Class Update for 1-29-2006

Well, I went to class today, but I was twenty minutes late due to the monsoon we were having, and all the way to Portland I was hydroplaning all over the place. And once I got there it didn't get any better! I guess everyone has those days, nothing goes right. It seemed like the most basic of moves was more complicated then usual. I arrived just in time for Colonel DeBeers big announcement: next week a promoter is coming to scout for new talent for a promotion he has in Idaho. If he is interested in you then you have to move there, but that's a pretty big step for newbies who are just learning their trade. Being paid, and making your living wrestling is the proverbial foot in the door at the smaller promotions. But don't worry, faithful readers, I am no where near being ready, so I will be still attending the school, honing my craft as a yet unsigned professional.

In undertaking this endeavor I depend a lot on feedback from you, my readers, as to what works on this blog and what doesn't. I know most of my entries have been mini novels, but I had a lot of ground to cover in introducing me and my cause to you. The more I post , the less I find I have to cover, so future entries should be quite a bit shorter. However I invite each and every one of you to post a comment, tell me what you think! Do you like it? Does this blog suck? What would you do, or not do? More personally, anyone who has any experience wrestling on the professional level PLEASE pass on to me any pearl of wisdom you may have. I am not doing this alone, I am taking each and everyone of you with me, lets see just how far we can go in chasing down this dream! I plan on adding a guest book really soon, please stop by and sign it, I promise if you leave your email address I will respond to each and every one. With my hard work, your support and a little luck we can do this thing!

Wow, the things you find over the internet!

Well, today it was rainy and cold, so I decided to stay inside and mess around on the web. Kind of take some time to prepare myself mentally for tomorrows session of mat work at class. I have been working on my blog a lot behind the scenes, trying to figure out how the heck you put a hit counter on and things like that (FINALLY figured it out)when, to my surprise, I typed my name in to pull my blog up and it appears I am not the only one with my last name on here! My cousin Dylan has a blog here at Blogspot (his being devoted to more worthwhile causes then mine is), and in short order I followed some links from his page that sent me to my Uncle "Wonny's" and Aunt Wandas pages respectfully. They are quite a group and I am proud of all of them in each of their endeavors, so I thought I would share a personal insight into my family. And Dylan, if it chaps your arse that I am bringing you down a level or two in class by including you in my blog then so be it. I am trying to ride your coattails to greatness!

This portrait is of Dylan when he was about twelve years old or so. I am a couple of years older then he is, but when we were kids we hung out quite a bit. I would go spend weekends at his house and longer stretches over summer vacations. There always was a definite difference between us, I was the jock and liked to rough house, he was more reserved and the artistic kind. But I think we melded together so well because we both brought subtle differences to the table. We always had a blast when we were together and it is those memories that are some of the happiest from my youth. When Dylan graduated high school he went on to Western Michigan University and earned a degree in creative writing. And while that would have sufficed for most people, he took it a step further. Well, a mile and a half further actually. He went to graduate school and I think a little beyond. His writing work has seen him to Europe, where he studied under some literary greats, (don't ask me who, I couldn't name them just like he couldn't name who headlined at last years Wrestlemania) and currently, last I heard anyway, he is trying to write the proverbial great American novel. I have read some of the things he has written, and believe me, the kids got skills. Except for his vendetta against Jesus (it pops up quite frequently in his writings, I HOPE just for shock value), I feel that greatness is truly in his future. You can check out his blog at "The Velvet Goldmine". It is a true haven of an artist community.

The portrait to the right is of my Uncle Ron. He's Dylans dad, and the only uncle I have on my Dads side. If I was to make a comparison between him and my own dad it would be like night and day, kind of like the differences between Dylan and myself. Where my father was, oh, shall we say, a bit on the moody side, Uncle Ron was more laid back. Both my Dad and Uncle Ron were(Well, in Uncle Ron's Case is) musicians,my Uncle really excelled in the field. My Dad had to provide for a rather large family (seven of us kids),my Uncle was fortunate with having one child,so he was in a way better position to chase his dream. I could go on forever here regaling you with his accolades, but just suffice it to say he has worked with some of the biggest names in the music industry, John Mellencamp, Iggy Pop, REO Speedwagon just to name a few. He currently plays with a band out of Michigan called The Bashers, where he writes and performs his original music. I guess it is officially of Rock and Pop extraction, but if I had to describe it I would parallel him closely with the likes of Paul McCartney. He has a webpage that tells you all about his music, and I highly recommend it as it is really good. There is a link to a site where you can hear seven or eight of his songs, I am especially fond of the one "Tip a Few", it has gotten a lot of airplay on the radio back home in Muskegon. You can check it out HERE. If you don't want to check out the page, but want to hear some really cool music you can d/l some of his music HERE. Just click on search at the top, and in the artist box type in Ronnie Hock. His songs will come up, I recommend you listen to "Tip a Few" first. I haven't seen him in about three years or so, but I talk to him occasionally and I miss him very much. I am so proud that he is my Uncle.

The above portraits were courtesy of Wanda Cline, and as you probably guessed by now, she is an artist and my Aunt. If I had to describe Wanda it would be as Bambi, for all the years I have known her I have never, ever heard her raise her voice. I have never seen her angry and I have never seen her anything but happy. She makes a loud impression just by her quiet ways and she is the most gentle person I have ever met. As far as her artwork is concerned, it speaks for itself. I look at her work and am just awed by how good it is. I am not an art critic, but her paintings are as good as anything I have seen anywhere. As unqualified an opinion as mine may be, if I never met her before and I was in the market for a portrait, she would be the one getting the job. She has a website where you can see her work, and if you are interested, information on how to commission her services. It can be found HERE.

Wow, what a long entry. I guess that I was just excited to share with my faithful fans (all three or four of them) a little bit of what has made me a part of who I am. I hope you enjoyed it, and please, check out the links I put out, you won't be sorry, believe me. I think it's time for me to get some shut eye, as tomorrow, bright and early, I hit the mats,and I can't wait to come back and give you an update on my progress.

WAPW! WAPW!!

Good morning all. I couldn't sleep well last night, the result of eating dinner a little too late and Mr Heartburn came a-calling. But eating late couldn't be helped as thats the price you pay to be a mover and a shaker on the pig farm.

I don't think this will be a very long post as I don't have much to report other then WAPW (!). WAPW stands for Western America Professional Wrestling, and it's a promotion that Ed Baker put together and some of the better students in class perform in. A link to the Website can be found here: WESTERN AMERICA PROFESSIONAL WRESTLING.Some of these kids are quite good, and I have no doubt that they just might make a bit of a bang in the exciting world of professional wrestling.



Ok, now for my legions and legions of three or four fans, I have a gift to you. I know how you all enjoy my blog (Yeah right, as I have not yet reached the masses, how about helping me advertise with a little word of mouth here?) I first got turned onto the exciting world of blogging by reading Percy Pringles blog that he updates regularly. On his site you can find a general store where you can purchase autographed merchandise, and currently he's Hawking (Please pardon the name pun) a series of shoot interviews he did with Ring Of Honor. I have ordered these, and you can expect a full review at a later date. He also has a section called storytime archives, and I absolutely love these as he recounts a lot of personal stories of his life, as well as anecdotes of his time in the wrestling business. I didn't mention his site before as I wanted to get his permission first on account as I feel it was the right thing to do, and through an email I think he gave it. He didn't say no anyway. He is a wonderfully kind man and for you true blue wrestling fans I strongly urge you to patronize his site. The link to it can be found here: www.percypringle.com.



One more order of business. I attend the wrestling school of Playboy Buddy Rose and Colonel DeBeers. I know, duh, right? Well, the Playboy has his very own website where you can find information on the school, a store, questions and answers, a ton of pictures and a ton of intersting facts. And for those of you in the Pacific Northwest who may harbor a dream...by all means contact a guy by the name of Ron Carleton. There is a link on the site that will patch you directly to the email, if you have questions about the school, or just want to find out a little more information then he will definatley pass your name to Buddy and Colonel and they WILL call you back. Between the two of them they have been wrestling for like 60 years or so, and have wrestled some of the biggest names in the industry, guys like Andre the Giant, Shawn Michaels, Sgt Slaughter and on and on and on. Buddy was even in the very first Wrestlemania. He wrestled in the first match of what has become an industry icon against Tito Santana. (Buddy wrestled under a mask as the Executioner.) The link to Buddys site can be found here: playboybuddyrose.com.

Well, that should do it for now. Give a look to both Percy Pringles and Playboy Buddy Roses sites, if you enjoy reading blogs, they make mine look rather amateurish. Well, maybe because mine is.

Oh No, I Didn't Go!!!!!

Well, I can report that due to minor logistical problems , I missed class this past Sunday. I got up that morning, stumbled to the shower to freshen up (First rule of etiquette is when you wrestle, keep up on the the personal hygene, or you will here about it.) And DID NOT go to class, due to circumstances outside my control. However, I do have much to report to you, as my girlfriend read my blog for the first time, and in her words "demands a re-write." It seems I was not as clear on some issues as she would have liked. So, without any further verbal nonsense, Keidi, honey, this is for you.

Where to start, where to start. Keidi and myself have been together for about five years now. We met, of all places, over the internet and me, being the free spirit that I am, sold everything I owned and moved from Michigan all the way out west to the beautiful state of Oregon. A side note here for you non Oregonians~~~if you ever come here DO NOT pronounce Oregon the way you have always been taught, the locals pronounce it phonetically OREGUN. They just hate it when you say it the other way. Anyway, in my very first blog entry the way I wrote it was that "I had the house next door to my neighbor, Rick..." well, I should have said it more accuratley that my sweet, adorable most wonderful girlfriend had the house next door, so when I moved in with her, Rick was my neighbor by proxy. And furthermore, she would like it known and in type for you all to see that I wouldn't have known Rick, let alone now be employed by him at the present time NOR have a place to live (Whatever in the world would I do?)if it wasn't, in fact, for her. Thanks honey!

In all truth, I love that woman with all my heart. Boy is she a character! I always told her that if she was rich she would be called eccentric, but since she is just a ham~and~egger like the most of us, she is just wierd. I don't tell her this enough, but I love her because she doesn't try to kill the little boy in me, even though sometimes I know I drive her crazy. Think about it, at an age when being a professional wrestler should be the furthest thing from my mind, she supports me and lets me "go play" as boy's will be boys. She doesn't tell me I am wasting my time, as I very well may be, even though she is careful to point out that my time IS her time, especially on the weekends, with that following the time honored tradition of most couples; whats his is hers, and whats hers is hers. She has two wonderful kids, Kelsey who is soon to be 14 (MY GOSH..!!! 14!) and Karter, 9. And I love them very much. I think I won her over on the wrestling thing on the premise that in my quest to become the BEST WRESTLER TO NEVER MAKE THE BIG TIME, she was coming along for the ride as well. I love ya honey!

Well, enough sentimental bull crap. By hook or crook I will be at this weekends wrestling class, and I hope to have some worthy news to report. Be prepared for many possible future re-writes on my blog concerning my girlfriend, as she is quickly proving to be one of my legions of three or four fans, and my number one critic!

Until next time I bid you all a fond adieu!

Self Doubt, And Other Musings

Ok, Ok, my body feels next to normal today. But in two days I head back up to Portland and hit the mat again for another bone shattering episode in wrestling school.

I don't know. Buddy Rose keeps telling me to keep working hard as there are some wrestling events coming up, but I am no where near being even close to in ring ready. I do have to admit that I am doing ok for the time I have put in, I know a lot of the basics as far as taking safe bumps, but my in ring repetoir of moves leaves a lot to be desired. The predominate themes is safety, and I do not attempt anything, no matter how simple it looks until I am walked through thoroughly. But, that will come in time, which leads me to my other dilemma.

PSYCHOLOGY. Other then safety in knowing how to work itself, psychology is the number one most important aspect of the art. Like I have explained in previous posts wrestling in the pro ranks amounts to you telling a story with your body. The subtle nuances, the little pauses, facial expressions, emphasises on that part of a move, the flowing with of others, it all melds into one seamless sentence in the chapter of the story you are telling. It is said that the likes of Ric Flair and Shawn Michaels could have a decent match with a broom because they are masters of their craft. That they could wrestle a very sub par wrestler and "carry" them to a decent match. I beg to differ, where I am at in my wrestling, I could make Superman stink up the joint. But I am working hard and I might have a cheerier outlook for my next post afterclass on Sunday. Stay tuned.

HELLO? DO YOU REMEMBER ME?

Oh, wow. It's been a while since I have been able to visit my blog, and I know the tens of tens of faithful readers (yeah right) have been waiting with baited eagerness on my next entry. So, without further delay lets go!

I last left off with my sojourn into Church to celebrate Christmas with the fam, and a bit has happened since then. A week before Christmas I came down with pneumonia that sidelined me for a couple weeks, but now I am back, and better then ever. I, however, have had the opportunity to attend only one more session of class at the wrestling school,and for a beginner that's huge as you need every second of available instruction, as the clock is ticking.

It is Tuesday as I write this, and this past Sunday I went through the normal paces at class, and I am just as sore now as I was Sunday afternoon. We opened up class with going the obligatory flip bumps, back bumps and then jumped into wrestling. In my first match my novice status was magnified with the fact that I missed the last three classes, resulting in several blown spots. In one I was shot into the ropes, was supposed to duck a clothesline, hit the ropes again and take a clotheline, but I, of course, missed the duck part and took the clotheline off the bat. When that happens it throws the wrestler you are working with way off, because when you are wrestling you are telling a story with your body. So you might be in the middle of a sentence in your story, sort of speaking, and a blown spot is the equivilent of someone snatching the book and closing the cover, so you have to find your page again. Luckily, in my class, I for one am in the beginners learning course, so I guess I am stuck at the Dick And Jane stories, so finding the page isn't that hard to do. However in front of a paying crowd, it can be disasterous. The match ended with me getting frog splashed (Far and away the most popular finisher in the school)and "doing the job" for my opponent.

Oh, the fun I had with my second match! I was in a three man tag and I thought I was doing so well! Since I am relativley new at this my arsenal of moves doesn't have alot in it yet (ones I can do safely anyway) so I am doing my best with the basic headlocks, turnbuckle headshots, and for me, my high spot of holding onto my opponents arm as I climb to the first rope (Havn't graduated to second rope spots yet) and drop a furious forearm across the arm of my opponent. The match ended with all six of us in the ring kicking each others butts, and somehow one of my tag team partners got pinned with the traditional, yet effective, schoolboy. I wasn't paying much attention, as I was in the middle of being double teamed in the corner.

We ended class with a gauntlet match. That kind of match is when two wrestlers start off, when one loses, he leaves the ring and the winner stays. I was the third or fourth wrestler in, lasted about two minutes and got pinned cleanly, the result of me being given my first ever DDT on the top of my head. A DDT is scary, because if it is done wrong you can break, or get your neck broke, very easily. However, mine was done safely, and I was free to go home. However, on my way out the door Playboy Buddy Rose pulled me aside and paid me a great compliment by saying I did very well. To be honest with everyone, I don't know if he really meant it, or was trying to give me positive reinforcement. But either way, it was welcomed and appreciated, and I am looking forward to the next class.

Well, that aught to do it for now. Until next time my friends!