Catch wrestling

**theotherserge** · Posted On: 3/20/2009 12:55am

I've watched a Billy Robinson DVD set and I think he is just a badass ol'Limey. I believe the $900 is for a two-day seminar?

I looked into it myself as I think the material is great stuff and Billy seems like an excellent dude to hang with (my dad played Rugby and he is the sort of hard-tumble Brit I grew to love from those days)

Furey over-played his hand and is basically a dumbf*ck for doing so...

**Critical Jo** · Posted On: 3/20/2009 1:09pm

Yeah you pay 900 two day seminar, I think they're 3-4 hours long. They also offer payment plans and other deals like becoming a life time member of their website.

**theotherserge** · Posted On: 3/20/2009 1:37pm

Originally Posted by Critical Jo

Yeah you pay 900 two day seminar, I think they're 3-4 hours long. They also offer payment plans and other deals like becoming a life time member of their website.

That's not bad, considering what's out there. The Gracies have pretty much ruined the pricing scale of things for seminars.

I guess part of the "value added" is that it isn't just a seminar but an accreditation/certification as well. Depending on how well the organization is structured, this could mean that you go back with a ranking that allows you to justify charging more for your own lessons.

It all depends on how they build their organization. To me, as long as they don't get into ranked, distance learning BS and field legit players like they have been, then I wouldn't consider it a waste of money at all.

**Critical Jo** · Posted On: 3/20/2009 3:49pm

By the way its described on the site the additional levels (Goes up to Level 3) are basically to develop the ability to teach Catch Wrestling effectively, and show that your capable of doing so. Just attending doesn't guarantee you get the certification either but they will lower the rates each time you attend. Now as far as it being First Cert 900 then the next two continue to get cheaper I'm not sure (doubt they'd get cheaper). I'll be sending them an email sometime next week requesting more info.

**internet budoka** · Posted On: 3/20/2009 4:48pm

Originally Posted by Critical Jo

They're associate through Matt Furey? Didn't Bullshido debunk him a few years back?

Who's gonna debunk Bullshido?

**265lbsfist** · Posted On: 3/20/2009 6:47pm

So this is legit Catch certification?
Very cool. Anyone know if they do similar courses in Europe or if anyone else legit does?

Damn, it's a shame the golden era of catch ( early 1900's ) and the golden era of BJJ ( mid-90's-present ) didn't coincide. Now you have some catch guys making waves like Barnett now and Saku back in the day but the vast majority of submission practitioners and fighters are of BJJ stock.
It would've been a great rivalry.

Still hoping for Sambo to come out and shine on the world submission stage though.

**DdlR** · Posted On: 3/20/2009 6:57pm

I don't know much about modern CACC politics, but the Aspull Wrestling Club in Manchester has a direct lineage back to Billy Riley's famed "Snake Pit" gym and still teaches adults the Lancashire catch style - http://www.aspullolympicwrestlingclub.co.uk/

**DdlR** · Posted On: 3/20/2009 7:01pm

Originally Posted by 265lbsfist

Damn, it's a shame the golden era of catch ( early 1900's ) and the golden era of BJJ ( mid-90's-present ) didn't coincide. Now you have some catch guys making waves like Barnett now and Saku back in the day but the vast majority of submission practitioners and fighters are of BJJ stock.
It would've been a great rivalry.

IMO BJJ itself is partly a product of the international rivalry/fusion of Japanese jiujitsu and Western wrestling styles, including CACC, that began when E.W. Barton-Wright first started promoting his mixed-styles contests in London back in 1899.

There are numerous records of jujitsu fighters taking on wrestlers in many other styles from that period and up to the beginning of WW1 (at which point the world had more to worry about than which national wrestling style was superior).

**265lbsfist** · Posted On: 3/20/2009 7:14pm

The CACC website seems a bit dead sadly. Mentions ambitions of going to the 2002 Commonwealth Games...:(

BJJ does definitely tie up with the band of wandering grapplers of judo, CACC and JJ practitioners travelling the world in the 1800's and early 1900's doing challenge and shoot matches.

However, today, hundreds of thousands of people are training BJJ or derivatives while few are training legit CACC making any real rivalry which could spark some interest hard to achieve.

Barnett damn near subbed Nog though, twice.

**Victor Parlati** · Posted On: 3/20/2009 7:58pm

Pleasantly surprised, not a bad thread so far (considering that catch used to get bashed so often).

I think the take on Furey is correct, as far as it goes. The guy's got some catch skills, and did spend about 6 months training under Karl Gotch back around 2000 (Furey claims it was a year - but it wasn't). And neither was it a happy ending: Gotch eventually told him to take a hike when he caught on to Furey's true motives: $$$$

So if you cut through the Furey hype (and especially the nonsense about "channneling" the ghost of catch great Martin "Farmer" Burns)....there is some good material on Furey's vids - and his book COMBAT CONDITIONING is a good book - because it's filled with dozens of exercises used for decades by Karl Gotch - who was an incredible physical specimen who never lifted weights, btw.

As far as Jake Shannon's catch certification program is concerned - the $900.00 IS a lot of money - regardless of the fact that Billy Robinson is associated with the endeavor. Not to take anything away from Billy - for he really is a true catch "hooker" (the term used in catch as catch can for a wrestler with exceptional submission skills).