Figure 1.--This boy wears his team wrestling singlet. Team singlets are plain like this one. Most boys liked their sports uniforms. Many boys, however, did not like the singlets. |
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Boys wore destinctive garments for wrestling called singlets. Boys on school wrestling teams wear matching plain-colored singlets. The wrestling singlet is similar to ones used for gymnastics, or any sport that requires an outfit that is totally free of any article of clothing that might be grabbed by an opponant to their advantage, or snagged by the wearer. Most boys especially interested to wrestling don't give it a second thought, but some boys didn't liked the idea of wearing one. Some would wear some sort of loose fitting outer clothes, called "warmup gear" to wear till they are actually ready to compete. The color of the singlet of course reflects the boy's team or school. Boys involved in individual competition might wear more destinctive individually styled singlets. Some boys wear tights as part of their wrestling gear.
Wrestling is one of the world's oldest sports. Its origins preceed history. It is a sport in which one competitor tries to throw another to the ground or in modern competition "pin" him.
Many other societies besides Greece in antiquity may have practiced versions of wrestling with a wide range of rules. We have no information on wresting in other civilizations at this time, but it should not be thought that wrestling was a sport created by the ancient Greeks.
Wrestkling was one of the original Greek Olympic events. The victors were some of the most celebrated individuals in the ancient Greek world. The first recorded Olympic wrestling match occurred in the Olympics in 708 BC. Wrestling was highly valued as a form of military exercise without weapons. Greek competitors competed without any clothing. There were two distinct versions of the game, differing according to the holds and the methods of deciding the victor. One form was orthia pale (Upright and Proper Wrestling). The object of this type of wrestling was simply to throw the opponent to the ground. Greek wrestlers had to secure three throws to decide a bout. The winner was called the "triakter". The match continued without stops until one man emerged victorious. The second form was kato pale (Ground Wrestling). Victory in this competition depended on one competitor acknowledging defeat. Defeat was indicated by raising one's right hand with the index finger pointed. The rules were fairly basic. Blows were not allowed. Tripping was permitted. No biting or gouging was allowed. There was no weight distinction, but there was an age grouping as a boys doivision existed. The wrestlers were anointed with olive oil then dusted with powder to make them easier to grasp. The competition took place in the "keroma", or beeswax, a muddy and sticky arena. There was no weight provision in the Olympics, it is obvious that the sport required a strong and stout build. A special combination of agility, skill and craft were also necessary. Unlike other events like the pentathlon, Olympic winners tended to dominate the event for years. Perhaps the greatest wrestler of all time was Milon of Kroton, a city in southern Italy. He won the Olympic event six times, once in the boys' division (540 BC) and five times subsequently as an adult contender. [Valavanis]
Greek wrestling became popular in the rising Roman civilization. The Romans added some violent inocationsm, but carried the sport to the farthest corners of their empire, including most of western Europe.
One ancient form of wrestling is Japanese sumo. No one know quite how old sumo is.It devleoped as performances at temples to entertain the Shinto gods. It continues to be persued in modern Japan, often described as the natiinal sport. The rituals associated with sumo are derived from the early Shinto ceremonies.
Moderen wrestling includes both Greco-Roman and English or free style wrestling.
Greco-Roman: Modern Greco-Roman wrestling, however, is not a variation of either the Greek or Roman styles. Nor is it a compound of the two. The Greco-Roman style was adopted in France about the middle of the 19th century. It was introduced in England about 1870. The principal style of wrestling in many countries (such as America, Australia, France, Germany, and Japan) is ground wrestling. The match dies not begin until both competitors on the mat. Tripping, the essence of the English game is not allowed in Greco-Roman wrestling.
Free style: Free style wrestling traces ts origins to England. Seceral different styoes developed in England, oncluding Corwall-Devon and Lancashire styles. The modern sport has found its greatest development in the United States and became known as free style. It s related to English, especially Lancashire, wrestling, but has reached a higher level of development with the invention of many new and complicated holds. A fall is secured by pinning bouth shoulders of the opponent to the ground.
European schools have not tended to have scholastic atthletix prpgrams. Rather sports like wrestling have more tended to be persued through clubs. We associate wrestling with countries like Greece and Turkey, but in fact do not have information about how popular the sport is in individual countries.
England did have school sports, especially the private schools. Several modern team sports emerged from the public (private secondary) schools. We know that boxing was also popular in these schools. We have no information about wrestling.
Many modern sports have ancient origins, as does wrestling. Competitive sports are, however, 19th century inovations as people expanded income and were able to afford lesiure time. Many team sports were developed or greatly popularized in English public schools during the 19th century. Wrestling appearsd to have developed quite independent of this and was a sport eventually adopted by schools as part of their academic program. We are unsure to what extent immigrant groups from Europe may have influence wrestling in America.
Scholastic wrestling: The United States gave a great emphasis to public education and unlike many European schools developed strong athletic programs. I think English public (private) schools were a strong influence here. English public (private) schools stressed sports (games), nut the English did not develop a free state secndary education system until after World War II (1939-45). I know wrestling was a popular part of the school atlhletic program when I attended secondary school in the 1950s. Just what the origins and chronology of scholastic wrestyling are I am not sure.
Non-school wrestling: Not all wrestling was part of an educational program. We do not know if there was club wrestling as in Europe. We know boxing was conductted through clubs and youth groups like the Boys Clubs. We are less sure about wrestling. We do not wrestling at settlement houses.
Collegiate wrestling: American collegiate wresting was for years dominated by the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU). Several individuals in the nid 1960s became dissatisfied with the governance of the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU). They began discussions NCAA officials with the goal to form a wrestling organization administered by wrestling people. The group wanted to develop an overall program that would: 1) offer competitive programs for wrestlers who had completed high school and/or college; 2) offer educational and developmental programs for wrestlers, coaches and officials in the international styles of wrestling; 3) offer wrestlers, coaches, officials and organizations conducting wrestling programs a voice in policies and procedures directly affecting the sport. Initial organizational meetings were held in January 1968 where considerable support was found to develop a new federation to challenge the AAU was reaffirmed. The new organization was named the United States Wrestling Federation (USWF).
The USWF in April 1969 conducted its first National Open Championships in Evanston, Ill. The Mayor Daley Youth Foundation, led by Olympians Don Behm and Larry Kristoff, won the first freestyle and Greco-Roman team trophies. Myron Roderick, head coach at Oklahoma State University, was appointed USWF Executive Director in August of 1969 and moved the offices to Stillwater, Okla. The USWF achieved increased status when in July 1970, Federation Internationale de Luttes Associees (FILA) president Roger Coulon of France took the international franchise away from the AAU and ordered a joint commission, five members each from USWF and AAU. The Federation suffered a setback in 1972 as new FILA president Milan Ercegan returned the AAU to full membership. Yet individual membership doubled to 3,000. The USWF in 1975 merged with the U.S. Kids Wrestling Federation. The National Wrestling Hall of Fame was formally dedicated on Sept. 11, 1976 and housed the National Office of the Federation. The street in Stillwater where the Hall is located was renamed Hall of Fame Avenue. Fourteen charter members were inducted into the Hall of Fame. Membership in the USWF Federation grew to 25,686 by the end of 1976. The American Arbitration Association in 1978 ruled that the AAU was no longer a member of the U.S. Olympic Committee, replaced by the U.S. Wrestling Federation. Congress passed the Amateur Sports Act of 1978 into law in November, 1978. Congress amended the Amateur Sports Act in 1980 to cut off USOC membership and funding for any arbitration loser. A Federal judge in Ohio during 1982 ordered the AAU to resign from, and sever all ties with, FILA and to resign from the Olympic Committee. The USOC was ordered to terminate its recognition of the AAU as a Group A Member and the National Governing Body (NGB). USOC president Bill Simon convened a seven-man panel on Sept. 23 to develop a structure for the new United States Wrestling Association. It was to include two members for the AAU, but the AAU boycotted the pannel. USWF became USA Wrestling (USAW) on March 14, 1983. Werner Holzer was elected president and Steve Combs continued as executive director. Shortly thereafter, FILA recognized USAW as the member organization from the United States. The USWF had finally triumphed in its struggle to become the national governing body (NGB) for wrestling in the United States. Since assuming NGB duties, USA Wrestling has achieved numerous milestones for the sport of wrestling.
Popular professional wrestling today is an entertainment, a far cry from the scholastic sport. Professional wrestlers perform like heavy-weight acrobats--not to show their skills but to make the spectators laugh and shout as the wrestlers grapple, kick, punch, pull, slap, bite, and go through all kinds of stunts--anything but really wrestle. The promoter cannot and should not be blamed for that condition. He has his money invested and he gives the fans what they want to see. But just as long as wrestling in its present form arouses the fans' interest, pleases them, holds their attention, why worry whether wrestling is on
the level or just a lot of hokum. Professiona wrestling became one of the mainstays or early Americam television. By the late 1950s it passed out of favor. There has been an enormous return to popularity in the 1990s. The World Wrstling Federation has succedded in marketing wrestling to the modern youth generation. While it cntinues to be more show business than art, it has suceeded in interesting large numbers of boys in svlolastic wrestling programs.
The principal uniform item is the singlet. Boys have both team singets and individual or custom singlets. Singlets used to be simply styled in normally one color. We now notice quite elaborate singlets, even in destinctive patterns. Tights are also sometimes worn. Other items include warm-up gear and equipment such as shoes, earguard, and kneepads. A variery of waem-upo clothes are also popular with weestlers.
Valavanis, Panos. Games and Sanctuaries in Ancient Greece (Getty, 2004).
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