The Ancient Art of Wrestling

Wrestling, that sport still widely prevalent in high schools nationwide, and of course made famous by professional wrestlers on television, has actually been around for many, many years. As a matter of fact, wrestling likely got its start in ancient Greece. Wrestling is perhaps one of the oldest sports still in existence, and even still practiced in the very same fashion as it was when it first began.

It is believed that wrestling began as an ancient form of military training. As it happens, wrestling develops great skill in graceful movement, in addition to strength. Therefore, those soldiers trained in wrestling were extremely physically fit for taking down an opponent, both in the ring and on the battlefield.

Now, it was not only the soldiers already in training practicing wrestling. Rather, potential soldiers - young boys in school - were also trained in wrestling. Think of it as the P.E. class of the ancient world. Wrestling was used not only to prepare adolescents for potential military use, but also as a way to develop the fitness level that the Greeks believed was important to a well-rounded body and mind.

Wrestling quickly became rather competitive. Since the Olympic Games were already a big Greek event, they added wrestling matches to the games. As highly skilled masters of wrestling, ancient Greeks were by far the champions in wrestling competitions. Of course, that could not last forever, as the Greeks soon found out.

Not to be outdone, other countries began teaching and training in wrestling. Obviously, skilled athletes are not indigenous to only one region; therefore, in no time at all, people other than the Greeks were becoming champions in wrestling arenas. When that carried over to the Olympics, it became clear that wrestling had developed a world wide appeal.

Nowadays, wrestling is still very popular. Professional wrestling has become a mainstream form of entertainment drawing spectators from all walks of life. Also, many high schools and colleges have competitive wrestling teams. Over a thousand years after wrestling debuted, it remains a sport that is not only highly practiced, but that is still well known and recognized for developing discipline, skill, and physical fitness.
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The Ancient Art of Wrestling

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