have recognised it as an incredible sport requiring showmanship, strength and disci-
pline, others see it as a fake sport that requires little to no skill. Regardless of how you
see Wrestling, the question has loomed for quite some time now - how useful would it
be in a fight?
Well, to begin with, we feel it’s worth mentioning that although most wrestling events
are choreographed, the moves performed and skills attained are of the highest quality
and require utter control, tonnes of nerve, a lot of practice and loads of strength and
training to pull off, but having said this, we must consider if it has any worth in a street
fight.
The first down side to wrestling is that it is usually very well rehearsed, and so on the
streets the techniques and disciplines attained in martial arts that allow you to adapt to
any situation or attack are lost. Also, because a lot of the moves are planned, the at-
tacker is not used to a moving, blocking, fighting opponent and so the simulation of free
sparring is not present.
With this said, what you must remember is wrestlers are trained professionals, and
there training demands maximum strength and ‘toughness’. Even if the move is re-
hearsed, it doesn’t mean that it doesn’t hurt! Wrestlers hold the key ability to withstand
immense punishment and stay on their feet. Also, even though there moves are not
used in live combat situations, their shows are based on true fight styles or combat
techniques, and in the right circumstances, there’s very little doubt as to whether or not
they could pull off some pretty impressive techniques. Wrestlers are also very good at
throwing people! In a grappling situation, due to sheer experience a wrestler is quite
likely to come out on top, unless the opponent has vast martial arts experience in grap-
pling arts such as Jujitsu or Judo.
So, with that said, as well as their general strength and fitness, it’d be fair to say that
any wrestler, although not as skilled and capable in a live combat situation as a martial
artists is more than likely to ‘handle themselves’ against untrained attackers.
You must also consider that a martial artist trains to defend themselves, a wrestlers
trains to perform a good fight for an audience. There are different motives, and different
reasoning behind each. Although generally, a martial arts master is likely to beat a
wrestling champ, you have to consider that champ up against an untrained person...
