Wrestling is a combat sport involving grappling techniques such as clinch fighting, throws and takedowns and pins. A wrestling bout is a physical competition, between two competitors or sparring partners, who attempt to gain and maintain a superior position. There is a wide range of styles with varying rules but at Ronin, we specialise in Freestyle and Greco whish are both Olympic sports. Wrestling techniques have been incorporated into other martial arts as well as military hand-to-hand combat systems.

A little bit of history…

Wrestling represents one of the oldest forms of combat. The origins of wrestling go back 15,000 years through cave drawings. Babylonian and Egyptian art shows wrestlers using most of the holds known in the present-day sport. Literary references occur as early as the Old Testament and in the Book of Genesis, the Patriarch Jacob is said to have wrestled with God or an angel.

In ancient Greece wrestling occupied a prominent place in legend and literature; wrestling competition, brutal in many aspects, served as the focal sport of the ancient Olympic Games. The ancient Romans borrowed heavily from Greek wrestling but eliminated much of its brutality.

During the Middle Ages (fifth century to the fifteenth century) wrestling remained popular and enjoyed the patronage of many royal families, including those of France, Japan and England.

Wrestling has also been an event at every modern Olympic Games since the 1904 games in St. Louis, Missouri (a demonstration had been performed at the first modern Olympics). The international governing body for the sport, United World Wrestling (UWW), was established in 1912 in Antwerp, Belgium as the International Federation of Associated Wrestling Styles (FILA).