History of Martial Arts: Pankration

The First Martial Art

Pankration is often overlooked as a martial art but is also considered the first martial art by many.  It is of Greek origins and was an organized system of unarmed combat that mixed striking and grappling.  Pankration was practised widely in Greece at the time, was taught to soldiers and was even in the ancient Olympic games.






Historians vary widely as to when Pankration was first practised or introduced to Greece.  Most believe it gained mainstream appeal in the 7th century BC when the Greeks wanted a mixture of both boxing and wrestling which would be more exciting.  Greek mythology references Greek heroes using Pankration such as Theseus defeating the Minotaur but that couldn't have been added after the fact.  Greek soldiers were more than likely trained in the art especially the Spartans who were said to have used it during the battle of Thermopylae when their weapons broke.  There was even a Pankration champion serving with Alexander the Great's army by the name of Dioxippus.  The champions were held in very high regard because of how tough and brutal the contests were and looked up to as almost unbeatable men to any common person.

The Rules

The rules were very few: no biting and no eye gouging.  Everything else was legal, even attacking the fingers and toes.  If a fighter wanted to give up he would raise his index finger in the air and the match would be stopped.  Every match was presided over by a referee.  If one fighter was unconscious or unable to defend himself the referee could call a stop to the match as well.  The referee could also declare a draw.   Some paintings and sculptures show fighters wearing hand wraps of most likely linen or leather while some are unwrapped.  There was no time limit to the matches and some resulted in death.  Killing your opponent was also considered a win.

Cancellation

Pankration was a part of the Olympic games for 1 000 years before it was banned by Byzantine Emperor Theodosious I who was a Christian and considered the Olympics and other festivals as pagan worship. Before this the sport had caught on in Rome where it was taught to gladiators as well.

During the Olympic Games revival Pankration was on the list of events to be included but it was passed over.  It has never made its way back into the games but in a way lives on in the form of Mixed Martial Arts competitions which are very similar.  There are groups that still lobby to have some form of Pankration brought back to the modern Olympics games just with highly modified rules.