All martial arts have rules to follow and that includes wrestling. In wrestling, you’re going to be doing a lot of grappling, takedown snatching and much more but not in the most barbaric way.
One example of the main rules is weight. In martial arts, weight usually translates to more power. A 200-pound wrestler could easily overpower a 130-pound wrestler. With that said, let’s go over other important wrestling rules you might want to learn before wrestling.
Freestyle wrestling
Wrestling is one of the few sports that goes back to the beginning of recorded history. They were used to eliminate brutality. Many wrestling types include:
Olympic fight
The Olympic style fights consist of a match of 1 period and five minutes. A game is completed if a fighter marks a fall, or if at the end of the regulated time.
Folkstyle fight
Folkstyle was developed in the United States. And it is not used in international competitions. Folkstyle focuses on control, with points awarded for controlling an opponent for longer periods than when under control.
Freestyle
In the fight, you can attack all body parts and use all body parts and try to snatch your opponent.
Greco-Roman struggle
Greco-Roman is the oldest and most popular fighting style in some parts of the world.
Fight of Judo
It is an oriental fighting style that focuses on throwing your opponent offside and in a position of control or submission backward.
Combo fight
It is a self-defense-oriented fighting style that incorporates JUDO and Greco-Roman fighting techniques.
History of freestyle wrestling
Freestyle Wrestling is practiced throughout the world. If you include this and Greco-Roman, these are the two styles that take place in the Olympic Games.
If you are from the United States, this is the best conventional wrestling you would know. And if it includes athletics, this is one of the oldest sports games in the world. High School and College Wrestling are played using a different set of rules.
Freestyle Wrestling mainly includes submission, and the goal here is to hold your opponent to the ground, usually for 3 seconds for an immediate victory. Its origins are derived from Catch-As-Catch-Can Wrestling.
The use of your opponent’s legs, whether for offense or defense, is allowed in Freestyle or Collegiate. Four main types of amateur competitive wrestling are practiced today.
Freestyle Wrestling started in Britain. Catch-As-Catch-Can has many people following this great British sport. In the 19th century, this sport gained a lot of popularity.
At that time, the goal was to nail the opponent’s shoulder on the ground, and almost any technique or grip was allowed. The 1904 Saint Louis Olympics was the first time it was recognized as an Olympic sport.
40 fighters participated in this event and all were Americans. Most of the rules used for this event were the same as for Catch-As-Catch-Can, but there were some restrictions on certain withholdings that were not allowed.
In the summer Olympic Games, seven total weight classes were allowed to participate. The matches that took place in the 19th century were very long they would last up to 8-9 hours. The winners of that match would be by a draw. They began to set time limits for parties in the twentieth century.
Related article: Wrestling vs Judo
Freestyle wrestling rules and ways of scoring
They are played between two people of similar weight, on a 9-foot-diameter rubber mat. Wrestlers wear red or blue during a contest. In the fight, you can attack all body parts and use all body parts and try to snatch your opponent. The whole body is fair game. This means there is a lot to attack and a lot to defend.
You must try to face your opponent so that the shoulder blades hit the ground at the same time. If a rival’s shoulder blades are successfully maintained, the referee stops the competition and wins automatically. This is known as a win by fall or wins by pin. If no wrestler can anchor, he can earn points to win the contest.
If you manage to knock down your opponent on the mat with control over him, this is a draw and is worth 2-5 points. The number of points depends on the types of demolition, with large-scale pitches that earn up to 5 points.
While you are in a defensive position, if you manage to escape the fighter or enter neutral, this is a getaway and is worth 1 point. While in the defensive position, if you manage to lower and take control of your opponent at the top, this is an investment and you earn 1 point.
While you are in an offensive position, if you expose your opponents to the ground and you are in a dominant position with control, it is known as exposure and you get 2 or 3 points depending on how long you almost anchor your opponent. And if he makes an illegal game, the referee can award penalty points to his opponent. There are many ways in which this can happen.
The fighting match will be played in two periods of 3 minutes each. If someone doesn’t win in the fall, the highest-ranked fighter wins at the end of the 2 periods. If the scores are the same, the referee and the decides on the top fighter. There are things you need to be aware of before participating in the fight.
Caution: If a fighter commits an illegal play, violates one of the rules or does not intend to fight, the referee may award caution points against them. If a fighter places one foot out of the circle, the fight stops, he is alerted and awarded to his opponents at the point. This is known as off-limits.
If a fighter escapes or refuses to start or fight, this is passivity and it turns out that the fighter is warned, and a point is awarded to the opponent.
Par Terre: The referee can order the fighters to start in the position of Par Terre. This can be issued after a warning or if a fighter passes two minutes without scoring. The offending fighter will be at the bottom on his hands and knees. The other fighter is fighting from above. In the fight, the best fighter has the advantage and when the referee whistles, he starts fighting in this position.
Technical superiority: in freestyle, if a fighter earns 10 points over his opponent, the referee will immediately end the competition and the fighter will win by technical superiority or technical fall.
Victory due to injury, loss or disqualification: if the fighter cannot continue during the match, the opponent will receive an injury victory. If the fighter cannot start the competition, the opponent will receive a loss victory.
If the fighter accumulates 3 precautions or the referee prohibits him from competing for more, the opponent will win by disqualification.
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