alpinisto's blog

I had been bothered by my knock-knees for quite some time since they were noticed in 2010 when I participated in the half-marathon at Gay Games in Cologne, but in the first years after their discovery they didn't cause me much trouble. I was able to race as I had been used to - but after recuperating from a stroke I had in 2013 I no longer was able to run as fast as I had done before. Which made me change into wrestling, which I still do as a way to keep my body at least somewhat fit.

I am still doing my regular training runs in my local wood, but a couple of years ago I noticed that my speed was slowly going down. Not much at a start, but the recent six months I was slowing more than I liked, and at the same time I noticed that my knock-knees had got more pronounced. So it now also was spilling over to all other activities I had with my legs, like walking and wrestling.

Naturally I went to my doctor to have it checked out, and without hesitation he sent me on to an orthopaedist, who suggested that I should get an osteotomie to prevent further decay of my knees. But then referred me to a specialist in my local hospital to assure that this would be the right treatment. Yet according to the specialist, after having me X-rayed, my knees were already too worn after forty years with mountain climbing and long-distance running next to a job as a postman, the only solution for me would be that I would have both my knees replaced with a prosthesis, which I was not happy with, for I didn't like the thought of someone cutting in my valuable legs, which had served me well for more than fifty years.

The specialist surgeon offered that I could have the surgery done this September, but this was exactly in the time I had planned for my annual journey to United States, and since long air travels and surgeries are not really compatible the surgery could easily be postponed to October. I had by then already planned a wrestling match in the U.S., so it seemed clear to me that this match would become my last wrestling match for a while.

I had never been in Florida before, but for sixteen months I had had a good chat with Grizzlymike from Central Florida, and that I now was flying to Florida to meet this guy was a good example that it is good to have a good chat before finally meeting up, so to know what to expect. Especially when planning so far ahead as such distances are needing. After the long flight from Europe I met up in Orlando airport, where Grizzlymike and his husband Bigbulk T were waiting to pick me up. Ready to take me home where I was to stay the night, as it now was past midnight (plus 6 hours' jetlag), so we went straight to bed.

I have to admit that I was close to cancelling the whole travel because I had planned and booked the travel long time before my knock-knees had deteriorated and reduced me to a shadow of what I once was. But the many months I had been chatting with Grizzlymike had put a spark in me, so I really was looking forward to meet this guy in person. Though - as I had been told when I had been wrestling in Berlin in July - even though I did not have the strength in my legs which I had been used to, I at least had some power in my upper body. So I would have to see if this was enough to match Grizzlymike and Bigbulk T.

Grizzlymike and Bigbulk T were excellent hosts, for not only they offered me a place to sleep for the night, but the next morning they also took me on a tour of the area they lived in. But I had come here to wrestle, as I could figure that they both were the perfect match for me, both being slightly heavier than me. Which is what I like, for with the heavier guys I can't do much wrong, even with the limited experience I have. The worst that could happen would be that I maybe could learn something.

I had told them in advance that my legs were not as dangerous a weapon as I liked - but still I wanted to find out how much they could serve me. So it came a bit of a surprise to me that even with my knock-knees and a surgery lurking in the future I was still able to do more scissors than I had expected. Even though this just invited my opponents to return the favour! During our previous chat we had talked about that I could be a guiney pig for some camels and crabs, but this partly was forgotten during the match. Towards the end of the match Grizzlymike tried to put me in a leg split, what we also had been talking about. But this didn't really work, maybe his legs were too shorts for that or my own legs were more flexible than I had expected.

After the first match with Grizzlymike Bigbulk T was ready to take over. He was maybe 40 pounds heavier than Grizzlymike, and apparently he had no problem wrestling this lightweight (compared to him) European. We rolled around for some time, sheading a lot of sweat, and it appeared that he had fun wrestling me. Certainly I also had fun wrestling him, but it was clear to me who would draw the long straw. But the way I see it, wrestling is not so much about winning or losing, but to make sure that both the contenders are having some good fun. And for this we were pretty successful!

Towards the end of this long day they surprised me with a gigantic home-made lasagne, which would be enough for the whole week. And it tasted excellent with a glass of red wine.

Next morning they brought me back to the airport where I was to catch a flight to Newark, so I could continue my annual visit to the U.S. It had been great to add these two days to my usual visit here, and I certainly hoped that I could wrestle them again some other time after the surgery. Except for this future match I have no wrestling plans for the nearest future, as I first have to see what the result will be after the surgeries. So I can only say that it will be a looong winter.

Since I had started wrestling in 2013 after my stroke I had always had a lot of wrestling taking place in Berlin. For there are practically not any wrestlers in Copenhagen, except for when I can meet with other wrestlers visiting the city as tourists, and I then can get lucky to meet them for a wrestle. While there are much more wrestlers in Berlin, and Berlin is just an hour away by flight - or eight hours by bus. When in Berlin I often stay with my wrestling mate kleiner kerl, and as he has his own mats there also are several Berlin or other German wrestlers coming by for a match when I am there.

This time I had planned that I would stay eight days in Berlin, so that there would be time for more than wrestling, and already on the first day we had two guys visiting, both guys which I had not wrestled before. The first one was a guy I had never heard of and whose name I barely could pronounce, but when my mate showed me his profile on MeetFighters I immediately saw him as a charming guy. About twenty years younger than me and only six kilos heaver than me in spite of being five inches shorter than me. So this was looking to become a good match, had it not been for my normally strong legs, which had turned increasingly painful the recent months, this because the strength of my legs had deteriorated as my knock-knees had increased.

The result was that I found difficulty in turning my opponent over with my legs in a ground fight while I no longer had the strength in my bodyscissors I had grown used to. That told me that I had to venture on another kind of strategy. But changing horses in midstream is always bound to failure, especially if this is in the middle of a wrestling match. For naturally my opponent made use of my unexpected weakness and made sure that he could get on top of me. I had always been happy wrestling opponents heavier than myself, for with my strong legs I had mostly been able to get some kind of control of the match. But now this control was virtually non-existing, and once my opponent took seat on my chest it was very difficult to remove his weight. Which was very frustrating, for I could read from his profile that he had less experience than I had.

The other wrestler was a guy I had hoped to wrestle the previous month when I had been some days in Dresden, but we never met while I was there, because it would take me too long time to take the train to his place and back to be of any good for the time I had available. So it was a good coincidence that he had come to spend a couple of days in Berlin while I was here. That guy had very much similar stats as I had, and, like my previous opponent, had not much experience, but in lack of that experience he was making more use of his body strength and his weight.

With 96 kilos we were both heavier than average, but while I often had tried equalizing my weight advantage when wrestling lighter guys, this opponent clearly made use of his weight in the fight. Which could not bother me while I had my former strong legs. But without this strength I should have used the same technique which my mate did against me to prevent that I got on top of him. But I didn't and therefore it also didn't take long before this second opponent got on top of me. So as a result I was defeated in both the matches this day.

A few days later we had another wrestling visitor, and this not any wrestler, for this visitor turned out to be the strongest wrestler I met during those eight days I spent in Berlin. Finn was his name, and my mate had often talked about him when I had visited him, But I had never met Finn, so when I was asked if I wanted to wrestle him I obviously accepted. I had chatted with him a bit in the previous years, and now I had the best chance to meet him. He was five years younger than me, five cm shorter and a lot lighter. But when he took of his shirt I could see that he had a well-sculpted and toned body with plenty of muscle.

First of all Finn wanted to have a match with my mate, probably so that I could see what I was up to, and reluctantly he accepted that challenge. For my mate had wrestled Finn previously so he knew what he was up to. And he was not surprised in any way, for it didn't take much more than a minute before Finn had total control of my mate. I had by now wrestled my mate a dozen times and won most of the times, but I had never been able to show such supremacy like Finn did now.

I had by now realised that I could not trust my legs completely, and this way my strongest weapon was not reliable. So I had to see what I could do with my upper body. Which I knew wasn't much, but at least I should be able to keep him somewhat at bay with my bearhugs. They had been pretty strong long before I had begun wrestling, but then put them aside for safety reasons after having bent some ribs on one of my friends when I had greeted him with a bearhug. But there was no alternative, so I did what I found possible, even though this probably wasn't enough. Once again I wished for that I could have done some training so I had more techniques to choose from.

The least I could do was to show some good resistance, even though I assumed that all resistance to Finn was hopeless. But anything would be better than just flip onto my back and give up. Also I was a bit curious of what I could achieve even without my valuable legs, and I was surprised when I was able to last longer than my mate. Finn was trained in a lot of combat sports; he was also a master in Aikido and Kendo, and while I had never done anything in these East Asian combats it gave me a good feeling that I would survive, for then he would be both safe and sane in tradition with the Budo oath. So even if I could not win I at least could show some resistance. After this match I got the recommandation from him that I had a strong upper body - but I assumed that writing this he was only kind to me.

I wrestled him again the following Monday, but this didn't bring much change - wrestling Finn felt like swimming in a pool of quick-drying concrete. Once he had me in a hold there was not any chance to making a change on that. So out of the six matches I had during the eight days in Berlin there was only one guy who had surrendered to me. And this was catchbear1, probably the guy I had wrestled most often, next to kleiner kerl. He also was the heaviest of my opponents that week, so I assume that he had only been kind to me, so that I at least could bring one victory home from Berlin.

The following day I left Berlin after a long and intense week of wrestling and returned to Copenhagen. I had an appointment in my hospital on Wednesday to find what could be done with my knock-knees I had been bothered with during the last ten years. Too much long-distance running and high-altitude climbing with heavy rucksacks through 30 years had taken its toll, and the last six months it had increased the mobility problems I've had since the stroke. In the hospital I was put under X-ray, and then there was no choice: I am going to have both knees replaced. The first surgery is planned to take place in October, the second to take place three months later, so from next October I expect that I won't be able to wrestle the next six months before I slowly can start up again.

I am not planning any more wrestling the next four weeks, as for once I will travel without wrestling. In two weeks I will have a week of holiday in Spain where I will focus on my other interest in bondage. So I expect that my next wrestling match will take place in Florida late August, where I am invited to visit and wrestle a wrestling couple there. Which I am sure will be a challenge for not only me but also my legs. This visit to Florida will take place just before my annual visit to New Jersey, and maybe I also will meet other guys there to wrestle. We'll see about that.

I had hoped that I would have a wrestling session in the Whitsun weekend when I was vacationing in Dresden, but this never happened. I had planned that I could wrestle a guy from Leipzig on a beach, but he never confirmed. Good that I therefore didn't have to travel to Leipzig just to be let down. Instead I had more invitations for wrestling in Berlin, but those were not before July, so I just relaxed and made the best use of my holiday in Dresden.

But I didn't worry, as I had another wrestle meeting waiting in the pipeline, for there was an English guy who had planned to come to Copenhagen for a conference, and he had asked if he could have a wrestle with me while here. And since there only is a very small number of wrestlers in Copenhagen and none of them had wanted to wrestle me, I am always happy to receive such invitations for wrestling to minimize my need of going abroad for wrestling. So obviously I accepted his challenge, and we agreed that we could meet in his hotel on Wednesday, two days after my return from Dresden.

However, that meeting did not happen, at least not on the Wednesday, for we never managed to meet that day. Apparently we missed each other in the hotel, so a further discussion was needed on mobile phone and internet. Luckily it seemed that this was just a simple mistake and we both still wanted the match. So we agreed that we would try meeting again on Saturday.

While Wednesday had been a calm and sunny day, Saturday was not, as a heavy rain was pouring down over Copenhagen. So trying to avoid the large puddles in the street I ducked and dived into his hotel - and immediately was whisked away from the entrance by another guy. Speaking to me in English I quickly realised that my wrestling mate must have spotted me even before I was starting to look for him.

True to his profile name he was an older guy, and he was in Copenhagen as the organiser of a large conference with close to hundred participants from 30 european countries, so I was a bit baffled that not only he could organise such big event, but also could have time to wrestle me. He seemed to be quite fit for his age, and he accepted that he no longer was the youngest of wrestlers, and also had felt needed to give up boxing not too long ago because of an eye injury. But we were not going to box today anyway - today wrestling was on the program.

It was now more than two months ago since I had had my most recent wrestling session, and I have to admit that I felt a little unfit. So maybe I was a bit equal with my opponent, for I didn't want to add further injuries to him. Safe and sane, as I always say about my wrestling, but also fun for both. Already when we got to his hotel room I had greeted him with a bearhug, and my strength seemed to surprise him a bit, so I figured out that this was going to become a match with a lot of bearhugs and scissors - those few holds I seem to practise quite well. And I could feel that I was superior what bearhugs concerned, for my opponent told me that he had difficulty in spanning around my body to give me a bearhug in return - apparently my shoulders were too wide for that.

The hotel bed we wrestled on was probably too soft for me to turn our bodies, so I found it a bit troublesome to get on top of him, though I am sure that if I really had wanted it so I could have succeeded in getting on top of him. But for the moment I was quite content with the situation, because once I had him in a firm bodyscissor hold with my legs I could move him to the left or right as I wished. What I found quite amusing! I maybe could have put him in a headscissor, but found that this probably would be too risky, thinking of his eye injury. I didn't want any injuries.

Before we had met we had talked about his other interests, and he had told me that he not only was registered on MeetFighters but also on Recon as an excuse for his piercings. And this way I found out that we both shared the same interest in sleepsacks, and therefore I had also brought my neoprene sleepsack with me to his hotel, so once our match was over I was eager to sleepsack him, for he had never tried to feel what it is like being sleepsacked. And he seemed to like it - for in my eyes who wouldn't?

And before I left I also made use of the opportunity to be sleepsacked myself, now it already was warm from my opponent's body, so I enjoyed the last half hour being tightly restrained in my neoprene sleepsack. So while my opponent was checking his mobile phone for messages, which he had received from the conference participants during our recent hours' wrestling match I could enjoy the warm and snug micro-climate in my sleepsack. Certainly without the risk of being headscissored like I had been during another wrestling match fifteen months earlier.

It was a relaxed and cosy match I had had here in my homestead of Copenhagen, only five kilometres by bus from where I live. But I feel sure that the next wrestling match I have will be more serious. For those guys who have challenged me for wrestling in Berlin next month are surely stronger, and will certainly not let me get away so easily.

As already planned I was to meet two other guys for wrestling, which I had not wrestled yet. This meeing was to take place at sportynord's place in Hildesheim, and on Wednesday I went there by train. I had visited sportynord back in 2017 so I knew that besides being a great host he also has an impressive matroom in his basement. A few hours after my arrival my first opponent arrived, which was eddi30 from the middle of nowhere, which was the reason why he did not have so many opponents. But I had soon realised that I should not underestimate any opponent, and eddi30 was not only 20 kgs heavier than me but also 15 years younger and probably more agile!

I therefore concluded that he could be faster than me and rather easily could put his weight on top of me and then squash me. To have a chance against him I would have to get on top of him as soon as possible, and much to my surprise it was not so difficult as I would have expected. Next challenge would be to remain there, and this wasn't so easy for he tried every mean possible to shake me off. Although I kept him in some kind of schoolboy pin he some times succeeded in shaking me off, but I was very fast in returning to my position on top, and after a while he had to give up.

After two more similar matches there was no change, for my position on top of him was a safe place to be. Though again there was not much fun in being on top of him, for although this position was safe it was also a bit boring. But only just a bit, for again he vigorously tried to shake me off, and once he finally succeeded, introducing a short ground match, which I also was able to win.

In the meantime sportynord showed up, probably called by the loud noices from the basement. If he also wanted a roll? Sure he would, and swiftly he jumped in one of his many singlets lying around the room. Sportynord was certainly older than me, so with him I didn't want to potentially crush him under my body by lying on top of him. Instead I wanted to give him a test, whether he could break free from my leg scissors without the use of his arms. I had not expected to be able to keep him in my scissors for a long time, but to my surprise it seemed possible. I kept him there for several minutes and after a while it was enough for him and he went for eddi30 instead.

While I had been pretty successful wrestling my opponents this first day things sure got more serious on Thursday when I was to meet the two other guys on the mat. First came arniebaby, who was the guy who initially had suggested this meeting. About my size and age, so we had about the same stats. Except for one thing, for I soon realised that arniebaby had more experience than I had. Which could not be a surprise for me with limited experience. But I have always liked working up a sweat in a match with another guy - and arniebaby sure could take care of that! This time I was the guy to end down on the mat, so arniebaby could have full control of me. He also had experience in Catching which I have never practised, but he never needed to use it, for he was strong enough without. I sure have a strong defense, but after a while he had succeeded in pinning down both my arms and legs so there was no alternative but to tap out. At least he was just as sweaty as I was, so certainly we both had had a good match.

Initially it was only planned that I should meet up with eddi30 and arniebaby, but in the meantime another wrestler had joined the party, and this was BoxerWOB. Which was a surprise for me, for I am not into boxing and never had, but arniebaby assured me that he was also competent in wrestling. And sure he was - but also another heavy opponent standing in front of me! Heavier than me and also shorter than me, so how should I get control of this dumpling? I didn't have to speculate long, for it didn't take him long to pull me over. This guy also was a coach to be, for while I to no avail was trying to get up again from under him he entertained the two other guys, maybe telling them what they should do in such situation. In any case I was too focused on my own situation to translate his advice into my own language.

Thus the fight with BoxerWOB didn't take so long time, but before the three other wrestlers were heading home I had another finishing match with arniebaby. Obviously there was not much changed, but it was always good to have one more match with this safe and sane guy. I probably had not wrestled too much this day, for I had only had these two fights, but nevertheless I was soon exhausted, so arniebaby could easily declare himself a winner one more time.

We soon split up, the three other guys returning home and I stayed the night at sportynord's place before I the next day continued to Berlin for more wrestling. Going back to Copenhagen by way of Berlin was definitely the long way home, but I knew I had friends there which I also could wrestle. Mainly kleiner kerl and catchbear1.

In Berlin we wrestled on Saturday, beginning with catchbear1, whom I now wrestled for the 7th time. Generally I always wrestle him when I am in Berlin, but it failed last time, so we were both happy that we could meet again. Catchbear1 is a big guy, so I had some problems getting control of him. Initially I tried locking him in a solid bearhug, but it was difficult getting a proper hold around his massive body, so I tried with a bodyscissor instead. Which wasn't much better. For although I could get my legs around his body I was not able to lock my ankles for a serious squeeze. So in the end I had to make do with pressing my legs together without the lock. And combined with a headscissor with my arms I finally succeeded keeping him under my control.

Last but not least was kleiner kerl, the guy I have wrestled more than any other guy, and this was the ninth time we wrestled, every time in Berlin, and far the most times at his place. In January we had done three rounds, which I was happy to win all, as I was in need of some success after having lost great when I had been in Paris in November - which kleiner kerl then had to pay for. So therefore I would give him a better chance this time - but it didn't really happen so. By coincidence he got between my legs, and snap, my scissors locked on him almost automatically. Like a deadlock, for it was barely possible for him to get free, so that was the end of it. Although had we kept on for a few more minutes he would have been able to escape with a totally different result. Afterwards he told me that my scissors had grown considerably stronger during the years he had known me. So maybe my idea was right, that wrestling is a good alternative for me now I no longer can run the long distances I previously could.

Also February did not give me any chance to wrestle, but I just managed to have some wrestling done in March, for on the last day of the month I had a visitor from Ireland. And not just any tourist, but the first guy I had ever wrestled when I met him for the first time in 2007. Although he already then was not into competitive wrestling but more into play wrestling, he already then knew enough about this sport to turn me on to wrestling.

It was now 12 years ago since I had wrestled him for the first time, and I was a bit curious if we could have a good match, for I certainly had had a lot of wrestling matches since that first time in 2007. Probably I now was more experienced than he was, so I started with inviting him home to my place. He is the only guy I had wrestled in my home, and certainly my apartment had not become larger in the meantime, only more crammed. But after having moved some furniture I succeeded in obtaining a free space of two square metres, and he said that this would be enough. For the 'shoe box' he had as a hotel room here would not be useful for wrestling.

But what he didn't have in wrestling experience he certainly had in his spandex fetish, and since we both are spandex aficionados we could have a good time anyway. So I took him through a variety of scissors - leg scissors, body scissors and head scissors, sorry that I didn't know of many other wrestling holds. During this I estimated that we had about similar stats, him having maybe a bit more compact body than I had, so certainly he had a good body to build on.

The following day it was Sunday and we had the whole day to enjoy, and after taking him out to brunch and afterwards taking a stroll through Copenhagen we ended up in his hotel room. With my friend not being a MeetFighters member (at least not yet) he was happy that at least he could wrestle me, for he could not find any other wrestlers at his place in Ireland, though a look at MeetFighters showed that there were five times more potential wrestlers at his place than in Copenhagen. So he worked out that maybe his shoe box hotel room would be good enough for wrestling after all. For to be able to use his room we only had to move two chairs and then we had a space the same size as we've just had in my apartment.

My friend still had a clear memory of the wrestling story I had built up on my personal lycra website in 2007 taking in the many pictures I had taken during his last visit, so he was thinking that maybe we could do the same this time again? At least we could try, for even though we had removed these two chairs there was not space for any proper wrestling in his hotel room, which seemed to be a children's room. So thinking back of the match we had had back then in 2007 we tried to at least make a lot of good situations. Then he left it to me to put these many pictures together to make another good history again.

Maybe we did not have much proper wrestling, but at least I actually built up a good sweat, which for me is a sign that I have had some good fun, and also is a sign that I have had a good workout. Which is important for me so I can use my good muscle, which I have not really been able to since that stroke in 2013.

So maybe this wrestle was not a proper one, but at least it gave me some kind of workout. And I expect that it was a good warm-up session before I will have the next wrestling session later this week. I will be traveling to Germany again, and this time I have planned to meet two other guys I have not wrestled before. I can get from their stats that at least one of them will serve me a serious match!