Pankration video
Info about "Pankration video"
Pankration was a martial art introduced into the Greek Olympic Games in 648 BC and founded as a blend of boxing and wrestling but without any rules. The term comes from the Ancient Greek παγκράτιον [paŋkrátion], literally meaning “all powers” from πᾶν (pan-) “all” + κράτος (kratos) “strength, power”.
Spartan soldiers were taught to use this ancient boxing technique with the sole purpose of fighting and killing on the battlefield. For that reason, Spartans were not allowed to participate in any boxing competition including other Greeks. Modern mixed martial arts competitions have come to feature many of the same methods that were used in pankration competitions in the ancient Greek world.
The athletes engaged in a pankration competition-i.e., the pankratiasts (παγκρατιαστές) employed a variety of techniques in order to strike their opponent as well as take him to the ground in order to use a submission technique. When the pankratiasts would fight standing, pankration would be called anō pankration (ἄνω παγκράτιον); and when they would take the fight to the ground, that stage of pankration competition would be called katō pankration (κάτω παγκράτιον). Some of the techniques that would be applied in anō pankration and katō pankration, respectively, are known to us through depictions on ancient pottery and sculptures, as well as in descriptions in ancient literature.
There were also strategies documented in ancient literature that were meant to be used to obtain an advantage over the competitor. For illustration purposes, below are examples of striking and grappling techniques (including examples of counters), as well as strategies and tactics, that have been identified from the ancient sources (visual arts or literature).
[From Wikipedia. More here]