Originally Posted by LeadJolt

Check out the work of Matt Furey, Tony Cecchine, and Mark Hatmaker for more recent developments in catch wrestling (aka 'hooking'). Now, none of those three guys is a household name in submission wrestling or MMA/NHB, obviously, but the legendary Gene LeBell subscribes to this method (as stated on his personal website), as do the very successful Shamrock brothers, so the method does have some ring and cage tested validity. In general, the pursuit of submissions is a bit more direct within the catch style, and while position is not irrelevant, catch wrestling seeks submissions from pretty much any position...i.e., the 'position before submission' notion is not nearly as strong within the catch system. As someone also noted, there are some moves that would not be allowed in pure sport/tournament grappling and some dirty tricks to enhance the punishment that you are able to apply to your opponent. As such, catch wrestling is roughly analogous to the pre-Queensbury Rules era of boxing. It has some ties to traveling carnivals in the older era of professional wrestling and 'fixed matches' in the newer era of pro wrestling, and, thus, is viewed suspiciously by some people. However, the art of catch wrestling in original form is (arguably) a viable form of submission grappling.

Will it change the MMA world? No. Is it the next big thing that will replace BJJ as an approach to the ground game? No. Catch is just another form of grappling that one might look into and incorporate if you are into NHB type fighting or if you want some punishing groundfighting moves for the street. I personally believe that some of the mindset, concepts, and techniques are complementary to BJJ as a groundfighting approach.