Wrestling has a prominent place in the Olympic Games and considered as one of the oldest forms of combat. It is believed that pictures of combating sports like wrestling were depicted in 15,000-year-old cave drawings found in France. Early Egyptians and Babylonians were also believed to be using the same techniques for the purpose of exhibiting their superiority over others. Wrestling was also very popular in Greece. It was developed by ancient Greeks as a way to train soldiers in hand-to-hand combat and military exercises. As per records found in the history of wrestling, it was year 1888 when the first national wrestling tournament was hosted at New York City. During the first Olympic Games, only one event in free style wrestling was introduced. It was until Saint Louis Olympic Games in 1904, where the free style wrestling competition was hosted in five categories. In 1908 Olympic Games, Greco Roman wrestling was also introduced in five weight categories but the number was increased up to eleven categories in later years. The International Federation of Associated Wrestling Styles (FILA) was founded in the year 1912 at Antwerp, Belgium. Norway hosted the first world women’s wrestling championship in the year1987 and women wrestling was included in the Olympic Games 2004.
Wrestling in India
Wrestling has been popular in India since ancient times; it was mainly an exercise to stay physically fit. The wrestlers, traditionally, use to wear a linen cloth called Langota. The real name which was used for the technique similar to wrestling in India was Malla Yuddh. One of the premier characters of the epic Mahabharata was Bhima, he was considered to be a great wrestler of that time. Jarasangha, Duryodhana, Karna and Balarama were included as other great wrestlers during Mahabharata. In an other Indian epic Ramayana, Hanuman is described as one of the greatest wrestlers of all time.
Governing Body
The governing body of the wrestling game at international level is known as United World Wrestling (UWW). Earlier, wrestling game was governed by International Amateur Wrestling Federation, meant basically for the amateur wrestlers. Wrestling game in India is governed by a controlling body named Wrestling Federation of India (WFI), which was registered on 27th January, 1967 under the Society Act 1960 of the Government of India. The Wrestling Federation of India is the national governing body for the regulation of wrestling in India.
