Staunton spectator and vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1896-1916, 1911-06-09
WRESTLING BOUTS
One of the Oldest Forms of Sport
Known to Man.
THE ART IN ANCIENT EGYPT.

IHE AM iN ANClENI E0IT j.
Records Show That the Early Athletes
Wore Masters Of Over Four Hundred
Different HoIds-Many of the Old
Grips Arc Used In the Modern Game.
The strenuous wrestling game Is as
old as the hills. In the days when
men lived in caves, clothed themselves
with fig leaves in summer and girded
their loins and limbs with skins of fur
in winter wrestling was part of their
mode Of fighting. That the change In
the mode Of life during the long circle
of years to the present day has not
injured the art, that it exists practical
" as it was in the dim. uncertain
ages Of the past, softened and mel
lowed perhaps in some Of the rude
essentials, is made manifest by the
records which have stood all these
years, mocking the attempts OF Father
Time to efface them.
In the temple tomhs Of Benz Hasan,
located near the. banks of the Nile,
hewn in stone, wrestlers are depicted
in various positions, exemplifying all
the holds and falls that the modern
exponents of wrestling now use In
their bouts. In tombs Nos. 16 and II
the figures of the wrestlers represent
| nearly 45O positions. 1t would seem
from this that the Egyptians were
masters of the art of wrestling and
that the present day athlete scarcely
| deviates from the methods employed
by men in this sport when the earth
was young and Egypt was the head.
legs and torso Of civilization
It was from the Egyptians that the
| Greeks obtained their knowledge OF
wrestling. The figures in the Benz
Hasan tombs prove this. The Greeks
were the greatest fighters Of those
days, and it was but natural that they
adopted sports as a means to develop
their physical condition; hence 1t was
that at their games held at Olympia
and elsewhere at stated Intervals
wrestling was part OF the program
At these games the champions Of the
friendly nations met IN rivalry. There
was great glory attached to victory.
The successful competitor was treated
like a hero. His return to his native
land and his entry into his home city
were made an occasion for a trium
phant procession. He was the hero OF
the day, of the hour.
| u,Lz vr,n0-fhn1T
dates from 778 B. O.-were held every
four years at Olympia, in Ellis. They
were started as a religious festival 1r
honor of Jupiter. but the games, like
the play, soon became the thing, ane
the people lost sight of the solemnit!
and sanctity of the meetings and as
sembled there just to see the sport.
1t. was in the eighteenth Olympfad
. 1O7 B. e, that the first record Of wres
Ting was established. Eurabatos,
Spartan, was the victor. He carried
off the prize, a crown of wild OLIVE
made from tree which stood Wlthll
the inclosure at Olympia.
It will be seen from this that wres
Ting is one Of the oldest sports, pas
! times. means of attack or, defense, cal
!; It what yeu will, known in the histor.
of man. From the dawn Of literatur
there are records Of wrestling bouts
To Homer we owe that gl1tter1ng
glowing description Of the encounte
between Ajax and Ulysses He I'm
mortalized Ajax, who was the incar
t nation of strength, the physical powe
in man, and Ulysses, the crafty, th
: champion of every art and vile. He
mer before he was stricken blind Wi
messed many great wrestling bouts i
v the Greek cities. In his ''Iliad' b
y graphically describes the wrestlin
s bout between Ulysses and Ajax.
Nor is that ALL In the convulsion
+; of strife which followed among tn
b fighting warriors, down through man
o chaotic, changes out Of which empire
.r rose and fell along the path of TIM
in periods dull, creaking, rude an
gross down to the present decad
u wrestling was known, understood an
Il played its part. That Shakespeare
II his day realized its popularity an
made use of it is evident in that seer
between Orlando and the dukes wre
tier ,in "As You Like It." Althoue
the play was supposed to take place
20 France, the wrestling in this scene IS
reproduction Of that practiced in En-
land at that time.
Intthe long time that wrestling hi
held sway there have been MANY styl
Is -catch-as-catch-can Greco Roman, ct
is lar and elbow, recumbent and uprigf
Technology Of wrestling terms
n meager. The names in many !
stances were purely local-as, for !
n stance, Cumberland and WestmoI
~ land, which in this country is call
" lack wrestling. Collar and elbo
wrestling originated in the counties,
10 Cornwall and Devon, England al
lie still is practieed there
The catch-as-catch-can and Gree
Roman styles are now the only on
used in championship matches. y
former is all that its name 'imph'
A wrestler may catch his adverse
>. on any part of the body, neck. head
n. limbs. In the latter style the hold
al restricted to that part Of the DO
or above the waist line.