Principles of Free-Style Wresting for Children and Adolescents

154 Pages·2016·39.32 MB·English

by  Petrov R.

PRINCIPLES OF FREE-STYLE WRESTLING
FOR CHILDREN AND ADOLESCENTS
*
»
Impreso en Espana
Printed in Spain
Autor: Raïko Pétrov
Editor: Federación Española de Lucha
Depòsito Legal: M. 329 - 1977 I.S.B.N.: 84-500-1771-8
Imprime: Santa Marta - Compte
PREFACE
The International Wrestling Federation has defined «Technical As
sistance» as a programme of work of primary importance.
Nowadays, all over the world, great differences in the level of deve
lopment between the nations and continents are manifest not only in the
sphere of economy, culture, science and education, but also in sports.
Such differences can be encountered in wrestling too.
Even before I wass elected President of the IWF I had intended to
submit to the International Federation my programme of «Technical
Assistance», with the aim of bridging the gap between the developed
and underdeveloped countries in wrestling. This programme has been
improved since the IWF Congress in Munich in 1972. The only thing to
do now is to adapt it to the current conditions of life. Of course, it goes
without saying that this is not only my personal task, but also the task
of all the national wrestling federations, members of the IWF.
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I would like to take advantage of this opportunity to most cordially
thank camarade Raïko Pétrov, President of the Bulgarian Wrestling
Federation and the Bulgarian Union for Physical Culture and Sports for
having supported the initiative of the IWF for the development of the
«Technical Assistance» programme.
This book, which contains methodological instructions for training
young people, is particularly valuable because it is written by a man
who, by his theoretical knowledge and implementation of science in
practical work, represents one of the founders of modern wrestling in
Bulgaria and plays an outstanding role in international wrestling.
I most sincerely hope that all the interested countries will benefit
from this book to the advantage of their youth and progress of our
favorite sport, wrestling.
Milan Ertsegan,
President of the IWF
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EARLY TRAINING IN WRESTLING AND PECULIAR
CHARACTERISTICS OF CHILDREN AND ADOLESCENT
Wrestling is one of the oldest and most popular sports in the
world. It has outlived many other sports disciplines because it has
always perfectly adapted itself to the requirements of different epochs
and because it has always menaged to meet the ideals of men. Nowa
days, traditional wrestling in folklore style can hardly hold the atten
tion of the spectators because its ritual is outdated and not interesting
for the civilized man. Also, the monotony, duration and hygiene of
the environment where such wrestling events take place sometimes do
not satisfy sanitary standards and the pace of modern times. For that
reason it is very difficult to maintain the medieval features of wrest
ling. That is why wrestling was faced with the problem: either to
disappear or transform itself. Other modern sports have also been fa
ced with the same problem. New disciplines are continuously being set
up, whereas the old ones improve their competition rules, methods of
training and publicity. In its development contemporary wrestling has
also encountered difficulties of the following nature:
due to the development of science and technology wrestling is
constantly losing ground as a means of fighting,
attitude towards life of one part of young people is such that
they are not ready to cope with very high requirements of the
contemporary training of this sport,
actual competitions do not always show the true dynamics,
beauty and content of wrestling,
scientific analyses of wrestling and publicity for starting the
training at a very young age are insufficient.
In spite of the fact that some difficulties determined by social de
velopment still exist, wrestling will always retain its importance, be-
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cause, more than any other sport, it significantly affects the develop
ment and shaping not only of the body but also of the personality of
the individual. We can expect that the historical and traditional role
of wrestling «to make a man a man» will acquire an ever increasing
importance in our times characterized By hypodynamics an a wide
spread desire to live a confortable life. For that reason wrestling will
remain a social necessity and it is our task to show its beauty to the
spectators and win the hearts of millions of children and adolescents
all over the world in order to secure for it a place it deserves in the
world family of sports.
The development of sports talents should start at a very early age.
Also, the practice of early training in wrestling stimulates the develop
ment of scientifics theories, which has already born fruit, so that now
we already have a number of outstanding wrestlers trained during the
last few years. In some republics of the USSR, in Mongolia, Bulga
ria, Turkey, Japan, Iran and some other countries it is a centuries
old tradition to start training in wrestling at a very early age. Con
temporary scientific works and practice denote that wrestling is a
sport absolutely accessible to children and emphasize its paramount
importance both for their physical and psychological development. In
fact, wrestling meets the natural aspiration of young boys to develop
their strength, virility and physical beauty. Is there a single man who
did not go in for wrestling when he was young? Even in the countries
where wrestling is not a popular sport at school everybody kneows who
is the best wrestler in his class.
There is no doubt that children all over the world can be trained
in wrestling. Yet, it is indispensable to establish regional rules of «the
game of wrestling» and have at the disposal the necessary space for
organizing such games and making them popular. For the time being
it is not possible to adopt uniform rules, because such an attempt
would not be in line with the tradition of «the game of wrestling»,
which varies from one country to another. On the other hand the
folk tradition of this nature could play a very important role. In fact,
traditional folk «games of wrestling» could be transformed into mo
dern forms and serve as an introduction to wrestling as a contempo
rary sport.
The ways and means for developing the knowledge on wrestling
and motivate young people to go in for that sport can be classified
into four groups:
Simple forms of wrestling.—These are various exercises with a
partner in the gymnasium. The purpose of these exercises is to practi
ce the elements of resistance which fit into the framework of wrest-
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ling. Their range can be enriched by new forms of wrestling based on
the technique of folk wrestling. These simple forms of wrestling deve
lop both the desire to win in the contest and the «feeling» of the
opponent. They also develop the strength, swiftness, agility, feeling
for balance, technical know-how and tactics. These exercises can also
be practiced for the general development during the lessons of physi
cal education at school, for training of young wrestlers and as natural
games for children. It is desirable to always stress the elements of
competition and popularize the forms which are closest to wrestling.
«Mini-folk wrestling».—These exercises resemble some folk forms
of wrestling such as: the sumo, tchidaoba, glima, gurech, kochti, la
bokh and others. The rules depend on the length and place of the
contest, age and weight of the wrestlers, etc. Every national wrestling
federation should establish its own «mini-folk wrestling» according to
its own tradition by providing rules which will make this kind of
wrestling close to the sport itself, particularly to its free style. Coun
tries in which folk wrestling has withered away can borrow the most
appropriate forms from other countries.
Free Wrestling Games.—They can be practiced together with other
children's games mainly to satisfy the natural desire in children to
assert themselves and determine who the strongest among them is.
These games do not follow an established pattern so that, sometimes,
they produce a bad impression on the parents and teachers because of
torn and stained clothes and accidental bruises ans injuries. The main
point is to adapt these wrestling games, of folk or similar origin in
such a way so that they do not violate the rules observed at school
or in the family. On the other hand, in order to draw and keep the
attention of the children these games should give rise to strong emo
tions, particularly at the end.
«Mini Wrestling».—In fact it is a children's game because it meets
the requirements of a game, although it is different from other games
because it is similar to wrestling as a sport. A great number of fede
rations has already acquired a rich experience in organizing trainings
and competitions of this nature for children. The Scientific, Training
and Refereeing commissions of the IWF are already studying various
problems connected with mini wrestling so that, in near future, it will
be possible to establish not only the competition rules, but also a
uniform system of education, training and competition.
The setting up of a special commission for wrestling games and
mini wrestling within all the national wrestling federations would con
tribute to the popularization of this sport among children. In that
aim it is also necessary to adapt the training and competition rules to
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their possibilities. Beside this, groups and sections for wrestling with
attractive names, such as: «The Young Wrestler», «Hercules», etc»,
should be founded at schools and in sports clubs and an evaluation
system introduced according to which young wrestlers would be awar
ded special titles, diplomas, insignia, etc. This should be the first step
in the promotion of our strategy.
As a rather late echo of research work performed and recommen
dations made by outstanding pedagogues of all the centuries wrestling
has been introduced in school curricula in many countries. Well argu-
mented proposals repeatedly submited to the Ministry of Education
of various countries could also pave the way for the development of
wrestling.
Children and adolescents are endowe with a great ability to assimi
late the complex technique of wrestling and apply it skillfully during
the trainings and competitions. For that reason it is indispensable to
take advantage of the most suitable period for the biological, physical
and social formation of the individual by strictly respecting the pecu
liarities of a given age.
The individual development depends on permanent changes in the
structure and functions of the body. The young wrestlers differ from
the adult ones not only physically, but also psychologically and phy
siologically. All the systems and organs do not develop simultaneously
and in an identical manner. The unequal and often contradictory de
velopment of the body limits its ability to cope with great physical
changes and call for a rational distribution of work in order to deve
lop various qualities and complex motor habits.
Although the age limit should be taken into consideration only
conditionally, sports pedagogues, when organizing the trainings, should
bear in mind the age of the group. It is also preferable to take into
account the social environment, feeding habits, work load and anam
nesis of the diseases (rachitis, rheumatism, malfunction of endocrine
glandes, etc.) because they influence the development of the individual
which which means that some trainees should be transfered from one
age group into another. The sports doctor and pedagogue should or
ganize the training of their wrestlers by assigning them to attend the
age group which suits best their overall development.
Main features of the motor system
•
The anatomy of children and adolescents is not adapted to great
mechanical efforts because in the very young age the bones are most-
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ly composed of cartilage. The ossification of various parts of the ske­
leton takes place gradually, along with the increase of the percentage
of calcium and phosphorus in the bones. At the age of 15 or 16 boys
grow up very intensively. After that age their extremities become lon­
ger and their body larger, whereas their growth in hight slows down.
This has been confirmed by research made by N. V. Zak on the
average annual growth in hight. Between the age of 8 and 12 the
average annual growth is 4,4 cm., between 12 and 16 —5,6 с т ., y at
the age of 17 and 18, —1,5 cm.
Already in 1901 Goain proved that children who practice physical
exercises develop better. The Hungarian researchers F. Bakoni, O. Ei­
ben, D. Forkacht and T. Raikov have proved that motor activities
help children grow taller. Already long ago it was also established
that the structure of bones and the work of muscles are interdepen­
dent (A. Rauber, P. Lesgaft and others). The inappropriate amount
of physical load prescribed to various age groups and intensive exer­
cises for the development of strenght and flexibility can either impe­
de the growth of a young wrestler or lead to another extreme, in
which case the amplitude of movements required for various articu­
lations exceeds the normal limit. On the other hand, growth in hight
cannot be impeded after the age of 17 if the individual is physi­
cally well developed and also because after that age the process of
growing in hight slows down. According to A. V. Arkine a young
man of 17 has already achieved 95 % of his tallness.
N. I. Gourov has proved that at the age of about 10-12 the thora­
cic vertebrae develop slower than the lumbar ones. At that age, and
later, the main attention should be devoted to the exercises which
help develop the flexibility of the body. After having performed «the
bridge» special exercises should be introduced to develop the flexibility
in the opposite sense. All physiological malformations of the spine
should be reduced to a normal and acceptable limit.
Between the age of 7 and 14 the différenciation process of the
majority of skeleton muscles is completed, and they become almost
fully developed organs. Between the age of 10 and 12 the hormonal
changes that take place in the body stimulate a rapid growth of the
muscles and tendinal elements.
Between the age of 15 and 18 the formation process of the muscu
lar fibres is accelerated, the development of the fibrous tissue conti
nues and the neuro-muscular innervation process becomes more com
plex. The structure of the muscles is such that they are ready for the
optimal training requirements. The relative weight of the muscles
amounts to 44,1% of the total weight. In adults it amounts to 45%.
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