Collar-and-elbow
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| Also known as | Irish Wrestling, Irish Celtic Wrestling, Scuffling, Irish Scuffling, Square-Hold Wrestling, Box Wrestling, Irish-style Scuffling, Coraíaocht (generalised). |
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| Focus | Grappling |
| Country of origin |
 Ireland |
| Creator | Various |
| Famous practitioners |
Edward MacLysaght |
| Ancestor arts | Irish Fighting Arts/Irish Martial Arts |
| Descendant arts | Catch wrestling |
| Olympic sport | no |
Edward MacLysaght
George Washington
John McMahon, Viro Small, Henry Moses Dufur,
Collar-and-elbow wrestling is a style of folk wrestling native to Ireland that can be traced back to the 17th century but it has ties to the Games of Tailtinn between 632 BC and 1169 AD. Though originating in Ireland, the style flourished in America. Collar-and-elbow features an array of trips, mares/throws, hip-locking, shin kicking, pinning combinations, and submissions.
The origins of Irish collar-and-elbow are not known; according to historian Edward MacLysaght, it was an organised sport as early as the 17th century in which the more prominent wrestlers were able to earn a living.
Douglas Hyde tells of a wrestling bout that took place in Connacht in his Amhráin Cúige Connacht ("Songs of the province of Connacht"). A young wrestler known as Laidir (the strong) took up the challenge issued by the champion of the town of Sligo. This man had been living at the expense of the town, as was the custom of the day, and had killed several men in earlier bouts. He was a greatly feared man and not overly loved by the people of Sligo. Odds were ten to one that the challenger would fall. The two met on the public greens in front of the mass of townspeople. Laidir latched onto his opponent and hurled him to the ground, breaking his neck. The astonished crowd, silent with awe for a moment, cheered their new champion. Of course, the new champion had nothing to fear from the law as this was a legal contest with an unfortunate ending.
Although collar-and-elbow was seen as a common man's sport in Ireland, it was considered a gentlemen's pastime in several areas of the colonies. It was part of the curriculum at the Reverend James Maury's Academy in Fredericksburg, Virginia. George Washington, at the age of eighteen, held a collar-and-elbow championship that was at least county wide. Twenty-eight years later, in command of the Continental Armies, he demonstrated his wrestling skill by dealing flying mares to seven volunteers from Massachusetts. Washington was not the only grappling president of the United States. Zachary Taylor, William Howard Taft, Chester A. Arthur and Calvin Coolidge also practised at one time or another the style of collar-and-elbow.
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Wikipedia