Is There a Seventh Sense in Wrestling?

WRESTLERS REQUIRE A SPECIAL SKILL

In wrestling and mixed martial arts an athlete must be aware of what his or her body is doing, from head to toe, and be aware of what his or her opponent's body is doing, from head to toe, as well as the position of the out-of-bounds line, frequently without being able to look at them. 

In ball sports like tennis, soccer, football and basketball, you are watching your opponent and the ball. Your sense of sight gives you almost all of the information that you need to be successful. In those sports, you also have to know where the goal, net, and lines are located, but, again, sight is primarily the way to deal with those objects. 

PROPRIOCEPTION

Good ball sport players have a keen sense of proprioception, which is sometimes called the Sixth Sense. Proprioception is basically your conscious awareness of your own body and limbs in space, what they are doing and what they need to do next. 

Serena Williams sees the ball come off her opponent's racket. She can see from her opponent's swing if the ball will have spin on it and how hard it has been hit. Based upon this knowledge gained from her eyesight, as well as the sound the ball made coming off the racket, she can move her legs to where the ball will be and then use her arms to meet the ball in mid-air. 

She has mostly used her eyesight. Then, her proprioception takes over to place her feet and hands in optimal positions. But what if you can't see your opponent's arms and legs? 

QUAMSEPIOCEPTION

In wrestling, you need something more than an awareness of your own body; you need something that I call a Seventh Sense: Quamsepioception. This entails being able to judge what your opponent's body is doing without necessarily looking at it.  

In wrestling and MMA, and to a lesser extent in boxing, you have to know where an opponent's body is (or where it will be) without looking at it (or even being able to look at it) in many instances. That last part is crucial because, for example, in boxing, you certainly want to know what an opponent's hands are doing, and what his head is doing, but unless you're in a tight clinch--which the referee should break up as soon as possible--you have line of sight to help you. 

In wrestling and MMA, you can be attacked with the legs and feet. That doesn't hold true for boxing.   

With wrestling ties, you frequently have a limited line of sight. You rely on Quamsepioception, that seventh sense mentioned above. The really good wrestler, through consistent training and experience, will know exactly where to reach to catch the back of an opponent's elbow, even when he or she is looking the other way. If you want to run an arm drag against a quality opponent, you have to catch the elbow in the right spot as quickly, and as surely, as possible. 

And you can't stand there and look at the elbow for two minutes, or at the knee you want to snatch. That would reveal your intentions!

I don't know if this has changed over the years, but I was told in high school and in college to keep my eyes on a wrestler's waist during a match. My opponent wasn't going to go anywhere without his torso. So, knowing where that elbow or knee was (or would be) without staring at it, was imperative. 

When you slip in your leg to ride legs and run a grapevine, the opponent isn't going to wait for you to look him up and down and size up the situation. You have to sense where your leg is going to go, and sense where your opponent's legs and torso are going to be.  

So, this is the definition for the word that we already have, Proprioception:

And this would be the definition for the new word, Quamsepioception, the Seventh Sense:

EXAMPLES

Besides the images of Lucas Byrd above, here are some short videos that show quamsepioception in action, starting with ILLINI superstar and coach, Mike Poeta:

In the video of Mike Poeta wrestling Trent Paulson, it is Paulson who secures a front headlock in the standing position. Poeta's head is locked facing straight down, so at best, he got a quick reference for where Paulson's leg was and guessed where it was going to be. Poeta used this knowledge to trip his opponent. 

Also, the future ILLINI coach knew that he couldn't allow Paulson to push him much, as his planned trip would take them out of bounds, so he calculated that he could give Paulson one, and only one, step before executing the trip. 

The video shows Poeta not only as the master of his own body movements, but also having a sense of where his opponent's body would go and where the out-of-bounds line was going to be. 

The next video shows Jesse Delgado in a high stakes national championship scramble:

In this short video of a scramble between NCAA Champions, you see Jesse Delgado use quamsepioception in multiple ways. Right off the whistle, he has to judge where Nashon Garrett's right leg is going to be because he's going to jump on it. At the time, he's looking at Garrett's head (because Nashon's stance was so low), but he could tell based upon this Seventh Sense where Garrett's leg was going to be when he needed to grab it. 

After rolling over, Delgado wants to secure Garrett's other leg by the ankle. He does take a quick peek at the Cornell wrestler's ankle, and moves his leg in to block it. Then, without looking again at the ankle, he reaches around and grabs it. 

Sure, Jesse Delgado practiced this quite a bit, honing these skills better than anybody in NCAA history, but if you don't have a practice partner with the combination of quickness and power of a Nashon Garrett, that's when quamsepioception comes in handy. 

The final short video shows Lucas Byrd throwing Dylan Ragusin in the Blood Round of the NCAA tournament. 

The pair are wrapped tightly in double-overs and -unders, and Byrd is walking Ragusin to the boundary line. Ragusin spins the pair around, and after a weak throw attempt by him (most likely just to get Byrd out of bounds for a stall warning), Lucas spins the pair around again and throws the Michigan wrestler. 

The important use of quamsepioception in this example is Byrd's extremely keen awareness of the boundary line. 

You can see him take one quick glance of the out of bounds line as he's heading towards it. After that, though--and this is key--Lucas can only imagine in his head where that boundary line is relative to his and his opponent's body position. 

After the quick glance, Byrd actually closes his eyes twice (from sweat in his eyes or from exertion), then Ragusin's shoulders get in his line of vision. 

The Michigan wrestler is taller; his shoulders block Lucas' view, and Byrd is crouched down. Yet, the ILLINI knew exactly where to plant his feet for the suplay and where his left foot would need to be to stay in bounds. 

Watch his eyes during the sequence. 

CONCLUSION

Wrestlers have or must develop a unique skill that other athletes don't use or even need. Like other athletes, wrestlers must have a keen sense of where their limbs are and what their arms and legs need to do in space (Proprioception), but wrestlers also must be able to judge what their opponent's body is or will be doing, as well as the placement of the out-of-bounds line, without getting a clear look at them (Quamsepioception).