Folk Wrestling

A folk wrestling style is any traditional style of wrestling, which may or may not be codified as a modern sport. Most cultures have developed regional forms of grappling.

Europe

Britain

Traditionally wrestling has two main centres in Great Britain: the West Country, where the Devon and Cornwall styles were developed, and in the Northern counties; the home of the Cumberland and Westmorland styles and Catch wrestling.

North Country styles

* Lancashire wrestling is a historic wrestling style from Lancashire in England known for its "Catch-as-catch-can", or ''no wrestling holds barred'', style.
** Catch wrestling, or Catch-as-catch-can, originated from Lancashire wrestling but was further developed during the travelling circus phenomenon of the 19th and early 20th century.
* Backhold Wrestling, whose origin is unknown, was practised in North England and Scotland in the 7th and 8th century but competitions are held in present-day at the Highland and Border Games as well as in France and Italy. Styles of Backhold are distinct from Lancashire Wrestling because they enforce rules designed to minimize injury to the participants by disallowing ground fighting.
** Cumberland and Westmorland wrestling, or Cumbrian Wrestling, is practised in the northern counties of England. It is a form of Backhold Wrestling where the wrestlers put the left arm over the opponents right arm and grip behind the opponent's back. Throws and trips are important since the first wrestler to touch the ground or break hold loses. Competitors often wear stockings (long johns), singlet and trunks.
** Scottish Backhold is a form of Backhold practised in Scotland. Almost identical in style to Cumberland & Westmorland style apart from variations in rules. Competitors often wear kilts.

West Country styles

* Cornish wrestling, originating from Cornwall, is a form of jacket wrestling. It does not use groundwork. It is related to Breton Gouren wrestling. From the late Middle Ages it became very popular throughout Britain''Cornish wrestling in Devon'', Cornish Guardian, 25 June 1926, p6.''Last Christmas Day wedding in Taunton'', Taunton Courier, and Western Advertiser, 28 December 1963, p1.''Chalk Farm Tavern and Tea Gardens'', Morning Advertiser. 1 April 1844, p1.''Devon and Cornwall wrestling match'', Cornubian and Redruth Times, 12 June 1868, p3. Sir Thomas Parkyns: ''The Inn-play or Cornish Hugg Wrestler'', J Bailey (London) 1713 and then spread through the world in the 18th and 19th centuries, and with regular tournaments and matches in the US,''Rowett still champion'', Diamond Drill, 25 December 1909, p4.''Jack Rowett is still champion'', Camulet News, 10 January 1911, p7.''Can He Come Back'', Iron Country news, 02 May 1914, p1.''Great activity in wrestling, Cornish sport is growing in popularity in upper peninsula of Michigan'', The Minneapolis Journal, 19 July 1902, p9. Australia,''Wrestling'', Bendigo Advertiser (Vic), 9 January 1906, p3. South Africa''Cornish Association of South Africa'', Cornish Guardian, 8 May 1914, p5. and New Zealand''Wrestling for the championship of Westland'', WEST COAST TIMES, ISSUE 712, 4 JANUARY 1868, p2. and with less frequent tournaments in Canada,''Cornish Wrestling to be introduced to Canada'', Cornish Guardian, 20 December 1928, p5. Mexico''Our Mexican letter'', Western Daily Mercury, 21 October 1895, p8. and Japan.''Wrestling'', The Japan Weekly Mail, 30 March 1872, p162.
* Devon wrestling, or Devonshire wrestling, was a style similar to the Cornish style in that jackets were worn. Devonshire wrestlers, however, also wore heavy clogs and were able to kick the opponents. In matches between Cornish and Devon, Devonshire wrestlers might have worn one shoe only. Unlike Cornish wrestling, the style is generally considered to be extinct.

Other styles

* Norfolk wrestling, originating from Norfolk, is another form of jacket wrestling with no groundwork.Layton, Charles: ''The Whole Art of Norfolk Wrestling'', T Webster Jun 1830

Ireland

* Barróg was a form of backhold wrestling practiced primarily in the west and north of Ireland. The earliest visual depictions date from the 9th century AD, and matches in the style are recorded to have taken place up until the early decades of the 20th century.
* Collar-and-elbow is a jacket wrestling style native to Ireland that can be traced back to the 17th century. It was introduced to the United States by Irish immigrants, and was one of the most popular wrestling styles practiced nationwide there for much of the 19th century.

Nordic countries

* Glíma, the national sport of Iceland, originating from Norway, and traces its history to the Vikings and the Norse. It is a standing style with rules similar to Shuai jiao and Bukh, and consists of three forms: 1) ''Hryggtök'', the ''Backhold Grip''; 2) ''Brokartök'' or the ''Pant-and-belt Grip'' that utilizes a leather harness around the waist and thighs, which the wrestlers hold (making it a form of belt-wrestling similar to Swiss Schwingen), and 3) ''Lausatök'' or ''Free-Grip'' is the most aggressive form of glima and contestants can use the holds they wish. It is practiced both outdoors and indoors.
* Kragkast, type of folk wrestling originating from Sweden, similar to Freestyle wrestling

Continental Europe

;Western Europe
* Gouren - traditional Breton jacket wrestling. Similar to ''Cornish wrestling.''
* Ranggeln - meaning "to wrangle" in German, Ranggeln is a prominent form of wrestling in Austria. The winner is the man who pins his opponents to the ground
* Schwingen - Swiss style of wrestling considered to be one of the oldest forms of wrestling. Wrestlers wear special canvas trousers.
* Calegon - another form of Swiss folk wrestling, whose techniques were further developed among others into freestyle wrestling
;Southern Europe
* Lucha leonesa, native to the Spanish region of León, touching ground (non-foot) loses.
* Galhofa, native to Portugal, being pinned with back to the ground loses.
* Lotta Campidanesa from Italy - Sardinian collar, jacket and belt wrestling practiced by countrymen and shepherds in southern Sardinia
* Sa Strumpa: Sardinian wrestling, in Italy also known as ''S'Istrumpa'' or simply ''Istrumpa''
;Eastern Europe
* Trântă: Upright wrestling from Romania and Moldova; it can also be practiced from the knees. The victor receives a loaf of bread, a treasured commodity in Moldova.
* Narodno rvanje, is a wrestling style from Serbia, In Narodno Rvanje there are three disciplines, depending on the hold, they can be chest hold, belt hold or back hold.
* Pelivan is a wrestling style practiced in Albania, Serbia and Bulgaria
;Northern Europe
* Pakištynės more practiced in North and West Lithuania.
* Ristynės more practiced in East and South Lithuania.

Asia

Central Asia

Mongolian wrestling

* Bökh - (Khalkha bökh, Khalkha wrestling) traditional Khalkha Mongolian jacket wrestling where touching the ground with anything other than a foot loses the match. Bökh means "wrestling" or "wrestler" in Mongolian.
* Buryat wrestling (Buriad bökh)
* Bukh noololdoon - Oirat wrestling or Western Mongolian wrestling
* Southern Mongolian wrestling - ( Üzemchin wrestling) jacket wrestling that wear jacket made of cow leather, long pants with chaps over and boots. Rules and techniques are more similar to ''Shuai Jiao'' than to ''Bokh'' practised in Mongolia, where wrestlers wear only short, tight, collarless, heavy-duty short-sleeved jacket and small, tight-fitting briefs made of red or blue colored cotton cloth.

Turkic wrestling

* Alysh, a Kyrgyz belt wrestling
* Köräş, a Tatar wrestling style
* Kurash, an Uzbek wrestling style
* Göreş, a Turkmen wrestling style
* Khuresh - traditional Tuvan jacket wrestling, in southern Siberia. Strongly influenced by Mongolian wrestling. Khalkha Mongolian and Tuvan wrestlers wear almost same jacket.
* Küres - traditional Kazakh jacket wrestling. Leg grabs are not allowed, but a wrestler may trip the legs.
* Gushtingiri - traditional Tajik jacket wrestling.

East Asia

China

* Shuai Jiao 摔跤: Chinese jacket wrestling originating from Beijing, Tianjin and Baoding in Northern Hebei which means "Throw and Trip (at the ankle)". Also known as ''Guan Jiao 摜跤'' and ''Liao Jiao 撩跤'', meaning "Continuing Trip (at the ankle)" and "Hold-up and Trip (at the ankle)". In Qing dynasty time it was also known as "''Buku (布庫)''", Manchu word for wrestling which has the root as Mongol word Boke. This style of wrestling was the style of martial arts practiced by imperial guards in the Liao, Jin, Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties. The present techniques were codified by the Kangxi Emperor in the 1670s. Traditionally wrestlers wear jacket called "''Da Lian'' (搭褳)" and chaps over their pants, which allow grabbing the chaps for lifting. In addition, Qin Na techniques such as arm bars were allowed in Beijing, and striking and blocking using upper arms were allowed in Tianjin. Rules have since incorporated Shanxi ''Die Jiao'' and modern ''Olympic Wrestlings''.
* Die Jiao 跌跤: Chinese wrestling from Xinzhou (忻州), Northern Shanxi (山西) Province. Competitors wear only pants, without jacket, belt, or boots. Its primary techniques are the "48 Leg Takedowns", first codified in the Song dynasty circa 1180. This form of wrestling was popular throughout Northern China until the spread of Shuai Jiao, which is considered more advanced in its grappling and tripping techniques. It was colloquially known as "Mo Ni Qiu (摸泥鳅)", literally ''grabbing the mud Qiu'', Qiu being a kind of catfish in Northern China.
* Qielixi 切里西: Chinese belt wrestling practiced by Uyghur Nationality.
* Gi Ge 几格: Chinese belt wrestling practiced by Yi Nationality (彝族) in Sichuan (四川) and Yunnan (雲南). "Gi Ge" literally means "Holding Waist". The three main rules are: no tripping using the legs; no grabbing the jacket or pants; no pushing or striking. Rules have now been changed to allow holding the legs.
* Ndrual Dluad: Chinese wrestling practiced by Miao/ Hmong Nationality throughout Southwestern China. A belt wrestling style, competitors can wear traditional dress or modern dress but they must hold on to the belt at all times.
* Beiga 北嘎: Chinese belt wrestling practiced by the Tibetan people. Also known as "Jiazhe (加哲)" and "Youri (有日)" in Tibet, "Xiezhe (寫澤)" in Western Sichuan, and "Jiareze (卡惹則)" in Qinghai. It is a form of belt wrestling. Wrestlers compete barefoot and must hold the belt at all times. No tripping is allowed. Leg trips were introduced circa the 13th century, making 2 distinct forms.

Other countries

* Sumo: Japanese wrestling based on forcing the opponent out of the ring or to touch the ground with anything other than the soles of the feet. Sumo is notable for allowing slaps and strikes with the open palm. The rules were codified during the Tokugawa Shogunate and were based on Xiang-Pu 相撲, the Chinese wrestling style during the Tang dynasty.
* Jujutsu: Ancient style of Japanese wrestling that focuses on throws, pins, chokes and joint locks. Further refined by samurai during the violent Sengoku Period.
* Ssireum: Korean belt wrestling contested in a sand pit
* Tegumi is the folk wrestling practiced in Okinawa.
* Mariwariwosu, the indigenous style of the Formosan Aboriginal people of Taiwan such as the Paiwan and Bunun tribes. Performed on a circular sandpit with competitors grabbing hold of their opponents large waist belts before the start of the match it involves many skillful throws and is an important part of the National Aboriginal Games.

Western Asia

* Gulesh - a traditional Azerbaijani wrestling style
* Iranian Wrestling or Koshti. Includes the Iran-wide Pahlavani, and numerous other provincial styles.
* Karakucak Güreşi. Traditional Turkish wrestling style. Rules are similar to Olympic freestyle wrestling.
* Yağlı Güreşi. "Oil Wrestling". Wrestlers wear special leather trousers 'kispet' and are oiled.
* Khridoli and Chidaoba - traditional