In 1581, an Elizabethan schoolmaster named Richard Mulcaster wrote a book on education, where he mentioned wrestling as being a useful exercise.The most compelling comment I have seen from Mulcaster's work is his reference to the:"catching pancraticall kinde of wrastling, which used all kindes of hould."I took this quote from Sidney Anglo's Martial Arts of Renaissance Europe, which unfortunately only gives us little snippets from Mulcaster's book. What I found most interesting is that it has to be the first reference to the use of the term "catch"--ie., submission wrestling of the Western tradition. I assume that the "catching pancraticall kinde of wrastling" was simply Mulcaster's way of describing the Ancient Greek pankration, but the "catching" part is definitely noteworthy.I'd love to know more...Peace,TFS
TFS,
All my books are in storage but an ABE search turned up quite a few reprints of works by Richard Mulcaster. Maybe one of them is what you are looking for.
Cheers,
Michael
Michael,Thanks very much for the tip! The book in question is Positions wherin those primitive circumstances be examined, which are necessarie for the training up of children, either for skill in their booke, or health in their bodie (Ed. by R.H. Quick--1888 reprint).You gotta love those long-winded titles from back then... :)Peace,TFS
Hey, I'm reading Martial Arts of Renaissance Europe too. Great reading.