Pankration facts for kids
Pankration was an exciting sport in Ancient Greece. It was a bit like wrestling, but with more action! Athletes could use their fists, kick, and hit. The Greeks loved this sport, thinking it showed the best of an athlete's skill and strength.
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What Was Pankration?
Pankration was a unique fighting sport. It combined parts of wrestling and boxing. However, athletes did not wear gloves or thongs on their hands. They fought with bare fists. Kicking and hitting were allowed during the match.
Structure of the ancient competition
Pankration matches were different from the sports we see today. There were no weight classes, which meant a smaller fighter might have to face a much larger one. There were also no time limits. A match only ended when one fighter gave up or could no longer continue. To signal that they wanted to stop, a fighter would raise their index finger.
Even though it was a very intense sport, there were two very strict rules:
- No biting.
- No poking or gouging the opponent's eyes.
Referees stood nearby with long wooden sticks. If a fighter broke the rules, the referee would quickly strike them with the stick to make them stop. In most cities, these rules were final, though in Sparta, the rules were even tougher.
Fighting Techniques and Styles
Athletes divided the sport into two main parts. The first was Ano Pankration, which happened while both fighters were standing up. They would use punches, kicks, and blocks. The second part was Kato Pankration, which happened when the fight went to the ground. This is where wrestling and joint locks became very important.
Striking and Kicking
Kicking was a huge part of the sport. One of the most famous moves was the "kick to the stomach." Fighters practiced this to knock the wind out of their opponents. Because they didn't wear heavy gloves like modern boxers, they had to be very careful and skilled with their hand strikes.
Wrestling and Grappling
Once the fighters were on the ground, they used many moves that we still see in wrestling today. They used "arm bars" to hold an opponent's arm still or "chokeholds" to make them submit. Ancient pottery shows that these athletes were experts at using their body weight to control their opponents.
Preparation and practice
The basic instruction of pankration techniques was conducted by the paedotribae (παιδοτρίβαι, "physical trainers"), who were in charge of boys' physical education. High level athletes were also trained by special trainers who were called gymnastae (γυμνασταί), some of whom had been successful pankration competitors themselves.
The preparation of pankratiasts included a very wide variety of methods, most of which would be immediately recognizable by the trainers of modern high level athletes, including competitors in modern mixed martial arts competitions. These methods included among others the periodization of training; a wealth of regimens for the development of strength, speed-strength, speed, stamina, and endurance; specialized training for the different stages of competition (i.e., for anō pankration and katō pankration), and methods for learning and engraining techniques. Punching bags (kōrykos κώρυκος "leather sack") of different sizes and dummies were used for striking practice as well as for the hardening of the body and limbs.
Famous Pankratiasts
The Greeks truly loved pankration. They believed it was the ultimate test of an athlete's skill and power. Pankration was also very popular during the Roman Empire.
The most famous ancient pankratiast was Arrichon of Philageia. He lived in the 6th century BC. Arrichon won the pankration in two different Olympics. Sadly, he died from a stranglehold during the Olympics of 564 BC. Even though he died, he was still given the victor's wreath. Stories about his last fight were told by writers like Philostratus and Pausanias. A statue in the Olympia Museum might be of him.
Modern pankration
At the time of the revival of the Olympic Games (1896), despite the efforts of Pierre de Coubertin, pankration was not reinstated as an Olympic event.
Neo-Pankration (modern pankration) was first introduced to the martial arts community by Greek-American combat athlete Jim Arvanitis in 1969 and later exposed worldwide in 1973 when he was featured on the cover of Black Belt magazine. Arvanitis continually refined his reconstruction with reference to original sources. His efforts are also considered pioneering in what became mixed martial arts (MMA).
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) does not list pankration among Olympic sports, but the efforts of Savvidis E. A. Lazaros, founder of modern Pankration Athlima, the technical examination programma, the endyma, the shape of the Palaestra and the terminology of Pankration Athlima, in 2010 the sport was accepted by FILA, known today as United World Wrestling (UWW), which governs the Olympic wrestling codes, as an associated discipline and a "form of modern Mixed Martial Art". Pankration was first contested at the World Combat Games in 2010.
Modern pankration has a ruleset resembling amateur MMA, divided into two rulesets:
- "Elite" (less restrictive; punches and kicks to the body and head are allowed)
- "Traditional" (more restrictive, i.e. no punches or kicks to the head, although "controlled round house kicks to the head" are allowed)
Soccer kicks, hammer fists, elbow strikes to the head, body slams, leglocks, spine locks and any kind of striking while groundfighting are banned in both styles. Targeting any of the following areas of the body is also disallowed: neck, back of the head, throat, knees, elbows, joints, kidneys, groin and along the spine.
Fighters wear protective gear (MMA gloves, shin pads, headgear) and fight on a standard wrestling mat.
Interesting Facts about Pankration
- The term 'pankration' comes from the Ancient Greek word παγκράτιον (pankrátion), meaning "all of power".
- According to Greek legend, it was said that the heroes Heracles and Theseus invented pankration as a result of using both wrestling and boxing in their confrontations with opponents.
- While initially a sport for athletes, pankration was also very important for soldiers. The famous Spartan warriors and the soldiers of Alexander the Great practiced pankration. It helped them stay strong and learn how to fight if they ever lost their weapons in battle.
- Strikes delivered with the legs were an integral part of pankration and one of its most characteristic features.
- As the pankration competitions were held outside and in the afternoon, appropriately positioning one's face in relation to the low sun was a major tactical objective. The pankratiast did not want to have to face the sun, as this would partly blind him to the blows of the opponent.
- As indicated by Plato in his Laws, an important element of strategy was to understand if the opponent had a weak or untrained side and to force him to operate on that side and generally take advantage of that weakness.
Images for kids
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The Pancrastinae. A Roman statue showing the pancratium, which was an event showcased at the Colosseum. Even as late as the Early Middle Ages, statues were put up in Rome and other cities to honour remarkable pankratiasts. This statue is a Roman copy of a lost Greek original, circa 3rd Century B.C.
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Pankratiasts fighting. Greek bronze, 2nd century BC. Staatliche Antikensammlungen in Munich.
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Pankratiasts portrayed on a Roman relief. 2nd or 3rd Century A.D.
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Bronze portrait of a pankratiast.
See also
In Spanish: Pancracio para niños
