Any catch wrestlers able to tell me more about their art? (also my love letter to catch wrestling)

Hi guys,

Ever since I read about and saw catch wrestling on youtube I have been completely in love with it - the heritage and roots, the ruleset and dynamics of the matches, the aggressive and tenacious nature of it and the passion of the people who are helping to bring it back to the forefront. You can hear the pure passion for it in the voices of the late Billy Robinson, Jake Shannon, Josh Barnett and so many of the other big cats of this amazing art.

It's a form of grappling that absolutely fascinates me. From what I've heard and seen, catch wrestlers excel in making life absolutely miserable for their opponent, making them constantly uncomfortable and relentlessly attacking with hook after hook and generally being very difficult to control. It's such an amazing mix of pinning and submitting.

I am planning on going on a bit of a grappling "pilgrimage" around Europe during the summer, and would like to spend time with some catch wrestling instructors and enthusiasts on the way, and currently on my list is a seminar in the Snake Pit in Wigan. I plan on going to other countries and I happen to speak German and Spanish as well so if you have any recommendations on who to go train with in non-English-speaking countries too, then by all means do say. I'd love to see what catch is all about and get involved, even if I may not be able to train catch with the same regularity that I can with jiu jitsu gi and nogi. Nonetheless though, I'd absolutely love to receive some training in it and delve into the catch wrestling world.

So, tell me about catch - what places do you hang out online, what is the current state of the sport, what is the vision for the future, who is legit and who to look out for, where are good places to train (within Europe, and besides Snake Pit), what are your personal thoughts on it as a grappling style and so on, and what material would you recommend for picking up a few catch-wrestling specific tricks and techniques, or even just reading about it in general.

While for me grappling is a unviersal concept of fighting without borders or divions, it's inspiring to see the revival of catch and I would like to take part while my body is still in the shape to do so!

Sincerely,

A catch wrestling admirer