Catch Wrestling

Key FactsFrom the overview, below

Origin	Lancashire, in the north of England — coal country, where miners and mill workers wrestled at pubs, fairs, and on any patch of ground, often with money riding on the result. An 1856 ruleset written at the Snipe Inn is one of the oldest documents of the style.
The Name	Catch-as-catch-can. Catch a hold anywhere you can, on the head, the arms, the body, the legs, and turn whatever you catch to your advantage. Where Greco-Roman forbids holds below the waist, catch welcomes them.
The One Rule	Win by pin or by submission: hold both of his shoulders to the mat, or catch him in a hold that makes him submit. There is no points system in the traditional game, and historically most serious matches were best of three falls.
Hallmarks	A top game by design: takedowns, rides and breakdowns, pinning combinations, and the hooks — a submission library aimed at a man already pinned or nearly so. In catch, your back on the mat is not a position. It is a countdown.
The Signature Hold	The double wristlock — the emblem of the art, attacked from the top, from a ride, against a man whose shoulders are in danger.
The Snake Pit	In 1948, Billy Riley opened the gym in Whelley, Wigan, that the wrestling world came to call the Snake Pit. His students included Karl Gotch and Billy Robinson, who carried catch around the world. The Snake Pit still operates in Wigan.

The Syllabus at a Glance

2

Ways to Win

Pin or submission. Nothing else decides a traditional catch match — no points, and no decision for who looked busier.

4

Submission Families

Arm locks, leg locks, neck and spine work, and chokes and strangles. Leg locks are legal at every level of the traditional game.

3

Falls

The classic match format: best of three falls.

3s

The Modern Counted Pin

Classic rules scored a touch fall — the instant both shoulders met the mat together. Modern events more often count the pin, commonly three seconds.

The Chapter OpenerThe overview article

Start Here — The Overview

Catch Wrestling: An Instructor's Overview

Your first catch wrestling class starts the way it has started for a hundred and fifty years: on your feet, one hand fighting for position, and then suddenly on the mat with a training partner's weight grinding your shoulder blades toward the floor. You bridge. You turn. You get flattened again, and somewhere in the second minute a fact rewires itself in your head. In most grappling you have trained, your back on the mat is a position. Here it is a countdown. The pin is already starting, and the man on top knows it even if you do not yet.

That single rule, win by pin or by submission, is the whole art in miniature. Everything in catch wrestling grows out of it.

Read the overview →

All Catch Wrestling Articles8 articles · free in full

Companion Guides — Catch WrestlingOne guide per article · printable

Catch Wrestling Holds and Counters Referenceall-levels · reference
Catch Wrestling First Months Planbeginner · plan
Catch vs BJJ Comparison and Training Guideall-levels · decision
Ride Escapes Playbookbeginner · playbook
Double Wristlock Finishing Referenceall-levels · reference
Catch Leg Lock Safety Referenceall-levels · reference
Takedown Systems Playbook: Setups, Finishes, and Chains That Survive Live Wrestlingintermediate · playbook
Gotch Conditioning System: The Deck, the Bridge, and Twelve Weeks to the Full Bibleall-levels · system