part two of two Why Russians are better than Americans at wrestling

[MaidenProphecy]

@tacobell71,,bitch makkikomi gurami osoto tai otoshi with broken bottles and glass in a pit.ippon seoi nage kata garuma in the parking lot!

[Qasim705]

I am absolutely agree with this guy whatever he said is true. Wrestling is not about being tough it is about being soft.

[FraldinhoBJJ]

Ken i think youre right. The perfect answer i have is Askren. More of our wrestlers need to break down fundamental things like the technique of scrambling. we need more askrens and less brent metcalfs..

[JackHoodman]

Fuck yeah!

Я русский :D

[Here2ownU]

I was AA and was coached by some of the best and I've wrestled internationally. The Russians train just as he says. Technique, timing, basics. They don't even lift weights. But I don't think that alone is why they are better. U.S. wrestlers were gaining dominance over the Russians in the mid to late 80's. We were dominating the late match game. Solution? Change the rules! 2 out of 3 periods wins. Most points don't necessarily win. It's the rules. We haven't adapted to the lazy win.

[dukhinoleg5]

Russia the best <3

[BusulbaAdam]

@dukhinoleg5

If North Caucasus will become independent from Russia USA will be better at wrestling than russia. The best russian wrestlers are from North Caucasus (Chechnya, Dagestan, Ingushetia, Osetia)

[mladen83db]

@BusulbaAdam I just say Aleksandr Karelin hehe :D

[groundnpounder]

I was coached by both K. Jackson and A. Beloglazov. Both were technicaly competant as well as physicaly demanding(KJ is a nicer guy though). I honestly couldnt put 1 much above the other in anything. What ur saying is insulting to both russians & americans, ur implying that americans arent as technical & that the russians arent as tough or physical. the reasons why russians are better are many; more of them, no folkstyle, no mma, financial suport for athletes etc. Teknik isn't 1 of 'em.

[groundnpounder]

I've heard this shit so many times by people who don't know what they're talking about it makes me vomit. Guys like the saitiev brothers aren't something you can aspire to be unless you're born that way. no amount of cerebral chit chat can bestow that level of co-ordination, spacial awareness, athleticism so on and so forth. The Russians tax their bodies just as much as anyone else at top int level wrestling, the reason saitiev can go to so many olympics is because he is Saitiev.

[KidsGaming101]

yep the slavs were always brave russia serbia and many more slav countreys are a good example for that its in our blood we never give up

[BusulbaAdam]

@KidsGaming101

North Caucasians are not slavs.

[mladen83db]

It is in Slavic genes, no other thing , strenght=slavic :D

[dzambulat92]

@mladen83db Lol Slavic genes? most of the best wrestlers in Russia are from Caucasus, and they are VERY FAR away from Slavics.

[mladen83db]

@dzambulat92 well i just say John Brzenk = Polish = Slavic. Voevoda = russian = slavic, then Cyplenkov , , Strongest man competition Mariusz Pudzianowski = Polish = slavic :D raw bench press record will soon be helded byRade SAvic = Serb = slavic :D dont run away from truth :D

[dzambulat92]

@mladen83db Ok dude, the video is about why the "Russian" wrestlers are better, so you commented with that it was all about the slavic genes, im not saying that there are no slavic good wrestlers, there are, but they are very few compared to wrestlers from Caucasus, and i know Pudzanovskiy iz a very strong man, im used to cheer on him when there used to be those strong man lift things, but he isnt a wrestler? and you are talking about NON RUSSIAN sportmens. Stick to the topic. Just saying.

[mladen83db]

@dzambulat92 my first comment is that there is something special about Slavic genes and strength i didnt even mention Caucasian, u did i just watch video and saw Russian wrestlers so my first association about Russia and other Slavic people is about strength, but greates wrestler in heavyweight history is aleksandar karelin no one is better then him u know it

[mladen83db]

@mladen83db and i think Osetia is not a country naither Ingusetia , i think those are areas in russia , and if u become independent we will see at the olympic games :D Chechnya also not a state i never heard or saw on world championchip in werstling any of these 3 states just russia :D till u win some medal u can brag

[dzambulat92]

@mladen83db You strarted out your comment with "its all about the slavic genes" pointing to "thats the reason why russian wrestlers are better" u wasnt teling that there are something special with slavic genes and strength, you was trying to say that it is all about the slavic genes and thats why those wrestlers are wining LOL, but in reality most of those "russian" wreslters are from Caucaus, and they are not slavic.

[dzambulat92]

@mladen83db And what is about " i think Osetia is not a country naither Ingusetia , i think those are areas in russia " If you are not stupid you should know that Ingushetia and Osetia and the rest of Caucasus (except Georgia) are regions in russia, and i never told you that those regions where indepent nor did i tell you that those regions are countrys. We dont need those medals, just knowing that our brother won is enough, the medals can Russia keep, incase caucasus get independent.

[mladen83db]

@dzambulat92 when they get independents u can say they are not russian , now they ara rusiian and fighting for russian flag :D

[dzambulat92]

@mladen83db There wont be any more medals for russia for sure. And Karelin is a gr8 wrestler no doubt. We will se how it goes for Buvaisar saitiev in olympic games 2012, if he wins, he will have more olympic medals then Karelin, not to mention that his wordchampinship medals are in different weight classes.

[mladen83db]

@dzambulat92 and that guy buvasiar satiev is strong but he heave like 20kg with his bed :D karelin is like 120 kilos he ca beat this guy in retirement with one hand :D but in his weight class satiev is outstanding i just try to say that slavic genes are something special and strength comes within i never seen Checen with 120 kig who beats everybody :D

[dzambulat92]

@mladen83db I never told that Karelin isnt strong neither did i say that saitiev would beat him :D they weight difference is to big. Karelin is strong no doubt, but being best wrestler in his weight doesnt make him beating everybody, he beats everyobody in wrestling, but i doubt he would beat everyone in MMA, boxing, kickboxing and etc... but im off this topic, peace out bro :)

[Kuzma567]

I believe Dan Gable is the exception to technique beats strength. He out classed every russian he faced and dominated them with aggression. His strength and conditioning was unmatched just like his work ethic which is why he won.

[ussrwrestling]

Russia and the former Soviet Union practice only Freestyle and Greco-Roman international wrestling styles, - there's nothing like "collegiate wrestling" in Russia. This also explains why there's no need for Russian/ex-Soviet wrestlers to "switch" from "collegiate" rules to international rules.

Another possible reason - there's a huge exodus of top-level American wrestlers to MMA recently, - this remain US Olympic team pretty "robbed" with potential talents. Which is not the case in Russia!

[MultiHawkeyefan]

This is the best reason i have ever heard. Nice job!!

[ChampionProductions1]

beautifully explained

[ZEvenEsh]

this was a great video, very true...... russians have been so far ahead for decades in both wrestling skills and overall physical training, thanks, my man!

[MrRatlicker]

On the same note, it seems like the shorter, more powerful guys would be at somewhat of a disadvantage against the lankier guys if they simply tried to win on technique alone. Therefore, they develop that grinder, bulldozer style of wrestling where they get in close and use their natural advantages in strength and center of gravity, and quite often speed. Thanks for your videos and I appreciate your insight.

[MrRatlicker]

Ken, don't you think some of these differences in training styles and the success they achieve has to do with the differences in build as well? The wrestlers you named (J. Smith, Satiev) were all kind of lanky guys and were generally tall for their respective weight classes? As a former skinny kid, I never stood a chance against the kids built like tanks in a muscle match, so I had to learn to win by using my natural leverage and flexibility, counters, wrestling outside, and being unorthodox.

[region015]

Man i 100% agree with what u said. I wrestled in russia for 9 years, then i wrestled in USA for 1 season- totally different approach. Crazy fast pace drilling in which wrestlers dont pay attention on technique as much as how fast they do it. And my coach would show a move ad give us 1 minute to practise it, where in Russia we practise one move for hours. And as u also mentioned, we would do 5 mile run right before we start our practise.

[asborisov1]

WELL N0NE 0F THEM ARE RUSSIAN. THEY ARE ALL PART 0F THE TURKSIH FAMILY, CHECHNYANS,INGUESTIANS,DAGESTA­NS, 0SSETIANS.

[region015]

@asborisov1 Im tired of turks saying that Caucasus part of Russia are turks. Calm down turks, None of those who u named belong to turks. Just let it go. Im from Ossetia, and i never heard biggest bull shit than this.

[asborisov1]

@region015 WITH THE EXCEPTI0N 0F THE 0SETIANS ALL THE REST ARE PART 0F THE TURKISH FAMILY. L00K UP THEIR HIST0RY. I SAW I PUT 0SSETIANS IN THE SAME CLASS. MY MISTAKE. I'M N0T A TURK BY THE WAY.

[region015]

@asborisov1 Thats not true. Actualy i just looked up online again. Chechens and Ingush people don't have anything with turks. Dagestan has 32 or more sub nations within, and only few of them had mixed with turks. The only big nation that represents Turkic tribe on Caucausus is Azerbaidjan. The reason why these rumors have place is because centuries ago, Iranians, Mongolians, Ottoman Turks, Russians all tryed to influence and occupy those nations- thats why some of them have Islam or Christians

[PULGACOYOTE]

I thought about what u speak about and i agree totaly. John smith is someone i could relate to because of body style. I neither was tough and rugged butnrather smooth and technical and i did very well in college considering i only wrestled for three years. Technique will destroy the rough n tuff style because i tried it most of my days.Anyways whatever, i didn't even have electricity in my home while in school so poverty can be a major disadvantage as well.

[GableMetcalf23]

Russians have trained freestyle/greco their whole lives..We grow up training folkstyle, big difference..now if you put folkstyle in the worlds and olympics you would see more americans dominating. Not fair to say Russians are better than Americans at wrestling when there's different styles involved

[asborisov1]

@GableMetcalf23 NAW IT'S AB0UT TECHNIQUE

[caskmalt]

I like this point...having a session today where we just had a chance to sit and drill, talk about it, talk wrestling, non competitive, relaxed...well worth it. You can spend 2 hours easy doing that and still feel fully fresh for your hard days sparing, or even a second session in the day. Tough is a virtue but tough aint always enough!

[hayflick]

Well-said and no doubt true for the most part. But let's not forget that John Smith, whom you hold up as the model and the closest thing we have had to the Russian-type wrestler, also had some pretty amazing physical qualities - mainly unreal flexibility. I've seen him in armbars that would break most guys' shoulders, and he looks totally comfortable.

[MrBORZII]

O chem on bazarit podskajite pojaluista

[region015]

@MrBORZII on govorit chto bortsi v rossii luchshe amerikanskih iz za tehniki. V rossii oni bolshe udelyaut vnimaniya tehnike, a v amerike kachalke i dihalke, v kontse dnya tehnika vitesnyaet silu.

[MrBORZII]

@region015 Saul bratuha!Im pohodu daliko do nashih eshe!)))))

[region015]

@MrBORZII Net problem brat. Da im eshe daleko, hotya oni jopu rvut- pitautsya- vse dumaut kak peregnat':))

[MrBORZII]

@region015 Ya esli chesno sam vistupayu, za portugalskuyu zbornuyu po volnoi! oni gavno jryt vsyakoe a takogo kak u nas otnosheniya den i noch v zale propodat ,netu! Hotya v amerike est borci, normalnie no i trenera tam vse nashi i v evrope taje beda!!!)))))))))))

[region015]

@MrBORZII Krasavchik.udachi tebe. Ya sam v Ameriku pereehal iz Osetii, dumal poborus' tut. A priehal v Californii a tut volnaya voobshe v jope- ni zalov, ni trenerov. Toko ih amerikanskaya bor'ba kotoraya toko 4 mesyatsa idet v godu. V itoge ya poborolsya odin sezion v amerikanskoy, i reshil zavyazat'. Dazhe eslib ameriku po Volnoy viigral, to dazhe bi normalno ne zaplatili. A za jizn' tut dorogo platit' nado, vot ya poshel rabotat' i uchitsya, na etom tut namnogo bolshe babla sdelaesh. Vot tak

[MrBORZII]

@region015 Ya sam uzbek a tak zdes lakci, i kumiki v odnom zale vse mi shto kasaetsa volnoi borbi v celom!Zdes toje ona slaba razveta!I vistupali i po greko i v moy thai, chem toko ne stradali zdes,))) takshto eto normalno.Vo francii vistupali tam na severe odni chechenci, i vsedki eto raduet kogda svoih vidish!

[region015]

@MrBORZII Kstate ti Chechenets? ya tut s odnim beseduiu, on utverzjdaet chto Chechentsi, Ingushi, Dagestantsi prinadlejat k tureckoy sem'e. Ya chasto eto slishu ot turkov, no ot samih kavkaztsev nikogda!

[MrBORZII]

@region015 Net ya s kazakhstana po nacii uzbek!I chechecev druzei mnogo!Chechenci i ingushi formerovalis v gorah iznochalno kak razboiniki, toest gorci chistie!Sredi dagestanskih nacionalnostei est te kotorie, blije k turkam, uzbekam,kazaham, uiguram takie kak(kumiki, darginci, i u tabasarancev) est s nami pohojie slova i virajeniya tyurkoyazichnie!A takie kak avarci lizgini lakci toje samoe kak i chechenci svoi yaziki svoi hanstva!Tam mnogo tonkostei esli chesno!))))

[region015]

@MrBORZII ponyatno, spasibo, ya v printsipe tak i predpolagal. nu patsani, udachi tam vam.

[MrBORZII]

@region015 Davai vzaimno! Ne rugaites mojet i est shto obshee u nego, ili u nih vo vsyakom sluchae odin drugogo chishe, stanet glavnoe vera v Allaha

[29trustme]

Technique, hard work , funding , are all important. The soft approach does not always work. There are guys with great technique but are not strong enough to compete with the top athletes. As an international wrestler and judoka I know what it takes to be the best. It is not all about technique. It is about being good at all aspects of the sport. Meaning you need to have strenght, speed, endurance, heart, technique, intelligence, conditioning and a positive outlook.

[spectrumifs]

Good points. Saitiev stays loose and uses balance and leverage like a master.

[Motownbrother]

I understand what you're saying. The path of least resistance, be like water, able to adjust to fill any vessel. Therefore being able to adjust to any situation. Okay makes sense. Which why many of the samurai's if I remember correctly had to not only learn fighting arts, but poetry, and calligraphy as well. Good post.

[drseth00789]

cardio doesn't break your body down. 60-year-olds do ironmen. its probably the heavy lifting and high impact that'll break someone down over time. It's the high school runners that keep up there sport for the rest of their lives, not so much with like football players.

[Tito74]

Why aren't the russians dominating mma like the americans do?

[Jibs66]

@Tito74 fedor?

[ussrwrestling]

@Tito74 Because Russian wrestlers are not so interested in MMA career, like American wrestlers. Also, the sport is generally less popular and promoted in the country. Russia is more concentrated on more "traditional", Olympic sports, like boxing or wrestling. :-))

[gottaLOVEBrazJJ]

Approve

[tombey12]

good point, Ken.

[Eastheart]

hey Ken, i'm a brazilian and a brazilian jiu jitsu practicioner. we don't have wrestling right here, and that is a problem. could you show some takedowns from the knees? pulling guard doesn't always work. awesome arguments by the way, i'm a wrestling fan and unfortunatelly would neve be ablo to have this kind of answers living where i am right now.

[EvanChaim]

Great video

[OG863]

could you put up a link of the videos

[TeamGZFS]

Ken, a former D1 All-American trains BJJ with us. He attributes the Russian dominatinon to better support and funding for athletes. Do you think that is a factor?

[kenprimo]

@TeamGZFS no, what he says is true with respect to their dollar value vis-vis wrestling. But truth be told, no money can build the mind-set. You could achieve excellence in you garage with a scrub training partner if you know how to think wrestling.

[andrew7913]

@kenprimo money motivates, look at boxing

[aliengrappler]

@kenprimo I noticed at my MMA gym here in Utah, there is your typical wreslter at no gi class, built like a tank, square back and strong as hell, then there is your typical BJJ guy, who is much skinnier but uses skill more than anything. Iv noticed these guys submitting these wreslters with so much ease even if they are 20lb smaller. Since I don't have very much technique yet i get owned by the pure strength of these wreslters, I agree with you. However I think both aspects will make you best.

[Laynerzk]

@TeamGZFS I think this is kind of true, without proper funding how can we expect Americans to live off what little they make for 8 - 12 years as international wrestlers? 

[DStyleBoxing]

Have you seen Mayweather train ken? He doesnt do the "AAAHHH' hitting of the pads or goes full blown on the punching bag. He just works on his technique.

[kenprimo]

@DStyleBoxing of course, perfect example.

[aliengrappler]

@kenprimo Thanks a lot this video helped me understand a lot more. Right now i have a shoulder injury from my no gi class, this wrestler just used pure strength and little to no technique ended up rolling up my shoulder with his weight, he is much bigger maybe 40lb over my weight. We are in the same team, and now they have an injured grappler, its not about the strength and going 110% all the time. Injuries happen that way, now im not able to train for a while and it killing my learning.

[MrSamyboi911]

technique prevails

[radamez85]

No more Iowa style huh?

i love the mindset but technique > brute force..

great post ken

[TheRevolutionMMA]

The Soviets have a periodized sports model where skill set improvement is always the number one priority. Their model is far superior to anything in the Western World and still in use in many programs around the world. Check out some of the work of Dr. Michael Yessis for a better explanation.

[carterfisk]

Great post Ken. I started using this approach more in my jiu jitsu after having double hip surgery and it's made everything so much more fun and opened my mind in a new way