"Locked or overlapped hands: If you are down on the mat in control of your opponent, you cannot lock or overlap your hands, fingers or arms around your opponent's body or both legs unless you have your opponent in a near pin, or your opponent stands up and has all his/her weight on two feet."
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They could allow locked hands as long as you are attempting a turn but not if you are just hanging on. The ref could give as much time as in freestyle and then order the top wrestler to break the lock.
They could allow locked hands as long as you are attempting a turn but not if you are just hanging on. The ref could give as much time as in freestyle and then order the top wrestler to break the lock.
As you probably know, locked hands are legal in a pinning combination in folkstyle. The shoulders need not be exposed, but the hold has to be one with which a pin can be obtained - like a cradle while your opponent is still on his knees. The point is, in folkstyle, unlike freestyle, back exposure isn't worth any points unless criteria are met for at least two seconds, so locked hands other than in a pinning combination is primarily a defensive move, not an offensive one.
The reason locked hands is illegal is to promote active riding in American folkstyle. As I'm sure you are aware of, Par Terre has always been an important part of international wrestling, but not the focus.
In my opinion, the focus of freestyle, especially now, and greco in the past, has been the neutral position. Par Terre offense is important because it tends to separate the sheep from the goats so to speak, but its far more valuable to have a solid neutral offense/defense.
I agree that it is silly to continue to have this as an illegal 'hold' if we are to focus on Freestyle. The fact of the matter is we are not.
If you have never seen an American folkstyle match, then I'll explain that the locked hands rule is designed to make it so the bottom man has a chance to escape. IF the top man were allowed to do this, he could, hang on indeffinitely without particularly working to improve his postion, See Pucillo v. Varner for an example.
Now, in American folkstyle wrestling, the rules are as such to attempt to put equal emphasis on each position. Giving each wrestler advantages and disadvatages. The locked hands rule is an equalizer and makes it such that the referee does not have to determine if the top wrestler is stalling by just riding in that type of position. You could ask anyone who knows, there are a lot of them here, who would tell you that determining stalling, or passivity as they call it in the international styles (which I don't think they do any more so I could understand your confusion) is difficult to do anyway.
So, as things are now, the locked hands rule is integeral to the mat wrestling portion of American folkstyle. I might also add that most governing bodies for American folkstyle are not interested in making it similar to the international styles.
Like most countries, America is rooted in tradition, and for the most part comfortable with it. You would be hard pressed to find a lot of people, outside of these boards who are interested in shifting the focus from 'our' style to the style of the rest of the world. Just ask any football coach or most football fans (football being American football, not to be confused with actual football, or what we Americans call Soccer).
Personally, I love Highschool and College wrestling the way it is. But, thanks to you (yes thats a compliment big) and a lot of the other people who post here, I have become very, very passionate about the international styles of wrestling. Most surprisingly of them all, Greco-Roman wrestling.
I think that should Americans find it important to acheive success on the international stage, that we should change our focus from American folkstyle to the international styles.
I just don't see that ever happening. In relation to this point, while we may have been having more 'down' years than in the past, especially in light of not qualifing a weight where we have a world silver medalist AND a world champion in Greco, I would suggest that comparatively, in regards to our scholastic focus, we haven't done all that poorly. Not as well as we potentially could, and most likely not as well as the Russians have always done, but not too badly either.
Its all a matter of perspective.
M
Last edited by architeuthis; 05-19-2008 at 01:01 PM..
Reason: spelling and continuity
I should have said that I usually understand locked hands, but the standing position always throws me (excuse the pun!).
See my previous post. In a standing or neutral position, locked hands can be used offensively to get a takedown or bring your opponent down to the mat. Once control is established, other than in a pinning combination, locked hands becomes a defensive technique which prevents your opponent from scoring, not one which helps you score points.
Good post. I agree that there is no need to tinker with folkstyle in order to make it more like freestyle. I didn't like the introduction of optional start and I didn't like the choice of top, botom or neutral, both of which I saw as attempts to freestylize folkstyle. They are different sports with emphasis on different (albeit similar) skills.
The question is, did you like it when they did away with horsehair mats?
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When did "locked hands" become a rule in folkstyle?
I know for a fact that it was not a rule when I wrestled 25-30 years ago, as I regularly did it (or, possibly, they just didn't call it). In fact, I am so ignorant of it that I still don't fully comprehend what it is and where it manifests itself.
Once again your are just plain wrong again here ban.
It was most definately a rule when I started about 40 years ago.
My guess it originated back when matches were determined purely by riding time.
Re: Locked hands, a crazy rule 
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