Wrestling

Wrestling, is a sport in which a practitoner attempts to defeat an opponent without the use of striking. Wrestling is amongst the oldest sports in history that, over time, has evolved into many different styles and forms. more...

They range from world-wide, commercialised stadium events to less publicized, local amateur competitions. Generally, two persons compete against each other for each contest.

According to International Federation of Associated Wrestling Styles (FILA), the four main forms of amateur competitive wrestling practiced internationally today are Greco-Roman wrestling, Freestyle wrestling, Judo wrestling and Sambo wrestling.

The aim

The aim of a wrestling contest depends upon its style, but common aims are

• pinning the shoulders of an opponent to the ground for a defined time,
• maneuvering an opponents shoulders toward the ground to earn points,
• raising an opponent over ones head,
• throwing an opponent to the floor, and/or
• gaining control over an opponents body.

Styles

There are almost as many wrestling styles as there are national traditions. Styles include Pehlwani in India, Sumo in Japan, Inner and Outer Mongolian Wrestling, and Yağlı güreş which is a type of "oiled" wrestling in Turkey. Wrestling is often categorized as one of the martial arts; its virile image and usefulness as military training helped generate such multi-cultural evolutions. Some evidence suggests that wrestling may be the oldest sport known to man. A large amount of early artwork, for example, depicts matches between two opponents. One of the most famous wresting matches appears in the book of Genesis where Jacob wrestles an angel (sometimes thought of as God himself) and is renamed Israel for his struggle, which translates to "Wrestles with God".

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