PANKRATION PART 1

MMA ORIGINS IN ANCIENT GREECE

Written By Jim Arvanitis

There is nothing new under the sun. Ideas are born, flourish and sometimes decay, but they’re not lost. They persevere and often move forward and evolve as a result of a new stimulus.

To some, the perception of mixed martial arts − integrating combat skills from various sources for one-on-one competition − is novel. In truth, however, it’s not really new or revolutionary. It actually can be traced back some 3000 years to ancient Greece.

Since its inception in the early-1970s, many have disputed this claim citing other cultures, Asia in particular. However, it’s the Greeks who have the best-documented proof of their accomplishments through the ages, both in poetry and art. Vase paintings, sculptures, wall frescoes, coins, and the writings of poets and philosophers all aptly describe legendary fighters, various techniques, and epic contests.

Until conclusive evidence is presented to the contrary, Greece reigns as the birthplace of MMA.

Pankration (pronounced pahn-gra-tee-ahn) was the ultimate fighting of the Old World.

Loosely translated as “all-powers” or “all-encompassing”, it was a brutal amalgam of striking and grappling techniques.

First entered into the 33 rd Olympic Games in 648 B.C. pankration, along with wrestling (pale) and boxing (pygmachia) formed the heavy events.

The events were so named due to their popularity among the spectators

and because they were the domain of the fittest, strongest athletes.

It gained tremendous spectator appeal and pankratiasts, much like the

boxers and wrestlers, were so highly respected for their endurance, courage, and skill that

their rewards exceeded those of all other athletes combined.

The exceptionally rugged fighters even participated in both wrestling and pankration on the same day. It soon became such an age in Greek society that a youth division (the troad) was added in 200 B.C.

Pankration dates back several thousand years with its exact origins lost in the annals of Hellenic history.

The ancient Greeks were no doubt influenced by earlier civilizations such as Egypt, Minoa, and Mycenae. A rhyton from Crete illustrates boxing and wrestling scenes as early as 1700 B.C.

The idea of combining striking and grappling with the addition of kicking was their own. A relative newcomer to Greek combat sport, it’s not mentioned in Homeric poems or in any writings prior to the fifth century B.C. There’s even a mythological genesis that credits the great Herakles and Theseus of Attica as the co-founders of pankration largely in part due to their feats of defeating wild lions and fearsome Minotaurs with their bare hands.

History shows that in 326 B.C. pankration was brought into India by the conquering troops of Alexander the Great. They carried with them elaborate tents, actually collapsible amphitheaters, in which they could practice and play the athletic games. Pankration stood out and impressed the Indian warriors as to the superiority of the Greek combat units, and by the ability of the individual hoplite (soldier) to continue fighting even after his weapons were lost.

All athletic games in Greece had a strong religious and spiritual connection. The combat sport contests held at the various festivals paid worship to the gods on Mount Olympus, and the holy walls (metopes) of the Parthenon were decorated with fight scenes.

Their inclusion in the PanHellenic festivals, particularly the Olympic Games, suggests that pankration had been systemized enough to become accepted as a bonafide martial art. By the end of the Classical Period (702-342 B.C.) it was practiced in nearly all of the Greek polis (city-states) and colonies throughout the Mediterranean.

Pankration’s historical evolution can be classified in various phases.

The first and original version was primarily standup fighting based on battlefield combat (sans arms and armor) known as pammachon (“total combat”). It consisted of striking, kicking, uprooting an opponent with takedowns and throws, and some basic submission holds. This remained the classic sport for 200 years.

The second phase veered from its battlefield roots and emphasized more grappling and ground fighting. This was the variant that Plato, himself a former Olympic wrestler, and other military leaders criticized as being useless for warfare. In spite of these claims, pankration played an important role in military training.

Pankration has left a wide and varied legacy. Alexander the Great recruited the strongest combatants into his army.

It has been argued by scholars and historians that his conquests spread the techniques of Pankration into Asia, and that this contributed to the rise of Eastern martial arts such as kung fu, karate, and Japanese jiu-jitsu.

Pankration aided Greek soldiers throughout the many wars and battles of the Classical and Hellenistic periods (500-150 BC).

It complimented a hoplites training with a spear and shield and was useful in close quarters.

It is said that the Spartans at Thermopylae fought with their bare hands and teeth once their spears and swords had shattered.

Ancient Greek Pankration was the first historical instance of a combined multi-art hand-to-hand fighting system. As such, current MMA may justifiably be termed an evolved form of the Pankration that the Greeks of antiquity practiced.

By the end of the Hellenistic Era (326426 B.C.) pankration would begin its decline.

Although it had once attracted the finest combat athletes pankration’s golden age was not to last. Many factors caused this, perhaps the most prominent being the increasing influence of professionalism and the corruption that came with it. Politics also contributed. As the polis lost its independence it also saw its sense of athletic idealism slip away.

Once mainland Greece succumbed to Rome in battle, more changes would ensue. The Romans adopted pankration into their own Games but it was considered too tame for the bloodthirsty mobs who found Capuan boxing more to their liking.

Statues of maimed fighters attest to the carnage of these bouts. However, even this brutal event that featured pugilists wearing the caestus, a lethal metalstudded gauntlet on their fists, would take a back seat to deadly gladiatorial contests with swords. In 393 A.D., all pagan festivals were abolished by the powerful Christian movement and pankration would vanish for the next thousand years.

To Be Continued...

PART 2 NEXT ISSUE DECMBER 2024

About the Author

Great Grandmaster Jim Arvanitis is a freelance writer and published author of fifteen books on his fighting art. World-acclaimed as the “Father of Modern Pankration”, he has spent his life researching and rebuilding the ancient combat system of his ancestors. Arvanitis has been a fixture in the martial arts media for more than five decades with countless magazine articles and several cover stories and has starred in instructional videos and appeared on national television. The accomplished combat athlete has received numerous Hall of Fame awards for his accolades including Living Legend, Historical Figure, American Icon, and Athlete of the Century. His students include Military Special Ops and he trained the Army Rangers for the Operation Desert Storm campaign in 1991-92.