Gatta gusthi
Gatta gusthi is a form of submission wrestling practiced in Kerala, India. Competitions take place inside an open ground called a godha, often on beaches. Wrestlers, known as phayalvans, employ around 100 techniques. Once widely popular, the sport saw a decline with the rise of freestyle wrestling and karate in the late 1960s. Its freestyle version is known as gusthi.
History
Gatta gusthi evolved into a prominent sporting event during the era of erstwhile Cochin and Travancore kingdoms in present-day Kerala, with Kochi emerging as a significant sports hub. Competitions were regularly organized across the state. The sport reached its peak between 1945 and 1970. Prominent phayalvans during this period included Manacaud Narayana Pillai, Polachira Ramachandran, Kattuchira Pappudas, Shankar Singh, Kayamkulam Dhayanandhan, Electric Moideen Kunj, Aslam Basheer, Kollam Rasheed, Nickel Jamal, among others.Gatta gusthi was particularly in demand in Kochi, Kollam, and Manacaud. Kollam had three permanent godhas. The first match in Travancore was held in 1952. Fort Kochi beach regularly hosted championship bouts until the early 1970. Gatta gusthi remained a major sporting event in the state till the late 1960s. It began fading after the arrival of freestyle wrestling. Freestyle wrestling, known simply as gusthi, was registered as a sport in Ernakulam district in 1969. Subsequently, gatta gusthi was limited to select events organised by aficionados. According to the Kerala State Wrestling Association, audience interest declined due to rumours of match fixing.
In India, traditional Indian martial arts and combat sports as a whole began fading after the introduction of karate in the later half of the 20th century. During 1970s, with the influx of foreign martial arts films, Indians began travelling to East Asia in large numbers to learn karate and returned to open karate schools across the Indian subcontinent, in cities as well as in small towns and villages. In 1980s, karate-style action sequences became frequent in mainstream Indian cinema, articles and news on karate were frequently appearing on magazines and newspapers. Additionally, Police forces of [the states and union territories of India|state police forces across India] added karate in their training.
As part of reviving the sport, former champion-turned-coach T. J. George started training youngsters since his retirement. He set up a gym, Cochin Grapplers, at Fort Kochi in 1986. He founded Kerala State Gatta Gusthy Association, although it is yet to receive recognition from Kerala State Sports Council. In Kerala, governing body for all forms of wrestling is the Kerala State Wrestling Association, approved by Kerala State Sports Council and Wrestling Federation of India. Both gatta gusthi and gusthi saw a resurgence of interest among youngsters after wrestlers Sushil Kumar, Yogeshwar Dutt and Sakshi Malik won medals at the Summer Olympics and with the success of the film Dangal and Phogat sisters.