The other night during Professional Wrestling class I was working especially long with a couple of the students in the ring. I was over-seeing their training as I watched them run the ropes, work on shoulder tackles, drop down, leap frog over, and so on. They were having some problems getting the various techniques down. I gave them praise when praise was due and constructive criticism when it was needed as well. I hope you saw the word constructive vs. plain o criticism. One has a positive impact and the other negative. One of my standard lines (severnism's): "If you drill a move a thousands times..........you might know it. If you drill a move another thousand times ...............you might be able to use it!" The whole premise is repetition. The more you drill a technique the more you will understand it, the more you will use it, and you WILL store it in the memory banks of your muscles so that it Will become a natural reaction instead of always having to think of the next thing I am suppose to do alleviating the mental stress of a match. Thus you will have a higher chance of a positive in-ring experience.

It worked out especially well last night since "The Alpha Male" Monty Brown from TNA was in class and he lent a hand in giving the two guys a pep talk as well from his own past experiences. This made an even bigger impression since Monty is currently on TV working for one of the two biggest professional wrestling companies in the United States and that is what these young men hope and inspire to also do one day.

Positive reinforcement, reputation, constructive criticism, and natural reactions do not only apply to physical activities but to mental as well. You can condition your mind the same way you condition your body. For Example: I like to get into my office early in the morning before the normal craziness of the day begins. I am well rested, I have no distractions (music playing, phones ringing, or people stopping by), and I have my cup of Joe (o-ya)!! It helps to get the squirrels moving around in the cage!!!). I can mentally concentrate on the couple of projects that are most important for me to do that day. I tend to work on a couple of projects simultaneously in case I get to a mental block on one; I simply leave that project or task for a while and start working on the other. This switching from one project or task to the other also switches my mental gears and helps me to unblock the dead-end I was in before. Does it work all the time? No. I might leave a project a number of times before I finally give up on it for the day. I try not to beat myself up mentally for not accomplishing this project but rather stay on the positive side by knowing that even though I might not have accomplished this particular project but look at all the other projects I did accomplish.

Flash to the past: 1992 Summer Olympics. A new ruling comes down from the USOC (United States Olympic Committee), that athlete's could be both amateur and professional athlete's simultaneously unless you are still in High School or College then you would still be governed by your High School Athletic Association, or the NCAA for college athlete's. I was well past my collegians eligibility so I could have my cake and eat it too. I had been approached by a couple of professional wrestling companies in the mid 80's and asked to turn pro but had I turned pro at that time I would of lost my amateur status and would not of been allowed to compete in any future Freestyle or Greco Roman tournaments. Amateur wrestling was my life and I did not want to do anything that was going to jeopardize it but now I had the green light. I was working for the Michigan Wrestling Club and the president at that time was Dennis. Dennis was a professional wrestler with an extensive amateur wrestling background. After each of our monthly meetings I would ask Dennis a number of questions pertaining to professional wrestling. He saw how interested I was and eventually asked me if I would like to go to and check out one of his workout locations and meet some other professional wrestlers to ask questions and see what I was getting myself into. I jumped at the chance and off we drove to Lima, Ohio where Al Snow had a gym complete with ring. I thought it was pretty cool and was like a sponge absorbing everything that I saw. With-in the week I was traveling to Lima twice a week for the next 6 months for a 3 hour workout each time. Dennis, Al, and a number of other veterans of the squared circle were working with me trying to smooth out the rough edges. I was non-stop, restless, and in no time at all I was ready for my first match. The very first match that I ever wrestled professionally was in the Lima correctional facility!!!!! It was a yard show with all the prisoners standing around the outside of the barricade. I was nervous enough doing my very first match but to be in a prison on top of that added that much more anxiety. The normal reactions you would get from the crow did not happen. The good guys were booed and the bad guys were cheered!!! I was hailed as The All-American Dan Severn, so I was booed wrestling against the Oriental Assassin who was cheered. The moment that we locked up I no longer had to think. I had drilled the techniques so many times in the past 6 months that everything seems to flow like magic. The Oriental Assassin would attack with one technique and I would counter with another, and then I would go on the attack. I was happy that I finally had my first match, and even more that it had went well. It was not perfect, some things could have gone better but that is just the perfectionist coming out in me. As my mother always said: "Shoot for the Stars ........and where ever you land .......will be pretty high"!!!!!

Not too many people realize it, but I created a Pro Wrestling Training Video series on the basics in Pro Wrestling. The first volume is called, "The Basics." The Second is "Bumpin' Ain't Easy" and "From Mark to Jabroni" was the third. There are so many elements that go into professional wrestling and most don't consider this. I preach "Safety First" at my gym, but a lot of anxious young men and women don't always have the best facilities to work with, or don't even have pro wrestling training as an option in their area. I have decided to mark the 3 pack series down from the original $45.00 to $29.95. If you know someone who wants to become a pro, have them pick this up and see if they have it in them. They can get this on my website at www.dansevern.com until January 31st.

Also, don't forget... if you have any feedback or questions, don't be afraid to shoot it in my direction at dan@dansevern.com. I will do my best to get back with you in a timely manner if needed.

All the best from the beast,

by Dan Severn ..