Unsettled
November 10 2001

Unsettled! That is the word around this part of town these days, I will get back to that later in the diary. When times are as unpredictable as they are, I like to wonder to those good old years. Those years when I never had to worry about my diet, my sleep, watch tapes or scout my opponents. I like to call those years the years of innocence. Those were the years when you just went out and wrestled for sheer fun, times have changed now. These days, wrestling is not just fun anymore, it's also business.

My mind strays to a wet, yet warm day in 1988, I was about 14. It was a day when we had a traditional wrestling tournament in my village, Eniwari, in South-Eastern Nigeria. Normally, I would go to the farm with my grandmother early in the morning, get back around 1:00 p.m. and head over to the field to wrestle in front of the whole village. Today, for some reason, my grandmother had exempted me from going to the farm with her before the communal wrestling tournament. I would be told later that the villagers wanted to see the match between myself and Tonkumo, a chap who was a year older than me and in the estimation of most of the wrestling enthusiasts, a better wrestler at the time.

I had eaten my second meal around 12:00 noon, a bowl of fufu and egusi soup. I was getting ready to join the villagers coming to get me with a full set of beating drums, singing and dancing, when this old man beckoned to me to approach him. His name was Sunday, he was a very famous wrestler in his days. Even though we never saw him wrestle, we all adored him. I followed him to his hut and sat down on the floor. He went into his bedroom, brought a bottle of native gin, asked me to kneel down and prayed for me. He prayed that all the supernatural forces that aided him in wrestling should now be on my side. In essence, he was passing the torch. He called on Sango, Biekiribou, Kunumulagha, and all the other wrestling gods to assist me in my battles.

Then he went outside and called on his personal wrestling spirit, Ibirikpikpi, to be my guiding spirit, to protect me just as he protected him when he was wrestling. I knelt in amazement at the chants and invocation of the spirits, the call on the spirits of the hills and caves. It was the first time something this unique was happening to me. He came back from outside with some wet mud on his fore finger, made a sign on my forehead and asked me to say a silent prayer. I prayed that I should be a champion. What kind of champion, I did not specify. At the time, I wanted to be a village wrestling champion, they were my idols, I had no idea what freestyle wrestling was. He looked into my eyes for a while and told me the spirits had accepted me to be the flag bearer. He told me my prayers had been answered. He also told me that from that day, I should take after his wrestling pseudonym, IBIRIKPIKPI - translation: "the roaring storm". So, I came to be known in village wrestling circles as Ibirikpikpi, the "roaring storm".

I went to the wrestling tournament that day and wrestled like I had never wrestled before. Amazing! Two days later, the older "roaring storm" gave up the ghost. I was not to tell anybody what had happened, I was to keep it a secret till I became a champion. After the Olympics, I went to the deceased "roaring storm's", grave to pay homage. He never told anybody what happened that day that he called me into his den to pass over the powers to me. In forty years, he never missed one communal wrestling tournament, but that day, he refused to watch. He told his wife that he would rather stay home and "keep things under control". The older Ibirikpikpi must be wondering what is happening with the young Ibirikpikpi with less than three weeks to the world championships.

The Sunkist international tournament in phoenix, Arizona, from the 27th-28th October went well. I wrestled rather conservatively. Did not push myself as I would have liked. I had a tactical match with Chris Bono of the U.S. in the finals, I could have wrestled better. But considering my state of mind at the time of the final match, I wrestled satisfactorily. I might wrestle a couple of matches at the clansman international next weekend 9/10th of November. It is just a way to get my last matches before the worlds and to put finishing touches to my preparations. There was a mention of being unsettled at the start of this diary. I have found that it all has to do with losing control. Losing control comes from having a really long and extended season. I have been told most wrestlers are unsettled as well, so, I guess it is not unique to my situation. I like being in control, to have all my cards right in front of me. To go into a tournament feeling exactly like I felt before the Olympics. Extremely confident. To be able to beat my chest and say "no excuses". If one were to ask me if I am completely ready for the world championships, I'd say "no" at this point. There are a few untidy spots in my preparation. I need to tighten up some loose screws b4 November 23rd. I am well on my way to feeling really good about my preparations, but I still have a couple of weeks to get myself there.

I am unsettled, but in another two weeks, my report card could be different. I believe, as I always have, that Ibirikpikpi (the roaring storm) is out there, watching, waiting to consume the undesirables. There are a couple of changes to report. Brute/Adidas have stepped to the table. At the world championships, I will be wearing the "brand with the three stripes", not Asics anymore. I have used the shoes and kneepads in training, and at the last tournament in Phoenix as well. They feel really good. I make them look good. We leave to Paris for a five-day taper camp on the 14th of November. We then proceed to Bulgaria on the 20th of November for the weigh ins the following day and the subsequent competition.

Nerves. Funny enough, I am not as nervous as I'd like to be. I was not as nervous as I normally am before tournaments in Phoenix two weekends go. Iguess things are changing. I guess business is not going on as usual anymore. Maybe the nervousness has been transferred over to my opponents, they might as well deal with it. Just over two weeks to the "big show", and I do not feel as ready as I'd like. I am hoping, that, too, will change. Besides, as far as big meets go, we always rise to the occasion at the appropriate time. We belong in the special group called "big meet competitors". They strut their stuff when the heat is on. We are listening to really slow music as opposed to the rap and R&B that we are used to listening at this time of preparations. No loud music to make neighbors give you cold stares, just slow methodical jazz, blues and sometimes, the soothing sounds of nature. This is going to be a chess game, head games, strategy. They are going to see a different kind of wrestler. Sometimes, it is difficult to figure out what you don't know. Unpredictable?. That is what I am saying.

Keep sweating... Daniel (Dynamite) Igali