The sport of wrestling
The Greeks interest in wrestling may have peaked when Alexander the Great conquered the north of Africa and established the Ptolomeic dynasty after his death. The same dynasty that the famous Cleopatra was the last member of, wife to the founder of the Roman Empire, Julius Caesar.
Again, wrestling was included in the ancient Olympic games and still remains part of them today.
The Romans once again adopted the sport from the greatest influence on their civilisation, the Greeks, however, unusually for the Romans, made the sport less brutal.
The objective of the sport was to employ various holds and manoeuvres that would force the shoulders of an opponent against the floor. This was (and is) known as a "fall". Wrestling also had a well-formulated point scoring system. There are two main styles still in practice today. The Graeco-Roman style and Free-style, however wrestling styles and forms vary from country to country and culture to culture.
Modern Olympic wrestling follows the ancient and orthodox Graeco-Roman style. Usually there is one five-minute bout decided by the first contestant to score three falls. In the event that there is no clear winner, the bout is decided by the points awarded to certain wrestling manoeuvres known as:
The Graeco-Roman style, which is the most popular form of wrestling in Europe, (largely due to the influence of the Roman Empire), states that all wrestling holds must be done above the waist, the use of legs is prohibited, as is tripping, tackling and using the legs in order to execute a hold.
Modern Olympic wrestling remains true to its ancient origins and has remained practically unchanged. Watching an Olympic bout is the same as watching two Roman wrestlers. There has though been some evolution of the sport.
Professional wrestling started to become popular in the late nineteenth century when wrestling was performed in travelling carnivals where "all-comers" would be invited to wrestle champions for a cash reward. The most recent and certainly the most popular form is "exhibition wrestling" as performed by our American cousins.
American wrestling is a highly choreographed ballet of outlandish wrestling moves designed to impress the audience. The wrestlers have personas and characters within which they have to perform. Usually the wrestlers are pitted against each other in the guise of "goody versus baddy" where the goody follows orthodox and legal moves, takes a resounding thrashing period from the baddy who uses any illegal method that comes to hand, chairs, bats etc. The outcome is usually always the same; the goody miraculously recovers and punishes the offending bad guy much to the delight of a frantic audience. American wrestling is not concerned with realism; modern professional wrestling is pure entertainment especially for the young.
"I like wrestling because I like to see people fight on TV because I think it is good entertainment. I like it because you see people fight and you also see wrestlers backstage doing interviews, you see wrestlers talking to each other and you also see people asking for matches and wrestlers threatening each other in the locker rooms. Some of my favourite wrestlers are the ones that use spectacular aerobatics moves from the ropes."- Mark Cook 8JT.
Tasks:
1) How old is the sport of wrestling?
2) How can historians prove how old the sport is?
3) How did the Greeks become more interested in the sport?
4) As wrestling was included in the ancient Olympics, what does this tell you about its status and popularity in the ancient world?
5) Why was wrestling unusual and seem out of place compared to other Roman forms of entertainment?
6) What was the main objective in wrestling, how did you win?
7) What are the two main styles of wrestling still in existence today?
8) How is the outcome of a modern Olympic bout of wrestling decided?
9) Why do you think the Graeco-Roman style of wrestling is still popular in Europe today?
10) How similar is modern Olympic wrestling to wrestling found in the Roman Empire?
11) Explain how modern professional wrestling developed?
12) Why is American wrestling not "true wrestling"?
13) Why is American wrestling very popular throughout the world?