Bruce Baumgartner is the most decorated American wrestler of all time. He dominated over a decade of competition winning 4 Olympic medals, 9 world medals, including two Olympic golds and 3 World Championships, 8 World Cup
championships, and 17 National championships.

When it comes to talking about ‘Best of All Time’ in American wrestling unfortunately for some reason Bruce often gets overlooked. In my mind he is the one and only choice hands down.

In a country that prides itself on one-hit Olympic wonders and some time world medalists Bruce deserves much more recognition than he often receives. He was never a flashy wrestler but he consistently represented himself and the
Unites States in world and Olympic competition. For years the US took for granted the medals that Bruce would bring home in the heavyweight division. 

Baumgartner won his first Olympic medal (Gold 1984) at age 24 and his last at age 36 (Bronze 1996). Since his retirement from competition the US has struggled in bringing home medals in the Freestyle heavy weight division. 

I only had one opportunity to watch Bruce Baumgartner live in action. I was fortunate enough to see him dominate Tom Erikson in the finals match of the 1995 national championships held in Las Vegas, Nevada. Erikson would later go on to become a Mixed Martial Arts champion.

Bruce was a force of nature and was the biggest human being I had ever seen. He was big and powerful. He exuded determination and acted and performed with a purpose.

The thing that stood out most to me about him wasn’t his obliteration of Erikson but that after he had finished winning his national title he continued training. He began vigorously jumping rope; he ran sprints up and down the arena floor. He had a look of steel on his face. His determination was incredible. He was preparing for the 1995 freestyle world championships which were going to be held in Atlanta, Georgia. Bruce went on to win the world championships that year as well. 

His example stuck with me for years and it was one of the more influential things I’ve witnessed as a wrestler.

Resources: Bruce Baumgartner

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bruce_Baumgartner
 
http://www.brucebaumgartner.com/

“You don’t always have to be the best team to win the game.” Was a quote I heard recently that got me thinking; How many times do athletes with more skill or ability lose to opponents that they should not?


Unfortunately there are times when an athlete loses to an opponent that they should not lose to. Coaches often say “he falls apart mentally,” or “It’s all in his head”. It is often in fact, not all in his head. The reason that it is not all in the athlete’s head is because the coach hasn’t put it all in there. There are often pieces of the puzzle missing and coaches need to understand this and correct it.


Athletes often have more techniques than they know what to do with, in consequence they don’t do. They are often unsure of the logical next step of the match. This has been the downfall of many a potentially great athlete. Techniques are great but one size doesn’t always fit.


Conditioning is required however on its own it gets wasted and misused. If it
is undirected it can be a double edged sword. Athletes make mistakes of being
over aggressive and forcing offense.  Coaches and athletes alike are
willing to work hard and push it physically. They often miss one of the most
important pieces of the competition puzzle, Problem Solving.

The number one skill that must be developed to be a successful wrestler is
problem solving. Too often coaches and athletes forget that the sport of
wrestling is one of physical problem solving. I have never had a coach that sat
me down and explained that to me. They never explained here is how the match
starts, here is what happens next, here is what happens after that, here is how
it can end, here are options for a, b, c. 

Never. Not one. Most likely because no one explained it to them. In fact I
can almost guarantee it. I did have coaches that showed me their favorite
techniques, the techniques they knew, the best techniques of the day etc.
Obviously it served me pretty well over the years but it leaves that same
problem, how to solve new and dynamic problems that come at you at extreme
speeds. 

As I’ve coached my wrestling club athletes and others I’ve made efforts to
pick up where others left off or missed completely. I figure if we talk about
wrestling and the grappling arts in general as being 90% mental why don’t we
actually train that way? Why do we spend so much time improving our physical
attributes while our mind and problem solving muscles get the day off?

When athletes join my club they get exposed to next level thinking. I ask
questions and make them come up with solutions. We walk through slow motion
matches and scenarios. I show them how a match should play out under xyz
circumstances. 

I help my athletes understand there is more to wrestling than just a
hodge-podge of techniques. For many of them it has brought great breakthroughs
in their development that they were unable to find elsewhere. We often talk
through situations and scenarios involving the score and how points were created
and then what is the best choice of position and the reasoning behind it. I’ve
had the good fortune to have trained under Olympic champions and they never
taught in the way that I’m describing. 

What I ultimately want an athlete to achieve is a higher level of problem
solving. I want them to be able to look at the game differently from a 10,000
feet view. This helps them gain a greater appreciation of the skills they do
have while learning more about how they can personally have success. This is
ultimately how true confidence, or self trust, is developed. Athletes cannot
truly be confident without a greater perspective and understanding of what it is
they are to accomplish and how to do so. 

Take a look at your current training and outlook towards competition and
determine how you can become a better problem solver. As you develop solutions
you will ultimately have more success as an athlete or coach. Start small by
taking the first 5-10 minutes of your technical training and devote it to coming
up with “What if…” questions and solutions. Some simple questions worth
considering are:

If you’re taken down in the first period and ridden for the rest of it
without giving up near fall points what is the best option if given your choice
of position in the second period and why?

How would you comeback from a 3 point deficit starting the third period?

What would you do to counter a single leg?

What if you were up by 1 with 30 seconds left? How do you proceed?

These are simple questions and you may already have worked on a few or some
similar to them. As you get more comfortable you can start asking more detailed
and tougher questions like these:

What if you’re opponent has just taken you down and gained near fall and
you’re now down by 4 points. You have not scored from the feet but you were able
to control him on top from a reversal you scored in the second period. Where
would you most likely be able to score points next? How can you bring back the
points to even and either; win or put it into overtime?

What if you’ve just scored a takedown with 30 seconds left to tie the score.
Letting your opponent up would mean that he gains 1 point but if you take
him down you can win now. If you can ride for 30 seconds you can put it
into overtime and have a chance to win in overtime. What do you do? How will you do it? What are the potential risks and potential rewards? Which option gives you the
best chance of winning according to your own skill set?

As you begin to add more detail and insert personal strengths and limitations
you begin to see the problem more clearly and a more realistic and attainable
solution begins to present itself. This is how real and lasting confidence is
developed and this is how champions are made. If you do this I can guarantee
that you’ll start having much more success than you are now.

I had just placed 3rd at the 1996 Espoir National Championships in Greco Roman Wrestling and was qualified to take part in the ‘Big Brother’ Program offered by the US Olympic Training Center. I arrived on the campus and had an electrifying charge come over me. I’d never experienced anything like it before. I can only define it as the Olympic Spirit. 
 
Steve Fraser is someone who fully embodies this spirit of excitement, passion, and energy. While I was at my first OTC camp he talked a lot about “Expecting to Win” and being mentally tough. Who better to talk about mental toughness than the first ever Olympic Gold Medalist for the United States in Greco Roman wrestling.

In 1984 Steve stunned the world as he defeated the seemingly invincible Frank Andersson of Sweden who had already won 3 Greco Roman Wrestling world championships (1977, 79, 82). As an athlete Fraser won a gold medal at the 1983 Pan Am Games. Multiple national titles in Greco Roman and Freestyle Wrestling, was a 2x World Team Member and was also a 2xAll American for the University of Michigan.

Fraser’s athletic credentials certainly impress but what is even more impressive is his ability to pass on his success
to athletes under his watch. As the US National Team coach Fraser’s teams have; placed 3rd World championships in 2001 (the US’s best finish to that point) and won multiple world and Olympic individual medals and championships. The crowning moment of Steve’s coaching career was in 2007 when he lead the US squad to its first ever world championship title. 

One of the most amazing things that Coach Fraser did was instill a sense of cockeyed optimism in his athletes. While
I was an OTC athlete I remember seeing outlandish and lofty goals in the wrestling room like; “Win Olympic Championships, 6 medalists and 2 champions”, “Win World Championships, with 7 medalists”. To Steve these weren’t just words on a wall they were dreams with deadlines, they were solid and compelling goals. His desire for the US to succeed often exceeded that of the athlete’s themselves. 

Steve Fraser has had a hand in developing 23 World and/or Olympic medalists during his coaching career. Including one of the biggest upsets in Olympic history in which Rulon Gardner defeated the undefeated Alexander Karelin at the Sydney Australia Olympics in 2000. Karelin had been undefeated in competition for 16 years up to that point.

Over the years I’ve followed many a Facebook thread and forum
topic that talk about who is tougher in grappling, Jiu Jitsu and wrestling. Many
times these are interesting threads but most of them very one sided and written
by folks that think they know more than they do about the grappling arts.
Sometimes I laugh, sometimes I get frustrated, but mostly they make me
think.

I often wonder why it is that so many guys out there blatantly
pass over opportunities to get better. I wonder why in the world a grappler or
BJJ fighter wouldn’t want a fully developed takedown game. I wonder why a
wrestler crossing over to grappling and MMA wouldn’t want a fully developed
ground game. Sometimes it just boggles my mind. 

On top of that there are countless people who will only compete
in X organization or Y organization. As for me I want to compete in all of them
and win in all of them. At many events I’ve heard athletes complain about their
loss and how they would never fight in that org again. I can only assume had
they won they would decry the amazing benefits and awesome potential of that
same org. 
 
I must confess at one point I used to hate a certain grappling
organization. I felt they were completely unorganized and their capacity to run
an event was questionable. For years I didn’t compete there. I chose to find
other events that were better organized. 
 
Not participating because of losing was not part of that equation
even though I had both won and lost in that organization. In fact my general
mantra has been to compete under as many grappling flags as possible. I wanted
to find the groups that would best test my abilities and allow me the chance to
fight tough fighters and develop myself as an athlete. 
 
I loved the now defunct FILA grappling organization because there
were so many countries represented. I also loved the fact that I could fight
against international level wrestlers, judoka, MMA and BJJ fighters all in one
tournament. I also loved that as a heavyweight I finally had more guys to
compete with. Being a heavyweight sometimes means there are fewer opponents
available to compete against, this is generally true in wrestling as well. 
 
Usually at Grappler’s Quest and NAGA there aren’t a lot of
heavyweight guys so the brackets are smaller. Although I have to approach those
events with more of a ‘dual meet’ mentality I am grateful for the opportunity to
compete in them although they are often not as fulfilling as having a full
bracket of opponents. In the event that there are fewer opponents at my weight I
compete in the Absolute division which also gives another dimension. 
 
For me the whole point of competing is gaining more exposure to
the sport of grappling and allowing oneself the opportunity to see, do and
experience more grappling. The opportunity to test oneself is the real benefit.
 
I struggle with the way that many schools and athletes approach
competition. They hide themselves from risk and they fear losing more than they
desire true development. Many instructors won’t allow their students to compete
unless they know their student(s) will win. This is often solely fueled by the
instructor’s fear of losing business more than the concern about whether his
athlete(s) are prepared to compete. In every single grappling and BJJ tournament
I can think of there are multiple age, weight and skill divisions that allow
each competitor the opportunity to compete against someone of their own skill
level. If an instructor is holding you back from that what is he really teaching
you and more importantly what is he not teaching that he’s so afraid of you
competing?
 
Contrast that with wrestling tournaments where an athlete can go
up against a state or national champion in the first round whether they are
ready or not. When I began competing at the Open or Senior division at the US
Nationals at the age of 18 I didn’t have the luxury of competing against people
of my own age, weight and skill. I drew Mike VanArsdale, NCAA champion, US
National Team in Freestyle and former MMA fighter, the first round! That would
be the BJJ equivalent of being a high level blue belt and drawing Jeff Glover
for your first match!
 
I had absolutely no chance of winning but that wasn’t the point.
The point was that I was laying the foundation for future wins by losing then. I
was making that first step of confronting one of the best guys in the country
and learning that there was a higher level that I needed to
reach.
 
One of the things that I love most about grappling is that
athletes can have a chance to develop and grow on a much more conservative pace
if they need or want to. I hope more athletes will take advantage of the great
opportunities to compete. There are so many now that you can start at just
about any level for which you are ready.

Competition after all is merely a source of feedback about your
training and preparations. It shows you how you handle real time pressures and
stresses. It shows you where your technical strengths and weaknesses are
residing. It shows you your strategic strengths and weaknesses. 
 
Most athletes and coaches get so worked up over the winning and
losing part of competition that they miss the forest for the trees. Take a more
holistic look at your grappling experience and start giving tournaments and
yourself a chance.  


 

As I scroll through my LinkedIn and Facebook accounts I often
come across exceptional athletes who performed and excelled at the world level.
Many times these athletes are working in fields other than wrestling. As I am
one of those types of athletes (at least in Grappling/BJJ) I can understand the
desire to have a life outside of sport. 

What I wonder is have these athletes ever been approached to be
coaches within the USAW system? For example, Lee Kemp, 3 time world champion (4
x medalist) 4 x World cup champion, he is still in the wrestling world but why
isn’t he coaching within the USAW system? What about 2 x world medalist Joe
  Williams? Bruce Baumgartner? John Smith? I know Baumgartner and Smith are
  coaching at the colleges but why not in the USAW system? 

If I were someone in charge at USAW the first people I would hire
would be; 1- US Athletes who had won 2 or more medals in world or Olympic
  competition 2- Foreign Athletes who had won 2 or more medals in world or
  Olympic competition. Since Russia and other eastern bloc countries have several
  of those in their system it couldn’t be that hard to hire some of them could
  it? There’s gotta be someone out there with multiple medal wins willing to come
  here and help out. 

At one point Sergei Belaglozov was at the OTC in Colorado
  Springs. While he was there the “establishment” really didn’t capitalize on his
  knowledge or abilities. I wish I would have been more open in my own personal
  approach. I should’ve begged him to train me, sadly I was a wanna-be Greco guy
  looking right past a golden opportunity. 

At the 2012 Olympics only those athletes that had their personal
coaches on hand at the Olympics actually won medals. Adam Wheeler had Ivan
Ivanov, Coleman Scott had John Smith, Jake Varner had Cael Sanderson, Jordan
Burroughs had Mark Manning. I’m not sure if anyone else saw this as a very
important part of the success of these athletes but I found it fascinating.