Wrestling in Mixed Martial Arts

Wrestling is amongst the oldest form of practiced sports in the world today. By definition wrestling is an act of physical engagement whereby one individual engages with another and strive to gain a dominant position whereby they can control their opponent. The techniques vary between different wrestling styles; however what are allowed in most styles of wrestling are Clinch Work, Holding, Trapping, Locking, Pinning and the application of Leverage to unbalance the opponent. What is disallowed in most styles today is Striking, and small joint manipulation. Majority of the styles of wrestling practiced today over the world and have extended histories, and sport wrestling has become an integral part of Olympic Sport today.

The History of wrestling depicts that it has always been a popular sport. This is evident through strong historical evidence. Some historians have estimated the origins of wrestling pre 15000 years through analysis of cave drawings in places such as France and Greece. In addition to this point, some evidence such as the Babylonian and Egyptian reliefs depicts similarity with the wrestler of today. So much so that the wrestlers were seen to be using most holds known to the present-day sport.

In Greece history it can be shown that wrestling was considered an integral part of legend, literature and sport. Wrestling competition was initially brutal with many deaths and serious injuries taking place and was considered the number one sport of the Olympic Games. The evolution of the sport can be seen when the ancient Romans, who copied most of the Greek style wrestling, removed some of the dangerous techniques.

During the Middle Ages (fifth century to fifteenth century) wrestling remained very popular and it was enjoyed by many royal families. These included families from all over the world, noticeably England, France and Japan.

In addition to the latter, the Americans carried a strong wrestling tradition with them when they came from England. The people who settled here found wrestling to be popular among Native Americans. Amateur wrestling flourished throughout the early years of the country and served as an important activity at village fairs, vacations, and in army exercises.

It has been argued that the first organized national wrestling competition was held in the United States of America in New York City in 1888. However this has been disputed as there is evidence showing that nearly most countries where wrestling was popular there was national competitions. However what is a historical fact that the first wrestling competition in the modern Olympics was situated Saint Louis, Missouri in 1904. FILA emerged in 1912, in the city of Antwerp, Belgium. The first ever NCAA Wrestling Championships took place in 1912, in the United States in Ames, Iowa.

However, nowadays there are many forms of wrestling all with a variation of the rules. These include Greco-Roman wrestling, freestyle wrestling, Sambo.

Wrestling today is a popular sport, especially with the growth of the mixed martial arts scene where wrestling plays and integral role in this sport. In summation wrestling can be considered amongst the oldest and effective combat forms in existence today. As such, its part in modern day hand to hand combat cannot be overlooked and because of this it should form an essential part in ones training for MMA.