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Ringen is the German language term for grappling (wrestling). In the context of the German school of historical European martial arts during the Late Middle Ages and the German Renaissance, Ringen refers to unarmed combat in general, including grappling techniques used as part of swordsmanship.
The German tradition has records of a number of master- Ringer of the 15th to 16th centuries specializing in unarmed combat, such as Ott Jud.
Medieval and early Renaissance wrestling treatises present both sport and combat techniques together as one art. The distinction is made more frequently by modern practitioners than is present in historical sources, but in a select few examples the terms for sportive grappling or geselliges Ringen and earnest unarmed combat or Kampfringen (where Kampf is the Early Modern German term for "war" or battle) were used to describe specific techniques which were only suitable for one scenario or the other.
There are no known sources describing medieval rulesets for Ringen competition. However, many living folk wrestling styles in Europe are fought until a throw is completed. The lack of detailed ground wrestling in the medieval wrestling treatises supports the theory that in both competition and combat the throw was more important than extended ground wrestling.
While sportive grappling had fixed rules that prohibited dangerous techniques, usually starting in grappling hold and ending with a throw or submission, Kampfringen can be considered a system of unarmed self-defense including punches, joint-locks, knee strikes, , and (to a limited extent) .
The German tradition of Ringen was eclipsed during the 17th century as the modern Baroque understanding of nobility precluded the participation of the higher classes in wrestling matches. Wrestling continued to be practiced among the lower classes, giving rise to the various traditional styles of folk wrestling. The still existing Swiss martial art Schwingen is directly related to Kampfringen.
Other treatises that contain material both on Ringen and on swordsmanship include those of Fiore dei Liberi (c. 1410), Fabian von Auerswald (1462), Pietro Monte (c. 1480), and Hans Wurm (c. 1500).
Wrestling fell out of fashion among the upper classes with the beginning Baroque period. A late treatise on Ringen is that by Johann Georg Passchen, published in 1659. Vollständiges Ring-Buch / darinnen angewiesen wird / wie man Adversarium recht sol angreiffen / sich lossmachen / die schläge pariren / unterschiedliche Lectiones und die contra-Lectiones darauff machen / mit Fleiß beschrieben und mit vielen nothwendigen kupffern außgebildet. 1659, reprint 1663 Halle (S.), Melchior Oelschlägel; English translation by Eli Steenput, Journal of Western Martial Art, November 2000 [4] Maybe the last book which deals with Ringen as a deadly martial art, is possibly "Leib-beschirmende und Feinden Trotz-bietende Fecht-Kunst" from Johann Andreas Schmidt, which was published in Weigel, Nürnberg in 1713. However, Kampfringen did survive at least partly in the folk wrestling styles of the Holy Roman Empire and parts of it still exist within modern wrestling styles such as local German catch wrestling.
Grappling techniques are particularly central to the discipline of armoured fighting ( Harnischfechten).
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