The term ’submission wrestling’ is a bit of a blanket term really, because it refers to components of many of the various martial arts and is not a true martial art itself, although some may argue that it is, but that it has been incorporated into other martial arts, masking its own unique history.
Contemporary legend has it that submission wrestling is derived from Catch Wrestling (or Catch As Catch Bin Wrestling), which started in Northern England in the late Nineteenth Century. However, the Vikings had a strong presence in northern England 1,000 years before that and wrestling was one of their favourite sports.
In fact, most countries had or have a national martial art that resembles free-style or folk wrestling: Greece, Italy, India, UK, Ireland, Iran, Japan, China and the ‘more recently found countries’ like Brazil. The contemporary forms of Brazilian wrestling that rely on submission are Vale Todo (No Holds Barred) and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu.
The distinguishing feature of most variations of wrestling is the lack of a Gi or Judo-style outfit, although Russian Sambo is practiced with the Gi jacket and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and Judo, obviously, do use the full Gi.
Some variations of submission wrestling allow pins, locks and chokes, whilst others do not permit chokes. The term frequently used to describe the techniques that may be used is ‘non-lethal force’. Most end-games in submission wrestling are carried out on the canvas, not standing.
Submission wrestling, such as it is, is not an Olympic Game, although most of it exponents are amateur. Its governing body is FILA (F?d?ration Internationale des Luttes Associ?es or International Federation of Associated Wrestling Styles) and the American governing body is NAGA (North American Grappling Association). Freestyle and Greco-Roman wrestling are Olympic Games.
The techniques of submission wrestling on their own will not be sufficient to make you proficient at mixed martial arts, you will have to go far further. Your good opponents will be wrestlers, but they will also know how to tackle on their feet from a distance with Muay Thai and close up with boxing, so you will need something to counter those moves as well.
However, not everybody takes up submission wrestling or even mixed martial arts in order to compete, much of crowd find them more interesting ways of staying fit with the added bonus that they will help you defend yourself should you become attacked.
You will find it simple to find a gym that instructs wrestling in some of its styles, because it is a much-liked sport. It always has been, but its connection with mixed martial arts has given it an extra boost. MMA is now incredibly popular even, or ought I to say, particularly on pay TV.
If you would rather watch compilation videos of the best fights ever, they are in the shops or you could be one of the training videos manufactured by one of the contemporary masters of the art.
Owen Jones, the writer of this piece, writes on many topics, but is now concerned with mixed martial arts for kids. If you would like to know more, please go to our web site at Mixed Martial Arts Quotes