|
|
Pankration
Pankration is a Greek word that means both complete strength
and complete victory. When it first developed as a style pankration
allowed boxing, kicking, wrestling, choke holds, and pressure
point manipulation. The only way for a fight to end was for
a fighter to signal that he either did not want to continue
or he was unable to continue. The only strategies that were
banned were biting and gouging. Pankration was entered into
the Olympics as a sport in the year 688 BC. The origins of Pankration
are sketchy and mixed in with Greek mythology. It is not known
whether the mythological accounts of championship bouts and
feats of strength were based on myth or actual events. Ancient
Pankration practitioners honed their skills over hundred of
years and developed extreme proficiency in ground fighting,
submission holds, and upright fighting with feet and hands.
A record of pankration contests and importance in ancient Greece
can be seen by the statues and drawings of the holds, strikes,
and throwing techniques. As Christianity grew, pankration ceased
to be practiced, and it was many centuries before it was revived.
|
|
