MMA Worldwide

Blind Wrestler Has Been Beating The Odds His Entire Life...

Posted by 9news.com on the 12 December 2011 | View Comments

ANCHORAGE - Paul Tandy is a sophomore wrestler at West High School in Anchorage, Alaska, but there is one thing that sets him apart.

Paul was born prematurely in Taiwan.

The amount of oxygen he was given as a baby permanently blinded him.

"In the Chinese culture people with disabilities don't usually live, and so basically I was put in an orphanage and ended up getting adopted at a year old," he said.

Having a GPA of 4.0 and playing multiple musical instruments is only the start of things Paul wants to accomplish.

He's now taking up wrestling.

"I've been told that this was a feel sport though, so I thought I'd get in and see how I do," he explained.

"I kept calling him sight-impaired and he said 'I'm blind coach', so everybody got a good laugh out of that and he fit right in with this group," coach Shawn Silverthorn said.

Paul's insight has helped him find a way to fit in outside of the gym as well.

"People in high school can be really shallow on how others look, I think it's a real big advantage for me to not have to have that cause I can view people for who they really are," he said.

Wrestling is mainly taught by demonstration, but the coaching staff has found a way to get around that.

"We'll have a coach come over and go through it with him, guide his hands, guide his feet or have him listen where the other kids body is at so that he gets that muscle memory," Silverthorn explained.

Paul has discovered some advantages to his disability.

"A wrestler who is looking can be faked out by an opponent, where as Paul follows the body movements, he follows the head and the hips, and the hips don't lie," assistant coach Ryan Kopiasz explained.

Training under the idea of movement, he has started winning.

"It wasn't about technique as it was about feeling for me," he said. "That's what I realized and that was something big for me to realize that 'cause I had never thought of that way before."

Victorious or not, Paul's work ethic and character stand out to others.

To see the video of this incredible story, click the link below:

http://www.9news.com/sports/article/235487/345/Blind-wrestler-senses-his-competition-