Catch wrestling vs Greco

[NightOwl]

No, not in a cage match....but rather a comparison! I must admit that I don't know much about about catch wrestling, and was wondering if someone could fill me in on what makes it unique.

[gzk]

My money's on Greco

Carry on...

[ninjer]

Both types have many of the same takedowns. Basically when you talk about "Greco" or "Catch" you're still talking about wrestling, you're just naming different rulesets.

Greco involves mostly upper body takedowns and it is illegal to grab your opponents legs. As such, most greco fighting is done from the clinch, making it look alot like Judo without the use of a gi. The premise is the same as in most other forms of wrestling- take your opponent down and pin him.

Catch Wrestling by contrast is basically submission grappling. With the recent resurgence of submission grappling as of the past 15 years, most people are exposed to all styles of grappling, therefore you rarely see people who are pure catch, pure judo, or pure bjj fighters.

Catch wrestling is based around the idea of taking your opponent down and making him submit with a joint lock or a chokehold. Catch left the US many years ago when it found a foothold in Japan and eventually evolved into shootfighting. Watch old Pancrase tournaments and you'll get a good idea of what catch wrestling looks like (when the fight his the ground). Lots of takedowns and footlocks, as opposed to BJJ which emphasizes positional control and upper body submissions.

[bushido_man96]

It sounds like catch and Greco could make quite a good combination.

[mmljpp]

i am not familar with catch but i am with greco it is great

[MMA_Jim]

Catch is basically the predecessor of Shooto/Pancrase.

For example, Ken and Frank Shamrock are considered to have a base style of catch

[bushido_man96]

Catch is basically the predecessor of Shooto/Pancrase.

For example, Ken and Frank Shamrock are considered to have a base style of catch

I had heard this somewhere before. Does Catch contain more leg locking and leg work like that? Or am I thinking of something else? I know Sambo uses a lot of leg techniques. I thought Catch did, too.

[MMA_Jim]

Catch works alot of leglocks because of what it was that made it popular.

It used to be around during the high times of the traveling carnivals in the US, during which they would have contests "make our wrestler give up." Since there are no strikes, and wrestlers didnt know how many fights a day they may have, quick and efficient submissions were the most popular. Footlocks can be used from the top or bottom and require no positional dominance. As a result, they can be applied almost immediately when the match goes to the ground, hence their popularity

[bushido_man96]

Cool. I wasn't too far off then.

[granitemiller]

Catch wrestling is also called "Catch as catch can" or also called "lancashire style wrestling". There is a book on Lancashire wrestling. From what I was told by some old timers, that this form was used in the carnivals by the the "champion" who would make the challenger submit. There was also a great usage of eye gouging, which accounted for many fighters wearing an eye patch and retiring early.