Content includes:
Introductory.
Wrestling on the Feet.
Tips for the Beginner.
Tips for Instructors.
Suggested Courses of Half-hour Lessons.
Standard Weights.
Rules of Wrestling on the Feet.
Simple Competitions.
Wrestling Mats.
George Frederick William de Relwyskow (18 June 1887 - 1942) was an
English sport wrestler who competed in the 1908 Summer Olympics for
Great Britain.
Born in Kensington in 1887, the son of White Russian immigrants, de
Relwyskow took up wrestling as a means of keeping fit while a student in
London training as an artist and designer. By 1907 he had won
thirty-five open competitions in Great Britain and won the English
amateur championships at lightweight and middleweight in 1907 and 1908.
Because of his success he selected to represent Great Britain in the
1908 Olympics held in London.
On the outbreak of the First World War de Relwyskow returned to Britain
from South America where he was on a wrestling tour to enlist in the
Army. He served as a gymnastic and bayonet-fighting trainer, and served
for a period with the Australian infantry. In France he trained soldiers
in the use of unarmed combat. In October 1918 de Relwyskow was based at
Aldershot as a Royal Army Physical Training Corps instructor in the Army
system of wrestling, a system he created. In 1924 he was appointed
trainer to the British Olympic Games team in the 1924 Olympics held in
Paris.
He enlisted again at the start of World War II and served as an
instructor in Unarmed Combat and Silent Killing with the Special
Operations Executive (SOE). After serving for a period as an Instructor
to the SOE School in Canada - the Special Training School (STS) 103
(which was also known as "Camp X"), de Relwyskow returned to Britain
before being sent to the Far East.
Relwyskow died at his Leeds home in 1942. He left a wife, Clara, and
sons Douglas and George. Douglas was a professional wrestling referee,
whose own son, also called Douglas (grandson of the original George),
became a regular face on televised professional wrestling in the UK
under the name Barry Douglas. The younger George de Relwyskow pursued a
career in professional wrestling cut short by an injury in World War II.
He later became a successful wrestling promoter and member of Joint
Promotions and the promotional business was continued after his death in
1980 by his daughter Ann.
George de Relwyskow was the youngest winner of an Olympic gold medal for
wrestling, a record that was to stand for almost seventy years until the
20-year-old Soviet Suren Nalbandyan won the Greco-Roman lightweight
title in 1976.
