Olympic and Non Olympic Wrestling Styles

FILA and affiliated National Federations in the development of non-Olympic wrestling styles. In compliance with FILA Constitution and Regulations, the elected authorities and the affiliated National Federations are obliged to promote and to govern all the wrestling sport disciplines existing throughout the world. In the last two years FILA has took steps to bring together, to develop and to integrate the various wrestling styles and it is important that the National Federations do the same and initiate the integration of these wrestling styles into their structures.

Grappling This wrestling style also called "submission wrestling" or "submission grappling" consists of controlling the opponent without using striking, in standing position or on the ground after a throw, and to make him or her abandon thanks to immobilisation techniques such as locks. Grappling matches last six minutes and are refereed by a referee, a judge and a mat chairman. Grapplers wear shorts and a tight shirt and are bare foot. The match is interrupted when a grappler who is in a submission situation taps the mat to let know that he or she has been defeated or when the referee considers that he or she will not able to make it without getting hurt and pronounces the word 'catch'. Grappling is enjoying a rapid expansion in USA, Canada, Brazil and is also rapidly increasing in other affiliated National Federations. It plays an important role in the practice of Mix Martial Arts (MMA), can be used as a self-defence technique and brings together techniques from Brazilian jiu-jitsu, freestyle wrestling, folk American wrestling (catch-as-catch-can), sambo and judo. Weight categories are split as follows: Men 62kg, 70kg, 80kg, 92kg and 125kg Women  48kg,  55kg, 63kg and 72kg

Beach Wrestling This wrestling style has been codified by FILA during the Athens Congress in 2004 in order to bring together all the different traditional wrestling styles practiced on sand and to make them more popular worldwide. Beach Wrestling is practised in a swimming suit within a sand circle of 6m. A match lasts three minutes and is refereed by a single referee. To win the match, the wrestler must keep his opponent's shoulders on the ground (victory by fall), bring him to the ground twice or push him out of the competition area twice. The competition area can be set up within a sport hall. The rules are very simple and there are only two weight categories for all age groups. Men -85kg and +85kg Women -70kg and +70kg

Sambo The word sambo is a Russian abbreviation that means "self-defence without weapons" (самозащита без оружия). This combat technique was developed by Vasilii Sergeevich Oshchepkov, one of the pioneers of the soviet judo in the '20s. Sambo has around five thousand defence holds from the various national wrestling styles - Georgian, Tadjik, Uzbek, Kazakh, Kirghiz, and Armenian - as well as from disciplines based in defence. It was officially recognized as a sport by the National Committee of Physical Culture and Sports on 6 November 1938. The first USSR championship took place in 1939. Sambo acquired an international dimension in 1966 when FILA recognized it as a wrestling style on its own and managed the organisation of international competitions. The first sambo championship took place in Riga in 1972, followed by the World Championships in Teheran (1973), in Oulan-Baator (1974), in Minsk (1975), etc. Following certain dissensions, sambo was constituted in International Federation in 1985, but in 2006, FILA decided to take over the direction of the sporting part of this discipline. A world committee was thus created to develop, manage and organize international competitions. The main goal is to make sambo part of the Olympic program and, in the meantime, sambo participates along with the other non-Olympic styles in the European and World Wrestling Games which are organized every year by FILA. Sambo matches last six minutes and are carried out on wrestling mats under the control of a referee, a judge and a mat chairman. Samboists are dressed of a tight red or blue jacket called "Kurka", a tight short called "Trusi", and light leather shoes. Weight categories are split as follows: Men 55kg, 60kg, 66kg, 74kg, 84kg, 96kg and 120kg Women 48kg, 51kg, 55kg, 59kg, 63kg, 67kg and 72kg

Traditional Wrestling More than 200 Traditional or folk wrestling styles are listed worldwide. They are the expression of ancestral ethnical cultures. They can be practised on horseback, grabbing clothes or belts, with oil-covered bodies, etc. FILA has long neglected these styles, but it has decided to give them their value back by integrating them into the programme of the World Wrestling Games and by organising every year an African Wrestling Championship. Some collaboration agreements have also been signed with the International Celtic Wrestling Federation (FILC) to ensure the development and promotion of celtic wrestling.

Pangration Athlima Pangration, a combination of the Greek words Pan and Katos meaning "the one who controls everything", was already known by the Argonauts Hercules and Kastor 2500 years B.C. It was introduced as men's agonistic in the 33rd Olympic Games in 648 B.C. The 5th century B.C. also imported Pangration Paidon (children) into other holy agonistics such as the Pythian or Nemeian Games, up to its official introduction in the 145th OIympic Games in 200 B.C. Archeological evidence shows that Pangration Paidon remained on the Olympic programme until the 6th century A.D. Philostratos described pangration to the ancient world as "...the best of the Olympics".   Today the pangration championships include five disciplines: Pangration Athlima, Pangration Paidon (children), Palaismata (presentation of prearranged wrestling techniques), Polydamas (prearranged wrestling techniques staging one defending pangratiast against three armed opponents) and Pyx-Lax (kick boxing). Matches (agones) take place in one period of 3 minutes for adults and one period of 2 minutes for children. In standing position (orthostadin), all controlled kicking and punching techniques (feet, fists, head, knees, and elbows) as well as standing wrestling techniques (orthopali) are allowed. On the ground (kato pangration), pangratiasts may also use submission techniques. Athletes wear the traditional uniform called endyma, composed of two parts: the upper part called cheitonion which is white and represents the clouds surrounding the planet earth and the bottom part named periskelis which is blue and represents the sea surrounding the continents. The technical and refereeing (hellanodikes) terms are written in ancient Greek.   Men 66kg, 71kg, 77kg, 83kg, 90kg, 100kg, +100kg Women 61kg, 65kg, 71kg, 78kg, 87kg, 97kg, +97kg