Greek-Roman and Freestyle
Olympic Wrestling for
Self-defense and Judo training

Its two styles of Olympic wrestling: Greek-Roman Wrestling and Freestyle Wrestling.

Freestyle Wrestling techniques are very important for any Judo practitioner since they addressing gape in the basic promise – having judogi (or its equivalent) to get hold, witch isn’t always true in self-defense scenarios.

Olympic Greek-Roman Wrestling is the only wrestling or combat style developed from deliberate design . From technical perspective it’s not adding much to Freestyle Wrestling (and therefore not extra value for Judo). However, been technically limited it develops elements of its available arsenal to the highest level.

It worth to mention that prior-WWII the same wrestlers were often participating in both, Greek-Roman and Freestyle Wrestling, to the highest level, including Olympic Games. Those are dominating where Scandinavians. With début in the Rome Olympic Games in 1952 of Russian (from Soviet Caucuses) and Turkish wrestlers the whole picture changed. They brought in effective lower body holds and entries and spectacular leg throws (“Georgian vineyard” throws, leg hooks and sweeps) with made Greek-Roman wrestling techniques use in Freestyle bouts outdated over-night.

Since then the technical development of Greek-Roman and Freestyle wrestling styles parted with later concentrated on lower body and leg holds (with, by some statistics, constitutes more than 60% of all techniques used in competitive fights).

Home Folk & Olympic Wrestling Judogi in self-defense training