Britains wrestling styles

[Tommy-2guns...]

i thought id give a few links to britains native wrestling styles,as ive been looking through them recently. so here goes

ill start with cornish - http://www.cornishwrestling.co.uk/menu_sections/newspaper.html

and a video,pretty crap video but its all there was, but there are some to download on the site. gotta love the commentators accent:D

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0JdrPOQ4L1Q

this is the place for the rules,history and event list for cornish wrestling, a point of interest in the history section is the defeat of france's best wrestlers from a cornish team, and the wrestling insignia on the flag of the cornish contingent ion the battle of agincourt. apparantly many judoka compete in this style as the jacket aided throws are verry similar.

http://ejmas.com/jwma/articles/2000/jwmaart_roberts_0400.htm


devonshire wrestling - similar to cornish wrestling albeit the use of hardened shoes and shin kicking was used and encouraged.(ouch),there is little info on this style as it is much rarer than cornish.

http://www.legendarydartmoor.co.uk/wrest_ling.htm

lancashire/ - catch as catch can evolved from this style, of all the british styles this alone had groundwork in the wrestle,and it is said to be a verry effective style, infact catch wrestling is 'catching on' in MMA although usually as a suppliment to tried and tested BJJ and newer wrestling styles

http://sfuk.tripod.com/articles_02/lanccw_1.html an article by dave turton on lancashire catch.

scottish backhold - a style practiced throughout northern europe but has found a lasting place in scottland for the highland games, a style in which the backhold is made before the signal is made to wrestle and the looser is the one who falls the floor first, there is no ground work but the throws themselves land the opponent hard on the ground. this style of wrestling is related to norse wrestling and formsd of Glima.
http://www.wrestle.co.uk/index.html

http://youtube.com/watch?v=GncZoKF-v_c bridge of allan games.


and finally collar-and-elbow - an irish form of wrestling,which name comes from the starting hold, often seen in greco-roman wrestling as the collar and elbow clinch,from this the wrestler would use every viable means to throw the opponent bar kicking(sweeps are allowed), this style of wrestling has dissolved into and integrated with other styles making it indistinguishable as a stand allone form but is is apparant the techniques would be akin to cornish and backhold with leg repas,hip throws,hitches and crooks.

sorry but theres no vdieos for this style although if you watch decent greco roman you will see techniques pilfered from this style, also many techniques were adopted in catch wrestling.

cheers

Tommy

[Cuchulain4]

Nice one cheers. I've always thought it's amazing that we can learn every exotic art onn the planet in England but finding arts that were practiced and founded in our back yard is nigh on impossible.

[Tommy-2guns...]

a good site on devonshire, with a good picture section of the throws to boot.

http://www.starawardsprogram.com/star/history.asp?pageID=18

this is cumberland and westmoreland style which from what i can gather is pretty much the same as backhold.

http://www.starawardsprogram.com/star/history.asp?pageID=17

ive ordered a book on the cornish style (as i was feeling intrigued) from the cornish wrestling association,so ill give a reviw on that if its anygood. im suprised wales doesnt have a local wrestling style as all other areas seem to have had one.

[Tommy-2guns...]

http://www.fightingarts.com/reading/article.php?id=129

ken Pfrenger on the cornish style

here are the fourteen main tecniques, when i receive the book from the cwa site ill add more from there -

1. The Fore Hip is a move where the opponent's jacket is grasped and is rolled over the hip onto his back.
2. The Fore Crook is similar to the Grapvine. The right leg, say, is wound (or "crooked") around the opponent's left leg just above the ankle. Using your crooking leg, lift your opponent's leg to the rear and as high as possible to over balance him. A sharp pull on his jacket will send him to the ground.
3. The Back Crook starts from the same "crook" position of the previous move. This time the crooking leg is swept quickly forward. A push on the opponent's chest or shoulder will over balance him.
4. The Heel is a trip that can be executed from three positions:-
• From ground level
• At mid calf
• Behind the knee.
5. The Sprag is a defensive wrestling move used when a wrestler is picked up by an opponent. One or both legs are wound around the legs of the offensive wrestler to prevent him from throwing you.
The next two throws are considered "strong man" throws.
6. The Fore Heave involves placing say, your right hip directly against your opponent's right hip, and lifting him onto your hip. You have to grasp the jacket right near the hip, and swing his legs in an arc out in front of you and back behind your left side, dropping him onto his back.
7. The Under-heave involves changing your grip from the initial "hitch". You take you right hand off your opponent's left collar, pass it over his head from your left (his right) and grab the back of his jacket. If you are still with me, you take your left from under his right armpit, and grab his left lapel. From here, you lift him straight up, from his chest with the jacket. If his legs are lifted high enough, gravity does the rest.I am told that this throw is unique to Corno-Breton tradition, but I stand to be corrected.
(I have done these throws in practice many times, but are yet to use them in actual wrestling.)
8. The Toe is a foot block.
9. The Flying Mare. This throw is best done before proper grips have been taken. This is not a "shoulder throw" as found in other styles of wrestling, and therefore requires a little more explanation.The cornish jackets have short lapels that are held loosely closed by two horizontal cords. The Cornish Flying Mare is executed by actually grabbing these cords (top cord palm down and bottom cord palm up) turning and then throwing the opponent over the shoulder onto their back.
There were no unified rules governing the sport until 1923 so techniques would have varied from district to district in Cornwall. Although I am sure that the more conventional shoulder throw was probably used it is not actually listed as a hitch in the Cornish Wrestling Manual.
10. The Lock Arm is a move to immobilise one of your opponent's arms, to enable you to effect a throw. From the opening Hitch pass, for example, put your left arm under your opponent's right, reach across and grab the left lapel of his jacket, thus securing a "wing lock" type manoever. A toe, heel, crook or hip usually follows. This is best done before the proper grips have been made.
11. The Back Heave is where you grab your opponent and lift him slightly from the side. Pivot him on your hip so his legs are swung forward. Take your full weight on your far leg and sweep his legs forward with your closest leg. At the same time, pull back on his shoulders and drop him on his back. This is considered to be an offensive move.
12. The Knock Back is basically the same as the Back Heave, but is done when your opponent has stepped in front of you to Heel or Fore hip you. By pulling him backwards, while "knocking" his legs behind the knee joints, he can be thrown backwards. This is a defensive move.
13. The Pull Over Hip is kind of like a hip toss. You reach under the opponent's armpit, grip his jacket behind the shoulder, and trhow him over your hip.
14. The Back Step is another move to be done b4 the "proper" grip is taken. Putting your right leg between the opponent's feet, hook his left leg with your right foot. Keep your forearms parallell to the ground, and shove his chest as you kick your right leg back.


i bet you can recognise all these throws from other arts(albeit under a different name), escpeically judo and jusitsu,what seems odd to me is how they can only wrestle using the jacket, no grips to the person are allowed,some people suppliment the cornish style with collar and elbow to have a balance between jacketed and non jacketed wrestling. an english equivalent to modern gi and no gii grappling. the trasitsions from these throws to groundwork seem a little sticky, but with practice im sure groundwork could be added,perhaps from lancashire catch.

its a shame that our own indiginous styles are dying out, only a few village fairs keep most british wrestling styles alive, i think as the popularity of WMA rises,it should bring up indiginous wrestling with it.

[Slindsay]

a good site on devonshire, with a good picture section of the throws to boot.

http://www.starawardsprogram.com/star/history.asp?pageID=18

this is cumberland and westmoreland style which from what i can gather is pretty much the same as backhold.

http://www.starawardsprogram.com/star/history.asp?pageID=17

ive ordered a book on the cornish style (as i was feeling intrigued) from the cornish wrestling association,so ill give a reviw on that if its anygood. im suprised wales doesnt have a local wrestling style as all other areas seem to have had one.

I did cumbrian wrestling at the odd local fair when I was a kid, never wore the stupid uniform though or received any formal trainning in it, which would have been awesome :D

[Tommy-2guns...]

http://www.clannada.org/culture_wrestling.php

heres another good reference to british and irish wrestling styles.