Training Day

Ruslan Angelo, D.Dan, Juanchos, Bastian Karim, Cole Keller, Jota Palma, Babylon Prince, John Rodriguez, Victor Rom, Gitano Silva, Stefan, Rico Vega, and Etienne Erik, Competition Training (Wrestlingmale)

Watching this video, I was put in mind of the opening of Bob Fosse's All That Jazz. The stressed and sweaty dancers try to get the complex steps exactly right. Their futures depend on it. The trainees at Wrestlingmale look relatively relaxed, but the sweat's there along with the fidgets. George Benson's "On Broadway" might as well play in the background of these sessions. Etienne Erik is the cool and confident leader, while the more experienced wrestlers show the new hires the essential holds and moves - a full nelson, a takedown, a camel clutch, a crab hold, a roll-up pin, a headlock. It's not a regular match, though in the final fifteen minutes, the ring is cleared so Juanchos (a joyful revelation) and John Rodriguez, Viktor Rom and D.Dan, and Stefan and Babylon Prince can wrestle, man to man. 

I find it relaxing to watch these big boys rassle, even as a casual, sometimes messy act with no well-practiced moves and no high stakes. If only all life consisted of men, bi, gay, or straight, pinning other men's shoulders to the ring floor. Seeing a small party of men in glute-fitting trunks is a diversion from worries and petty nuisances. Four new hires debut in this Playground event - Gitano Silva, Jota Palma, Juanchos, and Rico Vega. So far, this has been a good year for Wrestlingmale.

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