NO HOLDS BARRED

Some friends today pointed me to the site of a relatively new group called Scientific Wrestling.

Basically this organization wants to reestablish a legitimate form of catch-as-catch-can wrestling, like existed in the early 1900's in the days of Frank Gotch. Under their rules, you can win by pin or submission, meaning, of course, no jumping to the guard as in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and most other forms of submission wrestling.

They are having a seminar in Santa Monica, CA, Feb. 25 and 26. Featured will be veteran submission wrestler Yoshiaki Fujiwara, a protege of Karl Gotch, and former UFC champ and current King of Pancrase Josh Barnett. While Fujiwara is also known for staged wrestling, he is well-known in real wrestling circles as being a master of submissions.

This group also counts among its circle Wade Schalles, a legendary former NCAA champion wrestler and national sombo champion, as well as Mark Schultz, Olympic gold medalist wrestler, UFC fighter, and more recently submission grappling instructor.

I do not know a lot about this group, but the attempt to restore this kind of wrestling has always been of great interest to me. Let's see where this one goes.