Post by Nighthawk on Oct 19, 2012 11:54:31 GMT -6
“Courage does not always roar.
Sometimes courage is the quiet voice
At the end of the day saying
‘I will try again tomorrow’.
-Mary Anne Radmacher
As Nighthawk sits in a tattoo shop in downtown Chicago, getting another tattoo added to the expansive list that he already has, one can’t help but see a kind of confusion in his ice-blue eyes. For whatever reason, ever since he arrived in NCW, a man who has defined himself by his mat-wrestling acumen has not had the chance to prove it yet.
And with the announcement of his next match being a triple-threat against two old rivals in JJ Biggs and Jake Keeton, it does not seem irrational to point out that he will not get the chance to demonstrate the true breadth and depth of his gifts. But while the “Wrestling Machine” might not get the chance to show his technical wrestling ability, he very easily can put himself back on the winning path.
And really, when you speak to the “Man of 1000 Holds”, that is the currency that he values the most. Winning, and doing it with the honor that has defined his life, is his greatest accomplishment.
But as Nighthawk gets up, the bandage on his left arm covering his latest tattoo, he slowly pulls on a black leather trenchcoat and heads out, only to be stopped in his track by a journalist from the local alternative newspaper.
Journalist, a pretty-ish twentysomething whose beauty is perhaps purposefully covered by a stunning amount of piercings and a garishly high purple Mohawk: “Hello, Tristan. I'm Reggie Bennett from the Red Eye newspaper. We are doing an article on catch-as-catch-can wrestling, or shoot wrestling if you prefer that term, and its influence on the wrestling scene here in the United States. Here, as one of its most respected practitioners, how do you respond to critics who proclaim this style to be something of an anachronism?”
Nighthawk, his eyes furrowed deep in thought as he tries to come up with an answer that no one has yet thought to ask him: “Well, most people when they think of me as a wrestler, if they even do, think of me in terms of the cravates I used to do with metronome-like frequency earlier in my career, or the arm work that I do now. But no one asked where I learned all of those old tricks, and even more than that, everyone had assumptions about where it was that I learned them, which is why no one bothered to ask. In 2012, everyone thinks that if you know some submission, it’s because you learned it from Brazilian jiu-jitsu. It’s understandable, except for one minor flaw.”
Reggie, curious: “What’s that, Tristan?”
Nighthawk: “Simply put, most of what BJJ does was invented by wrestlers first. The kimura, the hold the Gracies claim was named that after the man who beat Helio with it in 1949? That’s a double wristlock, a basic hold I teach my students at the Wrestle Factory to this very day. The triangle choke? Figure-4 headscissors. The list could go on, really. It’s endless. That’s why, after a brief flirtation with Brazilian jiu-jitsu, I'm back to my roots with shoot wrestling. The shame of that is that due to attrition, the men who can really teach shoot wrestling are dying out while BJJ just keeps replicating. I do the best I can, but it’s 2nd-hand information. And as far as its influence goes, think of this. Name me a top wrestler today, even someone who claims their technical superiority like Adam Knite or ‘The Ace’ Jake Conway, and I could point out that they use more shoot wrestling than they realize. I could also point out that I am a better pure technical wrestler than the both of them, but that is not germane to this story.”
Reggie, scribbling down: “You do realize that I can’t just let you get away with that, right?”
Nighthawk: “I understand. So I want to be crystal-clear because this will, more than likely, get me in a good bit of trouble in the locker room. Albeit, it’s trouble I can easily explain but trouble nonetheless. Have I achieved in NCW what those men have? Not even close, and I would be foolish beyond measure to try and claim that I have. But do I believe that I know more about technical wrestling than the both of them do? Yes. Of course. And I am sure that if you asked either one of them, they would say that they are better than me. But I am confident in saying this: I didn’t get my nom de guerre of the ‘Man of 1000 Holds’ without being comfortable in saying that if there’s a wrestler anywhere in the world who believes himself my better, all he has to do is ask and I will correct his error. Someday soon, when I have proven myself here more, I might find the challenge to do that with Adam Knite or ‘The Ace’ kind of interesting.”
Reggie, frantically scribbling as she now realizes that she has stumbled on to the type of article that could make a career: “And Tristan, one last question. How do you think that your newfound focus on mat wrestling is going to play for you against JJ Biggs and Jake Keeton when you face them this week?”
Nighthawk, smiling coolly: “Now, Reggie, I can’t answer that. not because I don’t have a plan, because I do. But rather, and I am sure you understand this, that I can’t just tell everyone what my plan is. But I will leave you with this bit of information: if you fancied yourself a fan of what I did before I came to NCW, you’ll get to see some of what you remember. And if you’re a fan in NCW, and wonder what all of the hype is about, you’ll get to see too.”
And with that, Nighthawk gets into his car and heads off to the Wrestle Factory, having said all that he feels comfortable saying on this topic.
A few hours later….
As Nighthawk paces around the Wrestle Factory, supervising his students due to his still-healing left arm, one can’t help but notice the hesitancy in his eyes. For while he clearly would want nothing more than to get in there and train with his students, his body, and more honestly the tenderness in his left arm, are preventing him from doing this. But as we look closer, the desperation and hesitancy is perhaps indicative of something else. because, perhaps for the first time, we see doubt in the eyes of the “Wrestling Machine” that he can be what he was before.
But as he is deep in thought, something appears to have clicked in his mind and he blows a whistle from around his neck. Drawing the attention of his students the “Man of 1000 Hold” slips a protective sleeve over his left arm and begins to roll with his pupils, the doubt slowly fading from his face and instead being replaced by a warm smile. Finally, we see Nighthawk back in his element.
A few hours later….
As Nighthawk sits down outside his school, shaking out his arm as he re-applies the protective sleeve, he slowly closes his eyes and closes and opens his fist a few times. Clad in a black Tokyo Sweethearts t-shirt, blue-and-orange wrestling shorts, and black wrestling shoes, Nighthawk slowly opens his eyes and removes the protective sleeve.
Nighthawk: “Familiarity is a dangerous thing in life. But it is especially dangerous in our sport. Familiarity can make you comfortable, and unwilling to do the hard work to get better because you already believe that you are as good as you have to be. That is a dangerous path, and it is one that I have spent my entire career trying to avoid traveling down. And yet, this week, I am being tested. No, I am wrong. Tested is not the word. Tested does not feel right for this situation that I am in. baited is the word that comes to mind. Like a fish on a hook, I am being challenged to see if two old rivals, two men I have faced more times than I have fingers on my hands to count, can draw me into bad habits.
But I have news for the men who made that match, and the two men who will be standing in the ring with me when it begins. If you think that, for one second, I will not adapt to you, that I will not defeat you, you are fools.
And that brings me first to my old rival, Jake Keeton. Because, to be perfectly honest, you are the man who I have to do the most adapting to. We have wrestled each other dozens of times. We’ve wrestled for titles, for tournaments, and sometimes because we needed to, because the hatred between us had reached a point that the only way to cool it was to face each other in the ring. But, and I don’t put too fine a point on this, this match feels bigger. Because this isn’t about winning a championship belt, or saying you could be the king of a particular continent.
This match, right here, is about proving something. So when I beat you this week, Jake, no titles will be on the line. No tournaments to win, no trophies to put on our mantles, but something deeper is at stake instead: something that you can’t identify with gold. I'm looking to earn someone’s respect.
Ever since I've arrived here, since the moment I put pen to paper and became part of the NCW roster, people have always looked at me and wondered what the hype was about, wondered if I deserved to be here, wondered why NCW decided to sign me to a contract in the 1st place. And up until this week, I have tried to give them an answer. I have tried to do it by giving people what I thought they wanted to see. That ends. This week, Jake, I will tap you out. And I will answer those questions the only way I know how: by being the absolute best wrestler that I can be.
Now, Jake, I'm not foolish. I may be confident, but I am not irrational. I know what beating you is going to require. I know what it’s going to take out of me. And I have made my peace with it. every mile that I have put on my body, every time I have been stretched to my breaking point in my gym, every hold I drilled over and over again until applying it perfectly was as easy to me as breathing, is preparation for a moment like this. Jake, there is nothing you can do to me, no pain that you can inflict, that will stop me from my appointed task. I will beat you, Jake, and you won’t be able to stop me from doing it.
But if I have a man with a shovel on one side of me, wanting nothing more than to put me in a grave, the other man in this little passion play of ours is coming into a battle with two men who at the very least respect each other. The other thing we have in common, besides that grudging respect for each other? Both of us hate you, JJ Biggs. The only difference is that we hate you for different reasons.
While I am sure that Jake will illuminate his hatred for you, let me explain why I can’t stand you. I don’t like someone whose sole reason and claim for success is because they won the genetic lottery. I had to train in Japan, Mexico, and Europe for years before I ever got the chance to main event a show in my hometown. I had to have my trainers torture me with every hold in the book before I earned the right to be a champion.
You, JJ, got your titles because you were bigger and stronger, not because you were better. The truth has always been this, JJ: You have never been better than me, JJ. Not once. And this week, JJ, I am going to prove it.
When I step in that ring with you, JJ, I am going to give you the wrestling lesson you never got. By the time I am finished, you will know once and for all that there is someone out there who is better
than you. And that man is me.
Now you might not believe I can do it. You might continue to labor under the false notion that because I am a light heavyweight, I can’t possibly prove a threat to you. this is a notion that should have faded years ago, if not decades ago, but nonetheless it still lingers, like a stench in a rusty attic. There is truly only one way, one proven way, to drag you out of the falsehoods that define your existence and into something more approaching truth. I have to tap you out.
That’s the only way this works. So this week, JJ, that’s what I will do. I will make you tap out. And I will make you understand that I am better than you.
Goodnight gentlemen. May sleep give you the courage to go
on.”
Sometimes courage is the quiet voice
At the end of the day saying
‘I will try again tomorrow’.
-Mary Anne Radmacher
As Nighthawk sits in a tattoo shop in downtown Chicago, getting another tattoo added to the expansive list that he already has, one can’t help but see a kind of confusion in his ice-blue eyes. For whatever reason, ever since he arrived in NCW, a man who has defined himself by his mat-wrestling acumen has not had the chance to prove it yet.
And with the announcement of his next match being a triple-threat against two old rivals in JJ Biggs and Jake Keeton, it does not seem irrational to point out that he will not get the chance to demonstrate the true breadth and depth of his gifts. But while the “Wrestling Machine” might not get the chance to show his technical wrestling ability, he very easily can put himself back on the winning path.
And really, when you speak to the “Man of 1000 Holds”, that is the currency that he values the most. Winning, and doing it with the honor that has defined his life, is his greatest accomplishment.
But as Nighthawk gets up, the bandage on his left arm covering his latest tattoo, he slowly pulls on a black leather trenchcoat and heads out, only to be stopped in his track by a journalist from the local alternative newspaper.
Journalist, a pretty-ish twentysomething whose beauty is perhaps purposefully covered by a stunning amount of piercings and a garishly high purple Mohawk: “Hello, Tristan. I'm Reggie Bennett from the Red Eye newspaper. We are doing an article on catch-as-catch-can wrestling, or shoot wrestling if you prefer that term, and its influence on the wrestling scene here in the United States. Here, as one of its most respected practitioners, how do you respond to critics who proclaim this style to be something of an anachronism?”
Nighthawk, his eyes furrowed deep in thought as he tries to come up with an answer that no one has yet thought to ask him: “Well, most people when they think of me as a wrestler, if they even do, think of me in terms of the cravates I used to do with metronome-like frequency earlier in my career, or the arm work that I do now. But no one asked where I learned all of those old tricks, and even more than that, everyone had assumptions about where it was that I learned them, which is why no one bothered to ask. In 2012, everyone thinks that if you know some submission, it’s because you learned it from Brazilian jiu-jitsu. It’s understandable, except for one minor flaw.”
Reggie, curious: “What’s that, Tristan?”
Nighthawk: “Simply put, most of what BJJ does was invented by wrestlers first. The kimura, the hold the Gracies claim was named that after the man who beat Helio with it in 1949? That’s a double wristlock, a basic hold I teach my students at the Wrestle Factory to this very day. The triangle choke? Figure-4 headscissors. The list could go on, really. It’s endless. That’s why, after a brief flirtation with Brazilian jiu-jitsu, I'm back to my roots with shoot wrestling. The shame of that is that due to attrition, the men who can really teach shoot wrestling are dying out while BJJ just keeps replicating. I do the best I can, but it’s 2nd-hand information. And as far as its influence goes, think of this. Name me a top wrestler today, even someone who claims their technical superiority like Adam Knite or ‘The Ace’ Jake Conway, and I could point out that they use more shoot wrestling than they realize. I could also point out that I am a better pure technical wrestler than the both of them, but that is not germane to this story.”
Reggie, scribbling down: “You do realize that I can’t just let you get away with that, right?”
Nighthawk: “I understand. So I want to be crystal-clear because this will, more than likely, get me in a good bit of trouble in the locker room. Albeit, it’s trouble I can easily explain but trouble nonetheless. Have I achieved in NCW what those men have? Not even close, and I would be foolish beyond measure to try and claim that I have. But do I believe that I know more about technical wrestling than the both of them do? Yes. Of course. And I am sure that if you asked either one of them, they would say that they are better than me. But I am confident in saying this: I didn’t get my nom de guerre of the ‘Man of 1000 Holds’ without being comfortable in saying that if there’s a wrestler anywhere in the world who believes himself my better, all he has to do is ask and I will correct his error. Someday soon, when I have proven myself here more, I might find the challenge to do that with Adam Knite or ‘The Ace’ kind of interesting.”
Reggie, frantically scribbling as she now realizes that she has stumbled on to the type of article that could make a career: “And Tristan, one last question. How do you think that your newfound focus on mat wrestling is going to play for you against JJ Biggs and Jake Keeton when you face them this week?”
Nighthawk, smiling coolly: “Now, Reggie, I can’t answer that. not because I don’t have a plan, because I do. But rather, and I am sure you understand this, that I can’t just tell everyone what my plan is. But I will leave you with this bit of information: if you fancied yourself a fan of what I did before I came to NCW, you’ll get to see some of what you remember. And if you’re a fan in NCW, and wonder what all of the hype is about, you’ll get to see too.”
And with that, Nighthawk gets into his car and heads off to the Wrestle Factory, having said all that he feels comfortable saying on this topic.
A few hours later….
As Nighthawk paces around the Wrestle Factory, supervising his students due to his still-healing left arm, one can’t help but notice the hesitancy in his eyes. For while he clearly would want nothing more than to get in there and train with his students, his body, and more honestly the tenderness in his left arm, are preventing him from doing this. But as we look closer, the desperation and hesitancy is perhaps indicative of something else. because, perhaps for the first time, we see doubt in the eyes of the “Wrestling Machine” that he can be what he was before.
But as he is deep in thought, something appears to have clicked in his mind and he blows a whistle from around his neck. Drawing the attention of his students the “Man of 1000 Hold” slips a protective sleeve over his left arm and begins to roll with his pupils, the doubt slowly fading from his face and instead being replaced by a warm smile. Finally, we see Nighthawk back in his element.
A few hours later….
As Nighthawk sits down outside his school, shaking out his arm as he re-applies the protective sleeve, he slowly closes his eyes and closes and opens his fist a few times. Clad in a black Tokyo Sweethearts t-shirt, blue-and-orange wrestling shorts, and black wrestling shoes, Nighthawk slowly opens his eyes and removes the protective sleeve.
Nighthawk: “Familiarity is a dangerous thing in life. But it is especially dangerous in our sport. Familiarity can make you comfortable, and unwilling to do the hard work to get better because you already believe that you are as good as you have to be. That is a dangerous path, and it is one that I have spent my entire career trying to avoid traveling down. And yet, this week, I am being tested. No, I am wrong. Tested is not the word. Tested does not feel right for this situation that I am in. baited is the word that comes to mind. Like a fish on a hook, I am being challenged to see if two old rivals, two men I have faced more times than I have fingers on my hands to count, can draw me into bad habits.
But I have news for the men who made that match, and the two men who will be standing in the ring with me when it begins. If you think that, for one second, I will not adapt to you, that I will not defeat you, you are fools.
And that brings me first to my old rival, Jake Keeton. Because, to be perfectly honest, you are the man who I have to do the most adapting to. We have wrestled each other dozens of times. We’ve wrestled for titles, for tournaments, and sometimes because we needed to, because the hatred between us had reached a point that the only way to cool it was to face each other in the ring. But, and I don’t put too fine a point on this, this match feels bigger. Because this isn’t about winning a championship belt, or saying you could be the king of a particular continent.
This match, right here, is about proving something. So when I beat you this week, Jake, no titles will be on the line. No tournaments to win, no trophies to put on our mantles, but something deeper is at stake instead: something that you can’t identify with gold. I'm looking to earn someone’s respect.
Ever since I've arrived here, since the moment I put pen to paper and became part of the NCW roster, people have always looked at me and wondered what the hype was about, wondered if I deserved to be here, wondered why NCW decided to sign me to a contract in the 1st place. And up until this week, I have tried to give them an answer. I have tried to do it by giving people what I thought they wanted to see. That ends. This week, Jake, I will tap you out. And I will answer those questions the only way I know how: by being the absolute best wrestler that I can be.
Now, Jake, I'm not foolish. I may be confident, but I am not irrational. I know what beating you is going to require. I know what it’s going to take out of me. And I have made my peace with it. every mile that I have put on my body, every time I have been stretched to my breaking point in my gym, every hold I drilled over and over again until applying it perfectly was as easy to me as breathing, is preparation for a moment like this. Jake, there is nothing you can do to me, no pain that you can inflict, that will stop me from my appointed task. I will beat you, Jake, and you won’t be able to stop me from doing it.
But if I have a man with a shovel on one side of me, wanting nothing more than to put me in a grave, the other man in this little passion play of ours is coming into a battle with two men who at the very least respect each other. The other thing we have in common, besides that grudging respect for each other? Both of us hate you, JJ Biggs. The only difference is that we hate you for different reasons.
While I am sure that Jake will illuminate his hatred for you, let me explain why I can’t stand you. I don’t like someone whose sole reason and claim for success is because they won the genetic lottery. I had to train in Japan, Mexico, and Europe for years before I ever got the chance to main event a show in my hometown. I had to have my trainers torture me with every hold in the book before I earned the right to be a champion.
You, JJ, got your titles because you were bigger and stronger, not because you were better. The truth has always been this, JJ: You have never been better than me, JJ. Not once. And this week, JJ, I am going to prove it.
When I step in that ring with you, JJ, I am going to give you the wrestling lesson you never got. By the time I am finished, you will know once and for all that there is someone out there who is better
than you. And that man is me.
Now you might not believe I can do it. You might continue to labor under the false notion that because I am a light heavyweight, I can’t possibly prove a threat to you. this is a notion that should have faded years ago, if not decades ago, but nonetheless it still lingers, like a stench in a rusty attic. There is truly only one way, one proven way, to drag you out of the falsehoods that define your existence and into something more approaching truth. I have to tap you out.
That’s the only way this works. So this week, JJ, that’s what I will do. I will make you tap out. And I will make you understand that I am better than you.
Goodnight gentlemen. May sleep give you the courage to go
on.”