Jennifer joins a gym

Jennifer knew that if she wanted to get anywhere in the upcoming WSW Rookie tournament, she would need to improve her mat skills. There was just so much that she did not know about the sport and her lack of experience really showed in her match against Samantha. Learning about wrestling holds and maneuvers through Internet research could only take her so far too. She needed hands-on training. While Samantha made a good training partner, neither of them had a proper venue to train in. According to her research, the standard ring for Women;s Submission Wrestling is based on the Olympic wrestling standards. A 12m x 12m square (39.37ft x 39.37ft) with a 9m diameter circle (39.53ft) in the center. It seemed fitting to Jen that they went with Olympic standards since the Olympic games themselves were performed nude, back in ancient times, to prevent women from competing.

The only place to get the proper in ring experience would be in a gym or a fitness center that housed the regulation sized mats. Jen researched her town for nearby spots and found a few that held promise. There were regulation sized mats in her school that held the most promise. If they had mats there, they must hold wrestling lessons. She looked up wrestling programs that her school offered, but it was the middle of the school year and most of the classes offered were already in mid session. She needed a beginner’s course that she could start from the beginning.

She wondered if she could get Sam to come along and maybe train together with her. With both their work and school schedules, it was hard enough to find a time they’d both be available, but adding to it the open hours of the gym and reserving a time to access the wrestling mats, Jen wasn’t too confident about setting that up. She did, however, find walk-ins sessions to gym members who wanted to use the space. The free session for wrestling was in the middle of the week, in the evening. It didn’t conflict with any of Jen’s classes and would be after store hours for the comic shop that Sam worked in. It was a time they both could attend!

Samantha was a little hesitant at first to become a gym member, but after some convincing, Jen got her training partner to join her. Relieved that she wouldn’t have to go alone, she met up with Samantha later that week at her school gym.

The gymnasium was large and sectioned off for various activities. A section of it was set up with the wrestling floor mats she had seen in her research. Other sections of the gym were being used for fencing, badminton and gymnastic floor exercises. Each activity was self contained and didn’t interfere with the others.

Unlike the professional wrestling rings she’d seen on TV, the amateur wrestling mats weren’t confined to ropes like a boxing ring. As the girls approached the mats, they could already see them in use by a group of people. The group was mostly guys, but there were a few girls as well watching the match in progress.

Jen and Sam put their bags down and sat to watch the match as well. It was a traditional amateur spar with the two guys in full wrestling gear, a leotard and headgear. Jen noticed a few of the spectators in similar getup. She wondered if she had dressed wrong, wearing gym shorts and a sports top. Sam had worn sweatpants and a form fitting runner’s top.

“Hey, are you here for the wrestling session?” an older man asked her and Sam. He appeared to be the organizer. He had a polo shirt on and was holding a clipboard.

“Yeah… we just joined the gym!” she replied, looking to Sam who nodded in agreement.

“Have you any wrestling experience?” he asked.

Jennifer shook her head. “Not really.”

“Just some of the basics,” Sam revealed. Jen turned to her in surprise and she shrugged. Jen guessed that she must have picked up most of her skills as a submission wrestler.

“That’s alright,” the man said. “We have a few rookies that are about your weight class and on your level.” He waved over a couple of the girls. “Sonya, Brenda! We have a couple of new sparring partners for you!”

A couple of young ladies turned from the match and approached Jen and Sam. Sonya was a tall blonde that bared tight abs under her crop top. Brenda was in a wrestler’s unitard and looked much stockier. Jen didn’t have much confidence in taking her down.

It turned out that this was a casual meet, so they didn’t require proper ring gear, but the man with the clipboard, Coach Daniels, did suggest they get protective equipment for future sessions. The coach let them have a ring dedicated to themselves and even stuck around to help them out with the basics and to officiate their first few spars. He seemed to enjoy teaching them and having fresh faces around.

Getting a feel of the ring and the positions was new for Jen. The rules to amateur wrestling were different to professional and submission, but she caught on quickly. There was a point system for pinning the opponent and when they wrestled out of bounds, they had to return to the center and position themselves based on who was on top before they ringed out.

Not surprisingly, Samantha picked it up much faster, ably scoring wins over Jen and was even able to get a win over Sonya in their second match. Brenda appeared to be the most experienced of their small group, going undefeated in all their matches. She even offered tips to Jen about her balance and positioning. The four of them got along well and Jen looked forward to meeting them again the next week.

The morning after the meet, Jen’s woke up staring at the ceiling, unable to move! Her entire body was stiff. She struggled to get to class on time, toughing out the aches and pains. She didn’t want to use medication that could hinder her ability to study, but her battered body was becoming a distraction. She decided to check if her gym had any physical therapy to help. Thankfully, they offered massage sessions and there was an opening this week!

Jen signed up right away. It was a pretty late session, but she didn’t care, she wanted to get relief as soon as possible.