Letter from Karl Gotch on Matt Furey

Gezere · 7/21/2005 11:41am

Jake Shannon (compiler of several vintage books on wrestling, JJ, and boxing) recieved this letter recently from the great Karl Gotch concerning Matt Furey:

Here is a letter that Karl wanted me to share with people:

************************************************** ****
Tampa, 18th July ‘05

Dear Jake,

Thanks for sending me that copy of the fat man Matt Furey’s website. As you know I don’t have a computer and I don’t know how to use it, but as I can see he employs it for a con game to steal from some poor guys that love the sport. He hung around me for about 5 months not over two years as he states.

He writes, “What’s Old is New – What’s New is Old” well he uses this to put his hand in the poor guys pocket and grab the money. I found him out when he talked me into making a tape I had about conditioning commercial, I had made the tape as proof, because after my double hip replacement I could not do many of those things anymore and a picture is worth a thousand words.

I told him to never use my name again with anything he ever did. The man is a disgrace to wrestling and has no honor at all, he can walk under a snakes belly wearing a top hat.

To give you an idea what real pro-wrestling is lets take boxing as an example, even as an Olympic Champ when you turn pro you have to start all over again because it’s completely different. Here in the U.S.A they had the best in the world, men like Strangler Lewis, Toots Mondt, John Pesek, etc. would take the life out of anyone that challenged them. Wrestling is opposite of what people think it is, it is not strength but knowledge, balance, and timing, leverage and where to place the fulcrum, that’s what it takes to make it to the top in the noble art of wrestling.

<img src="http://www.bullshido.com/images/mattfurey1.jpg" align=right>Also, the most difficult sport is wrestling because contrary to other combat sports you have to learn to attack and defend from 3 different positions; standing-up, on all fours and underneath. It takes know how to do that, and your best hold is condition, even the best automobile won’t run without gas, oil, and water. People now go for excitement and to something that is easy to understand, that’s why football, base-ball and basketball are drawing the big crowds, plus they are team sport, they change their players in and out.

Wrestling in the amateurs should never be less than 12 minutes a match, then you can see the best man. I wrote you all this to show you that how can a fat slob like Furey, that doesn’t know his elbow from his rear end, tell and show these poor boys that he charges an arm and a leg and a finger thrown in? Wrestling is a workman’s sport, you need no expensive equipment and can practice it anywhere, and here is this greedy, fat no good misfit charging them all this money for nothing. I never took one cent from a boy to show him how to wrestle, all I asked for is guts. I can make you strong, fast, agile and train you for endurance and reflex, but guts you get when you are born.

I hope that we can find a way to stop this misfit from fleecing those poor guys, thanks again for letting me know.
Yours,
Karl

************************************************** ****

You can see the original letter here:
http://ScientificWrestling.com/letter_from_karl.htm

**Ronin** · Posted On: 7/21/2005 11:46am

Who's this "Karl" and what does he know ??

**rharbers** · Posted On: 7/21/2005 11:54am

Real Name : Karl Istaz
He used to wrestle as Karl Krauser, but in '60s, he started using the name "Gotch" after the legendary Frank Gotch.
Nickname in Japan : God of Pro-Wrestling
Birth : 1924 in Hamburg, Germany
Debut : 1955
First Match in Japan : 45min time limit draw
against Michiaki Yoshimura
on May 1st, 1961 in Tokyo
Last Match : defeats Yoshiaki Fujiwara
on January 1st, 1982 in Tokyo
Inducted to Puroresu Hall of Fame in May, 1996

**Cullion** · Posted On: 7/21/2005 11:56am

He wrestled for 45 minutes ? wow

**Gezere** · Posted On: 7/21/2005 11:58am

Originally Posted by BatRonin

Who's this "Karl" and what does he know ??

WHAT!?!?!?

KARL GOTCH is the GOD OR PRO WRESTLING. He's an old school shooter (a REAL CATCH AS CATCH CAN wreslter) and trained guys like Antonio Inoki, Hiro Matsuda, Tatsumi Fujinami, Osamu Kido, Yoshiaki Fujiwara, Satoru Sayama (Tiger Mask). His influence is what led to shootfighting in Japan.

Fujiwara's SUBMISSION MASTER tapes have been rereleased on DVD at Budovideo.
He shows Karl's material and then some.

**VikingPower** · Posted On: 7/21/2005 12:13pm

Karl Gotch > Jesus Christ.

**dakotajudo** · Posted On: 7/21/2005 12:20pm

Originally Posted by BatRonin

Who's this "Karl" and what does he know ??

Think of someone on par with Gene Lebell - associated with pro-wrestling, but when it was just starting to become the spectacle it is now; solid credentials otherwise.

What I don't get is why Furey keeps sucking off Gotch and the old school, considering he trained at one of the best college programs of all time. No, I lie - Iowa spit out Olympic-caliber wrestlers on a regular basis; Furey's credentials as straight -up folkstyle pales against his former teammates, so to stand out he channels the ghost of Farmer Burns.

I dunno, he likely could have made a respectable, if unnoticed, college wrestling coach - but went the self-promotion route instead. Not the only one, unfortunately.

**Samfoo** · Posted On: 7/21/2005 12:27pm

So is Japanese Pro Wrestling more like Grecco then? (I don't really know anything about pro wrestling) Because I was unaware that pro-wrestling required any of those things that he mentioned. Or is it just that pro-wrestling <b>used</b> to be that way?