How to Understand Wrestling Holds

Grappling holds are one of the mainstays of any form of wrestling. After you've taken your opponent to the ground with a throw, you can use one of the many kinds of holds to gain time, leverage a dominant position or apply enough pain and pressure to end the match. Follow these steps to understand the holds from different kinds of wrestling.

Instructions

1. Understand the clinch. The clinch is one of the most loved and hated holds in wrestling and grappling sports. A clinch generally involves one wrestler holding his opponent in a dominant position while both wrestlers are still standing. The clinch comes in familiar forms like the bear hug and high clinch and more specialized forms such as the overhook and pinch grip clinch that are used in Greco-Roman wrestling.

2. Learn the pinning hold. Pinning holds are used to keep an opponent in place on the ground until a better move or position can be attained. There are many different kinds of pinning holds from different wrestling and grappling arts. In certain wrestling sports such as judo, maintaining a pinning hold on an opponent for a certain amount of time constitutes a win.

3. Watch for submission and pain compliance holds. Submission holds constitute the fight or match ending moves in a number of wrestling sports. There are hundreds of pain compliance holds that vary in form from joint and bone locks and pressure application to chokes. Wrestlers and martial artists constantly maneuver to get their opponent locked into a submission hold to win the fight. So check out pinning holds to better understand wrestling holds.

4. Know the common holds. There are a few holds that are used or attempted in almost every fighting match that incorporates wrestling holds. Among these common holds are the triangle choke, the arm bar, the shoulder wrench, the guillotine choke, the Achilles lock and the wrist lock. Watch wrestling matches to identify the common holds in order to better understand wrestling holds in general.