Lessons in Wrestling and Physical Culture

THE WRESTLING LESSONS IN THIS BOOK BY FARMER BURNS ARE EASY TO UNDERSTAND FOR ANYONE AND ARE VERY WELL EXPLAINED. HE STATES IN THIS BOOK THAT IT IS FAR BETTER FOR A STUDENT TO LEARN A SMALLER NUMBER OF MOVES AND MASTER THEM VERY WELL THAN TO TRY TO LEARN A LARGE NUMBER OF MOVES AND NOT MASTER ANY OF THEM. A WRESTLER WHO HAS MASTERED 10-15 MOVES WILL EASILY DEFEAT ANOTHER WRESTLER WHO HAS KNOWLEDGE OF HUNDREDS OF MOVES BUT HAS NOT MASTERED THEM BECAUSE HE WILL PROBABLY BE CONFUSED AND WON`T BE ABLE TO DECIDE WHICH MOVE TO USE OR THINK OF A STRATEGY. THIS IS THE ESSENCE OF THIS COURSE. SIMPLE AND EFFECTIVE. FARMER FOCUSES ON A STRONG FOUNDATION AND ON THE MOVES THAT HE BELIEVES ARE THE MOST IMPORTANT AND EFFECTIVE. THE INFORMATION ABOUT EXERCISE IS GOOD BUT SOME THINGS ARE RATHER OUTDATED AND THE TECHNIQUE CALLED INTERNAL MASSAGE IS BASICALLY NEW AGE MUMBO JUMBO AND IS NOT NEARLY AS EFFECTIVE AT DEVELOPING THE ABS AS OLD FASHION SIT-UPS AND CRUNCHES BUT THE LESSONS ON CATCH WRESTLING ARE PRICELESS. ANOTHER BOOK: THE SCIENCE OF WRESTLING AND THE ART OF JIUJITSU IS JUST AS GOOD AND WILL MAKE AN AWESOME COMPLIMENT TO THIS BOOK. JESUS IS THE ANSWER AND GOD BLESS YOU :)

While some of the spelling and grammer mistakes are glaring, reflecting it's plublishing date of 1912, a lack of editor, or both, this is quite possibly the single most important wrestling book ever writen. It's compatable with sport, self defense or Professional wrestling, even taking wrestling to a lifestyle equal to any modern martial art. From simplistic but effective locking and take down techniques to subtle yet ingenious transitions and holds this book is a must for the begining or experienced wrestler, covering both the stand up and ground elements, concepts of stamina and endurance, tempo and strategy equal to any classical fencing teacher, a focus on internal health ewual to any tai Chi or Qi Gung master, cross training with boxing to form a true mixed martial art, even practical self defense techniques, though all using somewhat date terminology " be ON TIME" " use your MENTAL STUFF", etc. The picture qulaity is very good considering it's time though you don't get multiple angles. It also features illustrations on workouts to help build a strong body and the man's philosophy not only of wrestling but of living a healthy, happy life as a wrestler. Truely a treasure at the level of Rick Flair and Larry the legend.

The pictures of the techniques are very dim to the point that it is usually impossible to make out any features. By reading the commentary and going on-line to look up the same technique it can finally mostly be understood, but overall the book fails in its purpose of demonstrating wrestling moves.

This book looks like it was made by scanning the original lessons, and letting some sort of OCR sort out the text. There are plenty of unneccesary typing errors in the text, and the images look really blurry. Also, some places in the book, images are missing. In the end, I give the book three stars, as it is currently the best available option for obtaining these lessons(there are worse, low-res scans of the original course available for free online), but minus two stars for image quality and errors.

Very pleased with this book!

Very happy w/ it. Nice owing a piece of history. A lot of sage advice on being " On Time" and breathing exercises. He covers all of the nelson holds and a good amount of hammer style locks. A great addition to your Catch library.

Great book from a historical perspective. If you are a fan of wrestling or combat sports, this manual is like a part of history.

I read this a few times on the net. But never did the course. But since I ve had the book I ve been through the lot a few times.its a great resource.

This book was made popular again through the efforts of Matt Furey who recommends the book just for the breathing exercises alone:"deep breathing has made many a sick man well and many a well man strong, Martin (farmer) Burns".This book has added to my knowledge of bodyweight/calisthenics exercise and I highly recommend it to anyone who's interested in health and fitness using one's own body.Seller also highly recommended 5 Stars.

First of all as someone who been at Submission Wrestling & Grappling in an earned MMA gym environment.This is great indirect learning tool for principles for specifically wrestlingAnd is a must have book on the subject Farmer Burns is a Legend in the gameIt all came on time and great conditionThis will proudly go a long side on my book shelf to readWith anything from grappling book collection anything from Sambo, Judo , wrestlingWell worth the purchaseHighly recommended

A classic work by an old master... yes some of the ideas about training and nutrition may be a little outdated, but in terms of the holds and general content - Fantastic both from a historical perspective and in terms of teaching aid.

poor quality copy same has other review has wrote cannot read even enlarging it shame has what l can make out of it looks good would buy only if l could get a readable copy

i was not able to read on my kindle at all well, even with increase font size.a bad copy of a old book.shame i may av found interesting if able to read it!