Highland Wrestling Rules

for & only for the Indian Springs Hotel Scottish Festival June 3, 2000
the Rules of Highland Wrestling
(similar to Cumberland Wrestling & Backhold Wrestling)

Start in standing position, face to face, toe to toe with one's opponent, with one's heels together.
Put your right arm over your opponent's shoulder & your left arm under his arm.
Lock your hands behind his back.
Your opponent shall do the same.
When the judge blows the whistle, do all in your power to make your opponent fall with you on top of him. You may trip him, step on his feet, push or pull him, sling him around, &/or lift him.

But you cannot let go (cannot unclasp your hands) until your opponent hits the mat or touches a knee to the mat and/or his hands come loose. It would be wise to hold on until a judge blows the whistle indicating the end of the fall, in case they did not see your opponent's knee touch or see his hands come loose.
If you fall on your opponent 1st, make him touch a knee to the mat 1st, or his hands come unclasp for any reason 1st, then you win the fall.
When the wrestlers hit the mat, if the person on the bottom does not have his neck & thighs completely on the mat, the fall is void. This should prevent one wrestler from deliberately hurting his opponent by throwing him on the ground.
To win the match you must win 2 out of 3 falls against your opponent. You may win by 2:1 or 2:0.
You must be bold enough that you wear the kilt provided (or your own kilt). It may be a little kilt or a great kilt.
Traditionally this event is done on grass. I personally prefer it to be done on mattresses so that the wrestlers can be as rough as they like without as much chance of injury to themselves or the kilts.
At some games you are required to wrestle with no shirt & bare footed. This may give a psychological advantage & insures that you have taken off all chains, knives, & swords that might hurt your opponent. Barefooted & bare chested have not been decided yet. If you have an opinion or want to influence the decision, enter your opinion in the Guest book at the bottom of the page.
Tradionally at Grandfather Mt. NC, Gatlinburg TN, & Loch Norman NC, there have been 4 weight divisions:
1. Under 100 pounds (made up of kids)
2. 100 - 149 pounds (made up of kids & teens usually)
3. 150 - 199 pounds (made up of teens & adults usually)
4. 200 pounds & up (made up of adults)
If there are enough wrestlers in a division the division may be split.

The Weight Divisions of Scotland in 1999 http://home.clara.net/pb/calendar/sco_la_e.htm 1 stone = 14 pounds, 1 kg. = 2.2 pounds
	Dundee Tayside	Glasgow	Bearsden & Milngavie	Ceres, Fife	Stirling Stirling	Balloch Strathclyde	Inveraray Strathclyde	Luss Strathclyde	Strathallan Stirling	Glasgow
	Sun. 14 Mar	Sun. 6 Jun	Sat. 12 Jun	Sat. 26 Jun	Sun. 11 Jul	Sat. 17 Jul	Tues. 20 Jul	Wed. 21 Jul	Sun. 8 Aug	Sat. 14 Aug
9st 7lbs					yes				yes	yes
10st 7lbs (147lbs/66.5kg)		yes	yes	yes			yes	yes
11st 7lbs (161lbs/73.5kg)				yes	yes	yes	yes	yes	yes	yes
12st 7lbs (175lbs/79.5kg)			yes			yes
13st		yes		yes	yes		yes	yes	yes	yes
14st 7lbs (203lbs/92kg)			yes		yes	yes		yes	yes
15st 7lbs										yes
Open		yes	yes	yes	yes	yes	yes	yes	yes	yes
Juniors*	yes	yes (local only)	yes	yes	yes				yes	yes
award		medals	money	money	money	money	money	money	money
The web page shows Juniors are awarded nothing. The money is about Ł100 in prizes per division.

In each of the 4 weight divisions, if there is a wrestler placing 1st, he gets a 1st place medal, if there is a wrestler placing 2nd, he gets a 2nd place medal, & if there is a wrestler placing 3rd, he gets a 3rd place medal.
1st place are determined by your position in the elimination tree. Additional trees may be required to determine 2nd & 3rd place. To see examples of elimination trees, see:
1. 1998 Culloden gathering & games (kids & adults)(no pictures)
2. 1998 Indian Springs Hotel's Scottish Festival (kids & adults)(pictures)
3. 1998 Feis Chlobhair /A Clover Kinntra Gatherin' (kids & teens)(no pictures)
4. 1999 Indian Springs Hotel's Scottish Festival (kids & adults)(movie)

Repeating

The ways to Win are:
1. You throw your opponent to the mat (or cause him to fall) with you coming down on top of him with your fingers (hands) still locked.
  If you cause him to fall, but you land side by side, it is a draw, so the fall does not count for either wrestler. It does not count if the wrestler on the bottom does not have his neck & thighs on the mat.
2. You cause his knee or knees to touch the mat.
3. You cause him to lose his grip (i.e. cause his hands to come loose).
4. Your opponent causes you to fall, but you manage to land on top of him with your hands still locked.
The ways to Lose are:
1. your opponent lands, falls, or dives on you
2. your knee touches the mat, for any reason, e.g. being forced, accidently triping on your feet, his feet or the mat, forgetting the rule & going down on your knee to pull him down.
3. your hands come unclasp, for any reason, e.g. unintentionally due to exertions by you or on you, reflex wanting to break your fall, or intentionally wanting a different grip.
"Mat" means & includes grass, rug, or mattress that one's knee touches or that one falls on.

If you have questions or suggestions, email me,
James Green.

This counter was put on the web 26 February 2000 at 11:07 PM EST.
Different visits to this Page

1. Return to my Wrestling Page
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3. Return to Indian Springs' Pre-registered Wrestlers
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The url of this page is
http://genealogy.org/~green/Scot/rules.html and
http://millennium.fortunecity.com/greendale/500/Scot/rules.html
( http://members.fortunecity.com/marbanks/Scot/rules.html)

This page was put on the web 29 January 2000.
This page was Last Updated 30 May 2000.

This page was put on the web by
James W. Green III.

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