"Have Double Wristlock, Will Travel" - No Holds Barred: Josh Barnett on Catch Wrestling and the Need to Compete

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman once again spoke with catch wrestler Josh Barnett.

We spoke with him by phone Tuesday.

Several athletes he has helped train will be competing this Sunday, July 3, at the Frank Gotch World Catch Wrestling Tournament in Humboldt, Iowa, run by the Catch Wrestling Alliance. Among them are Travis Newaza, Shayna Baszler, Laura Anderson, and Javier Garcia.

"I saw some opportunity to send some athletes out there," he said, "and the biggest thing for me that I have preached as a catch wrestler and a combat athlete is: compete. You have to go out there and compete. And our guys go out and compete in jiu-jitsu-based competitions, catch-based competitions, it doesn't matter. Most of them parlay it into MMA fighting careers. And part of our success is that we compete. We get on the mat, and we're adaptable, we're flexible. And have double wristlock, will travel, essentially."

We discussed the format for this tournament, the upcoming Metamoris card in July and the many problems that organization has had, his UFC fight in September against Andrei Arlovski, and his starring a new movie called "Never Back Down: No Surrender".

While doing all of this, he is conducting a series of catch wrestling seminars and training camps with Wade Schalles and Jake Shannon called "pin & submit", including going to Denver in August, London in September, and Fort Lauderdale in October.

We also discussed how the 2016 U.S. Grappling World Team Trials, run by USA Wrestling in May in North Carolina, were marked by what he described as "incompetence" and being run by people who had "no idea what they're doing." In that event, he finished second in the 100+ kg/unlimited no-gi grappling division, even though officials admitted that he should not have lost.

In addition, we discussed what it would take for him to compete in a catch wrestling competition, how "there is really no money in catch" today, how he is following the legacy of the legendary 20th century catch wrestler Ad Santel, the need for everyone involved in catch wrestling to work together, his role in the California Catch Wrestling Association, his training with Satoshi Ishii, how college wrestlers are well-prepared to transition into catch wrestling,  and much, much more.

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No Holds Barred is free to listen to and is sponsored by:

The Frank Gotch World Catch Wrestling Tournament. On Sunday, July 3, 2016, catch wrestlers from all around the world will compete in Humboldt, Iowa, the hometown of the legendary world champion wrestler Frank Gotch. Organized by the Catch Wrestling Alliance and co-sponsored by IAWrestle, the Frank Gotch Statue Committee, and the Frank Gotch Kids Wrestling Club, the event will take place at Humboldt High School. For more information, go to CatchWrestlingAlliance.com.

The North American Catch Wrestling Association, a grassroots organization designed to help rebuild the sport of catch-as-catch-can-wrestling. For more information, go to their Facebook page at facebook.com/NorthAmericanCatchWrestlingAssociation.

BJJ Eastern Europe, for the latest Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu news, articles, interviews, competition calendar, European belt rankings, academy directory, and more. For more information, go to BJJEE.com.

The National Registry for Wrestling, whose mission is to increase wrestling's fanbase, to build a registry of all wrestling fans, to serve as a connecting point for all wrestling fans, and to provide TV and Internet listings for wrestling. For more information, go to NR4W.com.

Thanks, Eddie Goldman
EddieGoldman.com