Karl Gotch was a catch wrestler and a student of Billy Riley's Snake Pit in Whelley,Wigan. In the film Catch: the hold not taken, some of those who trained with Gotch in Wigan talk of his fascination with the traditional Lancashire style of wrestling and how he was inspired to stay and train at Billy Riley's after experiencing its effects first hand during a professional show inManchester, England. After leaving Wigan, he later went on to teach catch wrestling toJapanese professional wrestlers in the 1970s to students including Antonio Inoki,Tatsumi Fujinami, Hiro Matsuda, Osamu Kido, Satoru Sayama (Tiger Mask) andYoshiaki Fujiwara. Starting from 1976, one of these professional wrestlers, Inoki, hosted a series of mixed martial arts bouts against the champions of other disciplines. This resulted in popularity of the clash-of-styles bouts in Japan. His matches showcased catch wrestling moves like the sleeper hold,cross arm breaker, seated armbar, Indian deathlock and keylock.
By rubika.B
By rubika.B
Catch wrestling is a classical hybrid grappling style that was developed in Britain circa 1870 by J. G. Chambers, 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.
ReplyDeleteBy Sangeetha.S