What martial art styles were originated in the United States?

[Tim McFatridge]

Kenpo was created over here as well...although again you have influence from other Asian arts.

Catch wrestling I would say is an American art although it was influenced by England. In the Lancashire area of England Collar and Elbow wrestling was popular which some referred to as Catch Wrestling. In the late 1800's there were many wrestlers from all over the world coming to America to fight the American wrestlers. In 1887 Tom Connors from Wiggins, England (Lancashire area) fought Evan "Strangler" Lewis (not to be confused with Ed "Strangler" Lewis from another era) in Pittsburg,Pa. which was said to have been one of the roughest bouts of the day. The man known as the Father or Conerstone of Catch Wrestling is Martin "Farmer" Burns. He was borin in Cedar County, Iowa in 1861 at the start of the American Civil War. He father died when he was 11 forcing him to go to work and help take care of his mom, brother and 5 sisters. He did very hard labor growing up working for a neighboring farm and doing everything from digging graves, plowing corn to sawing wood which is what helped him get in shape and develop his strength. As a boy Martin was always interested in and had a natural ability for wrestling. Later he went to work in a grading camp which allowed him to hone his wrestling skills. The camps were populated by very rugged, tough men who depended strictly on their brute strength in wrestlign matches which was very popular in the camps. Martin had a very analytical mind which allowed him to constantly evaluate different wrestling techniques and improve on them. In 1889 he traveled to Chicago on a cattle car to deliver some livestock. Once in the city he went sight seeing and saw several posters around town offering $25.00 to anyone who can last 15 minutes with Evan Strangler Lewis and Jack Carkeek. Martin Farmer got his shot and was given the nick name "Farmer" when he walked out on the stage in his overalls and socks. He beat both men and won his $25. From 1890-1893 he travelled the country in a carnival show taking on all comers in challenge matches. One of his biggest victories was over Japan's Matsada Sora Kichi who he defeated in Troy, New York. He weighed 175 pounds and had a 20"neck. His neck was so strong and so resistant to pain that would often issue challenges to people to try and choke him...no one ever succeeded, although it is said that a great deal tried. The other thing he would do is take a hangmans drop and stay there for three minutes while whistling the tune Yankee Doodle Dandee...he would put a hangmans noose around his head and fall 6 feet...! He trained many wreslting champions like Frank Gotch who is said to be the greatest wrestler who ever lived. He also trained people like Jack Reynolds,Earl Caddock and Joe "Toots" Mondt. He was so well known by everyone for being in great physical shape and being a great teacher that he was able to start teaching Catch-as-catch-can wrestling in the local high schools in Iowa. He is the reason wrestling is so big in Iowa and Nebraska.

Sorry for the long post but thought I should give a short history on Catch Wrestling in this country.

[Tim McFatridge]

Sorry for the second post guys but I forgot something....Farmer Burns was also very familiar with Judo and Jiu Jitsu and other grappling arts of the day. He would take what he saw in these arts and dissect the tecniques and improve upon them and find ways of making them more painful. The one thing he was known for is being able to make a man cry uncle from any position he was in. Although he would train and teach his students the "proper" position to be in he would also teach them that "proper" positioning is only part of it.

[Tim McFatridge]

Sorry for the second post guys but I forgot something....Farmer Burns was also very familiar with Judo and Jiu Jitsu and other grappling arts of the day. He would take what he saw in these arts and dissect the tecniques and improve upon them and find ways of making them more painful. The one thing he was known for is being able to make a man cry uncle from any position he was in. Although he would train and teach his students the "proper" position to be in he would also teach them that "proper" positioning is only part of it.

[NuffSpeed]

Jeet Kune Do is not a style. It is a philosophy.

Please expand....and define "philosophy".

[Balo]

CATCH WRESTLING IS NOT AMERICAN.

It originated from Lancashire UK and was called Catch as catch can.

[gaittec]

INJUN wrestling

[Dim Wit Moc]

My guess would be hundreds. Martial arts are deadly serious, but they are also fun. Many people study arts, and put together their own hybrid systems, based on what they find effective. Many of them are little known. These comments would be true of karate, kung fu, kenpo, jujitsu, etc.

[seanyseanybean]

Western Boxing?

...No. Boxing is english and was probably around before the USA was founded. However i guess you could argue that the modern style as seen today was developed in the USA.

Kickboxing was developed in the US, but again its based on Karate and Boxing.

Seeing as the US is such a young country it hasnt needed to create any unarmed fighting styles. MA generally were created for survival.

[Tim McFatridge]

Balo, I know Catch Wrestling originated in England. I made mention of that in my post but it was the early Americans such as Martin Farmer Burns, Frank Gotch, Strangler Lewis and the likes that perfected if you will. Back in the mid 1800's wrestling was very big in the army becuase of Abraham Lincoln. President Lincoln was a champion wrestler when he was in college and had the military take up wrestling as a way of training the military men and keeping them in shape. Thats where alot of these guys in America learned or honed their wrestling skills. Martin Burns worked around alot of army camps and would wrestle them evey day. He would watch all the other guys and study their moves and find ways of making their moves better so they would work for him. He figured out how to do alot of the same moves without having to rely on brute strength.

[Blue Wave Gym]

hey

what about indian leg wrestling/foot fighting techniques(remeber when nakoma first met grizzly adams and gave him a red man style beat down) also what about weapons arts lke tommohawk throwing and I've even seen a navajo knife fighting/self defense video marketed in a ma mag. Any native american ma people out there?

[Paco]

Here's a list of the top of my head:

Ed Parker's Kenpo Karate

Jun Fan Gung Fu

Kara-Ho Kempo (Sam Kuoha out of Hawaii)

USA Goju (Peter Urban)

Miletich Fighting Systems

Jailhouse Rock or 52 Hand Blocks (not openly taught)

Kupigana Ngumi (created by African American martial artists)

Aside from wrestling, boxing and continental weapon arts (like the Bowie knife), most of these are Asian in origin but given further development by an American martial artist... jus' my 2 cents.

[Blue Wave Gym]

hey

rember the book tak em' down put em' out knife fighting techniques from folsom prison does that qualify as a knife sub style
what about my art I just founded a second ago called Shank-Jitsu (tm)
instructor certs are only $100 and dvds are on $50.00

[WildWest.]

Just curious. What martial art styles were developed by an American or in the United States?

So far I'm surprised an American hasn't come out and said that all MA's originated in America

[traveller]

I just don't want everyone else to feel bad, but you're right. All MA's were developed right here in the good old US of A. Of course it wasn't called America then.
Back then we were just a bunch of roaming nomads with nothing better to do, then one day the Big Guy thought hey I could beat up on the little guys more often if I called it an art and trained them in it.
From there word about this art spread across the world and other peoples started developing their own arts.
Some time near the end of the ice age, the American arts were neglected and ultimately forgotten. Along with most of America, which is actually the birth place of humanity.
But other arts were still around, and started claiming to be the first. That wouldn't have happen if Big Guy would have survived, but in his last American title defense he had his neck snapped by a NJJ (Neanderthal Jiu Jitsu) practitioner.

[WildWest.]

I just don't want everyone else to feel bad, but you're right. All MA's were developed right here in the good old US of A. Of course it wasn't called America then.
Back then we were just a bunch of roaming nomads with nothing better to do, then one day the Big Guy thought hey I could beat up on the little guys more often if I called it an art and trained them in it.
From there word about this art spread across the world and other peoples started developing their own arts.
Some time near the end of the ice age, the American arts were neglected and ultimately forgotten. Along with most of America, which is actually the birth place of humanity.
But other arts were still around, and started claiming to be the first. That wouldn't have happen if Big Guy would have survived, but in his last American title defense he had his neck snapped by a NJJ (Neanderthal Jiu Jitsu) practitioner.

Harharharhar!!!!