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Submission Grappling / Catch Wrestling

For the ancient Greeks wrestling part of life. Indeed cultures pre-dating the Greeks, Egyptians and Baboloyians practiced grappling in some form or another. The Tomb drawings of Nabu created 2500 B.C. show grappling techniques still used today At some point however a new element was added to the Greek style wrestling; an element of meanness; the sport was called Pankration. Pankration was an extremely vicious fighting style. Many matches ended in death or with crippling injuries. Under the "Spartan" rules no techniques were outlawed including biting or eye gouges. Since these matches were also fought in the nude I suspect they also gave a new meaning to joint locks. Some believe that it was the Pankration fighters who first brought martial arts east; first to India, then China. It has been argued that all martial arts are simply variations of Pankration. I would not go that far except to say there is nothing new under the Sun.

The Story while almost certainly somewhat apocryphal demonstrates the toughness and willing meanness necessary of the art.  Thesz said that he was warned to not train with Tragos as he had a reputation of hurting people. ". Everyone was fearful of Tragos, because he had hurt a lot of people. Tragos would break your arm in a heartbeat. Guys told me, 'Don't work out with him. He's gonna hurt you.' Well, he never did, and not too many people wanted to mess with me, because I rubbed elbows with him."   This is the nature of the beast.  The Hooker's skill lay not in that he will hurt you; but in that hurting you is his choice.

In a time when men were expected to be hard, Tragos was hard.   Not in the puffed up, smack talking, ego stroking posing of today.  But that True Grit type hardness that need not be announced.  Tragos embodied the toughness of the sport.  Those who worked, those who paid the price, the professionals who paid the price without complaint found Tragos to be a great teacher and friend.  Those who wanted greatness with out walking the hard road found Tragos an unrelenting nightmare that struck terror in the hearts of otherwise stalwart men.  Here is the spirit of Catch Wrestling to me.  Warriors are loved with out reservation, shams are damaged without hesitation.

(Special thanks to the Son's of George Tragos for providing an more complete picture of this Grappling Hero)

This purely American style maybe the most complete of any grappling style. The primary goal of Submission Grappling is submission and everything is aimed at that goal. Every part of the body is a target for submission. Every position a prelude to the end. This art was fostered and furthered by the likes of Frank Gotch, John Pesak, Ed "The Strangler" Lewis, George Tragos and Ad Satell. These men were pro wrestling before the matches were worked - when the blood, sweat and tears were for real. Even when the matches were worked they still required great wrestling skill since the fan's were meant to believe what they were seeing.

	Tom Jenkins A rough and tough customer to say the least. An early master of the Catch as Can style. Jenkins lost an eye as a young child due to a fireworks accident. His wrestling career started while a steel worker during the men's daily break. Jenkins took on all comers including Gotch, Farmer Burns and a trio of the enormous Terrible Turks. Jenkins did not win all his matches however he was the man to really bring wrestling to a point that it captured the American Imagination. Jenkins was said to be extremely strong with hard rough hands that could scrape the skin off a man. Most of his matches with Gotch as considered classics. The last two where well passed Jenkins prime similar to when Jenkins defeated Martin "Farmer" Burns after his prime. At 200 pounds Jenkins was a large man for his time. Often over shadowed by Gotch, Hackenschmidt and others Jenkins really deserves recognition as one of the great American grapplers. A true legend in the fighting arts.		John Pesak The Tiger man. When Ed the Stranger Lewis (the second man so named) had the world champion the wrestling world was in a state of flux. Many tough and unsavory folks were seeking to get their hands on the title any way they could and Lewis had more challengers then he could answer. So the Lewis camp needed a "Police man" to protect them against the many threats to the title. That Police man was John Pesak. At around 180 pounds Pesak was undersized. But he more then made up for his lack of size with speed, skill and strength. Some say that Pesak may have been the greatest grappler of all time although he rarely gets the recognition he deserves. Pesak Hospitalized a Burn & Gotch grappler Marin Plestina and broke the arm of Finnish great Armas Laiten. Pesak also Defeated Olympic Gold Medal winner Nat Pendleton in two straight falls, in under 41 minutes with leg locks. Known as the Tigerman Pesak earned his name and his place in grappling history
	Frank Gotch Considered by many to be the father of Pro Wrestling. Also widely regarded a vicious wrestler who has been accused of paying someone to injure an opponent, coating his body in lamp oil and gouging an already empty eye socket. In his day Gotch casted a Ruthian like shadow on the Sports world.		Ad Satell I don't know much about Ad except that he was a middle weight and helped teach Lou Thesz many hooks. Taking up where Tragos left off Ad added to Thesz's already impressive skills to help create the most dangerous hooker in the last 50 years - Lou Thesz.		Ed "The Strangler" Lewis Some credit - or blame Ed for ushering in the era of the worked match. However matches have been being worked since people started to pay for them. What ever else might be said about him I can not think of any higher praise then to say that Lou Thesz thought the world of him.

I credit Mark Hewitt and Tony Cecchine with much of the historical date presented here.

The Hookers were an amazing group of wrestlers. They combined the an Olympic level of wrestling skills with a set of devastating hooks. Hookers like Gotch, Lewis and Ad Satell defeated 100s of men in their careers. Many grapplers today boast such records; but with no real evidence they fought anyone but hand picked opponents. They also only count matches that occurred in certain formats. Jujitsu players count Vale Tudo wins; not Vale Tudo losses. But Hookers fought everyone and the rules were always very simple - when you gave up you lost.

Now add to this the fact that the Carnival wrestlers couldn't go to their backs. (no hiding in the guard). It is amazing to think how good these guys had to be. The point of any Carnny games is to get the marks to spend money - to make the game look easy on the surface but to be sure the results were fixed. It was the Hookers who put the fix in. Many of the great champions such as Farmer Burns, Gotch, Satell, Pesak, Lewis, Sputnik Monroe and other took part in the Carnival shows. Sometimes wrestling as many as 30 matches in a single day. Sputnik Monroe comments on wrestling in the Athletic Show saying , "That's the hardest kind of a guy to wrestle ... the guy that doesn't know how to wrestle, because if you wristlock him or something, he does the exact opposite of what you've trained yourself and learned to do in your career. So there's a specialty in wrestling idiots. You'd always try and give him your head or your hand ... You used 'marks' for referees, so they won't count the hometown boy out ... You always had to make them submit."

These were not huge, burly men who would destroy people in 15 seconds. If a Hooker were seen whipping the local golden boy in a heart beat it would discourage others from paying their money and taking their chances. Instead the Hooker had to work the match. To carry his opponent to near the end of the time limit and then at the last moment pull out the win. A good one could make it look like he won by accident. This would encourage others watching to step up and try their hand.

I've never really been that impressed by someone who could come out and simply beat someone fast. Generally this doesn't mean the winner was very good - it just means the guy who lost was really bad. Instead show me a guy who can work a match. Take an unskilled, or even moderate skilled player and carry him for five minutes. Allow him to get you in a compromised position and see if you can recover. Often times with my students or the first time I wrestle someone I let them throw me, hold me down and nearly get submissions on me before I will even attempt to compromise them.

The Hookers style relies on body control and pain. Once an opponent is vulnerable the Hooker seeks to make his life ever more uncomfortable. Body positing and control restrict an opponent's breathing. While torquing them into un-natural positions keeps them from utilizing the strength of their bodies. Caught underneath a hooker sends an opponent into a downward spiral of pain leading to the inevitable end - a painful bone breaking hook.

Today few people practice this style of grappling. Many think it's too mean, or a "dirty" style. However it is extremely effective and will take from any where. Personally I love it. I love that it goes for the win every time. Unlike the BJJ style which waits for a mistake, Catch Wrestler's make mistakes happen. The strive to keep the pressure on throughout the fight looking for the hooks from all angles; at all times. While at Bison Grappling we practice many styles and take skills from any and all grappling styles it is Submission Grappling that we hold the dearest.

I also like this style because it affords me the skills to work a match with someone. Regardless of the persons size and skill I feel that I can wrestle with them at their level. I've wrestled kids and 110 pound beginner women who come out of the match feeling like I really gave them all I had and that they were "in" the match all the way. I've given 250 pound Black Belts the same feeling. Too many arts treat sparring as me against him, you against the enemy. I don't feel that way. I always consider the person on the mat with me my partner. This must be true in practice to allow your partner success. If all you ever do is thrash people you will soon find your self alone. You may be a great fighter, but if you can't work with others what good are you. Catch Wrestling is a unique combination of pain inflicting cruelty and compassionate confidence building.

The person who introduced me to Catch Wrestling is Tony Ceccheni. You can order tapes from Tony or go to Chicago and see him. I guarantee it will be worth the trip

My only warning about this style of wrestling is that to do it you need to be in shape. You have to be tough both in mind and body. If your a teacher looking for a lot of students this is not the route to go as few people - even few grapplers will truly want to play this style very long. Pain and injury management in very important. The difference between Catch Wrestling and Akito is similar to that between Tai Chi and Thai Kick Boxing. If your not ready you will go home crying.

Lou Thesz