NO HOLDS BARRED

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman once again spoke with Steve Greenfield, who runs the Llanelli Catch Wrestling and Traditional Japanese Martial Arts Club.

Located in Llanelli, Wales, in the U.K., it is the only club in Wales, and only one of two in the U.K., which are affiliate clubs of the home of catch-as-catch-can wrestling, the Snake Pit Wigan.

Steve Greenfield not only trains people in catch wrestling, but also competes himself. A veteran of the Snake Pit Wigan's international tournaments, he will be wrestling at the Catch Wrestling Alliance International Invitational: The Rebirth.

This event will be held Saturday, June 7, in Collins Court in the John Wooden Center on the campus of UCLA, at 221 Westwood Plaza, Los Angeles, California 90095-1612.

His opponent will be Ned Morales of Catch Wrestling Los Angeles.

We spoke with Steve Greenfield by Skype Sunday.

He explained that besides training and coaching, he is working on three books about the history of catch wrestling, focusing on the legendary Riley's Gym in Wigan, catch wrestling in Lancashire, and the many varied styles of wrestling.

A hot topic in contemporary catch wrestling is the issue of the absence of any central governing body. While the ranks of this reviving sport are presently relatively small, he agreed that a goal must be the eventual formation of precisely just such a body. This is especially true given the facts that, last century, the entire sport of professional catch-as-catch-can wrestling devolved into a staged spectacle, and that corruption is still evident today in international wrestling.

"All the problems you've sort of focused at have obviously shown their face in the history of professional wrestling," he said.

"The last thing we want to do is to see all this happening once more. So I agree, I think you have to have a central organization that everyone's sort of tied into and part of, but again is accountable to."

The current state of catch wrestling, with numerous small "disparate groups," even though they communicate with each other, will not advance the sport very much, he argued. Thus, a central governing body must eventually be formed.

"Unless that happens ... whilst we're all doing our own little thing here and there, it's going to remain what it is, a niche sort of market basically," he said.

We also discussed another controversy in catch wrestling: the use of strangulations or chokes. In the the old Riley's Gym and in current Snake Pit Wigan events, they are prohibited. Historically, they were also usually banned in catch wrestling in earlier times. We thus talked about the reasons for this, which included both the fact that strangulations and chokes "kill" or "change" the wrestling, and that there is some evidence that they can be dangerous.

In addition, we discussed what should be done today to create a foundation for the eventual establishment of a governing body for catch wrestling, how steps can be taken to fight corruption in wrestling, and much more.

You can play or download No Holds Barred here and here. If one link doesn't work, please try another.

No Holds Barred is also available on mobile phones and iPads through Stitcher.

Also, No Holds Barred is available through iTunes.

The No Holds Barred theme song is called "The Heist", which is also available on iTunes by composer Ian Snow.

No Holds Barred is free to listen to and is sponsored by:

MMA World Expo. The mixed martial arts community comes to New York City July 26 and 27, 2014, for the fifth annual MMA World Expo, featuring the Fighters Source U.S. Nationals amateur MMA tournament, two days of ADCC no-gi and gi grappling tournaments, MMA fighters, seminars with world-class trainers, vendors, panel discussions, catch wrestling competition, and much more. The MMA World Expo takes place Saturday, July 26, and Sunday, July 27, 2014, at the Jacob Javits Center in New York City.

Catch Wrestling Alliance International Invitational: The Rebirth. This invitational event will be held under catch wrestling rules, where you can only win by pin or submission. It will take place Saturday, June 7, in Collins Court in the John Wooden Center on the campus of UCLA in Los Angeles, California. For more information, go to catchwrestlingalliance.com.

American Top Team. Whether you're a beginner or a champion, train with the champions in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, boxing, wrestling, grappling, and mixed martial arts at American Top Team. Check out their web site at http://americantopteam.com/.

Takedown Wrestling Media, America's wrestling TV and radio shows, which are hosted by founder Scott Casber, and have been airing on radio and Internet for over 17 years. Takedown Media produces a weekly TV program seen in 54 million homes in the U.S. on DirecTV, Dish Network, and cable affiliates around the country, called Takedown TV. Takedown Media also produces the weekly USA Wrestling TV show for the governing body of the sport, USA Wrestling. For more information, go to http://takedownradio.com.

Labels: alliance, catch wrestling, corruption, Eddie Goldman, governing body, Llanelli, No Holds Barred, Snake Pit Wigan, Steven Greenfield, Traditional Japanese Martial Arts Club