What The Hell Is Catch Wrestling?

Megumi Fujii and Josh Barnett.  Photo courtesy of Sherdog

Catch wrestling is a form of submission wrestling that originated in Europe.  Think of it as traditional Olympic wrestling, but with holds and submissions thrown in.  It was called 'Catch as catch can', meaning, catch whatever hold you can get.  It resembles Brazilian Jiu-jitsu, but is more opportunistic than bjj, as the name suggests.  The fantastic K. J. Gould from over at Cageside Seats (who helped me more than I can say with this!!) put it this way: "BJJ is a trapper, setting up a trap to catch prey, using bait and waiting for a mistake to be made to trigger the trap. Catch is a hunter, tracking and stalking its prey and forcing it to make a mistake before making the kill. Catch prefers to be on top (you won't see a Catch wrestler pull guard), using weight distribution and leverage as well as pain points to make life miserable for the guy on bottom and also forcing them to make a move so the Catch guy on top can capitalise on an opening. " 

Some notable MMA practitioners of catch wrestling include Kazushi Sakuraba, Frank Shamrock, Strikeforce's Josh Barnett, and Bellator's Megumi Fujii.