Catch-as-Catch-Can, a brutal martial art and sport, was created in England beginning in the 1490s and refined for hundreds of years. Sailors from the British Navy traveled all over Asia and the Middle East, bringing back fighting techniques from these exotic lands. Englishmen mixed these techniques with their existing wrestling techniques sourced from all over Europe. The result was a devastating martial art known as "Catch Wrestling."

The history of Catch Wrestling makes us take a hard look at what we think we know about the martial arts and where they came from. Also included in the book is a rare interview with one of the few Catch-as-Catch-Can experts still carrying on the tradition, Coach Joel Bane of Snake Pit USA. He reveals invaluable information about Catch Wrestling you would be hard pressed to find anywhere else.