A Wrestling Poem: Dojo Wrestler El Dorado Hills

     Wrestling had a tremendous impact on my life growing up. We had a wrestling class when I was in elementary school and the high school coach who was our Physical Education teacher, structured the wrestling curriculum for everyone to have fun on the mat. Although I was first exposed to wrestling in fifth grade it wasn't until I was in eighth grade after I was cut from the basketball team when I began wrestling. Most of my friends were trying out for the basketball team and who didn't want to play in the NBA when they grew up. Not making the basketball team was probably one of the best things that happened to me. It was the first time in my life where I could see progress as a result of working hard.
     For the second summer in a row EDH Grappling will be hosting Summer Dojo Wrestler.  A wrestling program designed for local wrestlers from different schools to develop skills, improve, motivate and encourage one another while educating the public and becoming ambassadors to preserve wrestling as an essential sport in scholastic athletics. Here is a little more information about how Dojo Wrestler started.

     Dojo Wrestler is an innovative concept I started to implement after I began learning Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. I found that Jiu Jitsu taught and preached some of the same lessons that applied to the core of wrestling. During the process of earning my black belt in jiu jitsu, I began to realize the roots of wrestlings as being self defense and a type of martial art. At the same time, I also noticed how those roots have diminished over time.  Recently, we've seen an enormous drop in collegiate wrestling programs on the west coast, University or Oregon, Fresno State, Cal State Fullerton, UC Davis, UCLA, UC Berkeley, Arizona State (Although they were brought back with the financial support of a donor), Portland State University, are only a few programs that have been cut in recent years. I believe this is a result of wrestling becoming more of a sport and less of a martial art. Dojo Wrestlers are wrestlers who face the challenge of improving their wrestling on the mat and in turn facing the challenges off the mat. Our first off the mat project for 2013 Dojo Wrestler was to write and present a wrestling poem.
     These poems, some silly and some serious, reflect the wrestlers ability to put into words the work, time, dedication, effort, and teamwork required to be successful on and off the mat. Although it is a very difficult task to express the mental, physical, and metaphysical expression of wrestling in words, these Dojo Wrestlers have stepped up to the challenge of making that connection and expression what they do while  wrestling.

Eliot Kelly

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