Say Uncle!: Catch-As-Catch Can Wrestling and the Roots of Ultimate Fighting, Pro Wrestling & Modern Grappling

by Jake Shannon

? Say Uncle! is the definitive book on the history, players, and techniques of catch-as-catch-can grappling. Catch-as-catch-can, or “catch wrestling” for short, is the great-granddaddy of today’s mixed martial arts, professional wrestling, freestyle wrestling, and many reality-based self-defence systems. It is a nearly lost form of Western martial art that is rich in history and full of painfully brutal techniques. Say Uncle! traces the background of this unique sport through America and Japan back to England and Ireland and is chock full of exclusive interviews from legends like Karl Gotch, Billy Robinson, Josh Barnett, and more. The technique section is fully illustrated so readers can begin to use these powerfully effective techniques and strategies in their grappling and mixed martial arts game. In the same vein as Total MMA (ECW), Say Uncle! obliterates the myths of the roots of modern mixed martial arts and shows that today’s WWE and UFC have a lot more in common than just Brock Lesnar. The catch-as-catch-can roots of modern MMA and pro-wrestling are well documented but little known, until now.

Genres: Martial Arts, Nonfiction

240 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2011

Reviews

[Christopher Mejia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Whether this is your introduction or you’re a student of martial arts this book gives submission wrestling a lane of its own. The references to history and interviews with stories build catch wrestling a timeline that runs parallel with any other martial art from the last century.

[John Schwabacher · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Catch" wrestling is a form of wrestling where the object is to either pin or submit the opponent. It was popular in the US in the 19th century and has roots in Europe. Some well known modern-day mixed martial artists with catch backgrounds are Ken Shamrock, Josh Barnett, and Kazushi Sakuraba.

This book is an interesting, if somewhat haphazard history, containing interviews with several notable wrestlers. It also has a brief section on training and techniques and a glossary.

In the early days there was not such a hard and fast distinction between "real" wrestling matches, or "shoots" and scripted matches, or "works". The issue was that a real match can be very boring to non-expert spectators, so the performance aspect became important. In the US, this developed into "professional wrestling". In Japanese pro wrestling, the matches are often authentic, though many are worked. And of course, even today, college and Olympic wrestling champions often turn to pro wrestling to make a living after retiring from competition.

The best part of the book is the stories from old-timers about their lives. Some made their livings wrestling in carnivals, taking on all comers. Others toured the country and wrestled both works and shoots. Billy Robinson and Karl Gotch are famous trainers who traveled to compete and teach in Japan. "Judo" Gene LeBell is another unforgettable character.

The downside of this book is that it's not particularly organized. The glossary, especially, is spotty, not defining terms used throughout the book (e.g. "hook"). All in all, though, it's an entertaining and informative read.

[Oliver Bateman · Rating 3 out of 5]

A decent introduction to this form of wrestling by a practitioner of the sport. However, it's unclear that Shannon knows what he wants this to be. If it's to be a guide to catch, we need more than 15 pages of somewhat complicated holds (a depiction of things like the Fujiwara cradle but only one neck crank (pretty much the key catch move) variant?). And for the price (which thankfully I didn't pay), we should get about twice as many interviews, all of which ought to be as good as the ones with Mark Fleming, Frankie Cain, and Gene LeBell.

[Martin · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you are at all interested in wrestling then this book is a must. Jake has traveled the world seeking out the greatest living wrestlers and interviewing them. On top of insights from such greats as Billy Robinson, Karl Gotch and Billy Wicks there is a section on the fundamental principles of Catch as catch can wrestling as well as a series of techniques.

If this book has a fault it is that it is way too short.

[Tom · Rating 3 out of 5]

Being from a BBJ background I wanted to read a bit more up on catch wrestling after having a session a few weeks ago. The interviews where interesting but I found the how to guide a bit too complex for me, it's probably going to be more understandable to someone who has a background in this art. Still glad I read it though, there are some interesting people that the author interviews.

[Mike · Rating 4 out of 5]

The interviews and history kept me very entertained. The end of the book had some pictures of holds and moves that I found somewhat hard to follow. For a book that jumped around as much as "say uncle" I still really enjoyed it.

[Mistress Harley · Rating 3 out of 5]

More of an interview book than a history. Great interviews, but they could be edited. Learned a few workouts to add to my routine. Reading about wrestling is a great way to learn ways to hurt men! www.mistressharley.com

[Howard Lubinger · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great read going over the history of this forgotten art through the words of the people who lived it.