GWC INTENSITY: HOW OLD IS TOO OLD FOR BACKYARD WRESTLING?
"35"... Or at least that's what I've always said. Some can extend past this mark with lots of effort towards conditioning but ultimately your body's elasticity decreases and years of scar tissue around the muscles take a toll. This is with several spouts of inflammation and unexpected injuries of all kinds to consider over time. Your ability to heal becomes weaker around the age of 29 and only a small few are able to keep going up against the pressures of social ridicule, family life, health concerns, financial peril, and overall dying passion for the sport due to constant disorganization and egos. I'd say 35 is a good time to consider taking your "swan song" match and retiring. However I do wholeheartedly agree with Tyreek Jenkins' statement which read as follows:
"Fun doesn't have a numeral."
- Tyreek Jenkins Sept. 2015
Besides who are "they" to tell us what's dignified anyway. This is our sport gentlemen. Our country club. My readers... let me direct you to the yarder's trusty gear bag. Every one of us has one. Its bag or suitcase we carry to the backyard containing everything we need to transform ourselves into the characters we have chosen for ourselves in this mad pursuit. There are many I have known and still do know that have kept their gear bag perfectly in tact. They are the truly passionate. The ones who still show up to the occasional match taping and dawn their worn out pads and costume all for the sheer glory of taking another spine tingling bump. They revel in carnal feeling of inflicting pain on their friends in the near unavoidable stiff striking exchanges and weapons spots. Perhaps there is some truth in the gladiatorial alludes made by those who reference the old retired gladiators returning to the colosseum for one last battle to please the mob they believe to love them.
For those who have never participated in backyard wrestling, the concept of such a practice can immediately seem utterly ridiculous or stupid. But for those who have been out there in that yard, its more than just the silly dangerous stunts of Jackass generation lunatics. Its a time honored tradition practiced all over the world that goes back to the earliest days of professional wrestling fan culture. Its become its own society. A sub-culture evolved beyond mere performance art knockoff and violent underground bloodsport. Backyard Wrestling is a human condition. The product of an unspoken need in today's modern society that grows more and more stoic by the day. Thus... Perhaps the "fun" which Tyreek mention.. , not only does not have an age a limit but in fact; truly can not have a limit.
Daniel K. Nelson 2019
"35"... Or at least that's what I've always said. Some can extend past this mark with lots of effort towards conditioning but ultimately your body's elasticity decreases and years of scar tissue around the muscles take a toll. This is with several spouts of inflammation and unexpected injuries of all kinds to consider over time. Your ability to heal becomes weaker around the age of 29 and only a small few are able to keep going up against the pressures of social ridicule, family life, health concerns, financial peril, and overall dying passion for the sport due to constant disorganization and egos. I'd say 35 is a good time to consider taking your "swan song" match and retiring. However I do wholeheartedly agree with Tyreek Jenkins' statement which read as follows:
"Fun doesn't have a numeral."
- Tyreek Jenkins Sept. 2015
Besides who are "they" to tell us what's dignified anyway. This is our sport gentlemen. Our country club. My readers... let me direct you to the yarder's trusty gear bag. Every one of us has one. Its bag or suitcase we carry to the backyard containing everything we need to transform ourselves into the characters we have chosen for ourselves in this mad pursuit. There are many I have known and still do know that have kept their gear bag perfectly in tact. They are the truly passionate. The ones who still show up to the occasional match taping and dawn their worn out pads and costume all for the sheer glory of taking another spine tingling bump. They revel in carnal feeling of inflicting pain on their friends in the near unavoidable stiff striking exchanges and weapons spots. Perhaps there is some truth in the gladiatorial alludes made by those who reference the old retired gladiators returning to the colosseum for one last battle to please the mob they believe to love them.
For those who have never participated in backyard wrestling, the concept of such a practice can immediately seem utterly ridiculous or stupid. But for those who have been out there in that yard, its more than just the silly dangerous stunts of Jackass generation lunatics. Its a time honored tradition practiced all over the world that goes back to the earliest days of professional wrestling fan culture. Its become its own society. A sub-culture evolved beyond mere performance art knockoff and violent underground bloodsport. Backyard Wrestling is a human condition. The product of an unspoken need in today's modern society that grows more and more stoic by the day. Thus... Perhaps the "fun" which Tyreek mention.. , not only does not have an age a limit but in fact; truly can not have a limit.
Daniel K. Nelson 2019
