The Gotch Special

Some people have asked about the name of this website and what does it mean. Josh Barnett is one of my and Leo’s favorite fighers. Barnett, a top ten heavyweight, specializes in catch wrestling and is a constant reminder that BJJ isn’t the only submission grappling art out there. Barnett will call his submissions by their catch wrestling names instead of the popular BJJ names that most MMA fans are familiar with. So instead of saying Americana, kimura, and rear-naked choke he’ll say top wrist lock, double wrist lock, and the sleeper. He is a hardcore pro wrestling fan that can discuss everything from Dusty Rhodes to Alexander Otsuka. He’s also a damn good professional wrestler. After the death of Karl Gotch, an important historical figure to anyone with any interest in submission grappling, MMA, or pro wrestling, Barnett dubbed the Catch wrestling head-scissors-double wristlock technique “The Gotch Special”. Here is Barnett using it in a pro wrestling bout against Don “The Predator” Frye (skip to the 8:20 time mark in the video to see the technique):

An example of “The Gotch Special” in an MMA fight is when Gray Maynard fought Roger Huerta in September of 2009:

Here are two illustrations of how to get this technique from The Sandow-Lewis Library book – Wrestling Part Two. This book was published in 1926 and put together by manager and trainer Billy Sandow and World Heavyweight Wrestling Champion Ed “Stranger” Lewis:

That my friends is “The Gotch Special”.