On the Mat

From ancient tomb paintings and Olympic arenas to village festivals, sumo stables, college wrestling rooms, lucha libre masks, professional wrestling television, and modern world championships, On the Mat: The History of Wrestling tells the global story of one of humanity’s oldest physical contests.

This fact-based narrative follows wrestling across civilisations, continents, and centuries, tracing its place in ritual, military training, education, entertainment, national identity, and elite sport. It explores ancient Greek and Roman wrestling, Asian and African traditions, South Asian kushti, Turkish oil wrestling, Japanese sumo, European folk styles, Olympic freestyle and Greco-Roman wrestling, American collegiate wrestling, women’s wrestling, and the rise of professional wrestling as global entertainment.

Written in a polished, accessible style, this book shows how wrestling has continually changed its rules, stages, and meanings while preserving its essential drama: two people, hand to hand, testing strength, timing, balance, discipline, and control.