touch-fall wrestling
Quick Summary
Touch-fall wrestling is a style of wrestling where the objective is to force an opponent to touch the ground with their back for a brief moment. This sport, with roots in antiquity, is practiced by two competitors and involves various styles, including belt-and-jacket, catch-hold, and loose styles. Modern international competition primarily uses loose styles, where wrestlers are free to choose grips, excluding dangerous ones.1
In touch-fall wrestling, victory is achieved by forcing the opponent into a specific position, usually supine, for an instant. If no fall occurs within the allotted time, points awarded for control and maneuvers determine the winner. This sport emphasizes leverage, quickness, and physical conditioning over brute strength. Catch-as-catch-can wrestling, which allows almost all holds, is a foundational style that, with modifications, evolved into modern freestyle wrestling.12
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