Legacy of Warriors

Article written and provided by Jon Ray

The Celts were some of the most famous warriors in history. Their styles are Scottish Backhold, Gouren, Irish Collar and Elbow and Cornish Wrestling. If I were to attempt to write a complete history on all of these great and ancient grappling styles it would take months and many pages.

Unlike most other grappling arts all four of the Celtic styles started off by taking hold of your opponent or as in Backhold grabbing your own fist. Another similiarity is that you compete barefooted as in Judo.

In Gouren they wore a heavy shirt like jacket with ties on each side called a roched along with black trousers. In Cornish Wrestling they wore a jacket that was open in the front, in Backhold there was no certain dress and Collar and Elbow they usually wore a heavy work shirt.

The rules are very close in Cornish Wrestling and Gouren. You start with a grip on your opponent's jacket with both hands and you try to trip or thrown them so that they land flat on their back. In Gouren the matches are 7 minutes max and you also have a near victory where one shoulder touches. In Cornish Wrestling there were three referees and two of the three had to raise their hands for one grappler to be victorious.

Scottish Backhold Wrestling might be the easiest to teach. They start by placing their left arm over their opponent's right arm and placing their chin on their opponent's right shoulder in a neutral position and when the referee sees that both competitors were ready and neutral he shouts hold and the match begins. The bouts were usually the best three out of five and a competitor would achieve victory by throwing or tripping their opponent where any part of his body besides his feet were touching the ground or by getting them to break their "backhold."

Irish Collar and Elbow was much like Cornish Wrestling starting with the Collar and Elbow tie-up originally but as the Irish started coming to the America ground aspects were added.

I hope you enjoyed my very brief history on Celtic Wrestling. I'm a member of the only club in the U.S. as far as we know of that practices Celtic Wrestling. Here are some interesting links:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TE7pr1jTINU&feature=related

and also

http://web.me.com/scottyweeks/Celtic_Wrestling/Welcome.html

Return from Celtic Wrestling page to Grappling Styles page.

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