Ashtanga brings up old memories!

Wrestling at Hudson High School.

Three times week, our team would drill intensely, under Coach Steeves.

Running on the spot, defend - kick legs back and hit the floor,

scissors reverse, back to standing, kick legs back, hit the floor, roll forward left, stand, etc...

Learn new moves, drill the ones you know to become second nature,

do laps around the field,

sweat off those last five ounces to make the weigh-in for tomorrow’s match.

OK guys, great you all made weight.

Now go home, eat a nice lean steak and get lots of rest for tomorrow...

And be fit, and feel confident!

But in the first year, it was enough for someone to say,

Oh, you’re up against Martin. He’s City Champion. Tough luck!

And the issues would be: will you manage to survive the first period?

How hard will you struggle against the inevitable?

Will your entire school get to watch you give up,

or will the gaunt powerful champion, looking disdainfully

over a nose broken no doubt in a bar-room brawl,

actually have to work at it to pin your shoulders to the mat?

But by the fourth year, the wheel had gone around.

Your name alone would defeat some; before they even reached the mat. While the aggressive ones You could catch At the moment of they attacked If you had speed and balance and certainty. You lead their gaze, beyond their centre of gravity; and as they move forward, you set up a leg dive and a fireman's carry - For a layout on the back, and a trademark 15-second pin.

The championship team, unbeaten player, MVP...

What a great team, with a coach who know knew and loved the sport

and how to make us work. We were fit to bounce off the wall and

throw each other around (and recover from injuries really fast!)

What has this got to do with yoga?

Wrestling is a combat sport, win/lose,

An ego banquet of praise
or a shrivelling
in defeat.

It's not therapy: you're old at 26.

And your knees will not forgive

their grinding on the mat.

But it was intense, like Ashtanga:

in its drilling, sweating, and discipline, new abilities and new strength
every week.

There’s no opponent in warrior pose,

But your own anger or fear.

No crowd cheering wildly
when you stay solid in the Tree,

just an inner eye.

But persist,
past arm waves and wobbles,

and you find
balance, strength, and
conviction.

And if you're silent,
You'll hear
Deep in the cells

The sound of
all who've lived before
This moment;
cheering this use
you are making of it.

- Malcolm McLean