COVID-19

KYODO News: Japanese wrestler using lockdown to lock in mental fortitude

Friday, April 17, 2020 - 13:17 By United World Wrestling Press

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Wrestlers around the world are stuck in their homes hoping to do their part to flatten the curve. In an article today in the Kyodo News, defending Olympic champion Risako Kawai says she is taking this break from the mats to train her mind. 

"I can't do, but I can watch," she said, explaining how she has been spending time watching videos of her opponents, researching techniques and mentally rehearsing match scenarios.

The 25-year-old, who competes in the 57-kilogram weight class, says she has never spent so much time away from the sport.

Kawai has not been able to spar with her training partner since Shigakkan University, her alma mater and training base in the central Japan city of Obu, Aichi Prefecture, suspended all club activities in late March.

"All I do is take in one day at a time," she says.

Four years ago, Kawai wrestled the 63-kg event to avoid having to go up against 10-time world champion and four-time Olympic women's wrestling champion Kaori Icho at 58 kg, and claimed the gold medal in her Olympic debut in Rio.

But for Tokyo 2020, Kawai made the bold move of stepping down a weight division and coming face-to-face with Icho in order to leave the pathway open for her sister to make it to the Olympics with her.

Read more on the Kyodo News site ... here

Development

Advanced Beach Wrestling Course Now Available on UWW Academy

Wednesday, August 21, 2024 - 11:59 By United World Wrestling Press

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CORSIER-SUR-VEVEY, Switzerland (August 21) -- Beach Wrestling continues to grow around the world.  Each year more and more federations are introducing the style and competing at the events.  In 2023, UWW launched their first Beach Wrestling course on the UWW Academy.  UWW is excited to now launch their second Beach Wrestling course titled “Advanced Beach Wrestling Course: Rules – Training – Referees.”  This course goes more in-depth on those three areas and is divided into 6 separate modules.  Those modules include: The Bout, Scoring, Illegal Actions and Negative Wrestling, Beach Wrestling vs Olympic Styles, Strategies and Preparation for Training, and Referees – Roles and Responsibilities. 

This course is very interactive and provides a more detailed understanding of Beach Wrestling. Please check out the course on the UWW Academy.  https://academy.uww.org/

The UWW Academy is the official educational site for United World Wrestling. The Academy is an all-encompassing online portal designed to educate, provide information, necessary learning tools and resources to be able to assist different stakeholders and enhance the knowledge and value of wrestling. Access to the Academy and all its resources are free. Registration only requires a working email to confirm your account. UWW encourages all stakeholders to get registered and utilize all of the free resources.