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Yoga Korunta

Life & Politics

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Location: United States

One learns, as nothing endures but change.

17 July 2007

Tuesday's Word: Wrestling

Wrestling is the act of physical engagement between two competitors competing for a physical advantage. It is the oldest form of martial arts, as part of human display behaviour constituting a human universal, practiced in various forms of folk wrestling all over the world. Physical techniques which embody the style of wrestling are clinching, holding, locking and leverage. Avoiding potentially lethal techniques, wrestling has aspects of ritual fighting, but its basic principles are closely related to those of military hand to hand combat or self-defence systems.

Wrestling popularity has grown so much that market demands for staged wrestling have caused the development of professional wrestling.


Ancient Greek wrestlers (Pankratiasts)Contents
1 Wrestling in Ancient history
2 Etymology
3 Wrestling disciplines
3.1 Greco-Roman wrestling
3.2 Freestyle wrestling
3.3 Grappling
3.4 Beach wrestling
3.5 Judo
3.6 Collegiate wrestling
3.7 Folk wrestling
4 Uses of wrestling
4.1 Wrestling as a martial art
5 See also
6 References



Wrestling in Ancient history

Jacob Wrestling with the Angel; illustration by Gustave Doré (1855)One early (probably circa 1500 BC) description of wrestling appears in the Old Testament book of Genesis, chapter 32; it depicts the patriarch Jacob wrestling with the Angel, for which Jacob was subsequently renamed Israel. (Israel translates to "wrestles (or struggles) with God".)[1]

The Mahabharata, one of the major Sanskrit epics of ancient India, describes the encounter between the accomplished wrestlers of Bhima and Jarasandha; "grasping each other in various ways by means of their arms, and kicking each other with such violence as to affect the innermost nerves, they struck at each other's breasts with clenched fists. With bare arms as their only weapons roaring like clouds they grasped and struck each other like two mad elephants encountering each other with their trunks".[2]

Shuai Jiao (Chinese Wrestling) is arguably the most ancient of all Chinese martial arts, with a reported history of over 4,000 years. (The date may be legendary, but wrestling was reportedly used by the Yellow Emperor during his fight against the rebel Chih Yiu and his army in 2697 BC.) During these matches, the combatants reportedly wore horned helmets that they used to gore their opponents while using a primitive form of grappling. This early style of combat was first called Jiao Ti (butting with horns). Throughout the centuries, the hands and arms replaced the horns while the techniques increased and improved. The name Jiao Ti also changed over time, both through common usage and government decree.[3]

According to Scott T. Carroll, the first documented evidence of wrestling in Egypt appeared circa 2300 BC, on the tomb of the Old Kingdom philosopher Ptahhotep. During the period of the New Kingdom (2000-1085 B.C.), additional Egyptian artwork (often on friezes), depicted Egyptian and Nubian wrestlers competing. Carroll notes striking similarities between these ancient depictions and those of the modern Nuba wrestlers.[4]

During the period of Ancient Greece (1100 to 146 B.C.), Greek Wrestling was a popular form of martial art in which points were awarded for pinning a competitor's back to the ground, forcing a competitor to submit or by forcing a competitor out of bounds (arena).[5] After the Roman conquest of the Greeks, Greek Wrestling was absorbed by the Roman culture and became Roman Wrestling during the period of the Roman Empire (510 B.C. to 500 A.D.).[citation needed]


Etymology
Look up Wrestling in
Wiktionary, the free dictionary.The term wrestling is an Old English word that originated some time before 1100 A.D. It is perhaps the oldest word still in use in the English language to describe hand to hand combat.[6] The Merriam-Webster online dictionary defines wrestling as 'a sport or contest in which two unarmed individuals struggle hand to hand with each attempting to subdue or unbalance the other'.[7]

Look up Grappling in
Wiktionary, the free dictionary.It is common in parts of the English-speaking world to use 'wrestling' (noun) and 'grappling' synonamous,[8] in particular synonymously with submission wrestling but this is grammatically incorrect.


Wrestling disciplines
Today, wrestling disciplines are broken down into two categories; International wrestling disciplines and folk wrestling disciplines. According to the International Federation of Associated Wrestling Styles, there are five current International wrestling disciplines acknowledged throughout the world. They are Greco-Roman Wrestling, freestyle wrestling, Sambo, Grappling, Beach Wrestling and Judo.[9]


Greco-Roman wrestling

A greco-roman wrestling match in the United States
Female wrestlingMain article: Greco-Roman wrestling
Greco-Roman is an International discipline and Olympic sport. "In Greco-Roman style, it is forbidden to hold the opponent below the belt, to make trips, and to actively use the legs in the execution of any action." That is, you are supposed to do everything with your upper body only.[10]


Freestyle wrestling
Main article: Freestyle wrestling
Freestyle wrestling is an International discipline and an Olympic sport. "In free style, it is allowed to hold the legs of the opponent, to make trips and to use actively legs on the execution of any action".[11]


Grappling
Main article: Grappling
"Grappling, also called submission wrestling, refers to the gripping, handling, and controlling of an opponent without the use of striking, typically through the application of various grappling holds and counters to various hold attempts. Grappling can be used in both a standing position, where it is known as stand-up grappling, and on the ground, where it is known as ground grappling. Grappling is an essential part of both clinch fighting and ground fighting".[12]


Beach wrestling
Apparently in a bid to give wrestling greater appeal to television audiences, FILA adopted beach wrestling as an official discipline during 2004-2005. Beach wrestling is standing wrestling done by wrestlers, male or female, inside a sand-filled circle measuring 6 meters in diameter. There are only two weight categories, heavy and light. The objective is to throw your opponent or take your opponent to his or her back. The wrestlers wear swimsuits rather than special wrestling uniforms. Wrestlers may also wear spandex or athletic shorts.[13][14]


Judo
Main article: Judo
Judo (柔道, jūdō?), meaning "gentle way", is a modern Japanese martial art (gendai budō) and combat sport, that originated in Japan in the late nineteenth century. Its most prominent feature is its competitive element, where the object is to either throw one's opponent to the ground, immobilize or otherwise subdue one's opponent with a grappling maneuver, or force an opponent to submit by joint locking the elbow or applying a choke.


Collegiate wrestling
Main article: Collegiate wrestling
Collegiate wrestling (sometimes known as folkstyle wrestling or scholastic wrestling) is the commonly used name of wrestling practiced at the university level in the United States. A very similar style is practiced at the high school and middle school levels, and also for younger participants. The term is used to distinguish the styles of wrestling used in other parts of the world, and for those of the Olympic Games: Greco-Roman wrestling, and Freestyle wrestling. There are currently five tiers of collegiate wrestling, that being NCAA division 1, 2, and 3, NJCAA, NAIA, and the NCWA. The collegiate season starts in late October and culimanates with the NCAA tournament held in March.


Folk wrestling

Burumbators on the traditional Nadam festival in Mongolia, near Ulanbataar
Jiu-Jitsu practitioners working in a half guardMain article: folk wrestling

Khuresh (Tuvan wrestling)There are almost as many folk wrestling styles as there are national traditions, because folk wrestling describes a traditional form of wrestling unique to a culture or geographic region of the world. Folk wrestling styles are not yet recognized Internationally. The following list provides examples of wrestling systems that fall into this category.


Yağlı güreş (Turkish oil wrestling) tournament in IstanbulDiscipline Origin
Mallayuddha, Pehlwani India
Pahlavani Iran
Böke Mongolia
Catch wrestling United Kingdom
Sambo Russia
Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Brazil
Collegiate Wrestling United States
Glima Iceland
Gouren France
Khuresh Mongolia
Lucha Canaria Spain
Lucha Leonesa Spain
Luta Livre Brazil
Schwingen Switzerland
Shoot wrestling Japan
Shuai jiao China
Ssireum Korea
Submission Wrestling Greece
Sumo Japan
Yağlı güreş Turkey


Uses of wrestling
Main article: Military education and training
Wrestling and combat\Military training have shared a close relationship throughout history.

Main article: Professional Wrestling
The popularity of hand to hand competitions throughout history has at times created a demand for staged wrestling matches.


Wrestling as a martial art
Wrestling has gained tremendous respect among martial arts practitioners, especially with the advent of mixed martial arts competition[citation needed]. Many fighters identify wrestling itself or Submission wrestling as their style of fighting. Wrestling forms the base of some of the most respected self-defense and mixed martial arts systems in the world, such as Shootfighting. Many professional fighters from the United States had competed in collegiate wrestling before their careers.

Today's Word is in honor of the Leljedal family of Pennsylvania. They are good friends and scholars with the best children in the world!

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6 Comments:

Blogger Shrink Wrapped Scream said...

Well, that about covers it then. Smile.

04:00  
Blogger Yoga Korunta said...

Who would have guessed their word was so long? Both the boys are wrestlers, the elder of which went to college on an academic scholarship conditional upon his wrestling.

Pennsylvania has wrestling programs for children and produces champions!

09:32  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Professional wrestling and Jacob wrestling angels are both fine examples of what is more commonly known as BS.

I'll never be a fan of sumo either. Yuck.

06:24  
Blogger Yoga Korunta said...

The pro wrestling serves to enrich the house and the mindless. Bibical nonsense is just that: bull. I've never understood sumo; it seems opposed to the idea of physical fitness!

Thanks for reading, Shrink and Melissa!

21:55  
Blogger Frank Partisan said...

Don't forget lucha libre.

I'm a big time wrestling nut. I used to have live in my apartment a WWE wrestler, just before he was signed.

Shootfighting was invented in the carnivals, to counter amateur wrestlers. The shooter would feed the amateur wrestler his his head, he'd apply a headlock, making it easy for the shooter to drop him on his head.

16:03  
Blogger Yoga Korunta said...

"Lucha libre" is a new term for me. Thanks for reading, Renegade Eye!

22:17  

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