Warrior, Wrestler, Marine
Most people are pretty happy just to be healthy and fit. Then there’s the fringe element. The people who can’t be satisfied with modest achievement. They always hunger for more strength and toughness. Athletic competition drives them. You will find a lot of these athletes in the sport of wrestling and in the Marines. Greg Wagaman is that kind of person.

Greg enlisted in the U.S. Marines out of high school. During his four year hitch, he was trained and worked as an aircraft mechanic. He was good at it, but found that he really wanted to be an officer. However, he needed a college degree to do that. At the end of his four years, he transferred into the Marine Reserves and went to school at Adams State College in Alamosa, Colorado. He was careful to choose a school with a good wrestling program. He graduated with a degree in Sports Physiology and went back to active duty. Only this time he became an officer and served as an Aircraft Maintenance Officer. He eventually retired as a major after 25 years in the Marines.

While still in the Marines and living in Fallbrook, California, Greg became active in the Fallbrook Kids Wrestling Club so that he could help coach his two sons. After a while, he started helping out with the high school wrestling team, the Fallbrook Warriors. He is currently an assistant coach for Roye Oliver, a gold medalist at the 2007 Veteran’s World Freestyle Championships.

So what did a retired Marine do when he had a pension and a part time job coaching high school wrestling? He started a business designing, building, and selling strength training equipment called BITF Sports. BITF is an acronym for “Brick in the Face.” Consider that bit of information as a warning of what’s to come. In hindsight, all of Greg’s experiences and skills have come together. He engineers a growing line of strength training equipment that can produce results above and beyond the usual fitness club regimen. It has been referenced many times in stories about the military that the Marines get the dirtiest jobs and the smallest budget. They are expected to make do and improvise. Greg is a consummate improviser. His products are cost effective and affordable. Names like “Ball & Chain,” “Grip Ripper” and “Caveman” make you realize that your workouts are going to be more challenging than usual. How to use the stuff seems a little baffling at first. Fortunately, Greg’s wife Bonnie has done a nice job of making instructional videos and posting them to their web site. By the way, that middle aged guy doing a lot of the equipment demos is 52 year old Greg, himself. He doesn’t exactly look like a retiree. This is a guy who leads by example.

Does the average athlete need Greg’s cutting edge equipment? Maybe not, but they could certainly benefit from it. The target audience is the athlete that looks for an edge. As a former high school and collegiate wrestler, I know that’s important. Imagine training for months, even years for the opportunity to be the best at something. You earn the chance, but you barely lose a championship match to another person who found a way to be a little stronger and a little tougher. The feeling stings. The only thing you can do is to learn from the loss and not let it happen, again. In Greg’s own words, BITF Sports provides strength training “For Those Who Live, Train & Compete Like a Brick in the Face.”


The pursuit of extreme fitness often finds a willing partner with wrestlers and Marines.

Del Vogel
August 1, 2008

For more information, visit www.healthandfitnessforyou.org

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