Lancashire wrestling is an historic wrestling style from Lancashire in England. Many consider it to be partially the origin of catch wrestling, professional and amateur wrestling.
The style included groundwork and had the reputation of being an extremely fierce and violent sport. Sources show that there were some rules trying to safeguard the wrestlers from serious injury. For instance, there was a ban on breaking an opponent's bones.
In the counties to the north, Cumberland and Westmorland wrestling developed with rules designed to minimise injury to the participants.
Famous quotes containing the word wrestling:
“There are people who think that wrestling is an ignoble sport. Wrestling is not sport, it is a spectacle, and it is no more ignoble to attend a wrestled performance of suffering than a performance of the sorrows of Arnolphe or Andromaque.”
—Roland Barthes (1915–1980)