Wrestling was a sport popular in ancient Egypt, Greece and Rome and included in the Olympics from 704 BC.
The chief international Styles are Greco-Roman concentrating on above waist holds and freestyle which allows the legs to be used to hold or trip, in both the aim is to throw the opponent to the ground.
Japanese sumo wrestling is one of the martial arts, and involves very overweight participants who throw each other to the ground or out of the ring.
About 5,000 years ago, in ancient Assyria and Egypt, the technique of wrestling was highly developed and practically all present-day holds were known.
Archaeological discoveries and extant pictures supply evidence of the early existence of barehanded combat in Mesopotamia and Egypt. A cast Bronze figurine has been found at Khafaji in Iraq that shows two figures in a wrestling hold that dates to around 2600 BC. Wall paintings in an Egyptian tomb at Beni Hasan, dating from about 1850 BC, include numerous pictures of wrestling with most of the holds and falls still used today.
At first, wrestling was more a test of brute strength than of skill, and victory often went to the heavier and more ruthless adversary. A tribe's champion wrestler was greatly honoured and matches were often arranged with the experts of other tribes.
From Assyria and Egypt, wrestling found its way to Greece, although later legend ascribed its introduction there to the Athenian hero, Theseus. He was the first, it was said, to understand and lay down the principles of the sport. Greek mythology tells how the murderous Cercyon used to challenge strangers passing through Eleusis, a city-state 14 miles (22.40 km) west of Athens. The loser (always the passer-by) was murdered, though Cercyon promised his kingdom to anyone who won. When Theseus entered the city and came face to face with Cercyon, he accepted the challenge. Boldly, he dashed his opponent to the ground and killed him. It was Theseus' knowledge of wrestling that enabled him to overcome, not by strength but by skill, the lethal Cercyon.
Homer described classic contests. In the Iliad, Homer wrote of a great wrestling match in which Odysseus defeated Ajax for the shield of the slain Achilles.
Historically, wrestling was introduced into the Olympic Games only in the eighteenth Olympiad in 704 BC as part of the Pentathlon. A competition in five events, it was devised to suit the all-round athlete. Probably only those who proved themselves superior in running, jumping, throwing of the javelin, and the discus were permitted to wrestle.
The Geeks made wrestling both a science and an art and it was regulated by strict rules. Manuals of wrestling were published, carefully explaining every detail. Fragments of such an early textbook have been discovered in the form of an ancient Egyptian papyrus.
Wrestling eventually became so popular that, just as nowadays we may invite a friend for a round of golf or a game of bowls, Greeks asked each other to go wrestling together.
Ancient Greek wrestling rules varied for men and boys. The different holds, throws, and movements were taught systematically, advancing from the simplest to the most complex style. Some states included women as wrestlers and even permitted them to compete with men.
With the growth of the sport, individual schools developed their own methods. One favoured upright wrestling. The aim was to throw the opponent to the ground who, after three "throws," had to concede defeat. Another type permitted the struggle to continue on the ground to end only when one of the wrestlers was pinned down by both shoulders.
The term, "It's all fun and games until someone loses an eye" is from Ancient Rome. The only rule during wrestling matches was, "No eye gouging." Everything else was allowed, but the only way to be disqualified is to poke someone's eye out.
Wrestling caught on in Britain from the earliest days. The Saxons and Celts were partial to it.
A contract dating from 267AD, between the father and trainers of two teen wrestlers competing in ancient Egypt reveals the first match-fixing agreement. It states that Demetrius, the wrestler, must fall three times to concede victory in return for 3,800 drachmas, while other clauses reinforce the contract.
During the 1520 month-long Cloth of Gold pageant, Henry VIII of England challenged his royal colleague Francis I of France. The French king could not refuse without loss of face. Soon the English king's strength became apparent, but the Frenchman was well aware that his opponent had a bad leg. Suddenly he grasped it and pinned Henry. The French rejoiced at their King's unfair victory while Henry's followers were silenced.
Picture below is a tapestry showing wrestling at the Field of the Cloth of Gold. Francis I is shown top right, above an actual cloth of gold.
American Indians were acquainted with wrestling long before the advent of the white man. It became popular among America's early pioneers and accounts abound of their matches with Indians.
The first wrestling matches in the United States were rough-and-tumble bouts in pioneer days. Rules permitted any hold except strangling, and both arms and legs could be used. Formal regulations adopted later legalized almost unlimited action, including tripping and tackling. The only tactics outlawed were those that endangered life and limb and that could cause permanent injury to an opponent.
Wrestling became a favorite competitive pastime in Australia soon after the landing of the First Fleet. Matches - often mere impromptu bouts - took place between soldiers and convicts.
The first WrestleMania, the biggest wrestling event from the WWE (then the WWF), took place in Madison Square Garden in New York in 1985.
The famous ring announcer Michael Buffer has earned over $400 million from his trademarked phrase "Let's get ready to rumble!"
The chief international Styles are Greco-Roman concentrating on above waist holds and freestyle which allows the legs to be used to hold or trip, in both the aim is to throw the opponent to the ground.
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| Pixabay |
WRESTLING IN ANCIENT TIMES
About 5,000 years ago, in ancient Assyria and Egypt, the technique of wrestling was highly developed and practically all present-day holds were known.
Archaeological discoveries and extant pictures supply evidence of the early existence of barehanded combat in Mesopotamia and Egypt. A cast Bronze figurine has been found at Khafaji in Iraq that shows two figures in a wrestling hold that dates to around 2600 BC. Wall paintings in an Egyptian tomb at Beni Hasan, dating from about 1850 BC, include numerous pictures of wrestling with most of the holds and falls still used today.
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| Detail of the wrestling scenes in tomb 15 (Baqet III) at Beni Hasan. |
At first, wrestling was more a test of brute strength than of skill, and victory often went to the heavier and more ruthless adversary. A tribe's champion wrestler was greatly honoured and matches were often arranged with the experts of other tribes.
From Assyria and Egypt, wrestling found its way to Greece, although later legend ascribed its introduction there to the Athenian hero, Theseus. He was the first, it was said, to understand and lay down the principles of the sport. Greek mythology tells how the murderous Cercyon used to challenge strangers passing through Eleusis, a city-state 14 miles (22.40 km) west of Athens. The loser (always the passer-by) was murdered, though Cercyon promised his kingdom to anyone who won. When Theseus entered the city and came face to face with Cercyon, he accepted the challenge. Boldly, he dashed his opponent to the ground and killed him. It was Theseus' knowledge of wrestling that enabled him to overcome, not by strength but by skill, the lethal Cercyon.
 |
| Theseus fights Cercyon (kylix painted by Aison, 5th century BC) |
Homer described classic contests. In the Iliad, Homer wrote of a great wrestling match in which Odysseus defeated Ajax for the shield of the slain Achilles.
Historically, wrestling was introduced into the Olympic Games only in the eighteenth Olympiad in 704 BC as part of the Pentathlon. A competition in five events, it was devised to suit the all-round athlete. Probably only those who proved themselves superior in running, jumping, throwing of the javelin, and the discus were permitted to wrestle.
The Geeks made wrestling both a science and an art and it was regulated by strict rules. Manuals of wrestling were published, carefully explaining every detail. Fragments of such an early textbook have been discovered in the form of an ancient Egyptian papyrus.
Wrestling eventually became so popular that, just as nowadays we may invite a friend for a round of golf or a game of bowls, Greeks asked each other to go wrestling together.
Ancient Greek wrestling rules varied for men and boys. The different holds, throws, and movements were taught systematically, advancing from the simplest to the most complex style. Some states included women as wrestlers and even permitted them to compete with men.
With the growth of the sport, individual schools developed their own methods. One favoured upright wrestling. The aim was to throw the opponent to the ground who, after three "throws," had to concede defeat. Another type permitted the struggle to continue on the ground to end only when one of the wrestlers was pinned down by both shoulders.
The term, "It's all fun and games until someone loses an eye" is from Ancient Rome. The only rule during wrestling matches was, "No eye gouging." Everything else was allowed, but the only way to be disqualified is to poke someone's eye out.
Wrestling caught on in Britain from the earliest days. The Saxons and Celts were partial to it.
A contract dating from 267AD, between the father and trainers of two teen wrestlers competing in ancient Egypt reveals the first match-fixing agreement. It states that Demetrius, the wrestler, must fall three times to concede victory in return for 3,800 drachmas, while other clauses reinforce the contract.
MODERN WRESTLING
During the 1520 month-long Cloth of Gold pageant, Henry VIII of England challenged his royal colleague Francis I of France. The French king could not refuse without loss of face. Soon the English king's strength became apparent, but the Frenchman was well aware that his opponent had a bad leg. Suddenly he grasped it and pinned Henry. The French rejoiced at their King's unfair victory while Henry's followers were silenced.
Picture below is a tapestry showing wrestling at the Field of the Cloth of Gold. Francis I is shown top right, above an actual cloth of gold.
American Indians were acquainted with wrestling long before the advent of the white man. It became popular among America's early pioneers and accounts abound of their matches with Indians.
The first wrestling matches in the United States were rough-and-tumble bouts in pioneer days. Rules permitted any hold except strangling, and both arms and legs could be used. Formal regulations adopted later legalized almost unlimited action, including tripping and tackling. The only tactics outlawed were those that endangered life and limb and that could cause permanent injury to an opponent.
 |
| Michiel Sweerts, Wrestling Match, 1649. |
Wrestling became a favorite competitive pastime in Australia soon after the landing of the First Fleet. Matches - often mere impromptu bouts - took place between soldiers and convicts.
The first WrestleMania, the biggest wrestling event from the WWE (then the WWF), took place in Madison Square Garden in New York in 1985.
FUN WRESTLING FACTS.
The famous ring announcer Michael Buffer has earned over $400 million from his trademarked phrase "Let's get ready to rumble!"
Despite not existing for the past 30 years, the Soviet Union still holds the most Olympic gold medals for wrestling.
The ancient Greek wrestling arena was covered with a thick layer of sand to soften the impact of falls. As matches were held in the open air and therefore were subject to weather conditions, at times heavy downpours changed the ring into a mud bath. To be prepared for such eventualities, training was pursued in two types of ring, one the customary sandy arena, the other "wet," colloquially described as "beeswax." In the training, wrestlers changed over from one ring to the other, giving rise to a vivid phrase, speaking of going "out of the sand into the mud," anticipating by millennia our own saying, "out of the frying pan into the fire".
The phrase 'upset the apple cart', meaning to spoil a plan or disturb the status quo, comes from the 18th century, when the ‘apple cart' was a wrestling term for the upper body and to upset it meant to throw an opponent to the ground and destroy his chances of winning.
Sources Europress Encyclopedia, Compton's Encyclopedia, The Observer
The ancient Greek wrestling arena was covered with a thick layer of sand to soften the impact of falls. As matches were held in the open air and therefore were subject to weather conditions, at times heavy downpours changed the ring into a mud bath. To be prepared for such eventualities, training was pursued in two types of ring, one the customary sandy arena, the other "wet," colloquially described as "beeswax." In the training, wrestlers changed over from one ring to the other, giving rise to a vivid phrase, speaking of going "out of the sand into the mud," anticipating by millennia our own saying, "out of the frying pan into the fire".
The phrase 'upset the apple cart', meaning to spoil a plan or disturb the status quo, comes from the 18th century, when the ‘apple cart' was a wrestling term for the upper body and to upset it meant to throw an opponent to the ground and destroy his chances of winning.
Sources Europress Encyclopedia, Compton's Encyclopedia, The Observer
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