Australian Links

Wrestling Australia Inc were formerly known as the Australian Wrestling Union and they have been arranging for Australian wrestlers to participate in international tournaments, including the Olympics and Commonwealth Games, since 1911 making them the oldest grappling organisation still functioning in Australia. In addition to running tournaments in Greco, Freestyle and Feminine Wrestling they are an Australian Sports Commission recognised National Sporting Organisation affiliated with the Oceania Council of Associated Wrestling Styles and FILA the International Federation of Associated Wrestling Styles, they can be contacted via their various state bodies at;

http://www.wrestling.com.au/index.htm

http://act.wrestling.com.au/

http://nswwrestling.com.au/

http://www.wrestlingqld.org.au/

http://www.wrestlingsa.com.au/

http://vic.wrestling.com.au/

http://wrestlingwa.com.au/

National Indigenous Wrestling & Grappling is a group started by my good friend Stephan Jaeggi, one of the most accomplished Indigenous Australian wrestlers of this day. He was mentored himself by another Indigenous wrestling great John Kinsela and is in turn mentoring Shane Parker & Blake Barden, the two current crop of future Olympic hopefuls of Aboriginal descent. Stephan can be contacted at two websites, one for the above mentioned group and another from his multi-style club at the Mt Druitt PCYC the Mt Druiit Wrestling & Grappling Club;

http://niwgi.com/main.html

http://mdwgc.com/

Creative Spirits is a website dedicated to bringing awareness of all things Aboriginal and have a wide array of articles relating to this subject matter, including a great mention of the Coreeda Association of Australia;

http://www.creativespirits.info/index.html

Our closest links however are with the Australian Sumo Federation who are in turn linked with the Oceania Sumo Union and the International Sumo Federation. They have been functioning since 1992 making them the oldest traditional wrestling organisation in Australia, coreeda wrestlers have participated at sumo tournaments in Australia and internationally and will continue to do so, the Australian Sumo Federation can be contacted at;  

http://sumoaustralia.com.au/

The African Wrestling & Sports Federation of Australia was created at the start of 2011 to promote the various styles of Indigenous African Wrestling at community festivals to provide a cultural link with the home continent and is a key organisation within the Australian Society of Traditional Wrestlers network. They are closely connected with the Traditional Sports Federation of Nigeria and are building similar links with other traditional wrestling federations in Senegal, Congo, Northern Sudan, Southern Sudan and Kenya. The president John Nze-Bertram has done much in a very short time to build awareness of mankind's most ancient sporting heritage and more can be see at the website; 

http://www.awsfaustralia.org/home

Turk Wrestling Australia Inc have a website which explains the history of Turkish Oil Wrestling in both Turkey and Australia, they are on the lookout for anyone that might like to learn more about their traditional style of wrestling & I highly recommend that they be contacted if you would like to improve your grappling technique in general;

http://turkwrestlingaustraliainc.com/index.html

Gilgamesh Games is a very interesting site established by the researcher David Chibo who has found compelling proof that sporting festivals are more ancient than anyone had previously suspected, please check out this interesting field of study;

http://www.gilgameshgames.org

The Association of Australian Celtic Wrestlers also have a website outlining their activities which can be see at;

http://celticwrestling.wordpress.com/

It is rare in the martial arts industry to find instructors willing to open their curriculum up to traditional grappling but we are very fortunate to find one in Sydney at the Budo Ryu Kempo Martial Arts Club. I applaud Cheryl & Hugh for taking this approach & can vouch that they run a very family friendly organisation through their multiple venues which can be found at their website;

http://www.budo.com.au/documents/homepageedit.php

As part of the FILA directive an Australian Pankration & Grappling Committee was created in 2010 to promote an amateur form of MMA called Pankration which puts a greater emphasis on striking techniques, a similar sport called Combat Grappling that puts more emphasis on submission finishes and the more pure submission wrestling sport simply called Grappling. This is an excellent stepping stone for anyone thinking of becoming a professional MMA fighter & their website is;

http://auspankration.com/

The International Budo Federation Australia has been functioning for many years trying to build a sense of community amongst the diverse forms of martial arts practiced in Australia and they provide connection to other grappling organisations such as the Australian Judo Union, the Australian Sambo Federation as well as various jujitsu & MMA clubs. Their website is a superb reference for anyone wanting to train seriously in martial arts and I recommend looking at it if this is your goal;

http://ibf.com.au/index.html

The Judo Federation of Australia was formed in 1952 making it the second oldest grappling organisation in this country and just like Wrestling Australia Inc they have recognition from from the Australian Sports Commission as a bona fide National Sporting Organisation. With Associations in every state & connected internationally to the Oceania Judo Union and the International Judo Federation, it is worthwhile contacting them to find a good grappling class near you;

http://www.ausjudo.com.au/jfa/global

This blogsite by Matt Daquino gives an excellent update for all things related to Judo and Grappling and is well worth the read;

http://matt-daquino.blogspot.com/

The third major Australian Sports Commission recognised National Sporting Organisation that has an emphasis grappling combat sports is the Australian Jujitsu Federation which promotes various styles of traditional Japanese Jujitsu, Brazilian Jujitsu, European Jujitsu, Korean Hapkido and Aikido. They are connected to various international organisations and are the governing body to send athletes to Sport Accord recognised international events;

http://www.jujitsu.com.au/welcome/page1.php

The largest grappling organisation in this country however is the Australian Federation of Brasilian Jiu Jitsu which is affiliated with the Gracie Family's International Federation of Brasilian Jiu Jitsu. It was formed in 1994 making it the oldest Brasilian Jiu Jitsu organisation outside of Brazil but may soon be changing their name to the Australian Federation of Jui Jitsu according to the founder Peter de Been who built this impressive organisation from scratch. With affiliate clubs all around the land I'm sure it won't be too hard to find a good grappling club near you;

http://www.afbjj.com/

The New Zealand Sambo Federation has helped immensely with the formation of Sambo Australia Inc and it probably won't be long before an Australasian or Oceania Championship is created, so as a continental board we can send competitors to Federation International Amateur Sambo FIAS endorsed World Championship competitions, the websites are;

http://samboaustralia.com/   

http://www.nz-sambo.itgo.com/

The oldest sambo club in Australia however, is the Sombo Wrestling Academy, which is based in Perth and run by a very experienced wrestling instructor called Imran Szabo. Now connected to the broader network of the Sambo Australia Inc Imran will soon be bringing his experienced grapplers to compete in national tournaments;

http://www.sombowrestlingacademy.com.au/

Systema Australia are another group that are connected to Sambo Australia Inc through their shared love of Russian martial arts and can be contacted via their website;

http://www.systemaaustralia.com/

The Australian Shuai Jiao Union which promotes the Chinese style of Traditional Wrestling is based in Brisbane and the head instructor of this new Australian martial art can be contacted via Dr Jirong Zhang's website;

http://www.3treasures.com/

The Australian Kabaddi Federation teaches a traditional Indian type of combat sport that is growing in international popularity through the International Kabaddi Federation. Run by the Australian Sikh Community the Australian Championships coincide with the annual Australian Sikh Games;

http://ozkabaddi.com/

For the first time in Australian history we also have an experienced instructor of Persian martial arts in Khashi Heidari who formed the Zurkhaneh-House of Power in Sydney and affiliated it with the International Zurkhaneh Sports Federation, which has over 50 nations competing in an annual World Championship. Teaching not just impressive physical strength, speed & endurance but also high moral development based on a 5,000 year old tradition that produced the first major world empire, I would highly recommend this training regime for anyone who wants to become the best they can;

http://www.zurkhaneh.com.au/

The Australian Tug of War Association has recently joined forces with the Australian Society of Traditional Wrestlers helping to boost numbers and influence. They are members of Tug of War International Federation and can be contacted via their website;

http://www.tugofwar.com.au

The Australian Armwrestling Federation has likewise joined for similar reasons believing in the concept of strength in solidarity and alongside their parent body the World Armwrestling Federation have much information to share about them at;

http://www.armwrestlingaustralia.com

The Ancient Arts Fellowship is a central Medieval Reenactment organisation who have built a connection with the Association of Australian Celtic Wrestlers by sending competitors to competitions and can be contacted at their website;

http://www.aaf.org.au/

The Boomerang Association of Australia is like the Coreeda Association of Australia in many ways in that they are keeping an indigenous sporting tradition alive. Their website is encyclopedic and a wide array of weapons can be found;

http://www.boomerang.org.au/

Australian Anthropology or Ausanthrop has detailed information about the Coreeda Association on its site;

http://www.ausanthrop.net/phorum/read.php?1,1047,2479

Infinite MMA has a regularly updated forum for martial artists across Australia and New Zealand with a section dedicated to grappling styles which has included discussion about Coreeda;

http://infinitemma.com/community/index.php/forum/

Another Australian martial arts forum can be found at the Martial Arts News & Video site run by the good people at Weapons Plus Martial Arts Supplies;

http://martialarts.posterous.com/

Rumble Magazine is Australia's first professional wrestling editorial but not only does it cover news both within the Australian professional wrestling scene and around the world with organisation like World Wrestling Entertainment and Mexican Lucha Libre but it also has extensive coverage of Mixed Martial Arts events and general grappling sports from around Australia. The editor Marek Indyka has taken an approach that all these activities must work more closely together for mutual support, even if the philosophical approach is different and this attitude must be applauded. Take time to read the articles because they are often very informative;

http://www.rumblemagazine.com.au/

Closely realted to Rumble Magazine is the Wrestle Hustle website that has frequent upadtes of what is happening in the world of professional wrestling, professional MMA and professional sumo. This can be seen at this site;

http://wrestlehustle.com/news.php?cat.1