Cornish Wrestling

Ancient jacketed wrestling from Cornwall — pin any three points of a four-point score to win.

👥1 per team🌤outdoor
Photo · Wikipedia

What is Cornish Wrestling?

Cornish wrestling is one of the oldest surviving forms of jacketed wrestling in the world. Wrestlers wear thick canvas jackets and try to throw the opponent so that both shoulders and a hip touch the ground simultaneously (a "back"), earning three points. Bouts are scored by judges called "sticklers".

Quick facts

Category

Combat Sports

Type

Individual

Players

1 per team

Where played

outdoor

Country of origin

🇬🇧 United Kingdom

Estimated origin

Medieval Cornwall; earliest records ~13th century

Olympic

No

Popularity

niche

Sources & provenance

Last verified 2026-08-20.verified