About Erik Paulson
(Excerpt from Karate Kung Fu Illustrated, February 1997)
When Erik Paulson was just a little guy, he used to tell his wrestling fanatic brother, “If you’re a good puncher and kicker, nobody can take you down.”
One day, Paulson’s brother answered with a challenge: “You want to bet? A wrestler will always beat a karate guy”
So Paulson and his brother went at it — on several occasions. ” I could hit him a few times, but he could always get lucky and take me down, ” Paulson remembers. “Later I started to realize that that he kept on getting lucky. I’d hit him, but I’d end up on my back. Then he’d get me in a side straddle or side headlock. From that time on, I knew in the back of my mind that wrestling was the thing I liked most.”