The Intimidation Factor

By: Mike Chapman

Originally Published in: Wrestling Tough

Provided by: Human Kinetics

Some athletes give up too soon if the foe can intimidate them and make them surrender mentally. This happens most often in the early stages of a career, when an athlete judges a foe mostly on appearance, but it can even happen to seasoned competitors. Early in his career, Mike Tyson presented such a menacing appearance that other boxers were afraid to get in the ring with him. In the first decade of his career, Alexander Karelin terrified many wrestling opponents with his physique and his scowling. The massively muscled native of Siberia won 12 consecutive world and Olympic titles and was considered unbeatable over those years.

Intimidation by appearance is an approach that has its roots in the dawn of sports competition.

Tiberius Claudius Marcianus was a renowned wrestler in the ancient Olympics who lived around 300 years BC. We don't know what he looked like, because no artwork survives, and, of course, we have no photographs. But we do have an indication that a foe facing him must have thought he was an extremely impressive and intimidating fighter, as was Karelin from 1990 through 2000. In one competition in which Marcianus participated, it is reported that "when he undressed, all his opponents begged to be dismissed from the contest" (Poliakoff 2004, 44).

Judging a book by its cover is easy, and that was certainly how opponents sized up Marcianus. But appearances can also be misleading and downright dangerous. Some of the greatest wrestlers were not the most intimidating in physical appearance, including great pinners like Wade Schalles and Randy Lewis.

On the other hand, some of the most impressive physical specimens lack that certain something that it takes to be a good athlete, let alone a great one. A young wrestler in the U.S. Navy learned that lesson many years ago. After a wrestling workout, he wandered into the boxing area and observed over a dozen pugilists going through a session. A boxer named Frank caught his attention.

"He was an unbelievable physical specimen," said the wrestler much later. "He moved like a cat, and every muscle was pronounced. He was ripped. I watched him on the speed bag and was amazed at his skills and quickness. He was tremendous with the skip rope, and he made the heavy bag snap to attention every time he hit it.

"I was friends with the boxing coach - in fact, he was always trying to get me to give up wrestling and try boxing - and so I asked about the big fight program coming up. He ran down the list of who he thought would win. I was shocked when he didn't mention Frank. When I asked why, the coach just shrugged and said, 'Come to the program and see for yourself.'

The wrestler went to the boxing show that weekend and watched as Frank came down the aisle in his long robe and leaped into the ring. He threw lightning punches and skipped around the ring in a style that would have impressed Muhammad Ali. He threw punches in stunning combinations while the boxers were being introduced. The other fighter merely glowered at him; he appeared slow and pudgy by comparison. It looked like it would be an easy night for Frank.

When the fight started, Frank began bobbing, weaving, and flicking out jabs like a well-oiled machine. He was winning the first round easily when suddenly his opponent caught him with a right hand on the chin. It was a light punch, but Frank was clearly hurt. Sensing his opportunity, the other fighter tore into him, and Frank fell seconds later like a sack of potatoes. He was out cold!

"It looked like the other guy barely hit him!" the wrestler mumbled to the boxing coach the next day.

The coach, a wise old veteran of the ring wars, shook his head sadly. "Yeah, Frank's got all the tools to be a champion," said the coach, "but he also has a glass jaw. He simply can't take a punch of any kind. The truth is, he looks like a world-beater but he can't fight like one. Because of one fatal flaw, he'll never amount to anything in this sport!"

The lesson was clear: Never judge a book by its cover.

In wrestling, the case is much the same. One major flaw - an Achilles heel, so to speak - can be the downfall of an athlete who otherwise seems to have it all. In wrestling, the Achilles heel is most often a lack of discipline or the desire to do what it takes to be a winner. We've all known athletes who have the physical tools to be outstanding wrestlers but lack the inner drive and discipline required to be successful, just like Steve Fraser wrote about when he talked about toughness.

Appearances can be impressive, but they can also be deceiving. More than anything else, in sport it's the size of the heart and innate physical ability, both physical and mental, to withstand the opponent's best shots that will determine victory. Tutko and Tosi (1976, 29) wrote, "The various pressures you have in sports don't just act by themselves; they mix. They come at you from different directions, and you are caught in the middle. One pressure makes you act and feel one way, while another says to act in the opposite way. Your personal needs, which already have an element of conflict in them, now run up against the societal pressures, for you are culturally conditioned to be a strong competitor and to go for the big one whenever you can."

Appearances don't make a great athlete, and it is important for wrestlers, especially young ones, not to judge a book by its cover. Sometimes outward appearances only mask a fatal flaw in the opponent. Much of sports competition is physical, of course, but much is also mental. Don't allow yourself to lose the mental battle before the physical battle even gets under way.