No Holds Barred: Mike Martelle on Let's Shoot 2015/Mayan World Championships of Catch Wrestling

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman once again spoke with Mike Martelle, the owner and head instructor of the Grizzly Gym.

We spoke with him by phone Wednesday.

At the end of June, Mike Martelle will once again be traveling to Guatemala City, Guatemala, to host the annual Let's Shoot catch wrestling tournament and conduct a seminar. The tournament will take place Sunday, June 28, at the Salon Municipal (Municipal Auditorium) in the San Lucas neighborhood in Guatemala City.

"You might recall that last year's catch wrestling tournament in Guatemala City, we did the math afterward and realized that it had actually had the largest turnout of any catch wrestling event of the modern era, which was something we're very proud of and we're continuing to build up," he said.

"This year we're hoping to be even bigger than the last."

This year's event, Let's Shoot 2015, also features a catch wrestling rules tournament, and with a very special name.

"We're calling it the Mayan World Championships, given that it's located deep in the heart of what used to be the Mayan world," he said.

The event is also "subtitled" the Billy Two Rivers International Championship, in honor of the 80th birthday of Billy Two Rivers, the retired pro wrestler, catch wrestler, and actor, who was also a leader of the Mohawk community of Kahnawake, just outside Montreal.

We discussed more on the format of the tournament, which is an open event where victory is attained by pin or submission in two out of three falls, and all submissions are legal.

In addition, we discussed the need for more catch wrestling tournaments, the importance of events like the July 18 North American Catch Wrestling Championships in Montreal, the positive steps of more and more catch wrestling organizations around the world working together, and much more.

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Thanks, Eddie Goldman
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