Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1913-02-14
WRESTLING BOUTS
One of the Oldest Forms of Sport
Known to Man.

old as the hills. In the days when
men lived in caves. clothed themselves
with f1g 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 cnange in
the mode of life during the long circle
Of years to the present day has not
injured the art, that 1t exists practical
ly a. 1t 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 eftace 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
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.
1t 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
tke q hero. His return TO his native
land and his entry into his home city
were made an occasion for trium-
plant procession. He was the hero of
the day. Of the hour
The Olympic games-their revival
dates from 7T6 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.
II was in the eighteenth Olympiad,
10I B. c.. that the first record Of wres-
4 N
Spartan. was the victor. He carried
off the prize. n crown of wild olive
made from a tree which stood within
the Enclosure at Olympia.
II will be seen from this that wres-
ting is one of the Oldest sports. pas
Ilpes. 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 be 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 THAI all. In the commissions
of strife which followed among the
fighting warriors, down through many
chaotic changes out of which empires
rose and fell along the path of time,
in periods dull, creaking, rude and
gross down to the present decade.
wrestling was known. understood and
| played its part. That Shakespeare in
his day realized its popularity and
made use Of it is evident in that scene
between Orlando and the dukes wres-
tier in las You Like It." Although
| the play was supposed to take place in
France. the wrestling in this scene is q
reproduction of that practiced in Eng
| land at that time.
In the long time that wrestling has
held sway there have been many styles
-catch-Rs-catch-can.G reco-Roman, col
lar and elbow. recumbent and upright.
Technology of wrestling terms is
meager. The names in many in
stances were purely local-as. for in
stance, Cumberland and Westmore-
land, which in this country is called
baek wrestling. Collar and elbow
wrestling originated in the counties OF
Cornwall and Devon England, and
still is practiced there
The catch-as-catch N and Greco
Roman styles are now the only ones
used In championship matches. The
former is all that its name implies
A wrestler may catch his adversary
on any part of the body, neck. head OF
limbs. In the latter style the hold is
restricted to that part Of the body
above the waist line.