fciwomenswrestling.com article, wikimedia photo
With an accomplishment embroidery that included obtaining a PHD in chemistry, being a transformative President of Harvard University, and the first U.S. Ambassador to West Germany, Mr. James Bryant Conant expressed, “Each honest calling, each walk of life, has its own elite, its own aristocracy based on excellence of performance.”
This appropriately describes the Belgian championship sorority that included female wrestlers Xana, Nadege and Puma, all trained by the legendary Beatrice Goffin and all equipped to wage female wrestling wars at the highest level.
Ms. Goffin was twice over the Belgian freestyle wrestling champion, won the gold medal at the European Women’s Wrestling Championships in 1982 and the silver medal at the World Festival of Women’s Wrestling in 1986.
Her protégé Puma possessed and expressed so many components of Beatrice’s fighting style including the way she slowly stalked her prey, cornered them and sprung forward with the patented running, jumping headlock.
Strikingly like her namesake.
The always reliable educational source livescience.com shares there are more than 80 names for the powerful feline named puma; more names than any other animal, according to the book “Cougar: The American Lion,” by Kevin Hansen. Pumas hunt using stealth and strength. Pumas are extremely athletic. They can run up to 50 mph (80 kph) and jump as high as 15 feet (4.6 meters).
Though pumas are problems for ranchers or farmers, they have a very important role in the environment. They keep populations of animals lower down on the food chain in check. Without them, for example, those same farmers may have their crops overrun by hungry rabbits.
Our Puma has been very important in the female wrestling world. Her stealth resume has kept many of the world’s top female competitors of her time period in check.
The body of her work can mostly be found at AS Film.de, Amazonen Sports. Her lists of combatants included Klaudia, Kassidy, Jana, Anne Hurricane, Germany’s Susanne, Olga, newer girl Angie, her mates Xana, Nadege and many more.
As one of her fans, for me she had two signature matches that stood out.
The first being against the almighty Kassidy (see Kassidy, A Wrestler Who Was Always A champion) where the two ferociously battled one another in a fight that featured body scissors, rear naked chokes and amazement as Puma stalked Kassidy like chasing her prey.
The other firecracker match was when Puma visited the elite of the elite, DWW and took on a star in Reni. It was a close match that went back and forth until there was a masterful ending.
Puma hails from Belgium and as our custom; Female Competition International loves to visit the global villages that helped shape our greatest female wrestlers. Let’s leap there now.
Before we pour the syrup on the waffles, let’s put our travel glasses on and look at some basics.
The American agency www.cia.gov reports, “Belgium became independent from the Netherlands in 1830; it was occupied by Germany during World Wars I and II. The country prospered in the past half century as a modern, technologically advanced European state and member of NATO and the EU. Political divisions between the Dutch-speaking Flemings of the north and the French-speaking Walloons of the south have led in recent years to constitutional amendments granting these regions formal recognition and autonomy. Its capital, Brussels, is home to numerous international organizations including the EU and NATO.”
Let’s spice things up and narrow our lens by traveling to Brussels. The great information source Wikipedia educates, “Brussels is the capital and largest city of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union (EU).
Brussels has grown from a 10th-century fortress town founded by a descendant of Charlemagne to a sizeable city. The city has a population of 1.2 million and a metropolitan area with a population of over 1.8 million, both of them the largest in Belgium.
Brussels is just a few miles north of the boundary between Belgium’s language communities—French in the south, Dutch in the North. Historically a Dutch-speaking city, it has seen a major shift to French since Belgian independence in 1830.
Today, although the majority language is French, the city is officially bilingual. All road signs, street names, and many advertisements and services are shown in both languages. Brussels is increasingly becoming multilingual with increasing numbers of migrants, expatriates and minority groups speaking their own languages.”
No trip with be complete to Belgium without trying the delicious cuisine. Have you ever had mussels with Belgian fries?
You might want to take a look at the article, 13 Foods That’ll Make You Want To Visit Belgium, found at the huffingtonpost.com news site. Here are two samples that made me hungry.
Belgian waffles are nothing like what you find in North America. It’s richer and denser than other waffles because it’s made with buttery brioche dough and chunks of pearl sugar that caramelize on the crust when cooked.
Yummy.
Creamy mashed potatoes, sumptuous shrimp, flavorful stew, over 200 different chocolates and of course the world famous Belgian Beer.
I could go on but this is about Puma, though you can understand why many visit her homeland.
The wrestler Puma is a great memory for many. Here is what one of the female wrestling industry leaders Femwin had to say about Puma regarding a match that can be purchased at their site.
“From Belgium, Puma has wrestled at a number of clubs in Europe and is well known for being a tough competitor. Her legs are her strongest asset with her favorite hold being the head scissors, which she uses for many of her victories, and she also has strong legs from kickboxing. Puma will wrestle in most types of matches including submission, cat fighting and mixed”
A good career is a long-lasting career. When you’re there in every competition doing a good job you’re a part of an elite, and that’s the most important thing.…….Blanka Vlasic
According to our research, Puma is no longer active. It demonstrates another powerful life lesson that when wonderful competitors are in front of you in the present, you should do your upmost to be a part of their career as a fan or participate in a session with them if that’s available.
Like a swift dark beautiful mountain cat, turn away for a second and they are gone.
Yes Mr. Conant was correct in saying that each walk of life has its elite.
With the superior training from Beatrice Goffin and stellar competition within her Belgian female wrestling tribe and engagement with some of the toughest female competitors from around the world; in the female wrestling industry, like a powerful cat, Puma certainly ran with the elite.
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Sources: brainyquote.com, Wikipedia, fciwomenswrestling.com, fciwomenswrestling2.com, FCI Elite Competitor, https://femcompetitor.com, www.cia.gov/, photos thank you Wikimedia Commons.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/01/21/belgian-cuisine-food_n_4617498.html
