Catch Wrestling - America's Martial Art!
by Matt Furey
Long before Jiu-Jitsu captured a significant portion of the American combat
enthusiasts' attention, long before professional heavyweight boxing matches
became multi-million dollar paydays, long before wrestling became a modern
Olympic sport, much less a collegiate or high school sport - Americans were
intrigued by an art known as catch-as-catch-can - or "catch wrestling."
Catch wrestling was not the first wrestling style that came to the United
States, nor will any knowledge brought with immigrants today be the last.
This is important when discussing the evolution of this fine art. Why?
Because catch wrestling doesn't just have highly effective techniques that
are unique to submission fighting, but they also have a twisted way of
executing the same techniques seen in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, sambo and the
like. Other than that, though, catch wrestling is no different than any
other
progressive grappling art. The practitioners were savvy enough to learn the
best of the best from many styles; they were smart to make sure they knew
what the other stylists were doing, adapt and adopt if necessary, to keep
what works and to place those holds that aren't practical but look nice into
the realm of show holds or theatre.
To truly understand the history of catch wrestling, or the future of any
currently popular grappling art, never lose sight of the fact that America
has always been a GIANT melting pot, allowing access to foreigners in search
of freedom and prosperity. And as each ethnic group began their voyage to
our
great land, they didn't just bring their bodies and earthly possessions.
They
also brought their hopes and dreams - as well as hard-won knowledge and
skills.
Just take a moment to scan the last 100 years of our nation's history and
you'll begin to see the trend of knowledge arriving, being assimilated, then
changed into something quite different from what it was in the beginning. We
have the Japanese bringing us judo, jiu-jitsu and karate. We have the
Chinese
bringing us kung fu, tai chi and acupuncture. We have the Koreans bringing
us
taekwondo and hapkido; the Filipinos bringing us escrima; the Brazilians
bringing their style of jiu-jitsu; the Russians bringing sambo, and so on.
Yes, this trend of bringing one's knowledge to the U.S is nothing new. It
began from the moment the first pilgrims arrived on Plymouth Rock - and most
likely even earlier than that. Not only did American Indians practice many
styles of wrestling (and who really knows if they're "native" to this
country
or not?), but so did the British, Irish, French and other cultures who first
settled here.
The Irish, for example, are presumed to have brought collar-and-elbow
wrestling to the people of Vermont in the 1700's. The next thing we know is
that, in the mid-1800's, America had this style they called catch wrestling.
It was very different from the jacket-based style of collar-and-elbow. And
in
most cases, ala our 16th president, Abraham Lincoln - and along through the
days of William Muldoon, you hear of a victory taking place when one man
"threw" the other.
By the end of the 1880's, though, during the early days of Martin "Farmer"
Burns, this style of catch-as-catch-can was, for the most part, was already
changed. Matches were not always won or lost by a throw. Burns, who was
purported to have wrestled some 6000 matches in his career, won most of
them
by pin-fall (forcing both of your opponent's shoulders to the ground) or by
submission. Some of the contests, however, as noted in Lifework of Farmer
Burns, were still decided by a throw.
How, you might wonder, did we go from collar-and-elbow, a jacketed throwing
art, to catch wrestling, replete with takedowns, throws, pinfalls and
submissions (and no jacket)?
This is a great question and one I had asked myself many times as well.
Trouble is, you can't find the answer in American history books. The only
satisfactory answer I ever heard came from someone who truly understands
wrestling and its history at a deep, cellular level. This man competed in
the
1948 Olympics for his native Belgium, in both freestyle and Greco-Roman. He
turned pro in 1950, and for eight years (1950-58) trained in the famous
Billy
Riley Gym in Wigan, England (one of two schools in the area that were the
only places left in the world where the real professional style of catch
wrestling was still practiced).And it was there, in England, that this man,
who would emigrate to the United States in 1961, was taught this brutal yet
highly refined art Sť a style that was already, despite being more popular
than boxing in the early 1900's, a "lost art" in the U.S. This man is none
other than Karl Gotch. He is the man who quickly became known in Japan as
kamisama - "God of Wrestling," for his amazing knowledge and skills in the
art of submission wrestling.
During Gotch's first trip to Japan, he won the people's heart and soul with
a
display of REAL wrestling ability they had never seen in the professional
ring before. Not only could the 6'3" - 250 pound Gotch throw with the grace,
speed and finesse of a lightweight, but on the mat, he was an unstoppable
force. In workouts with Japan's top judo and jiu-jitsu men, he beat them so
badly, even with a gi on, that they cried for mercy. Little did they know,
that before emigrating to the U.S., Gotch had also gone into the judo halls
of Europe. And in his native Belgium, he earned his black belt in ONE DAY!
Gotch's technique was so brutal that his wife once told a friend, "I was so
glad when Karl quit going to judo and jiu-jitsu." The reason for her relief:
"It was so hard washing the blood from his gi every night."
I have had the incredible fortune of being a Gotch heir, and along with
everything he taught me about conditioning and catch wrestling, came a grasp
of history that could not be found in old-time books. And so, when I asked
how catch wrestling came to be in the days of Martin "Farmer" Burns and his
top student, Frank Gotch (no relation to Karl), who became world champion in
1908, beating the Russian Lion, George Hackenschmidt, in front of 30,000
people in Chicago's Comiskey Park.
To my question, Gotch replied that all countries of the world that had
emigrated to the U.S. had brought their style of wrestling along. Not only
had the Irish brought collar-and-elbow. The Arabs brought their knowledge of
leg wrestling. And the British, along with their boxing, brought three
styles
of wrestling. These styles were Cornish-Devonshire, Cumberland-Westmoreland
and Lancashire Catch-As-Catch-Can. When you took the best of the above,
along
with whatever else was making its way across the oceans, the Americans, with
their keen ability to assimilate and innovate, quickly developed an even
more
wide open style of wrestling - American Catch-As-Catch-Can .
The foremost and most famous practitioners of the American style were Iowans
Martin "Farmer" Burns and Frank Gotch.
Burns, a wiry 165-pounder with a 20-inch neck, could take a six-foot
hangman's drop and stay in the noose for three minutes while whistling
Yankee
Doodle Dandy. He used quickness, tenacity, endurance and a devastating
array
of submissions to crush the biggest of foes. He regularly barnstormed throw
towns (much like Rickson Gracie did in the early days of establishing
Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu), taking on all comers. Unlike Rickson, though, Burns
was
a pool shark with his skills. He often pretended be someone else, secured a
match with the toughest man around, got others to hedge their bets, and then
commenced to put on a show. In the best-out-of-three-falls matches, Burns
knew exactly how to work the crowd. He would go through several minutes of
"struggle" in the ring, making it appear that he was out-matched. Burns
would
keep the struggle going long enough to get his opponent somewhat tired, then
he would make a mistake on purpose and lose the first fall. He then watched
as the audience placed their bets again. When the size of the pot grew, he
would destroy the opponent, quickly winning the next fall, but making it
appear like "luck." More bets were placed. When the action began a third
time, Burns snuffed his foe even faster than the second fall - then skated
town with all the loot.
The same tactic was used by Burns' ace pupil, Frank Gotch, who traveled the
Pacific Northwest in the early 1900's, going as far as Alaska, where he
posed
under the name of Frank Kennedy. He took matches with railroad workers,
fishermen and other rough-and-tumble characters, and returned home a short
while later with $30,000 - a fortune in those days.
But before he developed his craft to its highest level, Gotch was a young
and
burly farmhand from Humboldt, Iowa, who was gaining a reputation for being a
tough wrestler, although completely untrained. He met "Farmer" Burns one
evening in nearby Fort Dodge for a match. At the time, in terms of
experience, when compared to Burns, Gotch had little wrestling knowledge.
Yet, on the night of their match, the two fought to a draw. Burns
immediately
seized the opportunity to coral Gotch and make him his student, declaring
that he could and would turn him into a world champion.
The story didn't make sense to me. If Burns was so good, how could he fight
to a draw with a beginner? And if Gotch was so great, why would he want to
be
trained by someone he had just fought to a draw? Did Gotch realize that
Burns
was much older but more knowledgeable? Or could the whole event have been
another Burns' setup to make even more money? I suspect the latter.
Otherwise
there
would be no reason for Gotch to entrust himself to Burns' care.
I also suspect it because of the following: When I first began learning from
Karl Gotch, I asked him, "Who was better, Frank Gotch or Farmer Burns?
Bear
in mind I had heard that Burns was actually better and I wanted his take on
the matter. In reply, Karl said, "Gotch was better. He was much young, much
bigger and stronger, and you must remember, the Farmer taught him everything
he knew."
Some months later, however, Karl told me a different story. "I don't like to
tell people this, but the truth is that even after Gotch won the world
championship, Burns was still better and could still lick him. I was told by
those who knew, that one day in practice, they had a go-behind contest. This
is a contest to see who can get behind and take the other guy down the most
times. Burns won the contest 7-3."
Which story is true? I'm not able to say for sure, as I didn't live then and
never saw it - but my hunch is that the second story is correct. But who
really knows? Which leads to my next question: How did professional catch
wrestling with its vast array of submissions ever become a lost art? Even
more, how did Jiu-Jitsu gain such prominence in the U.S.?
Believe it or don't, Farmer Burns addressed this very same matter in the
final lesson of his 1914 mailorder course Lessons in Wrestling & Physical
Culture. Imagine that? Not much has changed, huh? The inherent rivalry
between jiu-jitsu and wrestling is nothing new. But the truth is that Burns
and Gotch, even in the early 1900's, did not simply slough off and ignore
either of these fine arts. They looked into them and developed their style
to
make sure they could counter them. In matches Burns and Gotch defeated
Japanese practitioners. When Gotch was world champion, he received an
invitation to the White House from President Theodore Roosevelt, who was an
avid student of boxing and judo. Gotch was pitted against one of the top
Japanese judo men in a comparison of holds contest. Gotch was able to
readily
escape from the judo submissions while the same could not be said for the
Japanese artist. We must remember, this is back in the day when judo placed
a
heavy emphasis on submissions, including leg locks.
One of Burns' major claims to fame was the inability of any Japanese artist
to choke him out. He said at least 1000 people had tried, but it had no
effect. This may have had more to do with his freakish 20-inch neck than
anything else - as he never demonstrates an actual technique that others can
duplicate.
Some years later, another catch wrestler, Adolph Ernst, who went by the name
of Ad Santel, traveled abroad in hopes of making money from matches against
Jigoro Kano's top judoka. Santel beat all but one of the high-ranking judoka
he was matched up against, and to Kano's dismay, declared himself World Judo
Champion.
All of this begs the question: If catch wrestling is so great, how did it
become a lost art?
Although some have tried to pin-point a specific reason, there are in fact,
many. But regardless of what reason you can come up (for example, long
matches the public didn't have the patience to see anymore, etc.), I believe
the biggest of them is not that the matches went from real to show, but that
those who knew the art didn't bother passing it on to anyone else. If it
weren't for Karl Gotch having taught me, all we'd have about catch wrestling
are a bunch of highly ludicrous videos, teaching nearly worthless show holds
that are masquerading as the real thing.
Other than the above, the history of catch wrestling will never be totally
known. Even the questions I have listed below are highly debatable.
When was pro wrestling real? When did it become fake?
What pro wrestlers were hookers and rippers (those who were top-notch
submission fighters)? Which ones were simply workers (showmen)? And how
would
you know for sure anyway?
Furthermore, what "pro wrestler" can we really trust with something called
"truth?" Is what you hear from a pro wrestler true, or simply what he wants
you to believe is true? Is he protecting an image or is he the real deal?
Before meeting Karl Gotch, I met two other men who claim to be catch
wrestling "hookers" - those who are masters in the art of submission. One
was
about my age, the other much older. Because of my insatiable thirst for
knowledge and my willingness to try and learn something from nearly anyone,
I
tried to learn the techniques these gents were passing off as the real deal.
Botttom line: I got nowhere. Then I met Gotch and all the crud I had gone
through turned out to be a tremendous blessing. I now not only knew the real
deal, the stuff that truly did come straight from Wigan, and that was also
practiced by Farmer Burns and Frank Gotch, but I also had the knowledge to
explain to someone what was real catch, what wasn't, and how I could prove
it
to them.
It is generally believed that the world championship matches between Frank
Gotch and George Hackenschmidt, held in Chicago in 1908 and 1911, were real.
What is fuzzy about the matches though, are the claims made afterward. Right
after losing the title to Gotch, Hackenschmidt praises the Iowan, saying he
is too good, that he could do nothing with him, that he is the best. But
upon
his return to England, his story is changed to "Gotch was a dirty wrestler,
a
cheater" and so on. One source even has Hackenschmidt claiming that 200
butchers were ringside, and that they would cut out his heart if he won.
What???
The rematch is set for 1911, this time, instead of taking over two hours to
whoop the Russian Lion, Gotch goes right out and wins both falls in less
than
30 minutes. Afterward, Hackenschmidt plays the same old song and dance. Says
one thing in the U.S. - changes it later. Gotch dies at 39; Hackenschmidt
lives to the age of 90. To this day many people actually believe that
Hackenschmidt was cheated, mostly because the Russian Lion had more than 50
years to say whatever he wanted and no one who could challenge him or disput
e
him.
But ask someone like Karl, who truly knows submission fighting and the
shenanigans of pro wrestling, he'll tell you that there is no way that
Hackenschmidt could have won. No matter how big or how strong, Hack didn't
have the technique to keep up with Gotch. He was a Greco-Roman wrestler.
Gotch was a wide-open catch wrestler, who had a much greater diversity of
abilities.
Karl's take on it was that Gotch ran Hack into the ground in the first
match,
just to break his spirit, but not so badly that he wouldn't do a rematch. If
Gotch went out and snuffed Hack right away, showing the world what a clown
he
was, no one would want to see a rematch, so he had to make it a good, long,
hard-fought match. But after getting run into the ground, Hack wasn't overly
eager for a rematch. It took three more years to get him into the ring, and
by then Gotch realized this would probably be the last go-round he'd get
with
Hack, so he went out and stomped him right away.
Again , I will readily admit that I don't really know what happened, and
neither does anyone else alive today. My opinion is that Gotch won fair and
square and Hack couldn't handle the reality of it when he got back home, so
he made a piss-pot full of excuses and never stopped telling them til the
day
he died.
Why do I think this? Simply because I have studied the books put out by
Farmer Burns and Frank Gotch, as well as those put out by Hackenschmidt, and
the techniques demonstrated by Hack are far, far behind the skill level of
the Iowa boys. No doubt Hack was big and strong and had an impressive build,
but since when did that ensure victory in submission fighting?
After the second Gotch vs. Hackenschmidt bout, it is said that wrestling
remained real for a bit longer. Some claim that it was the overly long
matches between Ed "Strangler" Lewis and Joe Stecher's (one went for
9-hours)
that killed it. Others simply say that the phony deal is an easier sell than
the real thing. They'll say that when you pit two evenly matched grapplers
against one another, more often than not, they'll succeed in putting the
audience to sleep. They'll also say that the purpose of pro wrestling is to
make money, that if you're not making money, it's a hobby, not a profession.
They'll say that people won't pay for the real deal, but they WILL pay for
the phony deal. And based on the fact that 20,000,000 Americans watch
entertainment rasslin' on t.v. each week - these statements appear true.
Personally, I'd rather see the real deal. Second choice would be something
that at least LOOKS real.
The bottom line for me is this: The only "truth" I can really know about
professional catch wrestling is whether the techniques are as viable today
as
they were when Farmer Burns and Frank Gotch learned them. Moreover, are the
techniques Karl Gotch taught me, the holds that he learned at the Billy
Riley
Gym in Wigan, England, and via his life-long study of fighting, as good, if
not better, than what we're seeing being practiced today?
I probably shouldn't answer this question as it will most likely be used as
a
stick to club me with. But yes, I DO sincerely believe that the techniques
of catch wrestling are more refined. They are NOT "big guy" moves that
cannot
be used by smaller, weaker practitioners. Most of the superstar catch
wrestlers of yesteryear weighed less than 200 pounds. Farmer Burns was 165
and he beat opponents twice his size. England's Billy Joyce ( Bob Robinson),
who, along with his brother, Joe Robinson, taught Karl Gotch, were not big
men. Ad Santel was not big. Benny Sherman weighed even less than Burns. And
like Royler Gracie, Sherman would fight the devil himself.
Does what I'm saying invalidate the techniques of any other art? Not at all.
All I'm saying is that I KNOW I can show those in the other arts, and this
includes amateur wrestlers, how they can instantly improve their skills by
learning what know. And I'm sure that the others can teach me something I
can
use as well. Afterall, I believe we should never stop learning. Once you do,
you're dead.
I recently read the new book, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Theory and Technique, put
out by Royler and Renzo Gracie, Kid Peligro and John Danaher. It was a
thrill
to read. I wish there were more books on the market about this great art and
I commend them on a job well done. The book should be in every submission
fighter's library. I enjoyed studying the approach used by these men and
took
a lot of time to study each photo. While doing so, I saw techniques that I
believe I could help them improve by using some of the principles of catch
wrestling. For example, the grip used on wrist locks and arm bars; the grip
used on ankle locks, the positioning and angle of various holds, and so on.
Now, if I see something I don't agree with, something that I believe can be
improved, does that make me Satan for saying so? Does that make me the enemy
of other stylists? Disrespectful? Not at all.
The truth is that all champions continually improve and refine and welcome
suggestions. I am continually updating and refining my own techniques and
always will. Every coach I have ever had, and I've had the best: Gable,
Baumgartner, Daniel Weng, Karl Gotch, and so on, they're the same way, too.
Constantly looking for even the slightest refinement that will make a move
or
hold even easier to pull off.
I first learned a double-leg 31 years ago. It's the most basic of wrestling
takedowns, and I'm still refining it! Why? Because for 29 years I learned to
shoot in and hit a knee. That's the way the best coaches I had taught it.
But
that's not the way Karl Gotch taught me to do it. At first I thought he was
nuts, that his way was out of date. But when I tried, it, voila. He was
right. Not only that, the double-leg done his way is far better for
self-defense and street fighting. You don't crack your knee on cement and
even better, it's faster, more explosive and easier to do than the old way.
Now, I could have resisted - but you only know if you give it a try and find
out for sure. Imagine, after 31 years I am still refining the first move I
learned. But that's wrestling.
The techniques I teach in my courses have been used by my mail order
customers to win world and national championships. Two years ago Steve
Maxwell won his first world championship with a neck crank I taught him.
Shingitai Jiu-Jitsu master John Saylor, a three-time national judo champion
and two-time Pan Am medalist is also someone who learns from me (as I do
from
him). Others have written me who have used my techniques (and my
conditioning
methods) with their jiu-jitsu to win national and regional titles. And in
every jiu-jitsu room that I have been a guest, the practitioners and coaches
have been in awe of what I have shown them, and I have video-taped footage
to
prove it.
Now let's put the shoe on the other foot. How would I react if a top flight
coach like Carlson Gracie came up to me, after seeing a book or video I put
out on catch wrestling holds, and said he knew something I was doing that
could be enhanced or improved? How would I feel if Renzo or Royler did so as
well? Now, if I blew them off with a, "Fuck you. You do jiu-jitsu. I do
wrestling," attitude, I would be a fool, wouldn't I? The wise thing to do
would include listening, asking each person to show me, then, with this
knowledge, deciding whether or not I agree. But it would be based upon an
exchange of information - not a closed mind.
There is no doubt in my mind, that some who read my words will claim that
I'm
down on them and their art, but that is not the case. I respect and support
all combat athletes and want to see them grow. I also respect my art and
what
I know and that's why I am so straightforward in what I say, regardless of
the reaction it causes. If someone reading my words can show me something he
knows, and that something can make me better, guess what I'll do? I'll add
it
to my repertoire. And I'll do so immediately.
The highest levels of mastery are not attained by practicing your art as if
you're a horse with blinders.
The men of decades past developed catch wrestling by keeping an open mind,
by
experimenting, refining - and most importantly, by paying close attention to
what else was out there and what could be learned from it. The same can be
said for the continuous evolution of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, sambo, judo and
other arts. In the past 20 years, each of these arts have become different
from what they were when they first came to the United States. That is what
happens when knowledge is placed inside America's GIANT melting pot.
Sure, there has always been an inherent rivalry between one art and the
other, but that never prevented the smart guys from learning from the others
and making the most of their talents.
One hundred years from now, it is my fond wish that catch wrestling, judo,
sambo, collegiate wrestling, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and all the other grappling
arts, are still around. Each art has brought great joy, great passion and
great happiness to many, many people.
And when all is said and done, isn't happiness what really matters?
{Matt Furey, a national and world champion grappler was named "The King of Catch Wrestling" by GRAPPLING magazine. Furey's Catch Wrestling Video Course, which is based upon the unrivaled teachings of Farmer Burns and Karl Gotch is the best course on the subject ever created. To find out more about the Farmer Burns Catchwrestling Video Course, click here
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