Catch wrestling
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| Also known as | Catch-as-catch-can Loose-Hold |
|---|---|
| Focus | Grappling |
| Country of origin |
 United Kingdom
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| Famous practitioners |
Dan Koloff Evan Lewis Farmer Burns Frank Gotch Ed "Strangler" Lewis Ad Santel Lee Hasdell Joe Stecher John Pesek Karl Gotch Billy Riley Billy Robinson Kazushi Sakuraba Masakatsu Funaki Minoru Suzuki Gene Lebell Frank Shamrock Ken Shamrock Randy Couture Erik Paulson Josh Barnett Harry Smith George Hackenschmidt Shinya Aoki Anthony Johnson |
| Parenthood |
Cumberland & Westmorland wrestling Cornish & Devonshire wrestling Lancashire wrestling Irish Collar-and-elbow Rough And Tumble Jujutsu Pehlwani Malla-yuddha |
| Descendant arts |
Freestyle Wrestling Collegiate Wrestling Professional Wrestling Shoot Wrestling Sambo |
| Olympic sport | Yes (as amateur freestyle wrestling) |
Catch wrestling is a classical hybrid grappling style that was developed in Britain circa 1870 by J. G. Chambers, then later refined and popularised by the wrestlers of travelling funfairs who developed their own submission holds, or "hooks", into their wrestling to increase their effectiveness against their opponents. Catch wrestling derives from a number of different styles, the English styles of Cumberland and Westmorland wrestling,Cornwall and Devon wrestling,Lancashire wrestling, Irish collar-and-elbow wrestling, Greco-Roman wrestling, styles of the Indian subcontinent such as Pehlwani, Jujutsu and Iranian styles such as Varzesh-e Pahlavani. The training of some modern submission wrestlers, professional wrestlers and mixed martial artists is founded in catch wrestling.
In 1871, J. G. Chambers, of aquatic and pedestrian celebrity, and sometime editor of Land and Water, endeavored to introduce and promote a new system of wrestling at Little Bridge Grounds, West Brompton, which he denominated, "The Catch-as-catch-can Style." Unfortunately, the new idea met with little support at the time, and a few years afterwards Chambers was induced to adopt the objectionable fashion of allowing the competitors to wrestle on all-fours on the ground. This new departure was the forerunner of the total abolition of the sport at that athletic, and within a short period the wrestling, as an item in the program.
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