The Shrine

http://www.kmaynard.com/index.html

This isn't a joke. You have to see this. A high-ranked college wrestler who was born with a congenital defect, and wrestles without most of what we think of as arms or legs (he has stumps for all four).

Son of a bitch, that's amazing. Not just his wrestling skill either, but his whole attitude and outlook on life. My hat's off to him.

Reminds me of Murderball.

I saw some footage of him on an HBO sports special not too long ago. Seeing this guy move around on the mat can be intimidating.

I don't want to diminish his accomplishments, but there's a few things to keep in mind. One, wrestling is a weight-class sport, and he wrestles in the 103 pound weight class. Since he weighs the same as guys who have arms and legs, what he does have is necessarily stronger. Two, most of his able-bodied opponents train with other able-bodied wrestlers. Kyle necessarily wrestles much differently than able-bodied wrestlers. Not just his style, but also what moves are effective against him; a lot of wrestling moves involve controlling your opponents limbs. Kyle, on the other hand, has plenty of experience wrestling able-bodied opponents (I assume, since most of his teammates are such).

Kupek wrote:I don't want to diminish his accomplishments...

You don't quite have the ability to do so. I think that guy has had more obstacles in his path than any five of us.

I mean, yeah, Kup, what parts of limbs he has left are going to be stronger than others in his weight class, but come on now. Can you honestly tell me you don't believe he has had, and continues to have, a severely uphill battle in his life, and deserves a hell of a lot of respect for his accomplishments? He got his ass kicked over and over when he started wrestling, from what the article I was reading says.

I can't imagine life without any *two* of my limbs, much less all four.

Mental wrote:Can you honestly tell me you don't believe he has had, and continues to have, a severely uphill battle in his life, and deserves a hell of a lot of respect for his accomplishments?

Did I say anything contradictory to that?

I'm with Kup on this one. Yes, it's amazing that he can do what he does, but when you look at the technical aspect of wrestling, there are some advantages to being in his position (though how the he can grapple anyone confuses the hell out of me).

And if I saw this guy coming at me at the speed he displays in those videos, I'd probably crap my pants.

I'd really like to see a start-to-finish match. Both of the wrestling videos are about 20 seconds long.

Yeah, me too. I'm sort of surprised that he can do any of this without hands.