Idaho County free press. [volume] (Grangeville, Idaho Territory) 1886-current, 1911-05-18
WRESTLING BOUTS
One of the Oldest Forms of Sport
Known to Man.
THE ART IN ANCIENT EGYPT.

Different Holds-Many Of the Old
Grips Are 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 1t vas 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 tombs 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
opponents of wrestling now use in
their bouts. In tombs Nos. 16 and II
the figures Of the wrestlers represent
nearly $50 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.
II 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 ut 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
vas great glory attached to a victory.
The successful competitor was treated
IKE a hero. His return to his native
land and his entry into his home city
we're made an occasion for a trium-
,phant procession. He was the hero of.
the day. Of the hour.
The Olympic games-their revival
dates from 776 B. C.-were held every.
four years at Olympia. in Ellis. They
were started as a religious festival In
honor Of Jupiter. but the games. like
the play, soon became the thing, and
the people lost sight Of the solemnity
and sanctity Of the meetings and as
sembled there just to see the sport.
1t was in the eighteenth Qlympiad,
.1O7 B. c., that the first record of wres
Ting was established. Eurabatos. a
Spartan, was the victor. He carried
on the prize, a crown of wild olive
made from a tree which stood within
the Enclosure at Olympia.
1t will be seer from this that wres-
thing is one of the oldest sports. pas
times. means of attack or defense, call
It what you will. known In the history
Of man. From the dawn of literature
there are records of wrestling bouts.
To Homer we owe that glittering,
glowing description Of the encounter
between Ajax and Ulysses. He i'm
mortalized Ajax, who was the incar-
nation of strength. the physical power
in man, and Ulysses, the crafty, the
champion of every art and vile. Ho-
mer before he was stricken blind wit
messed many great wrestling bouts IN
the Greek cities. In his "Iliad' he
graphically describes the wrestling
bout between Ulysses and Ajax.
Nor Is that all. In the commissions
Of strife which followed among the
lighting warriors. down through many
chaotic changes out Of which empires
rose and fell along the patti of time
In periods dull. %creaking, rude ant
gross down to the present decade
wrestling was known, understood anC
played its part. That Shakespeare II
his day realized its popularity ant
made use of 1t is evident in that scene
between Orlando and the dukes wres
tier In AS You Like It." Although
the play was supposed to take place II
France, the wrestling In this scene Is I
reproduction Of that practiced In Eng
land at that time.
In the long time that wrestling ha'
held sway there have been many styles
-catch-as-catch-can. Greco-Roman, col
lar and elbow. recumbent and upright
Technology Of wrestling terms
meager. The names in many IN
stances were purely local-as, for In
stance. Cumberland and Westmore
land. which in this country is callet
back wrestling. Collar and-e elbow
wrestling originated in the counties o
Cornwall and Devon, England. ant
stfil is practiced there.
The catch-as-catch-canA and Greco
Roman styles are now the only one
used in championship matches. Tn
former is all that its name implies
A wrestler may catch his adversar.
on any part Of the body. neck. head o
limbs. In the latter style the hold i
---AAo<I 90 Nhot nopf ~ thu ha1