Greco-Roman Wrestling

3 points

The sport wrestling we know today traces its origins to
the ancient Olympic Games. Modern Greco-Roman
Wrestling is a safer, less-extreme version of those early
matches. The sport still demands great skill, fortitude, and
fitness of its competitors, however.
The rules of sport wrestling put the athletes’ safety first,
and replace techniques liable to cause actual injury with
safer moves. For instance, they allow head locks – but only
if the attacker loops one of the defender’s arms into the
lock, too. This reduces the odds of the lock inflicting neck
injury . . . and renders it less effective in combat or a
no-holds-barred match. Despite this, collegiate wrestlers
have successfully made the leap to mixed martial arts and
more combative forms of wrestling. In game terms, they
simply improve Wrestling from their Wrestling Sport
default and add the striking skills necessary to compete.
Greco-Roman wrestlers are highly mobile. If one tech-
nique fails, they quickly switch to another. They respond to
their rival’s movement and reactions, exploiting any opening
to go for a pin, lock, or reversal (breaking free of a hold and
applying one of their own). Wrestlers use Beats (pp. 100-101)
to physically overpower their opponent’s guard, and feints –
such as weight shifts and fakes – to create offensive opportu-
nities. The art prizes skill over strength, but strong wrestlers
have a definite advantage. In a match, competitors receive
points for successful techniques, even if they don’t force a
submission. Bouts are timed, and point totals determine the
winner when the time runs out.
Greco-Roman Wrestling is an Olympic sport, practiced
worldwide. In the U.S., almost every high school or college
has a wrestling team. Thus, it’s exceptionally easy to find
training. Wrestlers train hard and coaches expect them to be