person is intelligent, we’ll learn. If you recognize what you want, you can make success more convenient. But it requires you to inconvenience yourself. That is the American dream, not hard work and rugged individualism. A bunch of immigrants inconvenience themselves by moving across an ocean where they don’t speak the language. In our country it’s a lot more convenient to succeed financially then in Uzbekistan. So my advice is just please don't beat your kids. Move to the right part of the country with the right coaches and wrestling partners, preferably have twins and then leave the rest up to the big doG. Tambot http://www.flowrestling.org/blogs/blogger/Tambot/8781-when-success-is-convenient Fri, 09 Oct 2009 19:20:00 -0500 http://www.flowrestling.org/blogs/blogger/Jimharshaw/8677-whats-missing As coaches we tell our athletes that the journey to success is a process that involves many things. For wrestlers it may mean proper diet, live wrestling, film study, flexibility, strength & conditioning, proper rest... etc. We know deep down that this is the same with any endeavor. So, coach, let's apply this thinking to program development. What can you do to develop your program? Off-season training, fundraising, film study with athletes, expose athletes to sport psychology, alumni development, hire more staff, event promotion... I can go on. To do all of these you need money and support. To get money and support you need a marketing plan. Marketing leads to more fans which leads to more respect from your administration which will give you more administrative support (financially and otherwise). Marketing leads to more alumi involvement which leads to more money (bring them into the fold then ask for money). Marketing leads to greater media coverage which leads to more participants and more attendance and more community involvement. Marketing leads to more exitement around your program which leads to a stronger fan-base which gives you more money and more respect from the administration which in turn gives you more support. Marketing can help our sport more than any other single action that we can take. Ok... so you're sold on marketing. Where do you start? Get a Facebook Page for your program. Send a press release to your local media about the "big story" in your program this year (yes, there is a big story... figure it out). Create an annual giving campaign. Do something. Anything. But be persistent. (see Program Development: The Systems Approach)   Jimharshaw http://www.flowrestling.org/blogs/blogger/Jimharshaw/8677-whats-missing Sun, 27 Sep 2009 19:19:00 -0500 http://www.flowrestling.org/blogs/blogger/Discman/8644-freestyle-ends-and-the-women-are-rolling Well, the freestyle guys finished up yesterday as 74 kilos was the last weight to wrestle. We ended up bringing home a silver and a bronze thanks to a gutsy performance by Jake Herbert and a tough and technical Tervel Dlagnev. It is so intense watching these guys wrestle. They have poured their lives into this and, for some, it was over after just one match. I have been lucky enough to see what these guys go through on a daily basis (I hope that you have too through the interviews and videos), and it makes it so hard to see one of our athletes be done after four minutes, sick to my stomach even. I believe that there is a positive future with the guys that competed and many other prospects from the United States. Last night my dad and I got to go to a get together with all the freestyle guys, coaches, families, and even some members from the other national teams. John Smith delivered a speech that was great. The hair was standing up on the back of my neck. The coaches seemed to be excited for the future, but Zeke made it clear that the team still needs to push and strive to get better. The freestyle wrestling team is one of the most amazing groups of people for many other reasons than their talent on the mat. The team left early this morning and it is sad to see them go. We know that we will see much more of them and I promise you that we have a future to look forward to. The good news is we have the women and greco teams to look forward to. We were able to see 2 women's weight classes yesterday and it opened my eyes to this category of wrestling. We were blown away at how intense and tough the girls were. The young category is evolving at an amazing rate and I look forward to what is to come. If you have never watched women's wrestling, I strongly encourage you to start. Our world champion Clarissa Chun had a tough day losing second round to the So from the Peoples Republic of Korea. Chun's opponent looked like she could squat a Buick at the age of 17. Clarissa did not wrestle her best match but was also wrestling with a torn shoulder, something that she did not bring up when I questioned her about the match. Interviewing Clarissa was very difficult, I could feel her pain and I had to really concentrate as I was beginning to feel choked up myself. Jessica Medina won her first match in her first world championship but was unable to bring home any hardware. From getting to know her from a good conversation on a bus ride I know we will see more of her. The Greco guys are in town and we have heard they are fired up and ready to go. Many people have told me that greco at this level is amazing to watch and I can't wait to see it. The first greco weight is tomorrow. We are exited for the rest of the world championships and will do our best to try and give you a feel of the arena. If you haven't heard we are doing live audio. Many athletes and coaches have come and joined us to do play by play and to field questions from their fans. So far we have had Brandon Slay, Bill Zadick, JD Bergman, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jake Herbert, and Clarissa Chun. Come join us. Discman http://www.flowrestling.org/blogs/blogger/Discman/8644-freestyle-ends-and-the-women-are-rolling Thu, 24 Sep 2009 02:32:00 -0500 http://www.flowrestling.org/blogs/blogger/Mister74kilo/8595-message-92-deal-with-it Excuses...Excuses...Excuses! I hear a lot of conversations about why things don't get done. Please... STOP the conversations. Stop the EXCUSES. stop the EXPLANATIONS. Stop the JUSTIFICATIONS. All that stuff is really the outgrowth of our FEARS (I do it too sometimes). Fear causes us to make excuses (i.e., explaining and justifying why somethiong did or did not happen). NO EXPLANATIONS OR JUSTIFICATIONS! PLEASE... JUST ACTION. You've heard of "Show me the money"... well... SHOW ME THE ACTION with no conversations! In life for every decision we make we are either GETTING something for it... or AVOIDING something for it. The latter is living by default. The former is ACTION oriented living with purpose. DEAL WITH YOUR FEARS AND TAKE ACTION TOWARDS YOUR FUTURE. www.LeeKemp.com Mister74kilo http://www.flowrestling.org/blogs/blogger/Mister74kilo/8595-message-92-deal-with-it Sun, 20 Sep 2009 20:23:00 -0500 http://www.flowrestling.org/blogs/blogger/Discman/8590-wrestling-begins-tomorrow My Dad and I just got to the Messecenter (largest exhibition center in Scandinavia) where the tournament is taking place. Tomorrow will be freestyle 55, 66, and 96 kilograms. I saw Varner and he looked good and sid he was ready to roll. 55 kilos Danny Felix at 55 kg has a tough draw as he will face off with Namig Sevdimov of Azerbaijan. I think he was the guy Cejudo wrestled in the Semis in Beijing. According to a few sources the guy to watch out for in this weight is Ledbedev from Russia. If you want to see him wrestle, check out the 2009 Russian Nationals coverage on flo. THe Bronze Medalist in Beijing, Velikov from Bulgarian is also at this weight. All wrestlers mentioned at this weight are in the same half bracket. 66KG Trent Paulson is on the bottom half of the bracket and will start his world championships against Leonid Spiridonov from Kazakstan. Some tough competitors at this weight include Stadnik of Ukraine who was a silver medalist in Beijing and 5th in the 2007 world championships. 96kg Jake Varner is on the bottom half of the bracket and will wrestle Takao Isokawa of Japan first round. Khetag Gazyumov from Azerbaijan was a bronze medalist in Beijing and this years European Champion is on the top half of this bracket. Gatsalov of Russia, 04 olympic champion, 3 time and reigning European champion is on the bottom half of the bracket with Jake Varner. We are pumped over here for the competition to start. The guys I have seen look good and I plan to seek out the others today. JD Bergman just gave me a camera with a bunch of good stuff on it leading up to the arrival to Denmark. I am going to get this stuff up for you as soon as possible. Discman http://www.flowrestling.org/blogs/blogger/Discman/8590-wrestling-begins-tomorrow Sun, 20 Sep 2009 07:23:00 -0500 http://www.flowrestling.org/blogs/blogger/Discman/8578-waiting-for-denmark Man, the last several months have been kind of crazy despite the fact that I have done a little less traveling. We have been working hard on expanding the flo network and developing technique wave while at the same time trying to get as much wrestling content up as possible. The community has been great as the number of videos coming in from the outside keeps growing. I am sitting in the airport in New York waiting for my flight to Denmark and the world championships and realize I have not even had time to think about it. In fact, I just found a place to stay last night. This guy named Rudi who I met yesterday over the internet is letting my Dad and me stay at his place all week. He wont even be there for a day after we get there and has a key waiting for us at his parents that we will pick up when we get there. I am actually excited about staying there and think that our experience will be better because of this. I can't wait to watch my first world championships in person. With all the great coverages that have gone up through flo and all the network sites, I feel like I really know all of our world team members, which makes it more exciting to watch. I am also curious if the Russians wrestle the same against the rest of the world as they do in their own world team qualifier. Having my dad along will be great. He is the reason that I love wrestling and he provided my brother and me with as much direction and opportunity as possible. We have not been able to watch wrestling together very much other the last 5 years so this will be awesome. Expect some history lessons along the coverage as he is a history buff and told me he brushed up a little on his Denmark knowledge. It is time for me to go meet my dad now so I have to go. We will do our best to bring you guys the goods. See you in Denmark. Discman http://www.flowrestling.org/blogs/blogger/Discman/8578-waiting-for-denmark Fri, 18 Sep 2009 12:11:00 -0500 http://www.flowrestling.org/blogs/blogger/Mister74kilo/8483-message-91-winning-takes-on-many-forms-bob-wieland-is-a-winner Wake up every day with a Purpose, Goal or Objective for the Day. Then Go After It!People Magazine called Bob Wieland "one of the six most amazing Americans of the past 20 years." How many people have biked or walked across America? Bob has done both ... with no legs. Through seemingly insurmountable adversity, Bob has persevered. From his miraculous recovery in the hospital, to his three-year, eight-month and six-day walk across America on his hands, Bob has proved his message that "Through faith in God, determination, and dedication, a person can achieve anything." He has always said, "The joy is in the journey." He completed the grueling Iron Man Triathlon (2.4-mile swim, 112-mile bike ride, and 26-mile marathon) on his arms. He has no peers in human achievement. Bob Wieland, who lost his legs in Vietnam 34 years ago, finished the Los Angeles marathon Saturday, March, 8, 2003, after 173 hours and 45 minutes. It took 57-year-old Wieland of Arcadia, Calif., more than one week to cover the more than 26 miles. He used only his hands and torso.THIS IS TRULY AMAZING!!! I DON'T WANT TO HEAR, EVER AGAIN, SOMEONE TELL ME HOW HARD OR HOW DIFFICULT SOMETHING IS. MY MINDSET IS CHANGED FOREVER!!! WHAT'S YOUR PURPOSE FOR THE DAY! www.leekemp.com/ Mister74kilo http://www.flowrestling.org/blogs/blogger/Mister74kilo/8483-message-91-winning-takes-on-many-forms-bob-wieland-is-a-winner Thu, 10 Sep 2009 16:27:00 -0500 http://www.flowrestling.org/blogs/blogger/Tambot/8392-poland-and-camp A few years ago I thought that I could just ignore my aches and pains. My plan was simple: by the time I’m 40 it will be the year 2026. If I learned anything from Hollywood movies it is that either the world as we know it is going to end before 2026 or medical science will become so advanced that I can just get full body reconstruction. I determined that I could just keep pushing through minor issues until I turned 40 and then I could just get them fixed. I started to realize I might have been wrong last year. Fortunately my body has held up better than most. I’ve had few major injuries but I still go to the trainers any time I need a tune up. The final world team training camp is going on at the OTC. I can’t say how everyone looks since I’m practicing at the same time. Poland was the closest equivalent to a world championship for me. The competition was intense; I lost two close matches to the number #2 and #3 guys from Russia at 84 kgs. Iran brought their first team. In my first match I beat the 2008 Olympian from Armenia. The guys I lost to had great defense. I was bummed to not have placed at the tournament, but watching always makes me think and want to get back on the mat. Leigh Jaynes commented on a little Swedish girl who was wrestling. Leigh said the girl was one of her favorite wrestlers because of the way the girl beat all her opponents into submission. I thought about my matches. Realistically, what more could I have done to win my matches? In my mind there is always something. The opponents that I lost to didn’t leave any openings, the opponents that I beat I was obviously better than. The #2 from Russia baited me into a single and the #3 stayed in great position. I stayed in good position but that just kept the matches low scoring and going to clinches. My conclusion was that if I realize that maybe I’m not the better wrestler, or that the positions that I might be the better wrestler from are not available, I have to break my opponent. Outside of hoping for a clinch and doing nothing, while hoping my opponent is thinking the same thing, I can’t win. I’m not going to improve my technique during the match, but I can wrestle tougher. I can refuse to waste a second while I’m still in it. I don’t believe I’m making a move to 84kgs. I like myself better when I’m bigger. I don’t feel it’s necessary to cut weight. As much as I felt like a giant on the mat in Poland, I cut a lot of water and I really don’t like that feeling. I would rather feel big at 96 kgs. which is why I need to gain weight. I talked to Tervel about gaining weight recently. He told me that he would take in 160 grams of protein from supplements and then he’d try to match it with food. Bryce also told me I need supplements if I’m going to gain weight. Many people follow the advice of others they trust, I’ll trust the advice of people who have done it before. They’re giving me advice because they have it. Tervel told me it took him about three months to put on the weight and that getting in every meal and shake was a priority. Missing a shake was worse than missing a practice. I’ve been sticking to my plan and training hard, which I can feel good about. I have a weird mentality. On a day when I’m going live, I’ll think “Maybe today I’m going to manhandle everyone.” I know I didn’t do it yesterday, but I honestly think that just about every day. I think I got that much better. I feel like I’m going to win the lottery. I’m not going to have a good practice; I’m going to tear down the walls of the wrestling room. I’m a little disappointed when it doesn’t happen, but I just think that tomorrow’s my day. Even when I just got whooped I think I’m that good and I got that much better. Tambot http://www.flowrestling.org/blogs/blogger/Tambot/8392-poland-and-camp Mon, 31 Aug 2009 21:48:00 -0500 http://www.flowrestling.org/blogs/blogger/Rollie/8346-are-you-a-student Ted Williams may rightfully be considered the best hitter to ever pick up a bat. He won the Triple Crown three times and retired with a career batting average of .344. His .406 batting average in the 1941 season is unsurpassed to this day. The Kid, as he came to be known, was a wizard behind the plate. As a child, he carried a bat with him to school and swung it every chance he got, trying to imagine fastballs and sliders shooting by. His childhood friend once remarked, “He’d close one eye, then the other, figuring out what he could see from each eye. He did this all the time. He was always figuring things out. I guess it had something to do with hitting. They’d talk later about how great his eyes were. Well, he worked at it.” He would sit for hours and watch pitchers practicing, until he could read the trajectory with the blink of an eye. He became so familiar with different pitches that he couldn’t even tell the difference between them when batting. “They all look like they are hanging out in front of the plate on a string,” he would say. Carl Yastrzemski said of his mentor, “He studied hitting the way a broker studies the stock market.” The Kid never really did well in school, but no one would deny that he was one hell of a student. ——————— Roger Bannister never won an Olympic medal, but the running world will forever remember this Brit for his extraordinary achievement of being the first to break the four minute mile barrier. In the middle of the twentieth century, running underwent a few drastic changes. There were some breakthroughs in interval training and advances in footwear that brought the world record asymptotically closer to four minutes. Some thought it was impossible for the human body to handle, but Roger Bannister knew better. This wasn’t because he was a senseless dreamer or hopeless optimist, he really knew. Bannister was a very serious medical student at St. Mary’s Hospital Medical School while he was training. During his residency at St. Mary’s, he used his precious lunch break to sneak off for laps on the track. For part of his clinical research, he had subjects run on a treadmill with a breathing tube in their mouth and measured the intake and outtake of oxygen until the point of exhaustion. The patients were literally shot off the back of the treadmill when they failed. He was his own primary patient − both guinea pig and lab researcher at once. He learned firsthand how to properly control his breathing during each anaerobic second of the 5,280 foot race. He learned that it’s more efficient to run 4 x 60 second quarter mile splits than, say, 62 − 61 − 59 − 58. And he endlessly practiced pacing himself at 60 seconds flat. We take for granted all of the physiological and anatomical information we have, but 50 years ago, they knew a lot less. Bannister was literally on the cutting edge of new developments coming out. He approached his goal analytically and used the scientific method to break this unbreakable barrier. ——————— John Smith was the most successful American wrestler to ever grace the international arena. He won six consecutive world championships and holds two Olympic gold medals. He was the first American to be voted Master of Technique and Wrestler of the Year by the International Wrestling Federation. Though Smith was a master of all technique, one move stood above the rest: his low single. John Smith’s name has become synonymous with the low single leg attack. What’s amazing is that not only does every young wrestler know this, but the Russians knew this. The Iranians knew this. The Cubans knew this. And that didn’t stop him, he hit it on anyone and everyone. As a freshman enrolled at Oklahoma State, Smith quickly adapted to the collegiate style, though he did not place at nationals that year. Disappointed, he trained harder, and made it all the way to the finals in his sophomore season, only to lose to Jim Jordan. Sick of losing, he asked his coaches for a redshirt year, which was granted. During this year off, Smith stumbled on the low single and fell in love. “I was not the first guy to work on a low shot, but mine was very different. Very technical, with numerous finishes and ways to score back points,” he explained. Every day he entered the wrestling room with a renewed excitement, wanting to fine tune some minor aspect of his creation. He tinkered at it like a scientist on the brink of discovering a cure for cancer. Every day Smith saw progress, but he kept experimenting, determined to create his masterpiece on the mat. Most of the finishes he was hitting had never been done before so he was treading on unexplored territory. Shakespeare mastered the English language so thoroughly that he invented new words frequently. So too did Smith master the wrestling mat. He came out of his year-long redshirt as a different wrestler. Like a tornado, he left a trail of wreckage wherever he went. He went on to win national titles in his final two years of college and even won his first world title after his junior year. And then five more. ——————— Sources: Ted Williams, Leigh Montville The Perfect Mile, Neal Bascomb Cowboy Up, Kim Parrish More here. Rollie http://www.flowrestling.org/blogs/blogger/Rollie/8346-are-you-a-student Tue, 25 Aug 2009 23:10:00 -0500 http://www.flowrestling.org/blogs/blogger/Mister74kilo/8344-message-90-winning-doesnt-need-to-be-pretty-just-win Keep the goal simple. Example; My goal is to win this match vs. My goal is to be the OW.Nothing wrong with being the OW. In fact in my entire career I've only won that 3 times. Once was in high school. Once in college. Once in Freestyle.My goal was always to win. Getting my hand raised was my single concern, consequently my matches were not that exciting, but there wasn't much doubt as to who was going to win.Remember K.I.S.S Principle!This applies to anything you want to accomplish in LIFE. www.leekemp.com Mister74kilo http://www.flowrestling.org/blogs/blogger/Mister74kilo/8344-message-90-winning-doesnt-need-to-be-pretty-just-win Tue, 25 Aug 2009 17:35:00 -0500 http://www.flowrestling.org/blogs/blogger/Jimharshaw/8240-riot-quote-of-the-day Riot quote of the Day: "The fact is, everyone is in sales. Whatever area you work in, you do have clients and you do need to sell." Jay Abraham If you're a wrestling coach you're selling your system to your wrestlers (you have a system right?), your selling your program to your boosters, your sport to your prospective athletes, your viability to your administration. First, stop and think about how you'll sell. What are you really offering? What will make your audience want to buy what you're selling? Now Sell! Jimharshaw http://www.flowrestling.org/blogs/blogger/Jimharshaw/8240-riot-quote-of-the-day Sat, 22 Aug 2009 19:53:00 -0500 http://www.flowrestling.org/blogs/blogger/Jimharshaw/8239-self-defense-resonates-within-the-heart-of-every-man There is a great interview on The Wrestling Mall right now with Real Pro Wrestling founder Toby Willis. Besides the fact that it finally give insight on what happened to the apparently successful wrestling league a few years ago, Willis said something that makes a lot of sense. He said, "Who cares if you can bounce a basketball? Who cares if you can hit a baseball? But self defense resonates within the heart of every man. We have to tap into that well." To those who think that wrestling cannot be marketed, that it's not exciting enough, that your school is a basketball school, think about what Mr. Willis said. Stop making excuses. Believe in your sport. Grow it. Jimharshaw http://www.flowrestling.org/blogs/blogger/Jimharshaw/8239-self-defense-resonates-within-the-heart-of-every-man Thu, 20 Aug 2009 19:52:00 -0500 http://www.flowrestling.org/blogs/blogger/Jimharshaw/8269-what-spiderman-can-teach-wrestling-coaches "With great power comes great responsibility" Stan Lee, creator of Spiderman In practical terms what does that mean to you and I? Well, if you're the coach then you hold the reins to your program- not just teaching single legs and double legs. But being the leader of your alumni, your fan base, your athletes, your parents. How do you lead them? You lead best by serving. A few weeks ago our pastor talked about how the Roman soldiers used to be able to basically comandeer citizens to carry their heavy hear- sword, shield, etc. for one mile. During that mile the soldier is in charge. At the end of that mile he would take the gear back and continue on his way. What if the citizen said, "No, I will continue to carry your gear for another mile." Who is in charge that second mile? Exactly. You become a leader by serving. Serve your people. Make it easy for them to be a fan. Create a Facebook page. Create a blog. Add video content to your page. Send press releases regularly to the media. Create fun and exciting events to bring them together. What's that? You're too busy already? Well, yes. I know. Coaching is more time consuming and difficult than anyone outside the profession will ever know (except the spouses). That's why you need systems to grow. Just like any successful business. It's not run by the seat of the owner's pants. It's run by systems. That's why the Riot is so successful. It's built on systems. (More about Riot here) Jimharshaw http://www.flowrestling.org/blogs/blogger/Jimharshaw/8269-what-spiderman-can-teach-wrestling-coaches Wed, 19 Aug 2009 13:03:00 -0500 http://www.flowrestling.org/blogs/blogger/Jimharshaw/8238-interview Are you tired of wrestling programs not getting the exposure they deserve? Are you tired of youth, high school and college wrestling programs not making any money? Riot Sports Marketing, founded by former DI All-American and head coach Jim Harshaw, has created services to help grow the sport of wrestling and end the status quo. Read more to find out how. Interview by Matt Krumrie Jimharshaw http://www.flowrestling.org/blogs/blogger/Jimharshaw/8238-interview Tue, 18 Aug 2009 19:50:00 -0500 http://www.flowrestling.org/blogs/blogger/Jimharshaw/8237-what-tree-huggers-can-teach-wrestling I was listening to the local public news radio last night and heard a commercial about the Elizabeth River, a very polluted river in Virginia. The commercial was about a project to get people to experience the river and learn more about it. The narrator said this: (paraphrased) "To get people to care about the river they have to learn about it and experience it." The idea here is that if you educate people about the river they will become stewards of it. They will help to revitalize the river, make it healthier and more productive. I say this... to get people to care about your program they have to learn about it and experience it. That means getting media coverage, sending emails and text messages, creating a Facebook page. You need to market your program. Get people educated about your program and get them to experience it on some level. They will then become stewards of your program. They will add life to it, make it healthier and more productive. If you're not doing it yourself, don't know how or don't have the time, Riot Sports Marketing can help. Jimharshaw http://www.flowrestling.org/blogs/blogger/Jimharshaw/8237-what-tree-huggers-can-teach-wrestling Sun, 16 Aug 2009 19:48:00 -0500 http://www.flowrestling.org/blogs/blogger/Jimharshaw/8098-the-microcosm I just listened to a podcast interview with Cary Kolat, read a blog about Junior Nationals, watched a video of Joe Warren training. If you've been to any of the major wrestling websites in the past year you'd see that they are all now taking advantage of the social media and web 2.0 tools available. Maybe it was Flo Wrestling that nudged them along or maybe it was just that it was time for them to take the leap. Themat.com has long had popular message boards but they now have more video than before. Intermat.com, TheWrestlingMall.com, Wrestling 411.tv and the new Theopenmat.com all have great content too- most importantly blogs, video and podcasts. This has made it easier for us wrestling fans to get information as well as to meet the important figures in our wrestling world. This is exciting stuff! If you're not taking advantage you should be. Our wrestling community is getting stronger because of these new tools and developments. Your program is simply a microcosm of the larger wrestling community. Are you strengthening your community of fans, alumni and supporters of your program? Why not? Jimharshaw http://www.flowrestling.org/blogs/blogger/Jimharshaw/8098-the-microcosm Mon, 03 Aug 2009 15:17:00 -0500 http://www.flowrestling.org/blogs/blogger/Tambot/8051-advice-i-give-to-me I made some rules for myself yesterday. I've been living out at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs for nearly nine months now. I tell myself that I'm going to do everything I can to get to be the best in the world but sometimes that isn't enough to keep me on track. When there aren't a lot of training partners out here it's easy to get disheartened. That's been an issue with freestyle while I've been here. There are so many different factors - money, loyalties to college teams, training partners or coaches, more personal freedom, families and friends - that many wrestlers try to find their own way. We are just starting to get more wrestlers out here. So I made up a set of rules for what I could do, personally, to not get disheartened or sidetracked. They are things that I personally need to do to get better. I posted them in my room so I can read them every day. I wanted to share them to make them more concrete. Mike’s 15 rules of training at the OTC 1. Be more persistent and communicative in pursuing training partners and training opportunities 2. Wake up every morning with a plan for the day. Know how to accomplish it. 3. Focus on building strength in my weak points; grip strength, neck strength, gut wrench locks, ribs, and flexibility. Do something small every day for them and add any other weaknesses I find to the list. 4. Review my mistakes every day and write them down, be conscientious about improving them in practice. 5. Stay aggressive in practice. Score more points. 6. Wrestle continuously; refuse to ever give up easy points. 7. Don’t neglect my conditioning. Get a few extra sprints in or a short hard run after practice. Fifteen minutes extra a day of hard cardio could be the difference. 8. Eat, Eat, Eat; the only way to put on muscle is to take in more food. More calorie dense food. More at night, right before I relax and lower my heart rate. 9. Respect my sleep. Better sleep means better workouts and more time to work out the next day. Get sleep to wake up early and follow through with the plans I’ve made for tomorrow. 10. Create a social life in which I feel like an integral part of the community and the sport. If no one needs me, I will go on to accomplish only things that are unnecessary; nothing of great importance. Be needed by everyone. 11. Don’t worry about money. I’ll wake up tomorrow no matter how much money I have in the bank or how much available credit I have. I’ll have full meals and a place to stay as long as I live at the OTC. My only concerns are gaining recognition and building talent. Money will be a side effect of these. 12. Study the best. Watch video and visualize this as part of the plan. Wrestle them whenever the chance arises and learn their moves. Take some time in each day to reflect and review what I’ve been writing, videotaping, or learning in practice. 13. Keep a carefree attitude. Remember that I love this sport. Everything can be taken in turn. The actual wrestling is what matters; outcomes are only the result of it. 14. Do more. Wrestle with Greco, see the trainers, get recovery… Spend the day going from one thing to the next to the next; all of them directed towards my training. 15. I’m here to be the best in the world. Not everyone is. Remember that I’m not holding myself to their standards. If they are doing less, that is not an excuse for me to do less. I have to do what I need to do. I am training to be the best in the world; not hoping to be while training. If it helped you at all, I'm glad. If it didn't sorry for wasting your time but you should have known never to read anything written by me. USA Wrestling as well as the NYAC have been very helpful in sending me over seas this year. I've competed in three international tournaments and I'm going to another in Poland in August. I have to thank JP Roberts, the Barnhisels, and my parents for supporting me. Good luck to all the guys and girls competing at the World Championships in September, I'm sure we'll bring back a bunch of medals in every style. I hope everyone stays fans of international wrestling. Tambot http://www.flowrestling.org/blogs/blogger/Tambot/8051-advice-i-give-to-me Tue, 28 Jul 2009 22:45:00 -0500 http://www.flowrestling.org/blogs/blogger/Jimharshaw/8011-program-development-the-systems-approach Ray Kroc has not been to all 28,000 McDonald's. Nor did he create the first McDonald's burger. What he did was discover a great idea, created a series of systems that enabled him to repeat what was being done on a vastly profitable scale. What about you? What's holding you back in your program? Where is your weakness? What do you know how to do but hate doing? Do it once and write down the steps. Now you have a system. Do it 3 more times and re-write your system as necessary. Then, pass it on to someone else. You know that your program needs to be marketed. Create the systems to grow your program.... because it takes more than teaching single leg takedowns. Jimharshaw http://www.flowrestling.org/blogs/blogger/Jimharshaw/8011-program-development-the-systems-approach Thu, 23 Jul 2009 14:15:00 -0500 http://www.flowrestling.org/blogs/blogger/Mister74kilo/7994-message-89-live-life-today-as-if-today-was-all-you-had Because all we really have is NOW. That's all we really can Control. Tomorrow is not promised. I had the good fortune to meet a great man recently. A wise man full of years with a lot of life experiences...but unfortunately he was dying. In fact when I met him he would only be alive for 14 more days. After spending some time with this man I learned very quickly that he really loved life and lived life to the fullest! After spending some time with him and learning all that he had accomplished... I came to this startling revelation... That revelation is: "All we have control of is this very moment in time; and we have to get the most out of this moment. This moment in time is NOW!" When time runs out.. that's it... there's nothing more we can do in this earthly realm...I noticed this man had no regrets... He was at peace with his life. All that we accomplish life no matter how long we live; no matter how much success we have; no matter how much we love and are loved; no matter what plans we have and had; no matter how full our life is or was... At the end we all will ponder did we accomplish what we set out to do in our lives! Did we take full advantage of all the "NOWS" we had. No matter what....It all comes to an END! TIME TAKES CARE OF EVERYTHING AND EVERYBODY! All of us will one day run out of time. I got to thinking...what is it that I still want to do with my life.....As I thought about this it became apparent to me that we really don't have any control of our plans...We only have control of NOW. Remember the saying "the best laid plans of mice and men....." you know the rest. Take advantage of this very moment. Make something really special of this moment. That's what I was able to do in my wrestling career...I took advantage of every moment and lived each moment in wrestling (as it related to competition, training & learning) as if it were my last and as a result I was successful at it. This philosophy will work at anything we want to accomplish in life. www.LeeKemp.com Mister74kilo http://www.flowrestling.org/blogs/blogger/Mister74kilo/7994-message-89-live-life-today-as-if-today-was-all-you-had Wed, 22 Jul 2009 11:17:00 -0500 http://www.flowrestling.org/blogs/blogger/Noel/7990-walk-with-me-the-journey-to-jerusalem Walk with me as I retrace Jesus foot steps and the site of the crucifixion. I documented every time Jesus fell under the weight of the cross and where he was sentenced by Pontius Pilate and site of the earthquake after his death. Not to get to religious but the history in itself was jaw dropping. I also visited the Western Wall the Holiest place to the Jewish faith which is part of the sacred temple built by Herod. The Dome of the Rock which represents when Mohamed ascended through heaven one of the Holiest places in the Muslim faith. For any religion this must visit in your lifetime. Going into to the trip I knew Jerusalem was a very historic and holy place. Leaving Jerusalem It is the Holiest place known to man. Enjoy Noel http://www.flowrestling.org/blogs/blogger/Noel/7990-walk-with-me-the-journey-to-jerusalem Wed, 22 Jul 2009 08:08:00 -0500 http://www.flowrestling.org/blogs/blogger/Noel/7959-munich-1972 The Munich Memorial Grand Prix is dedicated to the athletes that died in the hands of terrorist at the Olympic games in Munich Germany in 1972 Out of the 11 athletes that died 4 were wrestlers. One athlete escaped who was a 48kg wrestler who I met at the memorial along with the widows of the fallen. It was a great honor to represent the USA and pay repsect to our fallen comrads. Highlight matches to watch 74kg final was an all out war between Canada and Belrus. Also the 55kg between USA & Israel has allot of drama at the end of the match. 120kg featured one of the best heavyweights in the world former 2008 Russian Olympic trials Finalist and the 60kg Finals as well. Enjoy Coming soon: The journey to Jerusalem & The Dead Sea Noel http://www.flowrestling.org/blogs/blogger/Noel/7959-munich-1972 Mon, 20 Jul 2009 12:32:00 -0500 http://www.flowrestling.org/blogs/blogger/Noel/7953-let-the-games-begin Lindsey Durlacher kicked of the Maccabiah Games by carrying the the flag for the free world. This is the 18th Maccabiah Games. The number 18 means life in The Jewish faith. Luck was on the side if the USA as we took home the most gold medals in the Maccabiah Games. I posted the opening ceremony and finals matches. Check out the 96kg Russian Wrestler Junior Wolrd champion and the 66kg Ukrain 2008 Olympic bronze medalist. Coming soon: The Holiest Place on Earth Jerusalem the site of the Crusifiction & The Munich Memroial Grand Prix Noel http://www.flowrestling.org/blogs/blogger/Noel/7953-let-the-games-begin Mon, 20 Jul 2009 06:35:00 -0500 http://www.flowrestling.org/blogs/blogger/Mister74kilo/7887-message-88-are-you-putting-it-all-on-the-line There's no Limit to What You Can Do...But to Find Out What You Can Do...You Must First Put It All On The Line... The reason most people don't put it all on the line is because the very act of putting it on the line exposes any weaknesses and, of course, any strengths. Putting it on the line means going all out...holding nothing back. HOW ELSE WILL YOU KNOW WHAT YOU REALLY CAN DO? HOW ELSE WILL YOU BE ABLE TO MAKE ANY CHANGES BASED ON EXPOSED WEAKNESSES? You need to know what your strengths are just as you must know what your weakness are. To win at the highest levels you must know what your strengths and weakness are and you must practice this every day. Put it all on the line every day. www.leekemp.com Mister74kilo http://www.flowrestling.org/blogs/blogger/Mister74kilo/7887-message-88-are-you-putting-it-all-on-the-line Tue, 14 Jul 2009 13:13:00 -0500 http://www.flowrestling.org/blogs/blogger/Noel/7883-the-begining-the-journey-to-nazereth One of the most interesting things about the Middle East especially Israel is that the most sacred land to all religions is here... While we here are to see some wrestling and experience Israel I thought it would be fitting to visit some of the most sacred religious places to man. To give you a brief background according to the gospel of Luke Jesus grew up in Nazareth. We visited the Annunciation Church (which is where Mary was told by the Angel Gabriel that she would have Jesus as her son). Modern scholars believe Jesus grew up and was born in Nazareth. I knew him to be born in Bethlehem like the majority of us do. Either way we visited Jesus home & the Church where Jesus preached at.. I hope you enjoy this real life artifact from 16BC. If your Christian or not to see the preservation of something more than a 1000 years old is pretty impressive. Nazareth has the best freestylers in Israel. So maybe Jesus himself was once a wrestler. Enjoy NT Noel http://www.flowrestling.org/blogs/blogger/Noel/7883-the-begining-the-journey-to-nazereth Tue, 14 Jul 2009 03:03:00 -0500