Post by Chris.charlton on Apr 14, 2012 23:27:22 GMT -5
Sorry if this is a bit tldr, but concussions is something that's often brought up on the LAW, and I thought this would be something to pose.
Couple of weeks ago I was at the Korakuen to watch one of the New Japan Cup shows. Was about six or seven rows from the back, but could clearly hear a sickening thud of skull on skull and the winces of people around me when Minoru Suzuki headbutted Tougi Makabe. This was an unprotected headbutt- a long ways from the usual worked 'butting your hand' technique that you may have learned from that mysteries of wrestling unveiled thing with Harley Race and the cat from out of Sabrina the Teenage Witch.
It was undoubtedly as damaging as being hit with a chair, but while the latter would be frowned upon and met with stern looks and tuts (even in Japan, albeit to a lesser extent), I get the feeling the headbutt, along with the head kicks and forearms is met with a kind of respect. It's strong style, it's intense, you're supposed to give as good as you get, and you're viewed as weak for not being a fan of it.
Why is that? You could say the so called 'strong style' label is more full contact but punches are still pulled, and that's true to a point, but the above is an example of how lighting into people is appreciated, encouraged even. The headbutt thing is something that makes me wince all the more the times I've seen it in Big Japan shows in a crowd of fifty.
Is there more of a psychology to 'strong style' that makes the physical intensity acceptable somehow? Nope. I think I've coined the phrase 'strong style dick waving' for when two guys lamp each other in the ring to no reaction and for no apparent reason other than to prove themselves as being able to take a hit, legitimizing themselves somehow (as an aside, this is something that has been a part of the backstage culture-see last year's Nobukazu Hirai incident, which along with horror stories I've heard about how trainees are treated, is becoming eerily similar to sumo, which was dragged through the mud when a young wrestler was beaten to death in a dojo a few years back. There's a reason why I'm content to wrestle on a super minor scale for no money or fame, and only three quarters of that is due to my inherent lack of ability. But I digress) . For every Misawa/Kawada match there are a zillion meaningless brain damage fests (I went to a NOAH card last year where, no kidding, EVERY MATCH had a forearm exchange that lasted at least two minutes)- just as for every carefully conceived, psychological Foley/Funk affair there are a zillion meaningless chair shots.
So where is this double standard coming from, where we venerate one damaging style, but frown on another? I'd speculate it's just down to hardcore just not being fashionable anymore. WWE in particular have done a good job in retraining their audience in the last few years as to what qualifies as 'extreme', but a good, physical match is something that we still get behind. It creates a kind of cognitive dissonance where 'I should be railing against this but this is damned fun! Fuck him up! Oh, wait...'
I dunno, I was a little young to be watching during the peak of British wrestling, but training at a British school instilled a respect for the old fashioned style of catch and escape artistry, something that's garnering a cult following of late, in no small part thanks to the likes of Colt Cabana. I wouldn't say outlaw the stiff hits in the same way head shots have (all but) been, but if we shake our heads at every death match, shouldn't we want everything potentially damaging to be dialed back on, even if it's stuff we enjoy? Or am I a big wuss?
Couple of weeks ago I was at the Korakuen to watch one of the New Japan Cup shows. Was about six or seven rows from the back, but could clearly hear a sickening thud of skull on skull and the winces of people around me when Minoru Suzuki headbutted Tougi Makabe. This was an unprotected headbutt- a long ways from the usual worked 'butting your hand' technique that you may have learned from that mysteries of wrestling unveiled thing with Harley Race and the cat from out of Sabrina the Teenage Witch.
It was undoubtedly as damaging as being hit with a chair, but while the latter would be frowned upon and met with stern looks and tuts (even in Japan, albeit to a lesser extent), I get the feeling the headbutt, along with the head kicks and forearms is met with a kind of respect. It's strong style, it's intense, you're supposed to give as good as you get, and you're viewed as weak for not being a fan of it.
Why is that? You could say the so called 'strong style' label is more full contact but punches are still pulled, and that's true to a point, but the above is an example of how lighting into people is appreciated, encouraged even. The headbutt thing is something that makes me wince all the more the times I've seen it in Big Japan shows in a crowd of fifty.
Is there more of a psychology to 'strong style' that makes the physical intensity acceptable somehow? Nope. I think I've coined the phrase 'strong style dick waving' for when two guys lamp each other in the ring to no reaction and for no apparent reason other than to prove themselves as being able to take a hit, legitimizing themselves somehow (as an aside, this is something that has been a part of the backstage culture-see last year's Nobukazu Hirai incident, which along with horror stories I've heard about how trainees are treated, is becoming eerily similar to sumo, which was dragged through the mud when a young wrestler was beaten to death in a dojo a few years back. There's a reason why I'm content to wrestle on a super minor scale for no money or fame, and only three quarters of that is due to my inherent lack of ability. But I digress) . For every Misawa/Kawada match there are a zillion meaningless brain damage fests (I went to a NOAH card last year where, no kidding, EVERY MATCH had a forearm exchange that lasted at least two minutes)- just as for every carefully conceived, psychological Foley/Funk affair there are a zillion meaningless chair shots.
So where is this double standard coming from, where we venerate one damaging style, but frown on another? I'd speculate it's just down to hardcore just not being fashionable anymore. WWE in particular have done a good job in retraining their audience in the last few years as to what qualifies as 'extreme', but a good, physical match is something that we still get behind. It creates a kind of cognitive dissonance where 'I should be railing against this but this is damned fun! Fuck him up! Oh, wait...'
I dunno, I was a little young to be watching during the peak of British wrestling, but training at a British school instilled a respect for the old fashioned style of catch and escape artistry, something that's garnering a cult following of late, in no small part thanks to the likes of Colt Cabana. I wouldn't say outlaw the stiff hits in the same way head shots have (all but) been, but if we shake our heads at every death match, shouldn't we want everything potentially damaging to be dialed back on, even if it's stuff we enjoy? Or am I a big wuss?
