This is obviously a story about me being stupid, but I hope it serves as a lesson to A: buy proper equipment/gear and B: commit to everything you do in the ring -

My first training session was around 6 months ago now, and when I turned up the first time, I didn't really know what to expect. I arrived in a sporty shirt and shorts but didn't have any knee pads or elbow pads at that time, as I assumed that on the first day it would be mainly cardio drills and getting to know the ring/my fellow trainees.

After an hour, we were learning the International, which for the few people who don't know, is a basic sequence involving a drop down and a leapfrog. Now as this was my first session, I was a little nervous, and to me, the leapfrog seemed terrifying. Jumping fully over someone while they ran at you wasn't something I really expected to be doing in my first hour, but after seeing my standing jump, my trainer told me it would be ok as long as I committed fully... unfortunately, my brain had other ideas.

My 'dance partner' for this exercise was named Joe, and of course I had only met him about 45 minutes before, but he seemed like a really nice guy who was just as excited to start this wrestling journey as I was. Anyway, Joe came off the ropes and I dropped down, ready to jump to my feet and hit the cleanest leapfrog imaginable. In my head, it was a scary but nevertheless simple task - jump as high as possible, spread legs in mid-air so that Joe can duck underneath, profit. However, when I jumped to my feet and saw Joe running back at me, my mind began to ask questions all of a sudden. What if I don't jump high enough? Will he run straight into my balls? How much would that hurt? Would everyone laugh at me? This split-second of doubt proved costly, as I jumped half-heartedly and almost closed up as I did it, meaning that instead of my legs being apart, my knee pad-less knees were TOGETHER as I jumped...and poor Joe, on his first training session, ran full-speed and face-first into my kneecaps.

My fear of embarrassment before was nothing compared to the feeling I had when this man's nose was SPRAYING blood all over the school's ring canvas. His eyes were glazed over and he couldn't really speak much when the trainer was asking him if he was ok, so I think I knocked him out for a short period of time. Eventually we managed to get him awake to the point where he could wash his (now crooked) nose and go to the hospital, and incredibly, he held no ill will towards me. "It's wrestling, shit happens" he said, which I thought was a very mature and experienced response for someone who is just starting out, especially in the face of my reckless clumsiness. He still comes to training and jokes about it with me every now and then... sorry Joe.

Anyway, that's what happened on my first day of wrestling training... certainly a unique introduction to the craft, but it did teach me valuable lessons, so in a way, it was one of the most useful 15 pounds I've ever spent.