What a week it has been!  In the heat and the heart of the Scandinavian summer of 2014, I ventured out with my wife Diana to Langå, Denmark to commandeer an intensive 5-day pro wrestling training bootcamp.  I had students attending from four different countries, as far away as Scotland to students from Sweden, Denmark and Germany.  All in all, 21 participants showed up at the start of the week, this past Monday, when we set off.  At the end of it all, about 16 were still actively participating, pulling through, right to the end.

As is the case in every single pro wrestling schooling that I have been a coach in, a certain number of folks always drop out.  That is the law of nature: only the strong survive.  That said, I am damn proud of the kids, ranging from age 12 to 26, who toughed it out til the bitter end.  Well, the end wasn’t so bitter, because the payoff for those who pulled through was a student show in front of parents and close friends, by invitation only, this past Friday.  I served as the special referee for all of the student matches, making sure everything was on the up and up.

Yours Truly donning the official’s uniform

I was particularly impressed with the natural aptitude of a few of the trainees on hand this past week.  I feel compelled and even obligated to mention something about them, because they deserve props.  There were a couple of young men from northern Sweden who showed up, and both of these guys had natural, innate talent.  You could see the potential of greatness in them.  They absorbed everything like a sponge, retaining what they had learned in quick order.  It is a true pleasure to coach people like this, because it is very rewarding for the coach to see that someone just “gets it.”  Then there was a young man named Duncan from Copenhagen, who attended a similar camp I coached in Denmark back in 2009, five years ago.  At the time, he was a skinny, not so athletic kid.  I told him what he needed to do to get himself into the kind of condition that he needed to be in, should he still want to aspire to his dream of becoming a professional wrestler.  Well, five years later, this young man shows up in shape, having slaved away in the gym for the past several years, conditioning his mind to be disciplined.  Someone like that deserves all my respect, and that is saying a lot, because the kid is still an unproven talent in the wrestling world.  A couple of very talented young, rookie wrestlers from DPW (Danish Pro Wrestling, the parent company that organized this training camp), a pair of cousins, really showed incredible potential also.  I am talking about the kind of talent that you either have, or you don’t.  Given time, these kids will go far in the pro wrestling business, because they have the heart for it.  A young man from Scotland showed incredible character and personality skills, with a gimmick that legitimately had spectators crapping their pants in fright.  Simply based on ring presence alone, this guy, wrestling name Switch, should by all accounts have a solid chance at getting a healthy amount of bookings based on his uniqueness and character strength.

Fake or Break camp 2014 Denmark, the final line-up that pulled through to the end (with veteran ace wrestler Chaos 2nd to my right and Poul Roest 2nd to my left)

I would like to extend a big hand to the promoters of DPW, Poul Roest and Kim Tinning, a couple of great guys who do their damndest to push their talent to achieve a higher level of aptitude and professionalism.  In closing, the name of this intensive training camp was Fake or Break.  That is a very fitting title, although it sounds a bit misleading, because if you cannot take the pain, blues and agony that goes along with this CONTACT SPORT, then you simply do not belong in our business.  Fake it is not, Break you just might.

Showing the ropes to the students with top Danish wrestler Chaos