My wrestling session with Christine Envall

The main problem I faced was finding a suitable venue for our session. When either the girl or the customer is travelling, a hotel room is the most common answer.  But when both parties live in the same town, and neither has a suitable place for wrestling, it can be a problem.  I found a gymnastics training hall which was not being used, and which had a large clear area with lots of mats.  No danger of injury from walls or furniture.  My big challenge was Chris herself!!

She arrived looking massive and confident.  We talked about her wrestling experience so far, and how she had practised with her husband, who is not a small man!  I tried to explain my own motivation, which springs from a fascination with all sorts of female strength.  Not just the muscles of a bodybuilder, but all strength sports, especially combat related ones.  I have found that success in wrestling is related to experience, confidence, instinct, balance, and the relative bodyweight of the contestants - not just pure strength.  But I must admit that raw muscle power is the key to converting just about any hold into a submission hold, and so it turned out with Chris.

We began from a standing start, which is good to test movement, instinct and balance.  Chris was very quick and hard to push around.  I felt that she would take advantage of any small opening in defence, and I used up a lot of energy trying to avoid being thrown down.  In the end, I was able to use my size difference (about 6 inches taller and 10 Kg. heavier) to land with Chris partly underneath.  She was so strong that it was impossible to control any of her limbs, so all I could do was try to stay with my bodyweight angled across hers and hope that she would tire a little!  It was desperation time as I tried to gain a position where I could maintain control without using up all my energy.  No such luck!  Chris was much fitter than me, but we were both breathing heavily for a few minutes here. She kept me working all the time, but I clung on with a sort of stubborn determination, just surviving, not knowing how to win, and feeling that soon I would be utterly exhausted.  During this part of the fall, as I leaned across her chest trying to control her shoulders, she caught me several times in the most painful headlock I have ever felt, and I had a sore jaw for days afterwards - those arms!!!

She just didn't seem to be letting up, even though she was fighting my weight from underneath.  I was sounding like a really beat-up steam train now, I could think of no way to gain a decisive advantage, and I was considering how pleasant it would be to just collapse and let Chris roll on top, when to my surprise she gave up!  This of course is the wonder of wrestling, where you just don't know what your opponent is thinking, and I still don't know what she thought about the stalemate position.  Perhaps it really was going nowhere and she was bored enough to want to start again, but if she had waited 10 seconds ......  Even though Chris conceded, I think I was behind on points, and lucky to escape with just a bruised jaw on this fall.

I needed a long rest and a drink of water now.  We chatted during the break, and discussed how falls could end, especially submissions.  Chris wanted to know more about various submission holds, and after a while we went back to the mat to explore a few.  We discovered that due to our different body sizes, Chris's body scissors were not very effective on my (huge) waist, although any form of headscissors could quickly lead to an instant tap-out.  Also, although she could achieve and hold a very painful grapevine on me, I could not hold her in the same hold.  (Probably her superior leg strength had something to do with this).

We continued on with several more falls, all less intense and more enjoyable for me than the first "all out" one.  Chris managed to get me to submit to several holds, including some which had no name.  As I said earlier, she has the strength where any hold or combination could be just pressured to a submission, and it would take a very experienced and fit wrestler to avoid these for any length of time.

I also have the feeling that although Chris does not have a lot of wrestling experience yet, she is learning fast, and I think each new opponent will have an even harder challenge.  Maybe if you are thinking of booking a session, and hope not to be completely dominated, you should get in quick!

So you have a new mixed wrestling star visiting America in November 1998. She also does other types of sessions for guys who like those things.  I found her pleasant, down to earth, certainly a unique physique, and I enjoyed my session.  You can find out more about Christine and bookings during her coming trip on the "Ironbelles" web site.