The Fighter Within. Christopher Olech

      Chapter Five

      THE MUSCLE SHARK

      “Do not pray for an easy life, pray for the strength to endure a difficult one.”

      —Bruce Lee

      Sean Sherk grew up in a big family with six kids and a plethora of relatives and other kids around. That made for a lot of excitement in itself, but coupled with growing up in a family of wrestlers, the fight game flowed through his veins from the start and kept him busy. His dad, uncles, cousins, and brother were all immersed in the sport. Naturally, he was thrown into the wrestling scene at an early age.

      As a youth, he spent a lot of time training, wrestling, and playing sports such as baseball and football. But wrestling was where he excelled, and as Sean put it, “(wrestling) was more of an individual sport, I was less of a team sport kind of person.” Sean’s brother, who was eight years older, mentored him in wrestling. While in college, he taught Sean the techniques and training of college athletes. This was how Sean got ahead of the game early on.

      Wrestling competitively for thirteen years during his youth garnered him 400-plus amateur wrestling matches. He watched his first UFC event in 1993 and started UFC-style training shortly thereafter. Within a few months, he started training at a judo school, as that was all he could find in the immediate area, but wanted to train in the various styles being utilized in MMA.