Wrestling andgrappling sports have a long and complicated history, stretching into prehistoric times. Many traditional forms survive, grouped under the termfolk wrestling. More formal systems have been codified in various forms ofmartial arts worldwide, wheregrappling techniques form a significant subset ofunarmed fighting (complemented bystriking techniques).
The modernhistory of wrestling begins with a rise of popularity in the 19th century, which led to the development of the modern sports ofGreco-Roman wrestling on the European continent and offreestyle wrestling andcollegiate wrestling in Great Britain and the United States, respectively. These sports enjoyed enormous popularity at the turning of the 20th century. In the 1920s,professional wrestling once a competitive sport became a spectacle after promoters took control of the industry divorcing it from competitive sport wrestling, now known asamateur wrestling.
Wrestling as a type ofmock combat anddisplay behaviour among males has anthropological roots, and is also seen in non-humanGreat Apes. Its documented history however necessarily begins with the history of pictorial representations. The oldest representations of wrestling date back 15,000–20,000 years ago, found insouthern France.[1][2] Cave paintings in theBayankhongor Province ofMongolia dating back to Neolithic age of 7000 BC show grappling of two naked men and surrounded by crowds.[3][irrelevant citation]In theAncient Mesopotamia, forms ofbelt wrestling were popular from earliest times.[4] A carving on a stone slabe showing three pairs of wrestlers was dated to around 3000 BC.[5] A castBronze figurine,[6] (perhaps the base of avase) has been found atKhafaji inIraq that shows two figures in a wrestling hold that dates to around 2600 BC. The statue is one of the earliest depictions of sport and is housed in theNational Museum of Iraq.[7][8]
Portrayal of martial arts sporting in Egypt has begun by the time of the5th Dynasty mastaba tombs atSaqqara, circa 2400 BC. After a boat joust scene recorded in the tomb ofNiankhkhnum and Khnumhotep, who were manicurists toKing Nyuserre, six pairs of boys wrestle in the nearby tomb of Akhethotep and Ptahhotep.[11][12][13][a] Another early piece of evidence for wrestling inEgypt appears at 11th and 12th DynastyBeni Hasan (2000 BC, images at right and above), where wrestling scenes in several tombs are elaborated to cover much of a wall.[9][10] During the period of theNew Kingdom (1550-1070 BC), additional Egyptian artwork (often onfriezes), depicted Egyptian and Nubian wrestlers competing. Carroll notes striking similarities between these ancient depictions and those of the modernNuba wrestlers.[14] On the 406 wrestling pairs found in the Middle Kingdom tombs at Beni Hasan in the Nile valley, nearly all of the techniques seen in modernfreestyle wrestling could be found.[15]
Textual description of wrestling begins with the ancient classics, especially theGreek andSanskrit epics. TheMahabharata describes the encounter between the accomplished wrestlersBhima andJarasandha.
Shuai Jiao is a legendary wrestling style of Chinese antiquity used by theYellow Emperor during his fight against the rebel Chi You at theBattle of Zhoulu. This early style of combat was first calledjiao di (butting with horns).[16]
Greek wrestling was a popular form ofmartial art in which points were awarded for touching a competitor's back to the ground, forcing a competitor out of bounds (arena).[17] Three falls determined the winner. It was at least featured as a sport since the eighteenthOlympiad in 704 BC. Wrestling is described in the earliest celebrated works ofGreek literature, theIliad and theOdyssey.[18] Wrestlers were also depicted in action on many vases, sculptures, and coins, as well as in other literature. Other cultures featured wrestling at royal or religious celebrations, but the ancient Greeks structured their style of wrestling as part of a tournament where a single winner emerged from a pool of competitors.[15] Late Greek tradition also stated thatPlato was known for wrestling in theIsthmian games.[19]
This continued into the Hellenistic period.Ptolemy II andPtolemy III of Egypt were both depicted in art as victorious wrestlers. After the Roman conquest of the Greeks,Greek wrestling was adopted by the Roman culture and becameRoman Wrestling during the period of theRoman Empire (510 BC to AD 500).[citation needed] By the eighth century, the Byzantine emperorBasil I, according to court historians, won in wrestling against a boastful wrestler fromBulgaria.[19]
Celtic wrestling has an extensive history, with wrestling being mentioned in theTailteann Games dating back from somewhere between 1839 BC to 632 BC (academics disagree) to the 12th century AD when the Normans invaded. Various styles such asCornish wrestling,Gouren,Collar-and-elbow wrestling, etc. are likely to have evolved from some common style.
There is ample evidence of wrestling practiced throughout medieval Europe, both by the nobility and the lower classes. Wrestling remained popular during the Renaissance, and for much of the 16th century.In 1520 at theField of the Cloth of Gold pageant,Francis I of France threwHenry VIII of England in a wrestling shoes match (possibly with aFlying Mare[20]), after hisCornish wrestlers had soundly defeated Francis' Breton wrestlers.[21][22][19] InHenry VIII's kingdom, wrestling in many places was widely popular and had a long history.
TheGerman tradition has records of a number of master-Ringer of the 15th to 16th centuries specializing in unarmed combat. Unarmed combat was divided in two categories, sportive grappling orgeselliges ringen and serious unarmed combat orkampfringen (wherekampf is theEarly Modern German term for "duel").While sportive grappling had fixed rules that prohibited dangerous techniques, usually starting ingrappling hold and ending with athrow orsubmission,kampfringen can be considered a system of unarmedself-defense includingpunches,joint-locks,elbow strikes,chokeholds,headbutts and (to a limited extent)kicks.
One of the primary men to have shaped kampfringen at the dawning of the German Renaissance appears to have been Austrian master Ott Jud. He is said to have developed a system of grappling to be used in combat, including joint breaks, arm locks and throws designed to cause serious injury. No treatise from Ott's own hand has survived, but his system is taught by several fencing masters of the later 15th century.Paulus Kal counts him among the "society ofLiechtenauer", saying that he was wrestling teacher to the "lords ofAustria".[23] (possibly underFrederick III).[24]Other treatises that contain material both onringen and on swordsmanship include those ofFiore dei Liberi (c. 1410),Fabian von Auerswald (1462),Pietro Monte (c. 1480), andHans Wurm (c. 1500).
It was only with the beginningEarly Modern period, specifically the more "dignified" code of behaviour the upper classes imposed on themselves in theBaroque period that wrestling was abandoned by European nobility, and it became a pastime of rural populations, developing into the various surviving forms of Europeanfolk wrestling. A late treatise onringen is that by Johann Georg Passchen, published in 1659.[25] Maybe the last book which deals with Ringen as a deadly martial art, is possibly "Leib-beschirmende und Feinden Trotz-bietende Fecht-Kunst" from Johann Andreas Schmidt, which was published in Weigel, Nürnberg in 1713.[26]
Many of the world's oldest depictions of wrestling can be found in the Middle East. Carvings and statues show that forms of belt wrestling existed in the region since ancient times, in addition to matches between humans and animals. Wrestling is also mentioned in the epics ofGilgamesh and theShahnameh. Oil wrestling as practiced in present-day Turkey and Central Asia is recorded in ancient Sumeria and Babylon. In Persia, Pahlavani traditional grappling or koshti (کشتی) was practiced by both the upper and lower classes both for sport and as training for battle. In training halls known aszourkhaneh, soldiers practiced resistance exercises and grappling in a tradition now calledVarzesh-e bastani (ورزش باستانی; lit. "ancient athletics"). Ancient Iranian combat-wrestling (koshti-ye jangi) included not only grabs but also punches and low kicks. As Iranian influence spread with theAchaemenid Empire and later thePersian Empire, the practice was adopted in theIndian subcontinent asPehlwani.
InAncient China, there were stories describingChi You, the progenitor ofjiao di(角抵), usingpunches andelbow strikes to the head andkicks to his opponents in wrestling tournaments. Classical Chinese wrestling orjiao li (角力) was a public sport in theQin dynasty (221–207 BC) held for court amusement as well as for recruiting the best fighters. Competitors wrestled each other on a raised platform called alei tai, and both competitors would have to either push their opponent off the platform, or submit them with various arm-locks(chin-na) to emerge as the winner. Traditionally, belts were also worn by wrestlers to have additional gripping. The termshuai jiao was chosen by theCentral Guoshu Academy ofNanjing in 1928 when competition rules began to be standardized.
Wrestling in theIndian subcontinent was differentiated into four types that progressed from sport (malakride) to combat (malla-yuddha) mentioned in Mahabharat 3050 BC. Mughal conquerors introduced more groundwork and referred to their grappling style askusti. Competitors still wrestle as in ancient times, on dirt floors while wearing onlykowpeenam or loincloth. Wresting was also described in Ramayana, which predates Mahabarata. The examples of the biggest wrestlers from Ramayana are Hanuman, Bali, Raavan (who was defeated by Bali), Sugreev and Angad. Hanuman is considered as an inspiration even in the current times as the biggest wrestler of all time and is also worshipped by the Indian wrestlers.
The termjūjutsu was coined in the 17th century, after which time it became a blanket term for a wide variety of grappling-related disciplines inJapanese martial arts. Prior to that time, these skills had names such as "short sword grappling" (小具足腰之廻,kogusoku koshi no mawari), "grappling" (組討 or 組打,kumiuchi), "body art" (体術,taijutsu), "softness" (柔 or 和,yawara), "art of harmony" (和術,wajutsu, yawarajutsu), "catching hand" (捕手,torite), and even the "way of softness" (柔道,jūdō) (as early as 1724, almost two centuries before Kanō Jigorō founded the modern art of KodokanJudo).[27]The systems of unarmed combat that were developed and practiced during theMuromachi period (before 1573) are today referred to collectively as Japanese old-style jujutsu (日本古流柔術,Nihon koryū jūjutsu).
TheLancashire style offolk wrestling may have formed the basis forCatch wrestling also known as "catch as catch can." TheScots later formed a variant of this style, Scottish Backhold, which would later remove all groundwork and focus solely on the takedown, and theIrish developed the "collar-and-elbow" style which later found its way into the United States.[28]
Wrestling as a modern sport developed in the 19th century out of traditions offolk wrestling, emerging in the form of two styles of regulated competitive sport, "freestyle" and "Greco-Roman" wrestling (based on British and continental tradition, respectively), now[year needed] summarized under the term "amateur wrestling" by the beginning of themodern Olympics.
A tradition of combining wrestling and showmanship originates in1830s France, when showmen presented wrestlers under names such as "Edward, the steel eater", "Gustave d'Avignon, the bone wrecker", or "Bonnet, the ox of the low Alps" and challenged members of the public to knock them down for 500francs.[29] In 1848, French showman, Jean Exbroyat formed the first modern wrestlers' circus troupe and established a rule not to execute holds below the waist — a style he named "flat hand wrestling". This new style soon spread to the rest of Europe, theAustro-Hungarian Empire, Italy, Denmark and Russia under the names ofGreco-Roman wrestling, Classic wrestling or French wrestling.
By the end of the 19th century, this modern "Greco-Roman" wrestling style went on to become the most popular event in fashionable sport in Europe. Because of that and the rise ofgymnasiums andathletic clubs, Greco-Roman wrestling and modern freestyle wrestling were soon regulated in formal competitions. On continental Europe, prize money was offered in large sums to the winners of Greco-Roman tournaments, and freestyle wrestling spread rapidly in the United Kingdom and in the United States.
A "Golden Age" for the sport followed, cut short with the breakout ofWorld War I in 1914.In 1898 the FrenchmanPaul Pons, "the Colossus" became the first Professional World Champion.[29][30]Leading wrestlers during this time, such asGeorg Hackenschmidt,Stanislaus Zbyszko,William Muldoon,Frank Gotch,Constant Lavaux, had the status of popular heroes.[28][31]
In the United States, wrestling was dominated byMartin "Farmer" Burns and his pupil,Frank Gotch. Burns was renowned as a competitive wrestler, who, despite never weighing more than 160 pounds during his wrestling career, fought over 6,000 wrestlers (at a time when most were competitive contests) and lost fewer than 10 of them.[32] He also gained a reputation for training some of the best wrestlers of the era, including Gotch, known as one of America's first sports superstars.[32] Gotch, regarded as "peerless" at his peak, was the first to actually claim the world's undisputed heavyweight championship by beating all contenders in North America and Europe. He became the world's champion by beating European wrestling championGeorg Hackenschmidt, both in 1908 and 1911, seen by modern wrestling historians as two of the most significant matches in wrestling history.
Professional wrestlers during this time would participate both in sportive competition and in shows focusing more on spectacle and entertainment, as wrestling was introduced to the public as part of avariety act to spice up the limited action involved in the bodybuilderstrongman attractions. One of its earliest stars was a Cornish-American ex-miner namedJack Carkeek, who would challenge audience members to last 10 minutes with him. It is in this period that the origin between the later division between "professional wrestling" (non-competitive acrobatics and showmanship) and "amateur wrestling" (competitive) originates.Georg Hackenschmidt, world champion after his 1905 win overTom Jenkins, associated himself with British promoter and entrepreneur Charles B. Cochran. Hackenschmidt took a series of bookings inManchester for a then-impressive £150 a week. Noting Hackenschmidt's dominant style of wrestling threatened to kill crowd interest, Cochran persuaded Hackenschmidt to learn showmanship from Cannon and wrestle many of his matches for entertainment rather than sport; this displayed the future elements ofsports entertainment.
The separation of "worked", i.e. purely performative, choreographed wrestling from competitive sport begins in the 1920s.The success of the moreworked aspects of professional wrestling in America, likegimmickry andsubmission holds, were introduced to British wrestling. Amateur wrestler,Sir Atholl Oakeley got together with fellow grapplerHenry Irslinger to launch one of the first promotions to employ the new style of wrestling which was coined "All-in wrestling". The great demand for wrestling meant there were not enough skilled amateurs to go around, and many promoters switched to moreviolent styles, with weapons and chairshots part of the proceedings. Women wrestlers and mud-filled rings also became commonplace. In the late 1930s, theLondon County Council banned professional wrestling.
When theFirst Modern Olympic Games held inAthens in 1896, Greco-Roman wrestling was introduced as an Olympic discipline. After not being featured in the1900 Olympics, sports wrestling was seen again in 1904 inSt. Louis; this time in freestyle competition. Since then, Greco-Roman and freestyle wrestling have both been featured (with women's freestyle added in the Summer Olympics of 2004).
The popularity of wrestling experienced a dramatic decline in 1915 to 1920, north due to the World War, and as its reputation had suffered especially among the American public because of widespread doubt of its legitimacy and status as a competitive sport.
Following the retirement of Frank Gotch, professional wrestling in the United States (except in the Midwest) was losing popularity fast. In response, three professional wrestlers,Ed Lewis,Billy Sandow, andToots Mondt, joined to form their own promotion in the 1920s, modifying their in-ring product to attract fans. The three were referred to as the "Gold Dust Trio" due to their financial success. This marks the beginning of "professional wrestling" as an entertainment industry separate from competitive wrestling, and to a revival of public interest in wrestling in theinterwar period.Wrestling did not, however, rise to its pre-war level of popularity again, being eclipsed byBoxing, which sport now experiencedits own Golden Age.
Since 1921, theInternational Federation of Associated Wrestling Styles (FILA) has regulatedamateur wrestling as an athletic discipline.In 1928,the NCAA published the rules forcollegiate wrestling. That season, the firstNCAA Wrestling Team Championship took place on March 30 to March 31 on the campus ofIowa State College. The rules of collegiate wrestling marked a sharp contrast to the freestyle wrestling rules of theInternational Amateur Wrestling Federation (IAWF) and theAAU.[18] From then on, collegiate wrestling emerged as a distinctly American sport. College and high school wrestling grew especially after the standardization of the NCAA wrestling rules, which applied early on to both collegiate and scholastic wrestling (with high school modifications). More colleges, universities, and junior colleges began offering dual meets and tournaments, including championships and having organized wrestling seasons. There were breaks in wrestling seasons because ofWorld War II, but in the high schools especially, state association wrestling championships sprung up in different regions throughout the 1930s and 1940s. As amateur wrestling grew after World War II, various collegiate athletic conferences also increased the number and quality of their wrestling competition, with more wrestlers making the progression of wrestling in high school, being recruited by college coaches, and then entering the collegiate competition.
Bothfreestyle wrestling and its American counterpart,collegiate wrestling, did not have a scoring system that decided matches in the absence of a fall until the introduction of a point system by theNCAA in the 1940-1941 season. This influenced the international styles as well. By the 1960s international wrestling matches in Greco-Roman and freestyle were scored by a panel of three judges in secret, who made the final decision by raising colored paddles at the match's end. In the late 1950'sDr. Albert deFerrari fromSan Francisco who became vice president of FILA, lobbied for a visible scoring system and a rule for "controlled fall", which would recognize a fall only when the offensive wrestler had done something to cause it. These were soon adopted internationally in Greco-Roman and freestyle.[33]