Goddam, I am failing on this new forum…i try scrolling thru but couldn’t find. Not just with this thread. Can’t seem to find how to select thread pages/last page either.
Did u watch that fight Wiggs? Saw some highlights - Bhullar looks a bit slow but was impressed by his pace and pressure. You could tell when Bhullar dipped on his overhand rights, Vera was worried about the TD so Bhullar mixes that up well IMO.
There have also been a regional history in Canada of big Indian wrestlers esp from Vancouver and SFU university (NAIA). Bhullar I think is the first major Indian Canadian to transition to MMA successfully. There is also Kultar Gill from Vancouver but he is a KBer.
There is a weird Indian folk wrestling game called Kabbadi. I believe many Punjabis transition from that to wrestling and that is also true I think for the Punjabi Canadians like Bhullar and the community in Vancouver. Not sure how big wrestling is for Punjabis in Toronto.
Speaking of Kabbadi, that is more unique as it has some tag kinda rules mixed in but a good thread would be to compare how countries with folk wrestling styles transition to wrestling and judo as Mongolia and Georgia etc.
The more relevant Indian folk style, I think, is their traditional mud wrestling. I have coached a few guys with strong backgrounds in it, and their wrestling is solid.
Yeah, some cultures value winning first and honor second. They don’t really get the whole “I don’t want a win I didn’t fully earn” sentiment. A win is a win to them. There’s no nuance or subjectivity to it to them.
India won 2 (!) Olympic medals total in 2016, the uber competitive world of women’s wrestling and women’s singles badminton. One out of 6 people in the world are Indian. 973 medals were won at this Olympics, and 1/6 of that would be 162 medals. Statistics are real sobering.
It isn’t racist to suggest that they are not just good at mma but sports in general. Blame that on what you will, genetics, culture, disinclination, poverty, whatever, but statistically no other country performs worse.
I’ve spent time in India working, not on vacation. When we had down time we’d go visit monuments and forts and such with our translators, who were all younger than us and acclimated to the climate better. Almost to a person the Americans of all races were in better shape, and the Indians seemed to fatigue with light physical activities like walking up a hill.
One afternoon we played cricket in a park. NONE of us had ever played cricket and didn’t fully understand the rules. They had a ll been playing cricket their whole life. We nearly beat them using baseball like bat swings and baseball style pitching.
I grew very fond of the Indian people, but I felt pretty certain I could ragdoll 99% of the population without much struggle.
I disagree that spending a bit of time on a multi-ethnic, multi-racial subcontinent isn’t sufficient evidence to make broad generalizations about Indians. People native to Punjab, Nagaland, and Tamil Nadu are different races, speak different languages, play different sports, etc.
Okay. Your generalization is still wrong. You also happen to have missed spending time in the part of the country with the strongest wrestling tradition.
India does nothing to support its Olympic athletes. Their top Olympic sport athletes – guys like Bajrang – have to leave India to get support. It does, however, have a great cricket system. And, wouldn’t you know it, it performs well in cricket.
Based on a quick Google search, China has a little over 18% of the world’s population, and India has a bit under the 18%. So, both are close to 1/5 of the world’s population. Nearly 35% of the world lives in China or India.
Yes. Over 1/3 of the entire world population is either Chinese or Indian. Further 60% of the world population is Asian, eclipsing all other continents combined. Mind blowing, hunh?
If Wiggum’s argument is that all races are absolutely equal in athletic potential and the Indians just don’t want to or can’t participate for any # of reasons, then we’ll just have to let that be. However, certain people seem to excel at different things. This may not sit well with everybody, but we’ve all been giftwrapped a cross-section of genes that are to our detriment or benefit.
The fact that such a huge population w so few successes in sports is at the very least curious, right? By the way, there is no hate here and I loved the Indian people overall. I also consider Wiggum to be the resident authority on wrestling, so if he says that there is elite wrestling there I’m inclined to believe that.