osakarob's blog

Muscled young fighters constitute the majority of wrestlers in most commercial wrestling videos.

So it's heartening to see so many veteran grapplers making content on Watch Fighters these days. Very impressed with guys like Canwrestle, Krush, Singletman, Marcwrestler, Sir Dark, Fighting4Fun, Bo Jo, and The Colossus who are both still battling on the mats AND recording and sharing their work.

And there are tons of experienced mature guys also sharing their stuff with us here on the video section of MF. (WrestleDad, Bowolverine, SFBeef, Silex, RhodyRaybo, etc). There's actually way too many guys to even mention. So much great content has been shared by many.

(Apologies to any of these guys for characterizing them as "old". I just consider 40+ to be "seasoned" or a "veteran wrestler").

I uploaded my latest contribution to the older vs. older genre with the video titled Rivals: Hotel Fight. Hope you mature fans will check it out:

1. When plans change and a match gets cancelled – even up to the day it was planned –resolve to take perspective. Count your blessings and acknowledge the great encounters you’ve already had. One change of plans matters very little in the grand scheme of a lifetime of matches.

2. Enjoyable past opponents deserve to know how much you appreciated the experience with them. Resolve to tell them that the match meant more than just two bodies crashing together for a few hours. The wrestling connection two friends have is therapeutic for many – reminding us that we aren’t alone in the world and that others really care about us.

3. Resolve to try new wrestling styles. What you thought you didn’t like years ago may have changed when you experience it with a talented practitioner.

4. If fighting is important to you on any level – for sport, for eroticism, etc. – recognize that you’ll have to make some investment to make it happen. Don’t spend years pining away for the imaginary match with someone that you really want to meet. If money is the issue; save for it. If time is your challenge; find a way to make time. Naturally, those can be difficult – but life will pass you by regardless.

5. If there’s something about your appearance that you don’t like or feel precludes you from getting matches, be willing to critically ask yourself: “Can I actually do anything about this?” If the answer is yes; consider an action plan. If the answer is no; consider some additional level-setting with yourself. For example, one’s age, race, physical limitations, etc. are things that can’t be altered. But we can re-frame how we see ourselves and can recognize that there are others out there who may actually appreciate those qualities – it just might require more effort to find them.

6. Read the dude’s profile before you send them a message. Don’t waste their time or yours by sending out feelers to someone who’s match preferences don’t align with yours.

7. Keeping your wrestling interest private and your identity a secret is totally your call. You are entitled to discretion. However, asking a stranger to meet you for a match may require you share a face pic, a cell phone number, etc. Recognize your opponent deserves the same level of safety and respect that you do. Him asking for those things doesn’t violate your rights. It protects both of yours.

8. Matches are inherently physical and intimate. Regardless of whether you are doing it for sport or for eroticism, resolve to demonstrate respect your opponent by showing up clean and showered before your match (unless you’ve mutually agreed otherwise).

9. Resolve to make a donation to this site. MF is an extraordinarily helpful platform that provides us all with connections, photos, video, chat, and a genuine global community. If you value it as a service in your life; consider supporting it financially.

10. Resolve to be a better opponent in the coming year – in whatever way that makes sense to you. It can be big things such as picking up the tab for the ring rental if you can afford to and your opponent can’t……to small things such simply being polite and replying to messages you receive - even if they aren’t someone you’d like to meet. Our reputations are built moment to moment in life. And you’ll never know how or when yours will be defined. Cover your bases and resolve to strive to be better.

You've had a number of incredibly memorable matches, right? Perhaps even some that you've secretly replayed over and over again in your mind because they were so enjoyable. Everything about them was right: the opponent was perfect, the action was hot, and the outcome left a strong, positive memory for you to cherish for years.

A recent encounter with a new opponent got me thinking about the opposite: how many matches do we engage in across our wrestling lifetimes that leave no meaningful impression on us? Those matches that, in hindsight, seem like mere transactions: two bodies colliding for an hour or two - and then quickly forgotten.

My new friend and I had finished an hour of sweaty battling and at the end I remarked "You've had a lot of opponents. Which were most memorable for you?" As we all are apt to do, he pulled out his phone to MF and proceeded to scroll through his past opponents - a list of about 100 acquired over a decade or more - making comments about this one or that one.

As he named each one, he made a really brief comment: either positive or negative. But there were a significant number that he said he had no memory of! They were...utterly forgettable.

Several days later, I interacted with a headless torso on Twitter who messaged me indicating that we had met for a match 20 years earlier. "Did I remember him?" he wondered. Even after he had supplied his face pic, I had only a vague memory of the match. Naturally, I turned my curiosity inward. "I wonder how many of my own former opponents would rate the matches I've had with them as being unremarkable?" A good number I suspect.

So, I decided to write this and ask the wisdom of the MF group: What makes for a memorable match? Why do remember some way more than others? And, in the end, does it matter either way as long as both leave reasonably satisfied?