Is Wrestling Good and Useful in a Street Fight?

One of the common questions for people who would like to learn Wrestling is if it is helpful in an actual or street fight. Of course, like other martial arts, wrestling has specific strengths that can be used in a real fight. But what exactly are those strengths and weaknesses? We will discuss all of these in this post.

Wrestling is good and useful in a streetfight as it is a great way to pin down and grapple your opponents. Thus, it is excellent for a one-versus-one street fight. However, since Wrestling is only for grappling single opponents, they aren’t recommended for group fights as they will be an easy target for strikes.

This blog post will discuss the strengths and weaknesses of Wrestling in a street fight. You will learn what specific things make Wrestling ideal for fights and in what situations is Wrestling not useful. This post aims to be on the natural side. I will explain both the good and bad so you can properly assess Wrestling’s effectiveness in street fights.

Is Wrestling Useful in a Fight?

Wrestling is helpful in a fight since they are a great way to pin down your opponent. Many fights end up in the ground where Wrestling shines. Thus, it is beneficial in most fights. However, their lack of strikes makes them not useful in some situations.

Have you ever seen an actual fight? Maybe on social media?

Most of the time, you will see people fighting and falling on the ground.

For wrestlers, enemies in the ground are the perfect target since this is where Wrestling shines.

Wrestling is an excellent martial art for ground fights since it composes of techniques to immobilize your opponent, even those bigger than you.

Wrestling is an excellent grappling sport. This is why it is also known as a way to counter Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, another type of grappling martial art.

This is also why many MMA fighters supplement their fighting style with Wrestling since it is a great martial art for ground fights.

As most street fights end up in the ground, this is a golden opportunity for Wrestlers to pin down and immobilize their opponents.

Thus, Wrestling is very useful in street fights.

However, there are more reasons why Wrestling is ideal for fights, which we will discuss in the next section.

How do Wrestlers Win Street Fights?

Wrestlers win street fights by taking their enemies o the ground. While they are on the ground, they start a series of moves and techniques to immobilize and pin down their opponents, leading to submission.

As I said before, Wrestling is a grappling martial art that focuses on takedowns and pinning opponents.

Thus, it is a great martial art to win street fights—particularly one-on-one matches.

Wrestling’s effectiveness on one in one matches is the reason why many MMA champions use Wrestling. Their takedowns and pinning techniques allow them to win a one-versus-one fight easily.

This is also why it is an excellent counter to Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, another martial art famous in MMA.

Recommended Read: This post talks about the effectiveness of Wrestling in a Street Fight. If you’re interested in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu’s effectiveness in actual fights, you may check this post: Is Jiu-Jitsu good for street fights?

Since there are no weight classes in actual fights, it is also worth noting that Wrestling is excellent for fighting someone bigger than you since it teaches you the techniques to pin bigger enemies down. This is because the methods taught in Wrestling focus on positioning and weight distribution to grapple their opponents.

In Wrestling, techniques matter a lot. You will learn how to use your enemies’ strengths against themselves.

Wrestling is also a great way to beat your opponent without hurting them. Grappling allows Wrestlers to immobilize their enemies without inducing harm. Thus, a great way to settle fights without worrying about serious injuries.

These are all great, but how about defending yourself in street fights?

Another thing to note is that wrestlers are great at blocking. Wrestlers are taught how to block attacks to grab and take down their opponents at ease.

These are reasons why Wrestling is a great martial art for self-defense. However, that doesn’t mean that you can get into street fights after getting Wrestling lessons or after watching several Wrestling matches on TV.

Like other martial arts, Wrestling lacks some aspects, especially in street fights where there are no rules.

Well, what are the limitations of Wrestling? We will discuss those in the next section.

Why is Wrestling Not Good on a Street Fight?

Wrestling is not good in a street fight because most street fights are focused on strikes which the sport lacks. Furthermore, modern Wrestling you see on TV is usually staged and fake. Thus, useless in actual fights.

Notice that I never talked about punching and kicking while talking about how good Wrestling is in actual fights.

I never talked about them because Wrestling lacks strikes since it is a martial art focused on grappling and takedowns.

Since Wrestling lacks strikes, they are useless in fights as long as the enemies are on their feet. The bad news is not all street fights end on the ground, which makes Wrestling useless.

It is also worth noting that old Wrestling includes strikes. These strikes were one day removed when Wrestling became a purely grappling sport.

Those removed strikes from Wrestling are now called boxing. Yes, boxing and Wrestling were once one.

However, modern Wrestling is mostly purely grappling moves and throws.

The striking is crucial in actual fights. This is why Wrestlers learn striking techniques such as Boxing and Muay Thai before getting into UFC fights.

Together, they will have both grappling and striking skills, which are essential for MMA fights.

You would also notice that Wrestling is focused on the ground. If your enemy on the street fight prefers fighting in the mid-range, then you will not have enough skills to fight them rather than blocking.

The good news is that Wrestling teaches a lot about blocking. But it is worth noting that Wrestlers need to get close to their opponents to fight properly.

Sadly, most street fights don’t end up in a one-on-one. Usually, it is a group fight. The sad thing is that you can’t pin down two or more enemies at once because Wrestling is a grappling sport.

Catching one enemy means you are now vulnerable to the other.

Thus, Wrestling isn’t an ideal martial art for one versus many fights.

This is a massive blow to Wrestling’s effectiveness as striking martial arts such as Boxing and Muay Thai is better in these situations.

The biggest problem with Wrestling on actual fights is that modern Wrestling has become fake and showy rather than practical.

In the 1920’s Wrestling started to become staged and lost its effectiveness in the actual fight.

Those flashy moves you see on television look great but are not helpful in a street fight.

For example, your enemies won’t wait until you go beneath the ring; get a steel chair, and use it to strike them down.

Wrestling’s transition to staged acts made it not useful in actual fights.

Recommended Read: if you’re interested in Wrestling’s history and why it became fake, feel free to check this post: How did Wrestling become fake? A Journey Through Time

There are why Wrestling isn’t ideal in actual fights. With all of these in mind, let’s conclude what we’ve learned.

Conclusion

We learned the strengths and weaknesses of Wrestling in an actual fight.

Wrestling is effective on the ground and one versus one fights. However, Wrestling is useless if the fight involves many enemies at once.

Always opt for staying out of fights. There is no need to fight, especially since no one knows what will happen in real fights.

Thus, whether the fighting scenario is good or not for Wrestling, always choose to stay away.

What’s next? Do you want to learn Wrestling but don’t have money or time to go outside? Well, you’re in luck because I created a guide where you can learn Wrestling online for free. If you’re interested, check this post: Can you learn Wrestling at Home for Free? Yes and Here’s how.