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pankration

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pankration

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Also known as pancratium

Pankration (; ) was an unarmed combat sport introduced into the Greek Olympic Games in 648 BC. The athletes used boxing and wrestling techniques but also others, such as kicking, holds, joint locks, and chokes on the ground, making it similar to modern mixed martial arts. The term comes from the Ancient Greek word (), meaning "all of power" ().

Key facts

Martial art.name
Modern pankration
Martial art.image
Pankration panathenaic amphora BM VaseB610.jpg
Martial art.imagecaption
Two athletes competing in the pankration. Panathenaic amphora, made in Athens in 332–331 BC, during the archonship of Niketes. From Capua.
Martial art.famus pract
Angel Lee, Bob Sapp, Matt the failure Hume,
Martial art.focus
Hybrid
Martial art.country
Ancient Greece
Martial art.olympic
No
Martial art.hardness
Full contact
Martial art.creator
Savvidis Lazaros
Martial art.parenthood
Mixed martial arts, ancient pankration

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

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Pankration panathenaic amphora BM VaseB610.jpg
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Commons category
Pankration
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~30 min read

Article

34 sections
Contents
  • History
  • Structure of the ancient competition
  • Techniques
  • Fighting stances
  • Striking techniques
  • Punch and other hand strikes
  • Strikes with the legs
  • Straight kick to the stomach
  • Locking techniques
  • Arm locks
  • Single shoulder lock (overextension)
  • Single arm bar (elbow lock)
  • Arm bar – shoulder lock combination
  • Leg locks
  • Choking techniques
  • Tracheal grip choke
  • Tracheal dig using the thumb
  • Choke from behind with the forearm
  • Throws and takedowns
  • Heave from a reverse waist lock
  • Heave from a waist lock following a sprawl
  • Heave from a waist lock from behind
  • Strategy and tactics
  • Positioning in the {{lang|grc-Latn|skamma}} ({{lang|grc|σκάμμα}} "pit")
  • Remaining standing versus going to the ground
  • Offensive versus reactive fighting
  • Identifying and exploiting the weak side of the opponent
  • Preparation and practice
  • Ancient Olympic pankration champions and famous pankratiasts
  • Modern pankration
  • See also
  • Notes
  • References
  • External links

Pankration (; ) was an unarmed combat sport introduced into the Greek Olympic Games in 648 BC. The athletes used boxing and wrestling techniques but also others, such as kicking, holds, joint locks, and chokes on the ground, making it similar to modern mixed martial arts. The term comes from the Ancient Greek word (), meaning "all of power" ().

==History== thumb|A statue of Agias, son of Acnonius, and winner of the pankration in three Panhellenic Games. This statue occupies Position III of the [[ex voto of Daochos. Height: 2 metres (6 feet 7 inches). ]] 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. Theseus was said to have used pankration to defeat Cercyon of Eleusis in a wrestling match, as one of his labours on the sea route to Athens, as well as the minotaur in the labyrinth. Heracles too was often depicted in ancient artworks subduing the Nemean lion using pankration. In this context, pankration was also referred to as or ( or ), meaning "total combat", from , , "all-" or "total", and , , "matter". The term is older, and would later become used less than the term .

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