Wrestling, one of the most ancient forms of athletic exercise, was a favourite pastime of the Greeks when Greece in civilisation, military know- ledge, and in the cultivation of arts and sciences stood head and shoulders above all the states of the civilised world. The Olympic Games, the great festival of the Greeks, which were instituted for the exhibition of various trials of strength and skill, included races on foot, and with horses and chariots, contests in leaping, throwing, boxing, and wrestling. In the games described by Homer valuable prizes were offered, but after the seventh Olympiad a single garland of leaves of the wild olive was substituted at Olympia as the only meed of victory. One of the great objects of the old classical wrestlers was to make every attack with elegance and grace under certain laws of a most intricate nature, and the game is described by Plutarch as the hardest working form of athletics. In Devon and Cornwall wrestling on the catch-hold principle still finds favour. In Lancashire they adopt a catch-as-catch-can style; while in Cumberland and Westmorland the ancient back-hold system continues to hold its own. The Scotch have recently adopted a twofold mixture to be hereafter described; and in Ireland collar-and-elbow wrestling is the prevailing fashion. In the United States and Australia, in Germany, France, and Japan ground-wrestling, which is the most objectionable of all known methods, is the most popular. This system has been dignified by the high-sounding title of Græco-Roman wrestling. The Græco-Roman style is practically the same as the French method, and consists of a struggle on the ground until one or other of the competitors is compelled through sheer exhaustion to give in; indeed, such a contest is simply an exhibition of brute strength, and its introduction into England has done more to bring this ancient pastime into contempt than anything that has taken place in the history of the exercise during the 19th century. On commencing, the wrestlers take hold from the head and not lower than the waist, when both roll on the ground, and then the actual struggle begins. Tripping, which is the very essence of the game, is not allowed; therefore weight and strength are the only factors in the contest, which terminates when one of the combatants has been placed on both shoulders.
The Cornwall and Devon system is a perfect drawing-room entertainment in comparison with the foregoing hybrid style. The champions hailing from these two counties wrestle in strong loose linen jackets, and lay hold above the waist or by any portion of the jacket; and in order to be fairly thrown two shoulders and one hip must be on the ground, or two hips and one shoulder, and a man must be thrown flat on his back before any other portion of his body touches the earth ere a decision can be given against him. Kicking is now forbidden, and the men usually wrestle in their stocking feet, which is a great improvement on the olden method when heavy boots shod with iron were used as a means of attack and defence. The Lancashire fashion allows unlimited action. The competitors are permitted to catch hold where they please, legs included, but they must not scratch or throttle or deliberately injure one another. Here again ground-wrestling becomes a great factor in a struggle for supremacy. In fact, Lancashire wrestling so much resembles what is called the Græco-Roman style with other objectionable surroundings that it scarcely deserves to be classed among the English systems. Two shoulders on the ground constitutes a fall with fifteen minutes rest between each bout. The Cumberland and Westmorland method is probably the best-known style at the present moment, and is still popular in such arenas as those at Carlisle, Grasmere, and other wrestling resorts in the northern counties. Unfortunately the annual Cumberland and West- morland gatherings in London ceased, for no particular reason, in 1888, when the old wrestling society, which had existed from the year 1824, was apparently in a flourishing condition. This was one of the first noticeable signs that the ancient pastime was on the decline, and had begun to give place to the, comparatively speaking, modern games of cricket and football. It will certainly be a subject for regret if the exercise is allowed to sink into oblivion, towards which it is unfortunately drifting. In the Cumberland and Westmorland style, when both men grasp each other round the body with the left arm above and the right underneath the play commences. Neither party is allowed to break his hold until the wrestle is over, and the one who touches the ground first with any part of his body, the feet of course excepted, is deemed the loser. If both fall together it is technically termed a 'dog-fall,' and the men wrestle over again.
In the newly-adopted Scotch style of wrestling a commencement is made by taking hold in the Cumberland and Westmorland fashion with the arms round the body and the hands grasped in the well-known back-hold style. The tussle which ensues frequently lands one of the wrestlers flat on his back, and ends the contest before the struggle on the ground begins. If, however, a fair back-fall, with both shoulders down, does not result, then the bout is continued under Græco-Roman rules. In Ireland the collar-and-elbow system still holds good in a limited degree, and some years ago frequent matches took place in the Phoenix Park, and at the Curragh at Kildare. The Irish style is simplicity itself. The competitors catch hold of the elbow with one hand and the collar with the other, and neither party is allowed to let go his hold till the fall has been gained. It is in some parts called henching, but cannot be considered a satisfactory mode of deciding a contest; yet it is useful in the case of sudden and unexpected attack, as the hold is easily obtained. The Swiss again compete in a special wrestling-costume consisting of drawers, shirt, and a stout belt. A hold can be taken by the drawers alone, the shirt, or the belt, or by all at one and the same time according to the taste of the wrestler. There is no ground-wrestling, and first man down loses in Switzerland, a much to be commended system. The French and Germans have their own fashion, but they so closely resemble the Græco-Roman and Lancashire style that the difference amounts to nothing. Practically ground-wrestling is the practice in both countries, with two shoulders down to constitute a fall. The great continental event of recent years was the victory at Berlin on 25th July 1891, in the presence of 8000 spectators, of Carl Abs over Tom Cannon, who had previously defeated twenty-seven others.
Wrestling has recently become popular in Japan and India. The Japanese have adopted the Græco-Roman style, and receive handsome rewards at the conclusion of their contests. The Jap wrestlers, who are a most formidable class of men, before entering the arena adorn themselves with a certain kind of war-paint, with a huge belt round the waist and their enormous calves encased in stout leggings. The Indians, on the other hand, wrestle in bathing-costume, and in a match only contest one bout, and one shoulder on the ground is deemed a fall. Such is a summary of the different systems of wrestling now before the public. In order to make the foregoing a little more explicit, let us recapitulate the various styles touched upon, and the definitions of a fall appertaining to each. Græco-Roman, ground-wrestling, two shoulders down to constitute a fall. Cornish and Devon, no ground-wrestling, three points down, sometimes four points down as per arrangement. Lancashire, ground-wrestling, two shoulders down, any hold. Cumberland and Westmorland, no ground-wrestling, any point down. Scotch, ground-wrestling, two points, or shoulders down. Irish, first down to lose. Swiss, first down to lose. French, German, and Japanese, ground-wrestling, two shoulders down. Indian, one fall, one shoulder-blade down to constitute a fall. Ground-wrestling is unquestionably un-English, and as stated above has brought a useful and ancient pastime into disrepute. Promoters of the sport have for years endeavoured to introduce an amalgamated system on the catch-hold principle, not lower than the waist, in which the wrestler who first touches the ground shall be considered the loser, but success has not hitherto crowned their efforts.
See Litt's Wrestliana (Whitehaven, 1823); Wrestling, by the present writer, Walter Armstrong ('All England' series, 1889); Pollock and Grove, Fencing, Boxing, and Wrestling (Badminton Library, 1889); Blackmore's Clara Vaughan, for a fine description of a wrestling-match; and Léon Ville, La Lutte Française (1892).