Wrestling is an ancient martial art that uses grappling type techniques such as clinch fighting, throws and takedowns, joint locks, pins and other grappling holds. A wrestling bout is a physical competition, generally between two people, who attempt to gain and maintain a superior position. Wrestling is one of the oldest of martial arts with references to it as early as the Iliad that recounts the Trojan War in the 13th or 12th century BC. There are a wide range of styles with varying rules with both traditional historic and modern styles. Wrestling techniques have been incorporated into other martial arts as well as military hand-to-hand combat systems.

Mythology

Main article: Wrestling mythology

Jacob Wrestling with the Angel; illustration by Gustave Doré (1855)

Some of the earliest references to wrestling, can be found in wrestling mythology.

• The Mahabharata describes the encounter between the accomplished wrestlers Bhima and Jarasandha.
• The Epic of Gilgamesh: Gilgamesh established his credibility as a leader, after wrestling Enkidu.

• Greek mythology celebrates the rise of Zeus as ruler of the earth after a wrestling match with his father, Cronus. Both Heracles and Theseus were famous for their wrestling against man and beast.

By country

• Shuai Jiao, a wrestling style originating in China, has a reported history of over 4,000 years.

• In Egypt, wrestling has been evidenced by documentation on tombs (circa 2300 BC) and Egyptian artwork (2000-1085 BC).
• Greek wrestling was a popular form of martial art, at least in Ancient Greece (about 1100 to 146 BC).^[1]

• Roman Wrestling: After the Roman conquest of the Greeks, Greek wrestling was absorbed by the Roman culture and became Roman Wrestling during the period of the Roman Empire (510 BC to AD 500).^{[citation needed]}

• Arabic literature depicted Muhammad as a skilled wrestler, defeating a skeptic in a match at one point. By the eighth century, the Byzantine emperor Basil I, according to court historians, won in wrestling against a boastful wrestler from Bulgaria.^[2]
• In 1520 at the Field of the Cloth of Gold pageant, Francis I of France threw Henry VIII of England in a wrestling match.^[2]

• The Lancashire style of folk wrestling may have formed the basis for Catch wrestling also known as "catch as catch can." The Scots later formed a variant of this style, and the Irish developed the "collar-and-elbow" style which later found its way into the United States.^[3]

• A Frenchman ^{[n 1]} "is generally credited with reorganizing European loose wrestling into a professional sport", Greco-Roman wrestling. ^[4] This style which was finalized by the 19th century and by then, wrestling was featured in many fairs and festivals,in Europe.^[5]

Modern

Greco-Roman wrestling and modern freestyle wrestling were soon regulated in formal competitions, in part resulting from the rise of gymnasiums and athletic clubs.

On continental Europe, prize money was offered in large sums to the winners of Greco-Roman tournaments, and freestyle wrestling spread rapidly in the United Kingdom and in the United States after the American Civil War. Wrestling professionals soon increased the popularity of Greco-Roman and freestyle wrestling, worldwide.^[3][6]

• Greco-Roman wrestling became an event at the first modern Olympic games, in Athens in 1896. Since 1908, the event has been in every Summer Olympics.

• Freestyle wrestling became an olympic event, in 1904. Women's freestyle wrestling was added to the Summer Olympics in 2004.

Since 1921, the International Federation of Associated Wrestling Styles (FILA) has regulated amateur wrestling as an athletic discipline, while professional wrestling has largely become infused with theatrics but still requires athletic ability.