As some of you know I have a love for Catch Wrestling and over the years have tried to research and train with the top guys around in Catch. Which has been hard to do at times as not many real Catch guys are around any more. Well I have just had two great days of training in Catch Wrestling with Johnny Husky! Johnny is the prodigy of Billy Wicks who is a formidable catch wrestler. Billy once fought on the fairgrounds all over the USA. He teaches what he calls ‘Carny Style Wrestling’ which was past down from the great Farmer Burns who coached Frank Gotch. Frank Gotch was recognized by many to be the greatest submission Catch Wrestler of all time!
The training with Johnny was arranged by Ian at the Stockport Fighters Gym. Before I say anymore I must give a big thank you to Ian, Jimmy and all the guys at Stockport. What a great group of guys! Ian and his guys made us feel right at home. They are an excellent group of tough guys with solid skills. The training with Johnny Husky has been some of the best training in Catch I have had! Johnny has a deep understanding of Catch as the original art it was and was able to fill gaps and build new bridges for me. His teaching was without limits and his skill was without question. I look forward to following up with Johnny who I consider a new friend and excellent teacher.I hope you find his insights of Catch as interesting as we did! John Huskey has trained under the instruction of Billy Wicks. Billy Wicks started wrestling at the age of 15 at Ober Boy's Club & St Paul MN. YMCA. At the age of 19, Billy started working out with McAllister College Wrestling Team & started wrestling in Carnivals. Wicks would take on "all comers' being taught, trained & tutored by a 63 year old Carny wrestler named Henry Kolln. Kolln trained with Farmer Burns. Billy was also trained by Ed "Strangler" Lewis, former Heavy Weight Champion of the World in the 1920's.
MAI: What got you started in the martial arts?
John: I was seven years old and like a lot of people from my era it was Bruce Lee that sparked my interest. As a child I would watch the Green Hornet television series and that left a huge impression on me. And Thankfully my parents saw my interest and signed me up for judo and karate lessons.
MAI: How did you come to find Catch Wrestling?
John: I was always familiar with catch wrestling coming from a family that watched “pro wrestling”. I was fortunate to have watched the greats like Lou Thesz, Billy Robinson, etc. and that was a time when they still did most of their work on the mat. You would see things like wrist locks, head scissors and toe holds. There were no acrobatics back then. So I was always familiar with the term catch wrestling. Then in the 90’s I was exposed to the UWF wrestling which is heavily influenced by catch and submission wrestling and had the unique opportunity to meet and train with an old school wrestler by the name of Nelson Royal. My interest peaked and I found that Billy Wicks had retired to my area. I knew of his history regarding his carnival days and that he was highly recognized as one of the last great carney wrestlers in the United States.
MAI: How would you describe Catch Wrestling and what would say are the key points that distinguish Catch from other forms of grappling?
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John: First and foremost catch wrestling is based on amateur and freestyle wrestling not pro wrestling. We wrestle from position to position. Our goal is to make the opponent carry our weight.
You never want to just lie on your opponent you want to make him feel pain with as much bone on soft tissue contact as possible .You constantly want to keep him off balance with your elbows and knees. When compared to other styles of wrestling catch wrestling has a very grinding, workman style. I have never seen another style that puts such an emphasis on pain.
MAI: What has it been like learning the art from Billy Wicks?
John: That would probably take up this whole interview. His approach to catch wrestling which is carney style is very vintage. He opened my eyes to what true catch wrestling is about. His theory is basic wrestling, takedowns, switches and go behinds. Punishing the guy while you are wrestling him and stay with your high percentage holds wrist locks, neck cranks and toeholds. His theory is to have five to seven submission holds and to know them inside out. This may not seem like a lot but you have to remember take one submission, the wrist lock, even though it is one move there are countless ways of entering into the move. Or take the basic toehold, the mechanics are the same on a toehold but there are a hundred ways to apply it. It is truly and honor to have Billy as a teacher. One of his instructors was Henry Kolln who was a prized student of Farmer Burns. I feel like I am getting the true vintage style of catch wrestling with Billy. You won’t see any flashy show holds just the true meat and potatoes of catch wrestling. More so than a teacher I consider him a true friend.
MAI: Would you say Catch should progress and change like some BJJ styles do, or be should it be more based in the basics ideas of the art, again as some styles of BJJ.
That is a tough question. Everything has to progress. As with all styles in the modern era some things have to be modified. In Catch their philosophy lends itself to the modern era of MMA and grappling. So in my opinion they should stay true to the basic catch style.
MAI: How would a match work in the old days?
John: There were several options. There were such a wide variety of matches in every town. It would depend on who was promoting the match as to what rules were used. A lot of the matches would be two out of three and the objective would be to throw your opponent and in other matches your objective was to pin your opponent. Also you had matches where all holds were legal.
MAI: What would you say was the difference between Catch and the pro Wrestling it became?
John: The main difference is the holds; the catch of old was based on amateur wrestling with true submission holds. As it turned into more pro wrestling the holds tended to be on the flashy side. They looked painful but in reality you would never be able to apply it in a real wrestling match. In Pro style you really don’t wrestle from hold to hold.
MAI: What is your view on competitions? I know you have guys that enter events.
John :I think it’s great. It gives you a chance to test your skills in a real situation and it helps you compare your style with others in a competition. I think competition is great for any sport.
MAI: What is your view on holding Catch competitions and what would you say would be the correct rule format?
John: If I were to hold a wrestling competition I would simply add the pin to the match. I think in staying true to catch wrestling you would have to add that. When you put the pin in it allows for an exciting match. It forces the competitors to move constantly and not just pull guard and stall. I think the guard slows down a lot of grappling matches these days. But the only problem with that is you would turn off a lot of jiu jitsu guys and it would be hard to promote. To be fare where our game is to be on top a lot of their game is from the bottom.
MAI: Thanks You Johnny for your insights and also for a great weekend of training!
John: In closing I would like to thank you for this interview and the opportunity to expose Billy Wicks’ style of catch wrestling. Also Alan it was nice meeting you at the seminar and I would like to thank Ian and the guys at Stockport fighting gym for having me over to do the seminars. If anyone has questions please feel free to visit us at wnccombatclub.com
Alan Orr is
a disciple of Robert Chu Sifu and the European representative of the Chu Sau
Lei Wing Chun system. Teacher of Tui Na Chinese Massage Therapy
He is also the UK representative for Guro Mark Wiley in the Filipino martial
arts and Sensei Eddy Millis of Shark Tank in NHB/Grappling.
Web:
www.alanorr.com
www.thechinesemedicineacademy.co.uk
www.warriorfunctionaltraining.com
For further information Tel: 07958 908 196 or email: info@alanorr.co.uk