Martial Art Styles: Wrestling

Wrestling is one of the worlds oldest Martial Arts, and ancient Combat Sports. When cavemen started fighting other cavemen Grappling was one of the first forms of Combat, and Wrestling evolved from it.

There are cave drawings of men Wrestling, estimated by whoever estimates cave drawing ages, to be more than 15 thousand years old...give or take a few thousand years.

The Aim of Wrestling

Wrestling is a Martial Art where two combatants engage one another in an attempt to gain control of an opponent and take them to the ground and achieve a dominant position over their foe.

Some styles of Wrestling such as Submission Wrestling use Submission Holds (Joint Locks and Chokes) that force an opponent to give up or to have a Joint dislocated, or to be Choked unconscious. Submission Wrestling has become a form of training popular with Mixed Martial Artists.

Almost every culture has a form of Grappling Hand to Hand Combat that is designed to throw opponents off balance.

Shuai Jiao was a Wrestling style from China, that is over 4000 years old. In Egypt there is documentation of Wrestling on tombs dating to 2300 B.C. In ancient Greece Wrestling is referenced in the Iliad, an account of the Trojan War from the 12th or 13th century B.C. The first recorded Olympic Wrestling match took place in 708 B.C.

Ancient Wrestling Legend

Milo of Kroton (a village in Southern Italy), was the Greatest Wrestler in ancient history winning 6 Olympias. He was the reining Olympic Champion from 532-516 B.C. He won his first Championship when he won the boy's division, and then won 5 in the men's division.

Milo's Wrestling domination wasn't limited to the Olympic Games. He won 7 Championships at the Pythian Games at Delphi, his first when he was a boy. He also won 10 Championships at the Isthmian Games, and 9 at the Nemean Games. He was a 5 time Periodonikes, a title bestowed upon a Champion who won 4 of these events in the same cycle.

Milo's Source of Strength

Superman Strength was Milo's greatest asset.

It was said that Milo developed his great strength by lifting a bull calf. Milo was raised on a farm and one day when he was a boy his father asked him "how big is your calf." Milo went out and picked up the calf and brought it to his father. And from then on every day Milo's father would ask him the same question, and everyday Milo would go and pick up the calf and bring it to show his father. This went on until the calf was no longer a calf but a full grown bull.

A favorite trick of Milo's was to tie a cord tightly around his forehead and hold his breath until the veins in his forehead popped out and broke the cord.

Another of his favorite tricks was to hold his right elbow against his side, and hold out with his hand with his thumb pointed up and his fingers spread apart, and dare anyone to try to move his hand or even a finger. No one could even move his little pinky.

In Milo's last Olympic appearance he was at least 40 years old and he fought a younger Wrestler who ended Milo's hope for a 7th Olympic victory. The other Wrestler Wrestled defensively and kept Milo at arms length until Milo was exausted and finally defeated.

The Romans

When the Romans conquered Greece, they took Greek Wrestling into their culture for a thousand years from 510 B.C to 500 A.D. In the Sport of Wrestling one man competes against another in a Grappling contest in which the objective is to gain and maintain a superior position over an opponent. Wrestling consists of Grappling techniques such as Clinches, Takedowns, Throws, Pins, Joint Locks, and other Grappling Holds.

There are many different styles of Wrestling, some modern and some ancient, each with its own rules and regulations. Greco-Roman Wrestling became an event at the first modern Olympic games in 1896. Freestyle Wrestling became an Olympic event in 1904.

In modern times, Aleksandr Karelin is the most dominating Wrestler. The Russian Super Heavyweight Greco-Roman Style Wrestler who possessed phenomenal strength and agility won 3 Olympic Gold Medals, and went undefeated for 13 years. The last 6 years not even having a point scored against him, until his bid for a 4th straight Olympic Championship was denied by a 1-0 loss to American Wrestler Rulon Gardner at the 2000 Olympics.

Forms of Wrestling

There are three main forms of amateur Wrestling practiced internationally:

• Greco-Roman Wrestling
• Freestyle Wrestling
• Submission Wrestling

Greco-Roman Wrestling doesn't allow Holds below the waist. This results in an emphasis on upper body Clinches, and Holds, to execute Throws, because a Wrestler cannot use Trips, or Leg Takedowns to get his opponent to the mat. Victory is by Throw, Pin, or decision.

Freestyle Wrestling allows the use of an opponent's legs both in offense and defense. Victory is by Throw, Pin, or decision.

Submission Wrestling is a form of Submission Fighting that focuses on Ground Fighting with the goal of submitting an opponent using Submission Holds.

Wrestling in Modern MMA

Modern-era's Greatest Olympic Wrestlers:

• Bruce Baumgartner
• Arsen Fadzayev
• Aleksandr Karelin
• Alexander Medved
• Buvaisar Saitiev

Wrestling is one of the best Martial Arts to have a background in before becoming a Mixed Martial Artist. The skills that are developed by Wrestling serve as a good base for Martial Arts to build on. Grappling skills such as having great balance and not being able to be taken to the ground by an opponent are vital in MMA.

And being able to take your opponent to the ground, and maintain a top position over an opponent on the ground are skills that while they may seem very basic, are also very effective in the sport of MMA. These Grappling skills give the Wrestler the ability to dictate where the fight takes place.

A form of MMA fighting that was tailor-made for Wrestlers is Ground and Pound. Since the Wrestler usually strives to attain the dominant top position on the ground (Full Mount). Once the mount is acheived it puts the Wrestler in a great position to rain down Punches on their opponent. Since their opponent cannot mount any offense from this position, and defense while mounted is difficult to say the least.

Great Mixed Martial Artists who were former collegiate Wrestlers:

• Dan Severn - UFC Champion
• Randy Couture - 5 time UFC Champion
• Matt Hughes - UFC Welterweight Champion
• Dan Henderson - Pride Fighting Championship Welterweight and Middleweight Champion
• Brock Lesner - UFC Heavyweight Champion
• Shane Carwin - UFC Heavyweight Contender
• Jon "Bones" Jones - UFC Light Heavyweight Contender

---