GENERAL HISTORY OF GRAPPLING
The art of grappling as a sport and method of defense goes further back in time than any other existing records of empty hand combat. It can be traced back as far as 3400 BC with the Egyptians. These recorded images of grappling can be seen on the tomb walls of Beni-Hasan Egypt and also in the tomb of Vizier Ptahhotpe in Saqqara. Some of the exact techniques used in today's many grappling styles are on these walls. These paintings date back as far as 2300 BC. Grappling was also described in bible stories. Prophets & Angels wrestled with beasts. Genesis 32 describes that Jacob was left alone to wrestle beasts or man until the breaking of the day.
Although grappling was done all over the world, the first "famous" styles were introduced to the Greek Olympic Games in 704 BC. Grappling had come to the Roman Empire through the Etruscans and had slowly evolved. Roman wrestling influenced the rather static Greek form and used military tactics such as upright takedowns. The old Greek style was much like Brazilian Jiu-Jujitsu today, which spends most of the match on the ground. The word Roman in Greco-Roman wrestling, however is a mistranslation of greek word "romi" referring to "valor & strength".
Other ancient forms of European wrestling can be found in the British Isles dating back as far as 1829 BC. Wrestling forms called "Strong Arm Fighting" became famous, and even used specific grappling uniforms with thick collared jackets and waistbands. Other grappling styles in ancient Europe were GLIMA from the Norse and SCHWINGEN from Switzerland. There is also mention of grappling matches among the Scots and Irish.
India had an ancient form of grappling from around 11 AD. Indian wrestling is known as Pahalwani or Mallavidya. Some Indians also practice a lesser known grappling art called Vajra-Musti.
Grappling, simply beginning as a self defense art, then progressing to a battlefield art, then to sport, probably developed independently in many places around the globe. With time, different styles came in contact with each other, mixed and matched techniques and spread all over the world. For those who study grappling, it can be truthfully said that even though thousands of techniques exist, there is a finite amount of ways to manipulate the human body. Therefore, at some point, all grappling is related.
BRIEF OVERVIEWS OF WORLD GRAPPLING STYLES
SUMO
Originally was known as "sumai", meaning struggle. Sumo began around 20 B.C. Sumai used most of the modern sumo techniques, plus a variety of strikes. Before the 16th century almost all wrestling was practiced for battle, even though there were strength contests performed in public by Sumo warriors. Rules, ranks, and a ring now make sumo into a sport. The water ceremony, the bowing, the costumes, and pageantry are all reminders of the ancient military traditions and are still recognized today in competition. Today, the victor is the one who forces his opponent out of the ring or forces his opponent to touch the floor with any body part above the knee. The techniques they employ range from slapping (tsuppari), sweeps (ketaguri), and a variety of sacrifice throws (utchari).
JAPANESE JU-JITSU
The earliest mention of a sportive fight was a style called Chikura Kurabe. Most early combative forms resembled modern Sumo and wrestling. Some other ancient Japanese grappling styles were Tekoi and Kumi-Uchi. Kumi-Uchi was a battlefield type of Sumo. Another ancient form of Jujutsu was centered around the manipulation of joints and the immobilization of the limbs. It was called Yawara. About 875-880 A.D. one of the sons of Emperor Siewa met a Chinese man who taught him a few fighting techniques. From these techniques and principles, Teijun Fujiwara developed a fighting art he called Aiki-Jutsu.
Teijun Fujiwara taught these techniques exclusively to the royal Minamoto family where it remained a secret style until the early 1100's. They both worked together to develop their families fighting techniques by dissecting cadavers and studying the working of the muscles and bones.
Many Ju-Jitsu styles were developed by warrior groups over the centuries. Most were associated with weaponry, but all had grappling involved. The grappling ranged from manipulation of the joints, to wrestling on the ground, to stand-up grappling. Many Ju-Jitsu styles used the strategy of yielding (Ju) to an opponent's strength or speed in order to unbalance him and throw him to the ground. The secrets of Ju-Jitsu involved understanding the dynamics of your opponents motion and force, as well and understanding the physiology of his body. Attacking him at his weakest point, whether of his motion, or his body, helped a weaker opponent defeat a stronger one. Ju-Jitsu is the fastest growing martial art in the world. It is however, growing fastest in it's sportive version, which may or may not prove to be harmful to the actual combat art.
JUDO
In 1882 Kano Jigoro founded a new type of Jujutsu that he called Judo. Kano was a Jujutsu master who had studied several styles of Jujutsu in his lifetime, and took many of the "less deadly" forms of Jujutsu techniques, changed the approach to training, and changed the entire philosophy surrounding his art. Kano emphasized the physical fitness aspects of the art and altered the techniques to make them appealing to the general public. The sporting aspect of the art was also suggested. Kano arranged KATA, (prearranged forms) for the self defense techniques in order to ensure safety and enjoyment in learning, but retained SHIAI (contest) to test timing and technique in a semi-combat situation. Kano also invented the ranking system that consisted of KYU ranks (trainees) and DAN ranks (graded). Before Kano the ranking system was non-existent. Kano also targeted government and military officials as his primary student population. By doing this the popularity of his Judo spread quickly. In 1889, Kano had sent Yamashita Yoshiaki to the U.S. to live and instruct Judo at Harvard University and at the Annapolis Academy. This had greatly enhanced the popularity of Judo with the new American audience. After an illustrious career, Kano died while travelling at sea in 1938. Today Judo is practiced all over the world and is a sport in the Olympics.
AIKIDO
In 1876 Tanomo Saigo, a Daito-Ryu Aikijutsu master, received a new student into his tradition named Takeda Sokaku (1860 - 1943). Sokaku had studied Aikijujutsu with his grandfather and other arts from his father. In 1880 at the Nikko Toshogu Shrine, Tanomo passed on all his knowledge including the secret teachings to Sokaku, and from that day forward, Takeda Sokaku would be headmaster of Daito-Ryu. For almost 20 years Tekada Sokaku wandered from dojo to dojo, challenging every known martial arts master, and he was never defeated. He took time in his travels to instruct others, often staying with the student for a period of time before moving on. One of those students was Ueshiba Morihei. Morihei met Takeda while he lived in Hokkaido. He was introduced to Takeda by Yoshida Kotaro. For the next 7 years he studied Daito-Ryu Aikijujutsu with Takeda. In 1922 at the age of 39 he was granted, along with 20 other students, the teaching license called KYOJU DAIRI. In 1936 Ueshiba opened his first school in Tokyo. He finally chose the name Aikido for his new version of Daito-Ryu in 1942. It was also in that year that Ueshiba moved to Iwama in the Ibaragi Prefecture where he built a dojo and became a farmer. One reason for this change in lifestyle was his involvement in the Omoto Kyo Shinto sect led by Deguchi Onisaburo. Several other forms of Aikido have developed today. Two are very influential. Those are the Tomiki school and the Yoshinkai. The Tomiki school was founded by one of the top students of Ueshiba; Tomiki Kenji. The Yoshinkai form was developed by Shioda Gozo, another of Ueshiba's top students. Shioda's form strives to retain the original Daito-Ryu Aikijujutsu methods. Aikido contains a significant amount of standing grappling and joint manipulations.
HAPKIDO
Yong-Sool Choi was adopted and changed his name to Tatujutu Yoshida. In his youth he was enrolled in a Daito-Ryu Aiki-Jutsu (pronounced Dae-Dong-Ryu Hap-Ki-Sool in Korean) dojo with Sokaku Takeda where he trained for 20+ years. During WWII Yoshida returned home to Korea and changed his name back to Yong-Sool Choi. Choi established himself as a well respected martial arts instructor. He called his art Yoo Sool (Korean pronunciation of Ju-Jutsu). Choi changed the art name from Yoo Sool to Yoo Kwon Sool, to represent the fact that besides joint locks and throwing techniques, he was also practicing strikes and kicks. After the end of the Korean war, Choi opened his own private school at his house and began to teach a few students. Some of those private students went on to found their own martial art styles. These include; Hwang-Kee (Tang-Soo-Do), In-Hyuk Suh (Kuk Sool Won), Dr. Joo-Bang Lee (Hwa Rang Do), and Han-Jae Ji (Hapkido). One of them, Han-Jae Ji began his martial arts training in Yoo Sool with Choi in 1949 at the age of 13. He trained with Choi until 1956. Han mixed in methods of meditation, the Taek-Kyun kicking techniques, and the weapons techniques learned from Taoist monks to formulate his own style of martial art, for which he chose the name "Hapkido." Hapkido is now a widely practiced self defense form which involves a significant amount of grappling.
SAMBO
V.A.Spiridonov, an officer of the old Russian Army, studied combat wrestling. After WWI he began to study European versions of Japanese Jujutsu. He eventually began teaching Jujitsu in Russia. Since the 1920s, Spiridonov's system "SAM" became to spread among USSR policemen and military. A judo practitioner, Vasilii Sergeevich Oshchepkov began working out at Spiridonov's school. On the base of judo he developed a new system of hand-to-hand combat for army. He called this system "free-style wrestling. This combines with several other grappling and striking arts became Sambo - "SAMozashchita Bez Oruzhiya" or "Self-defense without weapon". Officially old Russia said Sambo was born on October 16, 1938. They also said that Sambo "was created on the base of elements from national kinds of wrestling - georgian, tadjik, kazakh, uzbek, kirghiz - and best elements from other kinds of wrestling". Old Russia did not want to admit its close relation to Japanese Jujitsu. But today that tie is acknowledged.
GLIMA
The Vikings and other Norse practiced a grappling art called glima. Often this grappling art was demonstrated in matches at festivals. Glima grapplers wore special belts in order to get a grip on each other. Glima used tripping, lifting, and throwing to bring the opponent to the ground. Eight basic tricks have survived to today. Glima techniques went with the Vikings to Iceland and the sport is the national sport of Iceland today. There are heroic stories of Glima matches that are almost 1000 years old, some even between men and women. It is unknown if Glima was used in a combative form, but as in most grappling arts, combat was likely its origin.
SHOOTFIGHTING
Shootfighting is a mixed martial art, which contains many grappling techniques. It's stand up fighting is from muay thai, it's clinches and takedowns are from Judo, Wrestling, Sambo and Ju-Jutsu. Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, among other styles, have during the recent years shown the importance of good working skills in grappling. Shootfighting was created when a wrestler, Karl Gotch, was teaching the wrestling style of "shooting" to a group of Japanese elite fighters. Two of the fighters, Masami Soronaka and Yoshiaki Fujiwara created what was called UWF or "hard style" wrestling in Japan. Bart Vale took the style to the America. He was the first champion who was not Japanese. Bart was also the person who came up with the term Shootfighting for this art.
MONGOLIAN WRESTLING
For centuries the Mongolians have been known for their legendary grappling skills. Their skills and techniques have been passed on to kung fu practitioners in China as well as to wrestlers and sambo practitioners in Russia. BOKE, the Mongolian word for wrestling, was born in the 11th century. There is an Inner Mongolia and Outer Mongolia style. The Naadam festival held during the second week of every July is a sportive festival that features Boke, among other sports. Bbayrildax is another name for Mongolian wrestling. Most often it takes place outdoors, though sometimes, during the winter, tournaments are held indoors. There are no weight classes or time limits in a match. The objective of the match is to get your opponent to touch his back, knee or elbow to the ground. In the Inner Mongolian version, any body part other than the feet touching the ground signals defeat. Both versions use a variety of throws, trips and lifts to throw the opponent. The Inner Mongolians may not touch their opponent's legs with their hands, whereas, in Mongolia, grabbing your opponent's legs is completely legal.
PANKRATION
The word Pankration is a Greek word which means "all powerful". The Pankrateon was a sporting event in the ancient Greek Olympic games and was first introduced in the games of 648 BC during the 33rd Olympiad. Greeks believed that the pankration was founded by the great hero of Attica, Theseus, who combined wrestling and boxing together in order to defeat the fierce Minotaur in the labyrinth. It is thought that the legendary Hercules was actually a Pankrationist. The Pankrateon had two forms: Kato pankration, in which the contest continued after the opponents fell to the ground and involved ground wrestling, and Ano pankration, in which the opponents had to remain standing. The rules of the sport were simple, no biting or eye gouging and victory was secured through knockout, submission or death. Pankrationists extremely proficient at all elements of their sport including ground fighting and submission holds to standing fighting with strikes. Many of the holds, throws and striking techniques can be seen on the pottery, statues and drawings of those times. Today there are several organizations which practice what they think is the best reconstruction of Greek Pankration, and it is an international sporting event.
[link widoczny dla zalogowanych Użytkowników]
SHUI CHAO
Shui Chao, the oldest style of kung fu is one of the 54 different styles of Chinese wrestling. Its history is believed to go back as far as 2000 B.C. It is believed that more than 2000 years before the Ch'in dynasty (221 B.C.), Shuai-chiao, then known as Chiao-ti, was first used as a battlefield art. During the Ching Dynasty (1644-1911), the Emperor of China sponsored many Shuai-chiao tournaments. Shuai-chiao's earliest recorded use was by the Yellow Emperor of China, 2697 B.C. against the rebel enemy Chih-yiu and his army. They used horned helmets and gored their opponents while using a primitive form of grappling. This early recorded period was first called Chiao-ti (butting with horns). Throughout the centuries, the hands and arms replaced the horns while the techniques increased and improved. The original Chinese Martial Art, a combat wrestling system called Chiao-li (Contesting of strength), was systematized during the Chou Dynasty (1122-256 BC).
MIDDLE ASIAN GRAPPLING
Almost annually since 1640 hordes of Turkey's finest grappling athletes have gathered in Erdine Turkey for the Kirkpinar, the championship of Turkish oil wrestling. The grapplers oil their bodies, which make them very difficult to grasp. Sometimes in order to secure leverage for a throw, a wrestler is permitted to thrust his hand into his opponent's leather trousers. There are no draws and the match continues until one grappler wins. Many forms of Asian wrestling use belts as a means to grip the opponent and lift and throw him (such as in sumo). There was usually no ground fighting, except in the far east. Competitions took place in a special yard, smoothed for wrestling. Names for most Middle-Asia kinds of wrestling originate from the Turkish word "kurash", such as Uzbek kurash, tatarian kuresh, kazakh kures, and azerbaidjan gurassu. Techniques and rules are very similar to each other. The fight is finished when opponent is thrown to the ground.
Buryats have their own kind of wrestling - buhe barildaan ("wrestling of strong men"). And, Tuvinians have kyuresh, karakyuresh, lamakyuresh etc.
[link widoczny dla zalogowanych Użytkowników]
GRECO-ROMAN WRESTLING
In 668 B.C; the 23rd (ancient) Olympic Games, wrestling started as an official contest. At that time there were two styles of no-strike wrestling:
Orthia pale(Upright and Proper Wrestling) - This type of wrestling simply threw the opponent to the ground. Three falls constituted a loss for that opponent, and the winner was called the "triakter". The match continued without stops until one man emerged victorious.
Kato pale(Ground Wrestling) - winning this
Competition depended on one competitor submitting or acknowledging defeat. Defeat was indicated by raising one's right hand with the index finger pointed. The wrestlers were anointed with olive oil then dusted with powder to make them easier to grasp. The competition took place in the "keroma", or beeswax, a muddy and sticky arena, originally, but soon migrated to a smoothed outdoor ring.
One of the most legendary wrestlers, Milo of Kroton, wore the victor's crown at Olympia six times. Milo won the boys' wrestling contest in 540 BCE.
He returned eight years later to win the first of five consecutive wrestling titles. At the 67th Olympiad in 512 BCE, Milo, in his early forties competed still Here, he finally lost, not by technical defeat, but by exhaustion.
INDIAN WRESTLING
Kalari Payat is the grappling art of India. Each one of the Kalari Payat techniques is a complete finishing tactic, which enables the person to get into the enemy and put him under control. Although it has developed over the centuries, there are techniques that very much resemble Pankration, and it is thought that pankration may be one of its root styles. The art has it's origin with the training of soldiers, Buddhist monks as well as noblemen who had to learn the art, because there were frequent raids on the Kings and Princes' of Kerala (South India) by neighboring war lords. Kalari Payat was developed a few thousand years ago in the state of Kerala in India, which was introduced in Malaysia by the Mahaguru Ustaz Haji Hamzah Haji Abu, who is the founder of the International Dynamic Self Defense Kalari Payat (FIDSDK). Kalari Payat, had it's origin in Kerala State, South -West of India. This is why there is a suggestion that the soldiers of Alexander the Great may have brought pankration to western India and influenced the local grappling arts.
CATCH WRESTLING
The first style of catch wrestling was Lancashire, Cornish/Devonshire and Cumberland/Westmoreland catch, which came from England. Catch Wrestling, which really became famous in the US, was a conglomeration of many wrestling and grappling styles from Greco-Roman wrestling to Turkish wrestling. As knowledge of the various grappling holds spread, they were integrated into a competitive style, and this began the era of American catch-as-catch-can, later just called Catch Wrestling. In the mid to late 1800's, wrestlers like Martin "Farmer" Burns, emerged. He was sort of the father of American catch wrestling and although no one knows the names of those who taught him, Karl Gotch says that "Farmer Burns had many teachers from all over the world." The wrestlers who called themselves Professional Wrestlers (quite unlike the Professional Wrestling of today which is choreographed for entertainment), were known as Hookers and Rippers. Karl Gotch described it quite well when he said, "Think of fishing. When you have a fish on the end of a hook, he wiggles and squirms and can't get free. You've hooked him. That's where the term comes from. You hook a guy when you have a submission hold on him and he can't do anything to wiggle free. It has nothing to do with catch wrestling or shoot wrestling or whatever these guys are calling what they do. Any submission hold applied from any style of wrestling is a hook. And once you've hooked the guy, you've got to give him the sting" Catch Wrestling is one of the roots of Japanese wrestling.
[link widoczny dla zalogowanych Użytkowników]
JAPANESE WRESTLING
Japanese forms of grappling started around 500 B.C. According to the Kojiki (Record of Ancient Matters, a book of legends from the year 712, which is the oldest extant example of Japanese writing), Takemikazuchi defeats Takeminakata in a grappling match on the shores of Izumo (today's Shimane Prefecture) for the control over the Izumo territory. The Emperor (an all emperors) claim lineage from this famous grappler. According to the Nihon Shoki (Chronicles of Japan, a book from the year 720), Emperor Suinin (r. 29BC - AD70) is said to have made a special request for Nomi-no Sukunem to fight Taima-no Kehaya. The two grappled until Sukune finally does kicks to Kehaya's ribs, and Kehaya is mortally wounded. Sukune, the winner, has been immortalized ever since as the "father of sumo." But Japanese Wrestling, although using techniques from Jujitsu and Sumo, developed as a result of other influences also.
The most important dates in the development of Japanese Wrestling (today knows as Puroresu and Pancrase) are listed below. ( Remember, this style is different from classical Ju-Jitsu or Sumo)
1883 Sorakichi Matsuda, a rikishi, goes to the United States and becomes the first Japanese pro-wrestler. Shokichi Hamada, known as Sangokuyama in sumo, also leaves for the U.S. to become a pro-wrestler.
01/14/1884 At Irving Hall in New York, Matsuda has his first match as a catch-as-catch-can style wrestler, losing two out of three falls to Edwin Bibby only in 32 seconds in the first fall and 2'19" in the second fall.
06/01/1887 Hamada brings 20 American wrestlers for the cards in Tokyo. It is sold out only on the first day just because it is something people have never seen. The first attempt of pro-wrestling in Japan fails.
1928 Taro Miyake, who has become a wrestler in the U.S., comes back to Japan and tours with three other wrestlers. However, pro-wrestling fails to sell tickets in Japan.
1929 Hikoo Shoji, who has been to the U.S. with Ad Santel, comes back to Japan and announces the entrance of the Japanese judo into the US. In exchange, the amateur wrestling starts in Japan with a help of Ichiro Yada.
1932 Shoji wrestles for the Olympic Games in Los Angeles.
1939 Shoji, Kiyoshi Kato, and other judokas found the Japan Pro-Wrestling Alliance. They promote in the places such as the reclaimed lands. The promotion is unsuccessful, however.
1951 Rikidozan joins with pro-judokas Masahiko Kimura, Toshio Yamaguchi, and Koukichi Endo in announcing their desire to become professional wrestlers. They begin training at the Shriner's Club.
1953 Rikidozan founds Japan Pro Wrestling Alliance. He has actually founded the Japan Pro Wrestling Promotion a short time earlier but this was the official ceremony establishing Japan's first full time pro-wrestling organization. Shinsaku Nitta was chosen as the president of the Promotion, and Tadamasa Sakai as the chairman of the Alliance.
1959 A puroresu gym/dojo "Puroresu Center" opens in Naniwa-cho, Tokyo.
1993 Masakatsu Funaki, Minoru Suzuki, and other wrestlers who left Fujiwaragumi form Pancrase and have their first card at Tokyo Bay NK Hall.
1994 Wayne Shamrock becomes the first King of Pancrase, defeating Funaki in semi-final and Manabu Yamada in final.
[link widoczny dla zalogowanych Użytkowników]
BRAZILIAN JIU-JITSU
Gracie Jujutsu was founded by Helio Gracie of Brazil. Carlos Gracie, his brother had met the leader of a Japanese resettlement colony named Maeda Esai (a.k.a. Count Koma). Maeda taught Helio Gracie the art of Jujutsu and eventually taught four of the Gracie brothers. In 1925 Carlos and his brothers opened the first Jujutsu dojo in Brazil. Helio stood out the most of the brothers and developed the original techniques into what is now called Gracie Jujutsu. Helio got involved in this martial art at the age of 16 when he began substitute teaching for his brother Carlos. Helio went a step further than his teachers by introducing techniques that required less strength than the Japanese style. Led by him, the brothers were driven by a constant determination to find effective ways to deal with the very possible aspect of a real fight. Daring to break away from the traditional Japanese style, they began experimenting, modifying and perfecting simple techniques that would be effective regardless of stature. That is how the Gracie family developed this style of Jiu-Jitsu. The Gracie organization is now headquartered in California, and has worldwide schools. Importantly, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (which was actually spread by more families than the Gracies) has influenced Mixed Martial Arts. Mixed Martial Arts are combinations of several styles. Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu provides the basis for most of the ground fighting in MMA. There are competitions all over the world now in grappling. Because of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, we have seen an actual evolution of the self defense arts in our lifetime.
[link widoczny dla zalogowanych Użytkowników]
FaceBook
