Grappling styles of jujitsu are based on live training, control and dominance on the ground, in addition to the use of submission holds to end a fight. We have seen that they came into prominence in the late 19th century. They rose to a peak in the early 20th century with the rise of ne waza training in judo, the beginning of kosen judo, and the exploits of individuals such as Yukio Thani, Mitsyo Maeda, and the Gracie brothers. In addition, other grappling styles such as Western catch wrestling- a professional wrestling style based on a rich and complex set of grappling skills that include submission holds-reached a peak at this time. The modern Russian grappling art of sambo had its roots in this time period as well, when a group of grappling experts trained in Japan under Kano and returned to Russia. Combining their knowledge with the extensive tradition of wrestling in Russia, they created a formidable, grappling style of their own. Just when the grappling arts seemed destined to bloom, a series of events undercut the tremendous progress that had been made and thus greatly reduced the popularity and prestige of the various grappling styles.
In 1952, Jigoro Kano, disturbed by what he saw as an unhealthy trend toward ne waza in judo, instituted the first set of rule revisions that favored the use of standing-throwing technique over ground grappling. Players would be penalized if they repeatedly tried to drag their opponent straight down to the mat without attempting to throw. Over time, more and more such restrictions were put in place that made it increasingly difficult to use ground grappling to win a match.
In the post-World War II era, these restrictions got even worse. As judo became an Olympic sport with spectator demands, there was increasing pressure to severely limit "boring" ne waza and focus on the more crowd-pleasing throws. Judo became more and more a test of gripping and throwing skill with less and less focus on ground grappling and combat in general. In time, a widespread view developed that judo had little to do with fighting. The result was that judo, despite its prestige as an Olympic sport, fell into disfavor as a fighting art in the public view.
Sambo became the national grappling style of the Soviet Union. The political tensions between communism and the capitalist West, however, meant that sambo never got any real exposure in the Western nations until after the fall of the Berlin Wall. Even among martial artists, it was virtually unknown until the 1990s.
Professional catch wrestling, a fascinating and effective grappling style with many unique submission holds, was ultimately overtake by the development of fake professional wrestling with crowd-pleasing, "worked" matches. The great skills of th old time catch wrestlers were not needed once the outcome of the "fight" was predetermined. Professional wrestling slowly descended into the farcical comedy that it has become today. Nowadays only a tiny number of genuine catch wrestlers remain.
Amateur wrestling, on the other hand, received a tremendous boost with its early inclusion in the Olympic Games. However, all the really combative elements, such as submission holds, were removed. This created a public perception that amateur wrestling was merely a sport, one not to be taken seriously as a martial art or fighting style. It was not until the 1990s that this erroneous perception was overturned with the great success of many amateur wrestlers in MMA competition.
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