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Sports feature: Paul Ivens of London Shootfighters

WHEN most people think of wrestling, they get a specific picture in their head. Hulk Hogan. Giant Haystacks. Gurning men with bulging pecs pretending to smash each other with chairs. It’s a hard image to get away from, but Paul Ivens is dedicating his life to rectifying this.

Ivens, 30, is the co-founder of London Shootfighters, one of the top fighting clubs in Europe. Established ten years ago and based in Ladbroke Grove since 2005, the club runs regular classes from Jiu-jitsu to ancient Roman Wrestling, producing some of the best fighters in the U.K.

Ivens developed an interest in stylised fighting as a teenager, and his obsession grew from there.

“I did judo as a kid, and around the age of 20 developed an interest in more traditional martial arts,” he says. “I lived in Japan for a while where I learnt Tai-Ki-Do, and I enjoyed wrestling so much that I decided to concentrate on just that.”

Ivens, who fights in the light heavyweight division, has the aura of a guy who has worked hard to follow his passion. It may be the fact that he has just finished a tough grappling session, but his world-weary expression betrays a sense of exasperation with the public perception of his sport.

“Wrestling is not a very popular sport in this country,” he admits. “When you go to other countries and mention wrestling, they know exactly what you’re talking about.
The sport is not really supported at any kind of youth level or in schools and there is very little funding, which makes it a struggle to get people interested.”

This struggle has turned into something of a personal crusade for Ivens, who travels the world in search of further knowledge, better contacts and tougher challenges.

He speaks about the technicalities of the sport with an enthusiasm rarely seen amongst professional sportsmen.

“Wrestling is sport at its pinnacle in certain ways,” he says. “You’ll be coming up against guys at an extremely high level, testing you in every way possible.
“You get wrestlers who are as physically strong as a weightlifter, as fit as a runner, and at the same time it’s very technical, you have to learn a lot of techniques if you’re going to be good at it. It requires a bit of everything.”

Ivens acknowledges the modern trend of people joining clubs to enhance their self defence, but warns amateurs against getting carried away.

“If you need to use wrestling to take someone down, it is 100 per cent effective, because you can put into practice what you do every day on the mat,” he says. “But if you can’t do it here, it doesn’t work in a real life situation.”

Ivens hopes to challenge for an Olympic medal in Beijing next year, and believes some of the younger members of the club can compete in 2012. But material glory doesn’t appear to be his ultimate goal.

“I just enjoy wrestling as a sport in itself,” he says. “I want to keep going until I can’t do it anymore, until my body says no. But even then I’ll probably keep pushing it!”

Sam Blackledge for Sportsbeat 2007