(photo courtesy of Larry Utley)
Growing up, most of my summers were spent at the local swimming pools. When I wasn't at the pool, I was playing baseball or softball, or battling the waves at the ocean. For most of my childhood, I was on the summer swimteam, which meant daily morning swim-practices. I would often stay at the pool after practice, or I would ride my bicycle home for lunch and come back to the pool later. Both of the local pools where I spent my time were a bikable distance from where I lived.
As I began to hit puberty, the pools were great places for me to meet boys, or see the boys from school who I had crushes on...We often played games of marco polo, or swim-tag. It was during games of tag that I first began to enjoy informal wrestling, as I fought for the ladder which was base. This was especially fun if I liked the person I was fighting. Sometimes the game of tag would disintegrate into an hours-long wrestling match. Oh, how I loved this!
Wrestling was perhaps my earliest exploration of power dynmaics - a fully engaging way of establishing who was in control.
More specifically, wrestling was also one of the earliest ways in which I challenged gender norms - I was always ready to fight if someone accused me of not being able to do something because I was a girl.
As an adult this is one thing that hasn't really changed. I often playfully and informally wrestle with my friends and lovers. They often don't have quite the stamina for it is I do. This is why I especially enjoy the formal mixed wrestling matches. I love breaking out the mats, and breaking a sweat while tangling with someone who is often much bigger than me. How sweet is my victory when I have successfully forced someone twice my size into submission!
And I don't always win. But I don't give up easily. In a pins match, I try to escape as quickly as possible. In a submission match, I will squirm and maneuver until I have found a way to turn the tables. I usually only tap out if I absolutely have to.
Oh, wrestling is fun, and satisfying on a deep, sweaty level.
