Country with the best Grappling Culture

[SFCFighter]

I think it must be Iran:





Honorable mentions

Russia



Mongolia


Senegal


Germany


Switzerland


USA


Japan


Brazil


India


Turkey


Georgia


Anyone else got some good videos that show a crowd genuinely appreciating grappling?

 

[Toothless King]

I cant believe you forgot Japan = Judo

 

[SFCFighter]

post a video.. i didn't see any tremendously inspiring judo highlights or auditoriums packed with screaming japanese fans

 

[number9dream]

This isnt said entirely seriously, but watching some thaiboxing lately I was surprised at how much the crowd got into the clinch fighting. Huge cheers and stuff in basically grappling exchanges.

 

[Kneepocalypse]

Roy Nelson.

 

[Rod1]

post a video.. i didn't see any tremendously inspiring judo highlights or auditoriums packed with screaming japanese fans

Japan has good judo, good wrestling, good sumo, good bjj etc etc.

However Japan is huge, if you would ask me, then i would say countries where grappling is deeply rooted culturally and traditionally like Mongolia, or where grappling is a professional sport like Senegal.

 

[Jorge Luis Borges]

Germany? India?


Lol.

 

[SFCFighter]

people are paid to wrestle in India and Germany and large crowds gather to watch them

you paid 80 dollars to compete at NAGA and no one watched you

 

[wordspeaker]

people are paid to wrestle in India and Germany and large crowds gather to watch them

you paid 80 dollars to compete at NAGA and no one watched you

killa

 

[Doughbelly]

Ussr

 

[Thai Otoshi]

France has packed stadiums full of people cheering when one of their judoka hits an ippon.

 

[Judo Thai Boxer]

Yeah France love their Judo.

Personally I love the Japanese culture, it's like in Pride where they were silent and just clapped every so often. I love the respect they have.

 

[jujijimmy]

They have pictures of Judokas on the front of cereal boxes in France, bet there's not many countries that do that

 

[NoEnd]

Why Russian wrestling and not sambo?

And

 

[BJJArsenal]

Met some Iranians wrestling over here in the UK. They had a friend with them who didn't wrestle but had cauli ears anyway. Apparently it's cause if you're a kid in Iran it's really cool to have them and look like a tough wrestlers, so he slammed his ears shut in a door a whole load of times.

 

[seatea]

And man that India wrestling is weird, they are just grabbing each other by the underwear (must be one tough underwear) lol!

Try watching the Turkish wrestling.

 

[Shemhazai]

Met some Iranians wrestling over here in the UK. They had a friend with them who didn't wrestle but had cauli ears anyway. Apparently it's cause if you're a kid in Iran it's really cool to have them and look like a tough wrestlers, so he slammed his ears shut in a door a whole load of times.

LMAO. I know a guy here in Norway who did that as well. (Or had it done to him, rather.) Luckily he ended up becoming a good wrestler anyway.

 

[dsdoubled]

Im pretty sure Sweden, Finland, Poland, and Italy are very big fans of Greco and not so much with freestyle. Cuba loves their wrestlers and judokas.

 

[The Colonel]

I think what the thread starter is getting at by "best" is more of a general appreciation by practitioners and fans of the grappling art, not what country produces the best grapplers.

While I haven't been there, I'd have to say Iran. Man they love their wrestling.

Here is a video of a type of Indian wrestling called "pehlwani" as practiced by Indian immigrants in Dubai. Just look at how all these guys just show up to watch these dudes, plus they will even give them some cash.
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Here in Senegal, a European wrestler talks about how much support the fans give to the wrestlers there:
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Unfortunately here in the U.S. wrestling, really all grappling, is a niche sport that has its fans, but does the average person know who Dan Gable, Cael Sanderson, Dean Lister, Jake Shields, Marcello Garcia or any of these people are? Nope, and sadly most of them could care less.

 

[SFCFighter]

Why Russian wrestling and not sambo?

And