Wrestling

Greco-Roman wrestling was included in the Olympic Games from its very onset in 1896. Freestyle events, allowing legs to be employed in the struggle, were added in 1904 Olympics but dropped temporarily in 1912. The games of wrestling at Beijing Olympics would hopefully command a significant spectator count.

With the introduction of freestyle, the Games produced the longest wrestling bout in history as Martin Klein, of Russia and Estonia, wrestled Alfred Asikainen of Finland, for 11 hours and 40 minutes at a stretch in the middleweight semi-final. This bout, that took place on a summer's day outdoors, was stopped every half hour for refreshments but when Klein ultimately pinned his opponent, he was so exhausted that he could not participate in the final, and the title went to Claes Johanson of Sweden by default.

In the wrestling sporting event two unarmed persons engage into physical confrontation where each wrestler strives to get an advantage or control over their opponent by pinning him to the ground. Techniques which embody the wrestling sport are clinching, holding, locking, and leverage. Avoiding these techniques usually lead to serious injury.

Wrestling indeed has aspects of ritual fighting, but its basic principles are closer to military hand-to-hand combat or self-defense systems. Many styles and types of wrestling are known all over the world, and sport wrestling (particularly amateur wrestling) has been into the Olympic Games for over 100 years now.

Wrestling can be broadly categorized into:

• Greco-Roma
• Grappling
• Freestyle
• Beach wrestling
• Sambo

The rules of wrestling are as follows:

• Short Fingernails
• No Freshly-grown beards
• Hair short or tied back
• Skin must be dry and free from sweat at the start of the game
• Grease or creams cannot be used
• Jewellery is prohibited
• A handkerchief must be carried always
• Street-fighting skills are frowned upon: pulling hair, ears or genitals, biting or pinch, twisting an opponent's fingers or toes, kicking, head-butt, strangling, touching the opponent's face between eyebrows and mouth, holding opponent by the trunks or pushing an elbow or knee into the stomach are forbidden
• Wrestlers cannot speak to each other during bouts
• Bouts can be stopped by the attendant doctor
• A fall at the edge of the mat counts only if the opponent's shoulders are within the mats
• If a wrestler enters the protection area, the bout has to be stopped and restarted
• Two offences of passivity results in the loss of a point; passivity is judged when a wrestler fails to attempt a hold or obstructs his opponent to prevent proper wrestling
• A point is awarded to an opponent when a second warning is given for an illegal hold
• Freestyle wrestlers are forbidded to use a scissor lock, where the feet cross around the head, neck or body
• A Greco-Roman wrestler must accompany his opponent when one falls to the mat
• Cheating and brutality results to disqualification
• Protests can be lodged within 30 minutes of the end of a bout. Bouts are refought if a protest is upheld

Flightshotelstours.com offers information on Wrestling and the Beijing Olympics.