APAD: catch as catch can

Meaning:

   The proverb "Catch as catch can" means to do the best you can with the

   resources available to you. It refers to improvising or making do with what

   you have.

 

Background:

   The phrase originates from a style of wrestling known as catch-as-catch-can,

   where wrestlers could use various holds and techniques. This style was

   popular among itinerant wrestlers who traveled from place to place, competing

   in any way they could.

 

   For example sentences:

   - When my car broke down on the side of the road, I had to catch as catch can

     and find a way to continue my journey.

   - The students were given a catch-as-catch-can assignment, requiring them to

     create a poem using whatever materials they could find.

   - After the CEO's unexpected departure, the company was operating on a

     catch-as-catch-can basis, managing things with whatever resources were

     available.

 

   The phrase can have both positive and negative connotations. Positively, it

   implies resourcefulness and adaptability. Negatively, it suggests

   disorganization or a haphazard approach. The meaning of the phrase depends on

   the context in which it is used.

 

- englishdaily626.com [edited]

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Five years into martial arts, I have heard "catch wrestling" from time to time

and rolled often with wrestlers but am amazed to learn that the style has become

a proverb! And it means vale tudo, i.e., everything goes.

 

Rickson Gracie beat the US Olympic gold medalist wrestler Mark Schultz back in

1993 but I saw an impressive fight where a catch wrestler beat a BJJ master in a

Metamoris show. Josh Barnett (also a BJJ blackbelt) finished Dean Lister (40-50

lbs smaller, BJJ legend) in a hon kesa gatame hold by pressing into Dean's chest

so he couldn't breathe (The title said it was a neck crank).