Submission Wrestling History

Wrestling, which is one of the most ancient sports, involves two persons without any weapons, each one striving to gain control over the other person. Submission wrestling is also known as grappling or submission fighting. As the term denotes, submission wrestling is a part of mixed martial arts that focuses on ground fighting. The main objective is to get a submission with the use of submission holds. There are numerous evidences that depict the fact that wrestling existed right from the ancient times.

As per the Sumerian Literature, the epic of Gilgamesh shows that the hero, Gilgamesh established himself as the leader after winning a wrestling match with his rival Enkidu. There are sculptures in Mesopotamia that prove the existence of wrestling in olden days. It is said in the Old Testament book of Genesis (32: 22 - 32) that Jacob was renamed Israel only after the patriarch Jacob wrestled with the angel. Israel means "Fighting or Wrestling with God". It is also depicted in Mahabharata, which shows two heroes Bhima and Jarasandha wrestling with each other. They grasp each other in different ways with their hands, and kicking each other. Violence was used to such an extent that their innermost nerves were affected. They both hit each other's breast with their fists clenched. They had no weapon other than their arms. It was as though two mad elephants wrestled with each other with their huge trunks. The style of wrestling practiced in India is called Akhara, which is played on a mud surface.

Shuai Jiao, previously called Jiao Ti, is the most ancient style of wrestling followed in China. This style is around 4000 years old. The Yellow Emperor of China established himself as the emperor after he wrestled with his rebel Chih Yui in the year 2697 BC. In this style of wrestling, the combatants used to wear a helmet which had two horns attached to them. Egyptian paintings and sculptures show that wrestling was popular during the period of New Kingdom (2000 to 1085 BC). There were around 406 wrestling pairs found in the tombs of the Middle Kingdom and at Beni Hasan in the Nile Valley.

In Greece, wrestling was considered as a sport. Suitable points were awarded for forcing the opponent to touch the ground with his/her back, forcing the competitor to surrender and for sending the opponent out of bounds. According to the Greek mythology, Zeus was considered to be the ruler of the earth after he won a wrestling match with his father Cronus. Egypt also possessed two great wrestlers Ptolemy I and Ptolemy II. After Rome conquering Greece, greek Wrestling became Roman Wrestling. Arabic literature depicts that Muhammad was a good wrestler. Francis I of France defeated Henry VIII of England in a wrestling match held at the Field of Cloth of Gold Pageant during the year 1520. Folk Wrestling was famous during Henry's reign. Catch Wrestling, which is another style of wrestling, originated from the Lancashire style. The modern Greco - Roman style of wrestling was developed by the French, after which, wrestling was considered an important feature in many festivals and fairs. The Greco - Roman and the modern freestyle wrestling were included in many formal competitions. The Greco - Roman style was first introduced in the Olympics in 1896, held at Athens, after which it was included only in the Olympics in the year 1904 at St. Louis. Women's freestyle wrestling found its existence in the Olympics from the year 2004. A separate association for freestyle wrestling named The International Federation of Associated Wrestling Styles (FILA) was established in the year 1921.