Wrestling represents one of the oldest forms of combat sport. The origins of wrestling go back around 15,000 to 17,000 years ago through cave drawings in France.[4]Babylonian andEgyptian reliefs show wrestlers using various holds known in the present-day sport. Literary references to wrestling occur as early as theOld Testament and the ancient IndianVedas[specify]. In theBook of Genesis, thePatriarchJacob is said to have wrestled with God or an angel.[5] TheIliad, in which Homer recounts theTrojan War of the 13th or 12th century BC, also contains mentions of wrestling.[6] Indian epicsRamayana andMahabharata contain references to martial arts including wrestling. TheYellow Emperor fought the rebelChi You usingShuai Jiao at theBattle of Zhoulu. This early style of combat was first calledjiao di (butting with horns).
During the Middle Ages from thefifth tofifteenth century, wrestling remained popular and enjoyed the patronage of many royal families, including those ofEngland,France, andJapan.
EarlyBritish settlers inAmerica brought a strong wrestling tradition with them. The settlers also found wrestling to be popular amongNative Americans.[8] Amateur wrestling flourished throughout the early years of the North American colonies and would later serve as a popular activity at country fairs, holiday celebrations, and in military exercises. The first organized national wrestling tournament in the United States took place inNew York City in 1888.
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, and theIrish developed the "collar-and-elbow" style which later found its way into theUnited States.[11] This various styles would form what would becomefolkstyle wrestling, which is the most popular form of wrestling in the United States.
AFrenchman[n 2] "is generally credited with reorganizing European loose wrestling into a professional sport",Greco-Roman wrestling.[12] This style which was finalized by the 19th century and by then, wrestling was featured in manyfairs andfestivals in Europe.[13] Greco-Roman wrestling and contemporary freestyle wrestling were soon regulated in formal competitions, in part resulting from the rise ofgymnasiums andathletic clubs.
Starting in continentalEurope, prize money was offered in large sums to the winners of Greco-Roman tournaments, with the style offreestyle wrestling spreading rapidly in theUnited Kingdom and in the United States during the late 1800s. Wrestling professionals soon increased the popularity of Greco-Roman and freestyle wrestling, worldwide.[11][14] Greco-Roman wrestling was contested at the first modern Olympics in 1896. Freestyle wrestling became an Olympic event in 1904 and women's freestyle wrestling was added to the Olympics in 2004.
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.
Since 1921,United World Wrestling (UWW) has regulatedamateur wrestling as an athletic discipline, whileprofessional wrestling, originally a legitimate sport, gradually became infused with theatrics but still requires athletic ability. Today, various countries around the world send national wrestling teams to the Olympics.
InSwitzerland the local derivate of theGermanringen, calledschwingen, is a popular folk sport with localSchwingfest where regional competitions are played throughout the country.
Greek mythology celebrates the rise ofZeus as ruler of the earth after a wrestling match with his father,Cronus. BothHeracles andTheseus were famous for their wrestling against man and beast.
Greco-Roman (GR) is an international discipline and one of two wrestling disciplines featured in the Olympic Games. This form of wrestling prioritizes upper body attacks, with an emphasis on explosive "high amplitude" throws. Under the Greco-Roman ruleset, it is forbidden to attack the opponent below the belt in the execution of any action (restricting holds, trips, and active but not passive usage of the legs). Points are allotted on the basis of throw amplitude, exposure of an opponent's back to the mat and opponent passivity. A Greco-Roman wrestler may instantly win a match by holding both of an opponent's scapula to the mat (known as a "fall"). A well known Greco-Roman wrestler isAlexander Karelin fromRussia.
Freestyle wrestling (FS, WW) is an international discipline and one of two wrestling disciplines featured in the Olympic Games, for both men and women. This style allows the use of the wrestler's or his opponent's legs in offense and defense. Freestyle wrestling has its origins incatch-as-catch-can wrestling and awards points on the basis of throw amplitude, exposure of an opponent's back to the mat and opponent passivity. A freestyle wrestler may instantly win a match by holding both of an opponent's scapula to the mat (known as a "fall"). This form of wrestling is similar toAmericanscholastic andcollegiate wrestling with freestyle wrestling having a greater emphasis on throw amplitude. Collegiate women's wrestling uses two rulesets, freestyle in theNCAA and standard collegiate in theNCWA.
Submission Wrestling incorporates techniques and holds from a variety of wrestling disciplines. Grappling is divided into two styles: no-gi and gi. In no-gi (GNG), athletes wear shorts and a compression shirt called a rashguard. In gi grappling (GWG), athletes wear akimono orgi. The goal of the sport is to take down and control the opponent on the ground and potentially win a submission using chokes and joint locks.
Pankration (PK), from the Greek wordspan andkratos and meaning "all of power", is a world heritage martial art which was introduced to theAncient Olympic Games in 648 BC. Modern amateur pankration is a form ofmixed martial arts (MMA) that incorporates techniques from multiple systems. Matches are fought with both grappling and striking techniques.[18]
Alysh is a Turkic term for a Central Asian folk wrestling style which involves the wearing of jackets, trousers and thick belts. Throughout the contest the wrestlers must retain their hold on each other's belt. For this reason it is also referred to as 'belt wrestling alysh' or 'alysh belt wrestling' (BWUWW).
The origin of pahlavani wrestling goes back toancient Persia and is said to have been practiced by mythological Iranian heroes. It combines martial arts,calisthenics,strength training, and music, and was originally used to train warriors.. It is recognized byUNESCO as among the world's longest-running forms of sport. The best wrestlers earn the title ofpahlevan (hero). It is similar to freestyle wrestling, however wrestlers wear pants which extend from the waist to below the knees and a belt. They are allowed to use or grab pants or belt as a grip, use legs, waist, clinch, leg trips and lift or throw, with the goal being to touch their opponent's shoulders to the mat.
UWW, then known as FILA, codified the form of beach wrestling in 2004.[19] Beach wrestling (BW) is standing wrestling done by wrestlers, male or female, inside a sand-filled circle measuring 7 meters (23 ft) in diameter. The style originally mirrored the rules used before the use of wrestling mats,[20] and beach wrestling has been regarded as the oldest version of international competitive wrestling.[21] The wrestlers wear swimsuits rather than special wrestling uniforms. Wrestlers may also wearspandex or athletic shorts.
Folk wrestling describes a traditional form of wrestling unique to a culture or geographic region of the world that UWW does not administer rules for. Examples of the many styles of folk wrestling, includeCornish wrestling, backhold wrestling (from Europe),Cumberland Wrestling andCatch-as-catch-can (from England),kurash from Uzbekistan, gushteengiri from Tajikistan,khuresh from Siberia, Lotta Campidanese from Italy,naban from Myanmar,pehlwani from India, penjang gulat from Indonesia,schwingen from Switzerland,kokh from Armenia, tigel from Ethiopia,kene of the Nagas from India,shuai jiao from China, andssireum from Korea.
Folk wrestling styles are not recognized as international styles of wrestling byUWW.
Celtic wrestling styles (e.g.,Cornish wrestling,Scottish Backhold,Cumberland Wrestling,Gouren andCollar-and-elbow) are a subset of folk wrestling and have their own regulatory bodies and some are affiliated to other organisations. For example, the Cornish Wrestling Association is affiliated to the British Wrestling Association which is linked to the UWW. The International Federation of Celtic Wrestling (FILC) organises international competitions between wrestlers from these styles.[24]
Folk styles have been international in nature. For example, there have been regularCornish wrestling tournaments and matches in the US,[25] Australia,[26] South Africa,[27] New Zealand,[28] England[29][30] and Cornwall, with irregular tournaments and matches in Japan,[31] Canada[32] and Mexico.[33] There have also been Inter-Celtic tournaments betweenCornwall andBrittany dating back to theField of the Cloth of Gold in 1520 through to the modern era with regular events since 1928.[34][35]
Oil wrestling
Oil wrestling (Turkish:yağlı güreş), also called grease wrestling, is theTurkish national sport. It is so called because the wrestlers douse themselves with olive oil. It is related to Uzbekkurash, Tuvan khuresh and Tatar and Bashkirкөрәш (köräş). The wrestlers, known aspehlivanlar meaning "champion" wear a type of hand-stitched lederhosen called akispetler, which are traditionally made of water buffalo hide, and most recently have been made of calfskin.
Unlike Olympic wrestling, oil wrestling matches may be won by achieving an effective hold of thekisbet. Thus, thepehlivan aims to control his opponent by putting his arm through the latter'skisbet. To win by this move is calledpaça kazık. Originally, matches had no set duration and could go on for one or two days, until one man was able to establish superiority, but in 1975 the duration was capped at 40 minutes for thebaşpehlivan and 30 minutes for thepehlivan category. If no winner is determined, another 15 minutes—10 minutes for thepehlivan category—of wrestling ensues, wherein scores are kept to determine the victor.
The annualKırkpınar tournament, held inEdirne in Turkish Thrace since 1362, is the oldest continuously running, sanctioned sporting competition in the world. In recent years this style of wrestling has also become popular in other countries.
Some high schools in the U.S. have developed junior varsity and freshman teams alongside varsity teams. Junior varsity and freshman wrestling teams restrict competitors not only by weight, but also by age and the amount of wrestling a competitor can partake in. For example, some junior varsity and freshman competitors are not allowed in tournament competition due to the amount of mat time a wrestler would accrue in a short time period.
Women's college wrestling in the U.S. uses freestyle wrestling rules in theNCAA and standard collegiate rules in theNCWA.[36]
There are several organizations which oversee collegiate wrestling competition: NCAA Divisions I, II, and III, theNAIA, theNJCAA, and the NCWA.NCAA Division I wrestling is considered the most prestigious and challenging level of competition. A school chooses which athletic organization to join, although it may compete against teams from other levels and organizations during regular-season competition. The collegiate season starts in October or November and culminates with the National Championship tournament held in March.[37]
NCAA Divisions I and II, the NAIA, and the NJCAA, offer wrestlingscholarships for student athletes.[38]
Professional wrestling is often concluded in a raised ring; akin to boxing. Althoughadvertised as contests, bouts are actuallyexhibitions with winners generally pre-determined to increase entertainment value. Legitimate wrestling skill remained a valuable bargaining chip in the wrestling industry until the late 20th century however, with occasionalshoot matches (often to settle some backstage personal or business dispute) taking place in the early days of the business and still occurring well into the 1930s and 1940s and the threat to use legitimate skill to have one's way in the ring still potent decades later.[39]
The roots of professional wrestling lay in thecatch-as-catch-can contests of the late 19th century. Whereas the Europeans favored the more controlled and classicalGreco-Roman style, the Americans from the 1880s preferred the more wide-open style of wrestling that later became known asfreestyle. When the best American catch wrestlers discovered they could earn money with their skills, the professional counterpart was born. Initially, the contests were similar to amateur matches, except there were no time limits, andsubmission andchoke holds were allowed. Amateur wrestling coexisted with its professional counterpart until around the 1940s before the sport grew more theatrical.[40] Wrestlers from the period were known ashookers orshooters due to their legitimate skills – a dwindling number have remained in the business until modern times. Popular wrestlers from this era includeMartin "Farmer" Burns,Frank Gotch,Tom Jenkins,Charles Cutler,Joe Stecher,Earl Caddock,Stanislaus Zbyszko,Ed "Strangler" Lewis,Ad Santel,John Pesek,Jim Londos,Ray Steele,Dick Shikat, and transitional figureLou Thesz.
Sports entertainment, sometimes referred as "American-style" professional wrestling, includes companies such asWWE,AEW,TNA Wrestling andROH who run touring professional wrestling events in the United States and throughout the world. Sports entertainment matches are highly theatrical, with dramatic stories such asfeuds between the athletes developed and performed as part of build-up and promotion for matches. Before its increase in popularity in the mid-1980s, professional wrestling in the United States was organised as a cartel of regional monopolies, known as "territories." Wrestling in some of these areas (particularly theSouthern andMidwestern United States) was performed in a relatively less theatrical more serious style, which could vary from realistically sporting to darkly violent, depending on local preference.
A different style of professional wrestling evolved in theUnited Kingdom and spread across WesternEurope (where it was known as "Catch" in the non-English speaking countries of mainland Europe). Traditionally in this style, there was less use of storylines and angles to promote the matches which, for the most part, had the atmosphere of real wrestling competition. In many countries this form of professional wrestling achieved mainstream popularity – particularly in theUnited Kingdom andFrance where in both countries from the 1950s to the late 1980s, national television coverage made household names of its stars (it was also regularly screened onWelsh language television inWales in the 1980s/1990s and early satellite sports channels during the same period as well as extensive home video releases in 1980s Germany/Austria) – but later declined and was supplanted both on television and in wider culture by imported American wrestling. Some promoters in the UK (and to a lesser extent France andGermany) still produce live shows in this style but face stiff competition from more American-styled rivals.
Mexican professional wrestling, also known aslucha libre, is a style of wrestling using special holds (llaves) and aerial techniques. Most performers, known asluchadores (singularluchador), begin their careers wearingmasks, but most will lose their masks during their careers. Traditionally a match involves the best of three rounds, with no time limit. Each luchador uses his own special wrestling style orestilo de lucha consisting of aerial attack moves, strikes and complex submission holds. Popularluchadores in Mexico have includedEl Santo,Blue Demon,Mil Máscaras,Perro Aguayo,Konnan,L. A. Park andMístico. Several wrestlers who performed in Mexico also had success in the United States, includingEddie Guerrero,Rey Mysterio andAlberto Del Rio.
In France in the 19th century, early professional wrestling shows in the Greco-Roman style were often performed at thecircus by the residentstrongmen. This style later spread to circuses in Eastern Europe, particularly in Russia where it was a staple part ofcircuses in theSoviet era, where it was often advertised as "French wrestling."[42]Ivan Poddubny achieved major stardom in his homeland and beyond during theinterwar period.
Judo is a style of wrestling which is derived fromjujitsu, a Japanese martial art. As a wrestling style, judo is distinctive in that practitioners, called judoka, wear a heavy jacket and trousers, called agi, along with a belt. The gi is used to grip the opponent in order to throw or choke them. Judo also allows some chokes and joint locks, although they are typically banned for children.[43] Judo is a popular sport in Japan as well as in France, Russia, and eastern Europe.
Sambo is a martial art that originated in theSoviet Union (specificallyRussia) in the 20th century. It is an acronym for "self-defence without weapons" inRussian and had its origins in the Soviet armed forces. Its influences are varied, with techniques borrowed from sports ranging from the two international wrestling styles of Greco-Roman and freestyle to judo, jujitsu, European styles offolk wrestling, and evenfencing. The rules for sport sambo are similar to those in competitive judo, with a variety ofleg locks and defense holds from the various national wrestling styles in the Soviet Union, while not allowingchokeholds.[44]
I personally think that the very best skill for MMA is wrestling, I think that's the number one base to come from because those guys just flat out dictate where the fight takes place [standing or on the ground]." "There is no better base for entering into mixed martial arts than the highly successful competitor as a wrestler. The competitive wrestlers, the highly successful amateur wrestlers have such tremendous mental toughness. If you can just get through the room, the wrestling room practices at like really high level universities, NCAA division one teams; those guys are savages. The stuff they go through, just the overtraining, just the mental toughness that you have to develop.[45][46]
The rapid rise in the popularity ofmixed martial arts (MMA) has increased interest in wrestling due to its effectiveness against other martial arts since the infancy of MMA, and several wrestling techniques have been specifically adapted for MMA, leading to many martial arts gyms holding MMA wrestling classes.[47] It is considered one of the primary disciplines in MMA along withBrazilian jiu-jitsu,boxing,kickboxing/muay Thai,[48] andjudo.[49]
Shoot wrestling, a relative of catch and freestyle wrestling, is the foundation ofShooto, a combat sport and pioneer MMA organization founded in 1985.Pancrase, another influential MMA organization based on shoot wrestling, also predates theUltimate Fighting Championship (UFC).
UFC Light Heavyweight and Heavyweight Champion –– NCAA Division I Wrestling All-American, US National Freestyle Wrestling Champion and US Freestyle Olympian
^The term "wrestling" is most often widely used to specifically refer to predeterminedprofessional wrestling, which is very different from the legitimate (orreal-life) wrestling combat predominantly detailed in this article.
^Exbroyat ofLyon. He died in 1868. Another claim, is that the founder ofGreco-Roman wrestling, was Frenchman Jean Broyasse (death 1872), according to the encyclopediaGyldendals store konversasjonsleksikon, 1981, p. 2564.
^ab"Wrestling, Freestyle" by Michael B. Poliakoff fromEncyclopedia of World Sport: From Ancient Times to the Present, Vol. 3, p. 1193, eds. David Levinson and Karen Christensen (Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, Inc., 1996).
^ab"Wrestling, Freestyle" by Michael B. Poliakoff fromEncyclopedia of World Sport: From Ancient Times to the Present, Vol. 3, p. 1190, eds. David Levinson and Karen Christensen (Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, Inc., 1996).
^"Wrestling, Greco-Roman" by Michael B. Poliakoff fromEncyclopedia of World Sport: From Ancient Times to the Present, Vol. 3, p. 1194, eds. David Levinson and Karen Christensen (Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, Inc., 1996).
^Guy Jaouen and Matthew Bennett Nicols:Celtic Wrestling, The Jacket Styles, Fédération Internationale des Luttes Associées (Switzerland) 2007, p1-183.
^Great activity in wrestling, Cornish sport is growing in popularity in upper peninsula of Michigan, The Minneapolis Journal, 19 July 1902, p9.
^Wrestling, Bendigo Advertiser (Vic), 9 January 1906, p3.
^Cornish Association of South Africa, Cornish Guardian, 8 May 1914, p5.
^Wrestling for the championship of Westland, WEST COAST TIMES, ISSUE 712, 4 JANUARY 1868, p2.
^Cornish wrestling in Devon, Cornish Guardian, 25 June 1926, p6.
^Last Christmas Day wedding in Taunton, Taunton Courier, and Western Advertiser, 28 December 1963, p1.
^Wrestling, The Japan Weekly Mail, 30 March 1872, p162.
^Cornish Wrestling to be introduced to Canada, Cornish Guardian, 20 December 1928, p5.
^A Cornish Wrestler in Mexico, The Cornish Telegraph, 14 July 1892, p5.
^Guy Jaouen and Matthew Bennett Nicols:Celtic Wrestling, The Jacket Styles, Fédération Internationale des Luttes Associées (Switzerland) 2007, p119-155.
^"Wrestling, Freestyle" by Michael B. Poliakoff fromEncyclopedia of World the Sport: From Ancient Times to the Present, Vol. 3, p. 1192, eds. David Levinson and Karen Christensen (Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, Inc., 1996).
_(14778836201).jpg)
_vs_Robert_Teet_(right)_during_USA_Wrestling%2527s_2010_World_Team_Trials_for_beach_wrestling.jpg)
