Ott Jud
An Austrian wrestling (Ringen) master of the 15th century, author of an extensive treatise on wrestling that became the dominant work of the Liechtenauer tradition.
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Ott Jud ("Ott the Jew") was an Austrian martial arts master of the 15th century who specialized in wrestling (Ringen). His name refers to his Jewish origin, though several versions of his treatise state that he was baptized as a Christian. The exact dates of his life are unknown; he probably lived in the mid-15th century and likely died before 1452.
In 1470 Paulus Kal named him the wrestling master of the princes of Austria and included him among the members of the Fellowship of Liechtenauer. He may still have been active around 1448, when Hans Talhoffer included wrestling content in his fencing treatise. We have not found in the sources who taught him.
He is the author of an extensive treatise on wrestling that became the dominant work on the subject within the Liechtenauer tradition; his teaching recurs across early German fencing manuscripts. The oldest surviving copy is the Gotha version from the 1440s. The text circulated in two distinct branches, the Roman one (1452) and the Augsburg one (the 1460s), with further copies continuing into the 16th century. Experts disagree on whether all 69 techniques originate directly from Ott Jud or represent teaching accumulated over several generations.