Collar and Elbow, Ruadhan MacFadden ( PB, June 2021)

£18.00

Collar and Elbow was once the national wrestling style of Ireland. Taking a firm grip on each other’s jackets, competitors would engage in intricate, lightning-fast battles of “footsparring” in which they would attempt to trip, throw, or otherwise send each other crashing to the ground.

This book explores the history of Collar and Elbow, its staggering popularity, its strategies and techniques, how it fit into wider sporting and combative contexts, and examines the causes behind the style’s precipitous disappearance. Given the modern resurgence of interest in grappling sports such as Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, might it now be possible to spark a revival of the tradition that was once known worldwide as “the Irish method” of wrestling?

About the author

Ruadhán MacFadden is an independent researcher in cultural anthropology, focusing on the history and traditions of folk wrestling styles around the world. He is a member of the special advisory group of UNESCO ICM, in which he represents the traditional Irish wrestling style of Collar and Elbow. Ruadhán has more than a decade of experience in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and has trained and taught grappling in over a dozen countries.

 

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