Jacket wrestling is a form of combat that has been practiced in both Europe and Asia going back many centuries. The style of combat is typified by a lack of groundfighting, due to the rules often causing an opponent to lose if they touch the ground with something other than their feet. It has been recorded as a method of combat as early as the Middle Ages. Jacket wrestling became especially popular in England, where different regions developed their own forms of jacket wrestling rules and combat. The method of combat has also been referred to as "belt-and-jacket wrestling", for its common use of a belt or sash in addition to or instead of a jacket.
Encyclopædia Britannica has stated that, "The three basic types of wrestling contest are the belt-and-jacket, catch-hold, and loose styles, all of which appear to have originated in antiquity. Belt-and-jacket styles of wrestling are those in which the clothing of the wrestlers provides the principal means of taking a grip on the opponent."