Wrestling

Wrestling is often categorized as one of the martial arts. It is one of the oldest types of sport; there are wall-paintings more than 15000 years old depicting people wrestling.

Wrestling is part of the Olympic programme since 1896.

There are two internationally recognized wrestling styles performed in the Olympic Games under the supervision of FILA (Federation Internationale de Lutte Amateur or International Amateur Wrestling Federation): Freestyle and Greco-Roman.Freestyle and Greco-Roman differ in what holds are permitted; in Greco-Roman style, the wrestlers are permitted to hold only above the waist. In both Greco-Roman and Freestyle, points can be scored the following ways:

Takedowns: Gaining control over your opponent from a neutral position.

Reversals: Gaining control over your opponent from a defensive position.

Escapes: Escaping your opponents' control.

Exposure: Exposing your opponent's back to the mat.

Lifting: Successfully Lifting an opponent in the defensive position and exposing his back

A match can be won in the following ways:

Win by Fall: A fall, also known as a pin, occurs when one wrestler holds both his opponents' shoulders on the mat simultaneously.

Win by Technical Fall: If one wrestler gains a ten-point lead over his opponent at any point, the match is declared over and he is the winner. (In Folkstlye and Collegiate wrestling, technical falls occur when one wrestler gains a fifteen point lead.)

Win by Decision: If neither wrestler achieves a Fall or Technical Fall, the wrestler who has gained more points during the match is declared the winner. If the wrestlers have gained the same number of points, a panel of judges decides the winner based on aggressiveness and effectiveness.

Win By Major Decision: This is when the scores are within four points of each other

Win by TKO: TKO stands for Techinical Knock Out, if one wrestler is knocked out and unable to wrestle, the other wrestler is declared the winner.