Nude Wrestlers
A group for anyone interested in wrestling nude for fun or watching others.
Intimidation
Return to DiscussionsI'm sure the Y's varied. When I asked people who are old enough to remember told me that they only swam nude. Weightlifting was more an obsure pursuit and basketball and boxing were common, though I've never heard of them played naked. The main thing was the pool filters and their concept of hygiene, so nudity was more a consequence than a goal.
I have never heard of nude wrestling at a YMCA, even when the norm was nude swimming.
Intimidation? When I used to wrestle my friend naked, it wasn't to intimidate, it was just because it felt really good and we were "channeling" the ancient Greeks :-)
I'm sure the Y's varied. When I asked people who are old enough to remember told me that they only swam nude. Weightlifting was more an obsure pursuit and basketball and boxing were common, though I've never heard of them played naked. The main thing was the pool filters and their concept of hygiene, so nudity was more a consequence than a goal.
I have seen on other boards where men post that at some Ys and other men's fitness centers, most people were nude for all activities. If it was a residential Y, men would just leave their clothes in the room and go to the gym to exercise.
I have never heard of nude wrestling at a YMCA, even when the norm was nude swimming.Intimidation? When I used to wrestle my friend naked, it wasn't to intimidate, it was just because it felt really good and we were "channeling" the ancient Greeks :-)
I can see if someone was a wrestler and his opponent unexpectedly showed up nude for a match, it could be intimidating. Or it could give him the courage to strip and make it even.
At the Y in my town, only the pool and locker rooms/showers were nude. The basketball court, billiard room, etc were open to public view from the lobby so no nudity was permitted. But I do remember fondly all the time spent while nude in that pool.
I read on another site that back when the YMCA was male only, some men would wrestle nude because they thought it would intimidate their opponent.Has anyone else heard of this?
Before the 1960's and really not until the late 70's the working class men and the upper classes did some or all athletics nude. That was not ever the case for Bourgeois or middle class people and the Y collected all the wealthy men whose clubs were closed by recession and changing economics (there are a handful left) because YMCA is Young Men's Christian Association and therefore morally and socially acceptable for class mixing and healthy living standards (a regular men's gym would be seen as uncilized or not appropriate in much of polite society. The wealthy and the poor guys knew they had an edge over the guys who were not nude ever and used it. Crotch holds butt pins and so on are completely legal moves in wrestling. But if you are naked for the first time it's not anything you're going to be able to experience with no stress lol.
I thought that the YMCA moved from a working class institution to one that included all classes long before that. Granted the residential area catered to young working class men, but many people belonged to and used the athletic facilities that did not live there. Our local Y, which was co-ed and therefor not a place to work out or swim nude, certainly had a mix of all economic groups as members.