Catch wrestling is not the first wrestling style that came to the United States, nor will it be the last. Catch wrestling is no different from any other progressive grappling art. Its practitioners were savvy enough to learn the best moves from many styles, then adapt and adopt what worked to their system. To truly understand the history of catch wrestling, never lose sight of the fact that America has always been a huge melting pot, attracting many cultures in search of freedom and prosperity. As each immigrant group ended their voyage here, they didn't just bring their earthly possessions, they also brought their heritage of sporting knowledge - which included wrestling skills.
It began when the first pilgrims arrived at Plymouth Rock - and most likely earlier than that. Not only did Native Americans practice many styles of wrestling, so did the British, Irish, French and other cultures who settled here. Later, the Japanese brought judo, jiu-jitsu, and karate; the Chinese kung-fu and Mongolian wrestling; the Koreans taekwondo and hapkido; the Filipinos kali; the Brazilians ground jiu-jitsu; and the Russians sombo. But there were also many other styles not so well-known.
The Irish, for example, are presumed to have brought collar-and-elbow wrestling to Vermont in the 1700s. By the mid-1800s a strange thing happened - an American style called "catch" wrestling suddenly appeared. It was very different from the jacket-based style of collar-and-elbow wrestling which was centered around throws. Our 16th president, Abe Lincoln, according to numerous accounts of the time, was quite accomplished at the art of "throwing" opponents in grappling matches.
By the end of the 1880's, though, during the early days of legendary American wrestler Martin "Farmer" Burns, the throwing-based style of catch-as-catch-can was, for the most part, outdated. Matches were not always won or lost by a throw. Burns, who was purported to have wrestled some 6000 matches in his career, won most of them by pinfall (forcing both of the opponent's shoulders to the ground) or by submission. Some of the contests, however, as noted in the book, Lifework of Farmer Burns, were still decided by a throw. How did America go from collar-and-elbow grappling, a jacketed throwing art, to the bare-chest art of catch wrestling, replete with takedowns, throws, pinfalls and submissions?
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