The Top Reasons Why You Won't Wrestle Greco

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The Top Reasons Why You Won't Wrestle Greco

February 18, 2015 / Myrmidon

Greco-Roman wrestling has taken a back seat to freestyle wrestling in this country for nearly its entire inception. Now with folkstyle’s popularity growing every day, the Olympic styles (especially Greco) have begun to be marginalized. As a competitor and coach, I find it a chore to try and convince wrestlers coming out fresh from their high school and college seasons to even give the sport a try. I am sure I am not the only one that can attest to this bizarre obtainment from Greco. It almost seems as if there is a spell that has been cast over the wrestling community; one that creates a bad stigma in my eye. Well, I am here to create a list of the top reasons why you won’t wrestle Greco:

1. You are afraid.

What? You were expecting more? I hate to break it to you, but that is unmasked truth. Perhaps it might be an over simplified answer, but it is a harsh reality none the less. Every excuse I have heard in the book is just a thinly veiled ruse as to the real innate fear that dwells in your heart and mind. Still not convinced? Very well. I can break it down for every single excuse you have already formulated in your scared little head:

“Greco is stupid”

Greco is upper body wrestling, half of what you use in folkstyle. Are you telling me half of what you use is stupid? You are just afraid of getting out of your comfort zone.

“That’s not how I wrestle.”

True but it is the way some other people wrestle, some tough wrestlers. If a guy goes upper body with you, will you be ready to defend that? Or are you are just afraid to be prepared?

“I don’t like throwing people.”

Greco is not just throws. It is upper body positioning, something you refuse to learn. What you really are saying is you don’t like being thrown.

“I’d rather focus on folkstyle or freestyle.”

Most developmental tournaments have Greco on the same day as freestyle. You don’t want more matches? You are just afraid to lose to someone in Greco that you can beat in freestyle.

“All I do is shoot leg attacks.”

…so you must always win, right? Don’t be afraid to learn.

“I don’t get it.”

…you are afraid to learn new rules. Why were you not too scared to learn folkstyle or freestyle the first time?

“The rules are confusing.”

See above. You mean to tell me the first time you watched baseball you knew exactly what the hell was going on?

“Greco can’t help me get better in folkstyle.”

Don’t complain when you get thrown, or have no options when you can’t finish a shot on certain tough guys. You are afraid of cross training.

“None of my friends wrestle Greco.”

Sorry to pull out the cliché, but would you jump off a bridge if your friends did first? Separate yourself from the pack. You are afraid to be different.

“No one wrestle Greco at all.”

It is true that Greco has low numbers in this country, but it is huge in Iran and the ex-Soviet Bloc countries. You are afraid to embrace other cultures.

“No one good does Greco.”

Take that excuse and ask Chael Sonnen, Randy Couture, Dan Henderson, or Matt Lindland if Greco helped their UFC careers. You are afraid to be great.

“There aren’t any opportunities in Greco.”

Besides having two Olympic training centers, there are tons of regional training centers located at various colleges around the country that train in Greco. You are just afraid of your options.

“I can’t afford it.”

Really? Are you afraid you won’t be able to pay that smart phone bill or your Starbucks?

“Greco is gay.”

How can you be so flippant and judgmental? If you equate the classic style of wrestling to homo-erotic display then you have more deep seeded issues that you are afraid of.

“I am a girl.”

Minnesota Storm Cup offers a women’s division. Maybe if more women would compete there would be a higher demand. Are you going to sit there and tell me that you are afraid to be a trailblazer?

“I just don’t like Greco.”

It’s fine to have a preference, but if you only did everything you liked when you trained you wouldn’t be any good. I hate doing sprints, but I know that I need strong lungs to beat my opponents. You are just afraid to work harder.

There countless others that I could go on and on about, but you should get the picture by now. Now I am not saying any of these excuses aren’t legitimate by any stretch of the imagination. All I ask is that you look deep inside yourself admit the truth to yourself:

You are afraid you might actually like it.