Applying the half nelson

Like many others, it hurt when I heard the news that wrestling was on the chopping block of the 2020 Olympics. For me wrestling has always held a special place in my heart. I competed for most of both Junior High & High School. And for many years, it was my goal to compete in college and eventually the Olympics. (Alas, I was never even close to the caliber of those athletes.) Why do I hold wrestling so dear? Just like recent post’s on LinkedIn about the best advice I ever got, the sport helped me teach me 3 critical lessons that I’m grateful for.

1. The Value of Hard Work. Sure, there are lots of ways that you can learn about hard work. I found wrestling as one of the most physically demanding sports out there. The only way to perform (survive) is to put the time, energy, and focus into the training and competition.

I found the same lessons applied to everything else. Take for example my academic work, like wrestling I didn't have a natural gift. Luckily, I had the work ethic instilled from the grueling training required to be on the mat for 9 minutes. My high school wrestling coach, Mark Perez -- a guy I’m forever indebted to, would regularly tell us a story about one of the top Olympic wrestlers of his day. The wrestler was known for being in the middle of a conversation and then suddenly running away (literally). When asked about his curious behavior he would reply, “someone else out there is training harder than me”.

Found myself living the same lesson 8 years later, when I took my first doctoral qualifying exam in numerical analysis. I was the lowest score (technically the 2nd lowest score since one person didn’t show up). The rest of that year, I adopted the same approach that Coach Perez had taught me. Any time I could, I focused on studying. My family wondered what was going on when I would bolt off to go study, but it paid off. The next time around I was one of the highest scores (in 6 months).

2. Self Reliance. If you were as bad as I was at wrestling, you’d inevitably find yourself on your back fighting to not get pinned. You’re tired, you’re hurting, and ALONE. In that moment you have to decide who you are. Do you fight to get out or do you give in? Once you decide to fight, you have to start problem solving -- quickly. Your first attempt is likely to fail, along with your second, but you’re learning along the way. You’re failing fast in order to succeed.

I can’t count the number of times I’ve been in that dark funk because things aren’t working out. It’s just like that moment of almost being pinned. Just like wrestling teaches you to, you take a moment to pause and then quickly go to work problem solving and fighting hard. It’s in that moment that you learn the essence of the phrase “dig deep”. All the coaching, mentoring, and training only sets you up for the moment to decide to either “do or do not”.

3. Strategic Thinking. One of the most important life lesson’s Coach Perez gave me during a particularly hard practice was when an opponent grabbed my right wrist. I tried to twist it out, shake it free, but nothing worked. I was solely fixated on his vise-like grip. Coach came over and pointed out that as long as he had my wrist, so too I had his. All of his focus was on making sure to keep a grip on my wrist and that was an advantage. For example, if I moved my wrist, his arm would move too and I could use that to open up an attack.

That lesson has always stuck with me and I’ve found telling that story during strategic sessions in academia and industry, and even in government. Your opponet’s focus can be your greatest advantage.


I’m not sure how things will go for one of the world’s oldest sports, but I sure hope another generation will have the opportunity to grow from the lessons the sport gave me.

(Photo: Fort Meade, Flickr)