THE QUEENS OF WRESTLING

 

 Photos, left & righ below: Former World Champion, Madusa (Debra Miceli) aka Alundra Blayze has an extensive pro-wrestling record.  She obtained her first title - the AWA Women's title - in December 1987. After losing the title, Madusa returned briefly to nursing. She captured the IWA World title, and at the end of 1990, she was voted All-Japan Inspirational Wrestler of the Year. 

Women are even at an advantage because of their body shape. "Women tend to have shorter legs than men," he says. "Stability is everything in sumo, and women benefit because their centre of balance tends to be naturally closer to the ground." The risk of injury is minimal, too, because it is one of the more straightforward martial arts. The idea is to push your partner out of a 4.5-metre round ring, or force him or her to touch the ground with any part of their body other than the soles of their feet. There are 48 legitimate techniques for doing this, but kicking, punching and hair-pulling are not allowed. Psychological toughness is also key to winning sumo contests. Pateman says 90 per cent of a sumo bout has been won before it begins. He encourages Freebury to adopt a frightening demeanour, and giggling is forbidden. Ritualised eyeballing (shikiri) is as important as the wrestling. In Japan, sumo wrestlers stick to a diet of a rich broth of vegetables, dumplings and meat. Freebury prefers steak and pasta salads, and only on training days. Freebury clearly loves her sport, but she is not convinced it will become popular among women. "A lot of girls would like it if they gave it a try but they are intimidated by the look of it." In collaboration with our colleagues at the Russian Single Combat Club, in Moscow

Very popular and widespread show is (taped or demonstrated on the scene) – when women wrestle (but more often pretend they do) not for discovery of the strongest opponent but just for specific spectators’ amusement. In contrast to athletic competition, such a show just looks like wrestling match – much more important in it is a demonstration of combatants’ female delights in the contrasting atmosphere of the traditional male activity. In the most of such show untrained women imitate combative sports. Various shows with women wrestling are incredibly widespread – they are circulating in millions copies on video and on the WEB. Such a show imitates wrestling of two women (or sometimes several tangled bodies). Many female wrestling shows are taped for sale and propagated in photos, pictures, video clips, cartoons and comics.

 

MORE NEXT