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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.
In Greek mythology 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.
Theseus was said to have utilized his extraordinary pankration skills to
defeat the dreaded Minotaur in the Labyrinth. Herakles was said to have
subdued the Nemean lion using pankration, and was often depicted in ancient
artwork doing that. In this context, it should be noted that pankration was
also referred to as pammachon or pammachion (πάμμαχον or παμμάχιον), meaning
"total combat", from πᾶν-, pān-, "all-" or "total", and μάχη, machē,
"combat". The term pammachon was older, and would later become used less
than the term pankration.
The mainstream academic view has been that pankration was the product of the
development of archaic Greek society of the seventh century BC, whereby, as
the need for expression in violent sport increased, pankration filled a
niche of "total contest" that neither boxing or wrestling could. However,
some evidence suggests that pankration, in both its sport form and its
combat form, may have been practiced in Greece already from the second
millennium BC.
In Greek mythology 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.
Theseus was said to have utilized his extraordinary pankration skills to
defeat the dreaded Minotaur in the Labyrinth. Herakles was said to have
subdued the Nemean lion using pankration, and was often depicted in ancient
artwork doing that. In this context, it should be noted that pankration was
also referred to as pammachon or pammachion (πάμμαχον or παμμάχιον), meaning
"total combat", from πᾶν-, pān-, "all-" or "total", and μάχη, machē,
"combat". The term pammachon was older, and would later become used less
than the term pankration.
The mainstream academic view has been that pankration was the product of the
development of archaic Greek society of the seventh century BC, whereby, as
the need for expression in violent sport increased, pankration filled a
niche of "total contest" that neither boxing or wrestling could. However,
some evidence suggests that pankration, in both its sport form and its
combat form, may have been practiced in Greece already from the second
millennium BC.
Techniques
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. These strategies and techniques include:
Fighting stance
The pankratiast faces his opponent with a nearly frontal stance—only
slightly turned sideways. This is an intermediate directional positioning,
between the wrestler's more frontal positioning and the boxer's more
sideways stance and is consistent with the need to preserve both the option
of using striking and protecting the center line of the body and the option
of applying grappling techniques. Thus, the left side of the body is
slightly forward of the right side of the body and the left hand is more
forward than the right one. Both hands are held high so that the tips of the
fingers are at the level of the hairline or just below the top of the head.
The hands are partially open, the fingers are relaxed, and the palms are
facing naturally forward, down, and slightly towards each other. The front
arm is nearly fully extended but not entirely so; the rear arm is more
cambered than the front arm, but more extended than a modern-day boxer's
rear arm. The back of the athlete is somewhat rounded, but not as much as a
wrestler's would be. The body is only slightly leaning forward.
The weight is virtually all on the back (right) foot with the front (left)
foot touching the ground with the ball of the foot. It is a stance in which
the athlete is ready at the same time to give a kick with the front leg as
well as defend against the opponent's low level kicks by lifting the front
knee and blocking. The back leg is bent for stability and power and is
facing slightly to the side, to go with the slightly sideways body position.
The head and torso are behind the protecting two upper limbs and front leg.
Striking techniques
Strikes with the Legs
Strikes delivered with the legs was an integral part of pankration and one
of its most characteristic features as was discussed above. Therefore,
kicking well was a great advantage to the pankratiast. Epiktētos is making a
reference – albeit derogatory in the context of Epiktētos's discussion – to
a compliment one may give another: "μεγάλα λακτίζεις" ("you kick great").
Moreover, in an accolade to the fighting prowess of the pankratiast Glykon
from Pergamo, the athlete is described as "wide foot". The characterization
comes actually before the reference to his "unbeatable hands", implying at
least as crucial a role for strikes with the feet as with the hands in
pankration. That proficiency in kicking could carry the pankratiast to
victory is indicated in a—albeit sarcastic—passage of Galen, where he awards
the winning prize in pankration to a donkey because of its excellence in
kicking. Below are the striking techniques with the legs that have been
identified from the ancient sources (visual arts or literature). Any
counters to these techniques identifiable in research of the sources are
also provided. This is followed by the identified strikes with the arms and
with the head, respectively.
Straight kick to the stomach
The straight kick with the bottom of the foot to the stomach
(γαστρίζειν/λάκτισμα εἰς γαστέραν — gastrizein or laktisma eis gasteran,
"kicking in the stomach") was apparently a common technique, given the
number of depictions of such kicks on vases. This type of kick is mentioned
by Lucian.
Counter: The athlete sidesteps to the outside of the oncoming kick but
grasps the inside of the kicking leg from behind the knee with his front
hand (overhand grip) and pulls up, which tends to unbalance the opponent so
that he falls backward as the athlete advances. The back hand can be used
for striking the opponent while he is preoccupied maintaining his balance.
This counter is shown on a Panathenaic amphora now in Leiden. In another
counter, the athlete sidesteps the oncoming kick, but now to the inside of
the opponent's leg. He catches and lifts the heel/foot of the kicking leg
with his rear hand and with the front arm goes under the knee of the kicking
leg, hooks it with the nook of his elbow, and lifts while advancing to throw
the opponent backward. The athlete executing the counter has to lean forward
to avoid hand strikes by the opponent.
Locking techniques
Arm locks
Single shoulder lock (overextension)
The athlete is behind the opponent and has him leaning down, with the right
knee of the opponent on the ground. The athlete has the opponent's right arm
straightened out and extended maximally backward at the shoulder joint. With
the opponent's right arm across his own torso, the athlete uses his left
hand to keep the pressure on the opponent's right arm by grabbing and
pressing down on it just above the wrist. The right hand of the athlete is
pressing down at the (side of) the head of the opponent, thus not permitting
him to rotate to his right to relieve the pressure on his shoulder. As the
opponent could escape by lowering himself closer to the ground and rolling,
the athlete steps with his left leg over the left leg of the opponent and
wraps his foot around the ankle of the opponent stepping on his instep,
while pushing his body weight on the back of the opponent.
Single arm bar (elbow lock)
In this technique, the position of the bodies is very similar to the one
described just above. The athlete executing the technique is standing over
his opponent's back, while the latter is down on his right knee. The left
leg of the athlete is straddling the left thigh of the opponent—the left
knee of the opponent is not on the floor—and is trapping the left foot of
the opponent by stepping on it. The athlete uses his left hand to push down
on the side/back of the head of the opponent while with his right hand he
pulls the opponent's right arm back, against his midsection. This creates an
arm bar on the right arm with the pressure now being mostly on the elbow.
The fallen opponent cannot relieve it, because his head is being shoved the
opposite way by the left hand of the athlete executing the technique.
Arm bar - shoulder lock combination
In this technique, the athlete is again behind his opponent, has the left
arm of his opponent trapped, and is pulling back on his right arm. The
trapped left arm is bent, with the fingers and palm trapped inside the
armpit of the athlete. To trap the left arm, the athlete has pushed (from
outside) his own left arm underneath the left elbow of the opponent. The
athlete's left hand ends up pressing down on the scapula region of his
opponent's back. This position does not permit the opponent to pull out his
hand from the athlete's armpit and puts pressure on the left shoulder. The
right arm of the athlete is pulling back at the opponent's right wrist (or
forearm). In this way, the athlete keeps the right arm of his opponent
straightened and tightly pulled against his right hip/lower abdomen area,
which results in an arm bar putting pressure on the right elbow. The athlete
is in full contact with—and on top of—the opponent, with his right leg in
front of the right leg of the opponent to block him from escaping by rolling
forward.
Choking techniques
Tracheal grip choke
In executing this choking technique (ἄγχειν — anchein), the athlete grabs
the tracheal area (windpipe and "Adam's apple") between his thumb and his
four fingers and squeezes. This type of choke can be applied with the
athlete being in front or behind his opponent. Regarding the hand grip to be
used with this choke, the web area between the thumb and the index finger is
to be quite high up the neck and the thumb is bent inward and downward,
"reaching" behind the Adam's apple of the opponent. It is unclear if such a
grip would have been considered gouging and thus illegal in the Panhellenic
Games.
Tracheal dig using the thumb
The athlete grabs the throat of the opponent with the four fingers on the
outside of the throat and the tip of the thumb pressing in and down the
hollow of the throat, putting pressure on the trachea.
Choke from behind with the forearm
The athlete has put himself behind his opponent, who is either in the
standing, prone, or prostrate position. The choke is applied by placing the
forearm against the trachea (i.e. the forearm is parallel to the clavicles
of the opponent) and pulling back, with the other hand of the athlete
possibly assisting the pull by gripping the hand of the choking arm. The
pressure on the trachea is painful and causes a reduction of air flow to the
lungs. An alternative way of applying this choke is to bend the choking arm
in a "V" shape and put pressure with the biceps and the forearm on the two
sides of the neck, respectively; this is a circulatory choke, which puts
pressure on the arteries taking blood to the brain and thus deprives the
latter of oxygen. The chokes from behind were usually accompanied with a
grapevine body lock (ἄγχειν μετὰ κλιμακισμοῦ — anchein meta klimakismou
"choking with the ladder trick"), as the resulting stretch of the body of
the opponent accentuated the effect of the choke. There are few
representations of this type of choke in surviving art objects, but there
are a number of references to it in the ancient literature.
Counter: A counter to the choke from behind involves the twisting of one of
the fingers of the choking arm. This counter is mentioned by Philostratus.
In case the choke was set together with a grapevine body lock, another
counter was the one applied against that lock; by causing enough pain to the
ankle of the opponent, the latter could give up his choke.
Throws and takedowns
Heave from a reverse waist lock
From a reverse waist lock set from the front, and staying with hips close to
the opponent, the athlete lifts and rotates his opponent using the strength
of his hips and legs (ἀναβαστάσαι εἰς ὕψος — anabastasai eis hypsos, "high
lifting"). Depending on the torque the athlete imparts, the opponent becomes
more or less vertically inverted, facing the body of the athlete. If however
the reverse waist lock is set from the back of the opponent, then the latter
would face away from the athlete in the inverted position.
To finish the attack, the athlete has the option of either dropping his
opponent head-first to the ground, or driving him into the ground while
retaining the hold. To execute the latter option, the athlete bends one of
his legs and goes down on that knee while the other leg remains only
partially bent; this is presumably to allow for greater mobility in case the
"pile driver" does not work. Another approach emphasizes less putting the
opponent in an inverted vertical position and more the throw; it is shown in
a sculpture in the metōpē (μετώπη) of the Hephaisteion in Athens, where
Theseus is depicted heaving Kerkyōn.
Heave from a waist lock following a sprawl
The opponents are facing in opposite directions with the athlete at a higher
level, over the back of his opponent. The athlete can get in this position
after making a shallow sprawl to counter a tackle attempt. From here the
athlete sets a waist lock by encircling, from the back, the torso of the
opponent with his arms and securing a "handshake" grip close to the abdomen
of the opponent. He then heaves the opponent back and up, using the muscles
of his legs and his back, so that the opponent's feet rise in the air and he
ends up inverted, perpendicular to the ground, and facing away from the
athlete. The throw finishes with a "pile driver" or, alternatively, with a
simple release of the opponent so that he falls to the ground.
Heave from a waist lock from behind
The athlete passes to the back of his opponent, secures a regular waist
lock, lifts and throws/ drops the opponent backwards and sideways. As a
result of these moves, the opponent would tend to land on his side or face
down. The athlete can follow the opponent to the ground and place himself on
his back, where he could strike him or choke him from behind while holding
him in the "grapevine" body lock (see above), stretching him face down on
the ground. This technique is described by the Roman poet Statius in his
account of a match between the hero Tydeus of Thebes and an opponent in the
Thebaid. Tydeus is described to have followed this takedown with a choke
while applying the "grapevine" body lock on the prone opponent.
Strategy and tactics
Positioning in the skamma (σκάμμα "pit")
As the pankration competitions were held outside and in the afternoon,
appropriately positioning one's face vis-a-vis the low sun was a major
tactical objective. The pankratiast, as well as the boxer, did not want to
have to face the ever-present Greek sun, as this would partly blind him to
the blows of the opponent and make accurate delivery of strikes to specific
targets difficult. Theocritus, in his narration of the (boxing) match
between Polydeukēs and Amykos, noted that the two opponents struggled a lot,
vying to see who would get the sun's rays on his back. In the end, with
skill and cunning, Polydeukēs managed so that Amykos' face was struck with
sunlight while his own was in the shade.
While this positioning was of paramount importance in boxing, which involved
only upright striking (with the eyes facing straight), it was also important
in pankration, especially in the beginning of the competition and as long as
the athletes remained standing.
Remaining standing versus going to the ground
The decision to remain standing or go to the ground obviously depended on
the relative strengths of the athlete, and differed between anō and katō
pankration. However, there are indications that staying on one's feet was
generally considered a positive thing, while touching the knee(s) to the
ground or being put to the ground was overall considered disadvantageous. In
fact, in antiquity as today, falling to one's knee(s) was a metaphor for
coming to a disadvantage and putting oneself at risk of losing the fight, as
argued persuasively by Michael B. Poliakoff.
Offensive versus reactive fighting
Regarding the choice of attacking into the attack of the opponent versus
defending and retreating, there are indications, e.g. from boxing, that it
was preferable to attack. Dio Chrysostom notes that retreat under fear tends
to result in even greater injuries, while attacking before the opponent
strikes is less injurious and could very well end in victory.
Identifying and exploiting the weak side 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. For
example, if the athlete recognizes that the opponent is strictly
right-handed, he could circle away from the right hand of the opponent and
towards the left side of the opponent. Moreover, if the opponent is weak in
his left-side throws, the athlete could aim to position himself accordingly.
Training in ambidexterity was instrumental in both applying this strategy
and not falling victim to it.
Aspects of pankration preparation and practice
The basic instruction of pankration techniques was conducted by the
paedotribae (παιδοτρίβαι), 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. There are indications that the methods and
techniques used by different athletes varied, i.e., there were different
styles. While specific styles taught by different teachers, in the mode of
Asian martial arts, cannot be excluded, it is very clear (including in
Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics) that the objective of a teacher of combat
sports was to help each of his athletes to develop his personal style that
would fit his strengths and weaknesses.
The preparation of pankratiasts included a very wide variery 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 regimes for the development of strength,
speed-strength, speed, 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. Interestingly, among the
multitude of the latter were also training tools that appear to be very
similar to modern martial arts Forms or kata, and were known as cheironomia
(χειρονομία) and anapale (αναπάλη). 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. Nutrition, massage, and
other recovery techniques were used very actively by pankratiasts. |
