Chapter 5: Self-Improvement
Ron wiped the sweat out of his eyes, sat back, and tried to catch his breath. The wrestling season had started, officially, two weeks ago. The team was getting ready for the first dual of the year next week against Lowerton High. As for Ron, he worked out with the wrestling team Monday through Thursday and drilled with the cheerleaders every Friday. He had to admit that the hard work was doing him worlds of good.
He had initially planned to do the bare minimum in wrestling. After all it was only supposed to be a cover for any improvements his Tai Sheng Pek Kwar practice may provide and which he might inadvertently expose. However the first week of three-a-week practice showed him that while wrestling wasn't a combat sport it was definitely a good workout. Secondly he realized that if he failed to give his best he was wasting everybody's time including his own. He had jumped into the sport whole-heartedly with this new attitude.
He hadn't truly appreciated just how intense these workouts could be. He hadn't even heard of some of the exercises before, much less worked on the muscles that they worked out. First there was a thing called 'Neck Bridges.' Everyone would get down on the mat, face down, with only their foreheads and feet touching the mat. Then they would rotate their necks. First they would put their noses on the mat, and then the left ear, then tuck their chins into their chests, then put their right ears on the mat, and repeat. Hands were not allowed to touch the mat. After rotating their necks several times they would flip over, performing a summersault without allowing their backs to touch the mat. Now face up, with still only feet and heads touching the mat, they would rotate their necks all over again. Then they would spin themselves face down again and repeat. They did neck-bridges for several minutes each workout. Ron spent the first week turning his torso, rather than his neck, whenever anyone yelled at him from any direction other than ahead. He could definitely see where Oscar came by that thick neck of his.
Another thing was called 'Spin Drills.' They paired up for these. One boy would get on all fours, keeping his head up. The other boy would put his chest on the middle of the first boy's back, one hand on his lower back and one hand on his head. When the coach blew his whistle, the 'upper' boy would rotate his body clockwise, using his chest and the 'lower' boys back as the center point. Every time the upper boy had to get his body past the lower boy's head, he would shove the lower boy's head down while the lower boy tried to keep his head up. (More neck strength, groan.) The upper boys changed direction every time the coach blew his whistle. If you didn't execute a given number of rotations, you had to do push-ups. Then the boys would swap places and repeat, again and again and….
These and other unique drills were performed along with running up and down a hill outside the gym and the requisite push-ups, sit-ups, leg lifts and abdominal crunches. Following their conditioning workout they would spend time learning new moves and holds. Coach would show them a technique then they would pair up and drill on each other, one boy executing the move and one boy defending against it. After learning new moves and reviewing old ones, the majority of practice consisted of sprints.
Dear mercy, the sprints! They would pair off and wrestle against each other in every possible way, either both from their feet or one up and one down. Then coach would blow his whistle and they would wrestle each other. If you started on your feet you tried for a takedown. If you were on the top you tried to turn your opponent over. If you started on the bottom you tried for an escape or reversal. At the end of the sprint, if you hadn't scored points, you had to do push-ups. Then you would rotate opponents and repeat again and again and….
The strangest part to Ron was the way he was drawn to the intellectual part of the sport. It was kind of like a video game. When you were playing Zombie Mayhem, and the Limburger Ghoul jumped you from behind, you tapped the joystick forward, hit the A and B buttons at the same time, then tapped the stick left then right. In wrestling, when your opponent shot a Double-Leg, you sprawled, hammered a Cross-Face in, then spun while reaching for his ankle. It was fascinating! Which moves countered which holds, which maneuvers worked best for his build, the advantages and disadvantages he had against his different opponents, it was great!
Ron's new competitive attitude had extended to his classes. Now he didn't look on homework and tests like cruel punishments handed down by sadistic teachers. Now they were challenges! The teachers gave out assignments and it was up to him to 'win' by coming up with the best solution. It was just like Zombie Mayhem or wrestling. You put in the practice (homework) so you could beat your opponent (the test); His grades had shown steady improvement since his second week on the team.
But probably the best thing was the camaraderie. Just last week a couple of toughs had cornered him in D Hall and tried to take his money. Ron fought back without using his Tai Sheng Pek Kwar. He had managed to back both of them off, receiving a fat lip and bruised ribs in return, when two more of the gang showed up. Ron had prepared himself for a severe beating when two of the guys from the team stepped out of the crowd and backed him up. The shared hard times in The Pit had bonded the boys to the point that if they weren't friends they were at least allies. The three wrestlers stared down the four toughs (two roughed up worse than Ron) until the toughs backed down. Ron thanked his teammates. They patted him on the back and said "don't mention it." It was the first time he had stood up for himself in school without KP around.
Ron was happier than he had been since KP had started dating Josh. Academically, athletically, mission-wise and socially (with the exception of the girlfriend department) his life was looking up. But then again, there was some hope on the girlfriend front. With his routine of leaving KP with Josh as soon as they reached school, he was spending more time around his own locker and had started chatting with Sue, a girl whose locker was two down from his own. She was a slender, brown-haired girl with whom he shared an Algebra class. As time had gone on, they had both started to arrive a bit earlier and spent the time talking. Ron had absolutely zilch experience in the dating department but he knew that he and Sue were flirting with each other. He was trying to tweak up his courage to ask her out.
Yet this would wait another day for he was now catching his breath after his first challenge match. The time had come for the team to establish the pecking order for each weight class. Ron was in the 126-pound division along with three others: Dave, Tony and Paul. He had just beat Tony while Dave had beat Paul. Now he was going to go against Dave while Tony and Paul wrestled. The coach called him and Dave out to the one end of The Pit.