Why doesnt Wrestling have a belt system?

MMA_GURU · 07-02-2009, 12:09 PM

Just about every "martial art" has a belt system with ranks and such. Why doesnt wresting have one? BJJ has tournaments and a belt system, but wrestling only has the NCAA and Olympic tournaments. Discuss.

benjamin1cs · 07-02-2009, 12:12 PM

Wrestling evolved from folkstyle wrestling from Europe, and later the USA, and there's no tradition of belt ranks.

Most other martial arts, including judo, BJJ and sambo, evolved from kung fu, karate and jiu-jitsu, which do have a tradition of belts.

Biltong · 07-02-2009, 12:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MMA_GURU

Just about every "martial art" has a belt system with ranks and such. Why doesnt wresting have one? BJJ has tournaments and a belt system, but wrestling only has the NCAA and Olympic tournaments. Discuss.

They should have a singlet system. If you can rub your sweaty body against mine and pin me for fun, you deserve a nice pink singlet.

Joke aside, wrestling is a combat sport, not a martial art, it's not based on senseis and hierarchy, so no belt.

juke_box_hero · 07-02-2009, 12:14 PM

Most generally start out wrestling in high school or middle school. The level ranking system is Varsity or JV. Since it is competitive you will know where you stand vs your peers come tournament time.

juke_box_hero · 07-02-2009, 12:16 PM

Like he said, its a combat sport. Sport. It would be like saying football players should have belts.

Balto · 07-02-2009, 12:21 PM

You realize that the idea of a ranking system (specifically belts) is a modern Japanese invention?

Almost every art that uses a ranking system traces its roots to Japan somewhere along the line. Wrestling is not from Japan; therefore there are no belts or ranking.

dza76wutang · 07-02-2009, 12:25 PM

Wrestling uniforms (singlets) don't use belts? There's no gi jacket to keep shut.

Balto · 07-02-2009, 12:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by benjamin1cs

Wrestling evolved from folkstyle wrestling from Europe, and later the USA, and there's no tradition of belt ranks.

Most other martial arts, including judo, BJJ and sambo, evolved from kung fu, karate and jiu-jitsu, which do have a tradition of belts.

Kung fu, karate, and jiu-jitsu don't really have a tradition of belt ranks. The belt ranks are fairly recent additions.

Belt ranks are only a core part of Judo and BJJ because the arts were created in recent history. Sambo does not generally use ranking belts; the belt is usually just a part of the uniform and has no special meaning.

caelitus · 07-02-2009, 12:26 PM

typically eastern martial arts use the belt system

western arts (roman greco wrestling, boxing) do not

I think wrestling gyms could benefit from a ranking system; perhaps an arm band? Also, why are there so few wrestling gyms in comparison to the other grappling styles? why is wrestling mostly limited to high schools?

I think there is an opportunity there given the popularity of grappling arts today.

leftlegkicker · 07-02-2009, 12:42 PM

The first use of colored belts to denote rank was by Jigoro Kano when he was developing judo. Back then, I believe there was only two belts -- white and black. This was around the late 1800s, so compared to the long history of martial arts, colored belts are a recent innovation. The belt system was first adopted by other Japanese arts such as Karate, and then by Korean arts influenced by Japan such as TKD and Hapkido. Most schools today that award colored belts can trace lineage back to a Japanese style (e.g., BJJ) or Korean style (most of which themselves trace lineage to Japanese styles, at least in part).

There are some Kung Fu schools that award colored sashes, and a few non-Asian martial arts that do as well (I've heard anecdotally that some Krav Maga schools do), even though they do not have a Japanese lineage. I think this is primarily for pedagogical reasons, which was one of the same reasons why the Japanese arts implemented them. Another reason was probably the importance of hierarchy and junior/senior relationships in Asian society.

Wrestling, boxing, and other Western arts had a very different development history from Asian martial arts. One major difference is that learning Asian arts tends to be very systematized, with different requirements for advancing, different forms, etc. While I suppose you could re-organize wrestling or boxing into such a fashion, historically that's not how it's been taught, so it doesn't lend itself well to a belt system.