Dear Reader,
I would like you to know that HemaLore is originally written in my mother tongue, and then I use AI to translate it and smooth the reading in English. Everything you find here is my own intellectual work, created by me, Gábor Antali, along with any mistakes or errors that may come with it.
This project of mine is meant for entertainment. It is not intended as an academic essay or formal scholarly work.
Wrestling: The Most Ancient Form of Combat
Wrestling is the foundation of all martial arts, including sword fighting. It is one of the oldest and most instinctive forms of combat, deeply rooted in human history. Every time I brainstorm about it, read about it, or simply seek to understand more, I find myself drawn deeper into its essence. This article is meant to serve as a summary of wrestling as an art, providing a general understanding and appreciation of its role in human development and combat traditions.
To truly grasp the significance of wrestling, we need to go back to its very roots—the primal needs of human development, specifically rough play.
The Primal Instinct: Rough Play and Human Development
From childhood, most of us have experienced some form of rough play, such as chasing, play-fighting, or wrestling. This is not unique to humans—it is a shared behavior among many mammal species. Rough play serves as an essential developmental tool, helping children (and even young animals) build key physical and social skills.
Some of the key benefits of rough play include:
Coordination & Motor Skills – Developing movement control, reflexes, and agility.
Social Bonding – Strengthening relationships through physical interaction.
Physical Awareness – Understanding body mechanics, balance, and movement.
Emotional Resilience & Risk-Taking – Learning to manage emotions and take calculated risks.
Survival Skill Development – Engaging in controlled combat without causing real harm.
Over time, rough play evolves into structured physical activities with specific goals—training, competition, self-defense, and entertainment. This is where wrestling emerges as a formalized practice.
What is Wrestling?
Wrestling is an umbrella term for various forms of grappling-based physical competition, where opponents seek to control, unbalance, or dominate each other using different techniques. Despite the diversity in wrestling styles, they all share core principles that emphasize strength, leverage, and technique.
Different wrestling styles diverge based on their focus, purpose, and unique techniques. Some prioritize raw strength, others emphasize finesse and agility, while some incorporate specific rulesets and traditions. This is why countless variations of wrestling exist across different cultures worldwide.
Wrestling is more than just a sport or a form of combat—it is a fundamental aspect of human movement, interaction, and survival training. It connects us to our primal instincts, refines our physical abilities, and serves as the cornerstone of many martial arts, including armed combat like sword fighting.
What Connects All Wrestling Styles?
The core technique that binds all wrestling styles together is grappling—the ability to control and manipulate an opponent using body mechanics. No matter the style, all wrestling shares these fundamental techniques:
Gripping & Clinching – Establishing holds to control the opponent.
Takedowns & Throws – Bringing the opponent to the ground.
Balance & Off-balancing – Disrupting stability to gain an advantage.
Pins & Holds – Controlling the opponent on the ground.
Escapes & Reversals – Breaking free from control or changing positions.
Pressure & Leverage – Using body mechanics for control and efficiency.
Footwork & Positioning – Maintaining a strong and stable stance.
Ancient Wrestling
Nearly every civilization developed some form of wrestling, as evidenced by historical artifacts such as mosaics, wall paintings, and written records. However, one of the biggest challenges in reconstructing these ancient styles is the lack of detailed information. While we can observe depictions of wrestling in various art forms, they rarely provide enough technical details to fully understand how these styles were practiced.
Because of this, modern attempts at reconstructing ancient wrestling often rely on a combination of historical fragments, modern wrestling knowledge, and informed speculation to fill in the gaps.
Medieval and Renaissance Wrestling
I often feel that medieval and Renaissance wrestling is one of the most overlooked and least understood aspects of wrestling history, particularly in Europe. However, with the rise of historical fencing (HEMA) in recent years, many historical fencing manuals and treatises have been rediscovered, studied, and translated. These manuals frequently include wrestling techniques—some as part of armed combat, while others focus entirely on grappling.
Medieval and Renaissance wrestling styles were, of course, influenced by earlier ancient wrestling traditions. However, they developed into distinct systems that can broadly be categorized into two main types:
Upright Wrestling – A style where wrestlers do not grab their opponent’s legs with their hands. The focus is on upper-body control, throws, and grappling techniques.
Everything Else – A much broader category that includes leg attacks, sweeps, and other techniques beyond just upper-body grappling.
Yes, this is an overly simplified classification, but let me explain why it is relevant.
Pietro Monte and the Forgotten Style of "The Armar"
One of the most detailed yet highly overlooked wrestling styles from the Renaissance comes from Pietro Monte, a 15th-century Spanish-Italian master-at-arms. His wrestling system, which he called "The Armar," is particularly interesting because it was designed specifically for swordsmen and armored fighters.
Monte describes a unique approach to wrestling where:
Grappling is limited to the hands and upper body—no grabbing of the opponent’s legs.
Legs interact by chasing, sweeping, and controlling, rather than direct hand attacks.
This makes The Armar significantly different from most other European wrestling styles of the time, which often included leg grabs and other lower-body attacks.
I have personally rediscovered and practiced this style, and I have written another article that explores Pietro Monte’s Armar wrestling system in detail (soon will be published).
To close this article, I will share a short list of wrestling styles without placing them in a specific timeline. This list showcases the diversity of wrestling traditions across different cultures and historical periods.
My recommendation for music to listen: "Tomorrow" by Salif Keita (with lyrics). 😊
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Reference!
· https://www.afrikaiswoke.com/the-history-of-african-wrestling (02/01/2025)
· https://cabinradio.ca/195572/news/sports/inuit-wrestling-tournament-brings-ulukhaktok-together/ (20/01/2025)
· https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mongolian_wrestling (20/12/2024)
· https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greek_wrestling (11/12/2024)
· https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pehlwani (11/01/2025)
· https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oil_wrestling (25/02/2025)
· https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sumo (23/02/2025)
· https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shuai_jiao (27/12/2024)
· https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belt_wrestling (02/03/2025)
· https://wiktenauer.com/wiki/Fabian_von_Auerswald (10/01/2025)
· https://wiktenauer.com/wiki/B%C5%A9ech_von_fechter_Vnnd_Ringst%C3%BCckhen_z%C5%A9_Ross_vnnd_Fuo%C3%9F_(Cod.10799) (09/01/2025)
· https://wiktenauer.com/wiki/Paulus_Hector_Mair (04/01/2025)
· * Jeffrey L. Forgeng (2018) Pietro Monte’s Collectanea, 1st ed., Woodbridge, The Boydell Press
