For the past 30-years, mixed-martial arts has taken the mainstream sports world by storm. Every weekend, the most popular MMA league, the UFC, puts on a fight night featuring some of the world's best trained and most talented fighters, all trained in striking disciplines such as muay Thai, boxing; as well as grappling disciplines like Greco-roman wrestling and Brazilian Jiu-jitsu. Many fans and even history buffs are aware of its existence, have no idea that a brutal form of MMA was practiced by Ancient Greek athletes around 2,50-years ago.
JUST NO EYE-GOUGING AND BITING
There was only one rule in Pankration: no eye-gouging and no biting. Any other type of attack was permitted. That is not to say, however, that Pankration was a free-for-all street fighting sport. Pankration served the Ancient Olympic Games as a hybrid of two already existing sports, pane (known today as Greco-Roman wrestling) and boxing. As a matter of fact, in Greek, the word Pankration means "All Power," or Pan meaning "all," and Krato meaning "power and strength." The word pan is vital in that it perfectly describes what Pankration is: a conglomeration of several different Greek combat styles to create the ultimate fighting sport.
Amongst the many techniques were hand-striking, or boxing, knee-kicks, front leg kicks. The striking portion of Pankration was referred to as Ano Pankration. Experts believe that most Pankration fights were performed in ano style, while its counterpart, kato Pankration, consisted of ground fighting. Kato Pankration could involve techniques such as joint-locking, takedowns, and various chokes. Any Pankratioatist worth his salt fought well in both ano and kato. Even though some fighters leaned towards one or the other, if you lacked skill in one style, your lopsidedness exposed you to more well-rounded Pankratioatists. In other words, Ancient Greek Pankratioatists were practitioners of martial art. However, just because the sport was artful does not negate its inherent brutality.
The sport was still ruthless. In modern combat sports, some rules and regulations impede athletes from inflicting severe damage on one another. For example, in the UFC, blows below the belt are prohibited, as are knee kicks while opponents are on their hands and knees. And these are merely the standard rules. There are many more obscure rules even hardcore fans are unfamiliar with.
By contrast, Pankration had only two rules. Any other type of attack was permissible, leading to some gruesome and, from a modern perspective, abhorrent strategies and long-term physical injuries:
"Some people have even become deformed and ugly, especially those dealing with Pankration or boxing. When they have completely broken or distorted a member or have their eyes out, then one can clearly see what kind of beauty their occupation provides. And when they reach retirement age, most parts of their body are crippled."
Another writer describes a Pankratioatist whose fighting strategy consisted of "dislocat(ing)..his opponent's fingers." That particular Pankratioatist was named Sostratos. To win fights, Sostratos would bend his opponents' fingers back until they surrendered--or as we call it today, tapping out. Sostratos won 17 Pankration matches.
Due to the inherent and eclectic violence, Pankration was a trendy sport. One historian, E. Norman Gardiner, says: "No branch of athletics was more popular than the pankration." This popularity led to many Pankratiasts becoming famous athletes in their day. Though the IOC (International Olympic Committee) does not consider Pankration an Olympic sport, the Ancient games certainly did. Pankration made its debut at the 33rd Olympiad in 648 BCE. The hybrid sport took on a life of its own, producing many historically notable stars during its run in Ancient Greek and Roman athletics.
The most famous Pankratiast, Arrhichion, literally gave his life for the sport. Many ancient writers lauded Arrhichion, especially the well-known travel writer Pausanius, who wrote this vivid description of Arrhichion's dramatic death:
"For when he was contending for the wild olive with the last remaining competitor, whoever he was, the latter got a grip first and held Arrhachion, hugging him with his legs, and at the same time he squeezed his neck with his hands. Arrhachion dislocated his opponent's toe but expired owing to suffocation, but he who suffocated Arrhachion was forced to give in at the same time because of the pain in his toe. The Eleans crowned and proclaimed victor the corpse of Arrhachion."
Despite not living through the fight, Arrhichion was crowned, exemplifying the love and adoration Ancients had for him. While his death may seem like another instance of archaic barbarism, athletes still die in combat sports today. In 2021, professional female boxer Jeanette Zacarias Zapata who, after multiple hard blows to the head induced several seizures, died at the age of 18.
Pankration was, of course, far more violent than any modern combat sport.
IS PANKRATION THE ORIGIN OF MMA?
In a historical sense, Pankration did not directly evolve into modern-day into what we would call mixed-martial-arts. Even though Greco-Roman wrestling is a popular component of MMA, Pankration fell into a niche martial art, similar to Brazilian Capoeira.
However, according to the story of Pankration pioneer Jim Arvanitis, the eclectic nature of MMA--like many facets of modernity-- owes a lot to the Ancient Greeks. In the 60s and 70s, Arvanitis, a Greek-American, advocated for adopting Pankration into mainstream sports. And through his dedicated promoting, experts believe Arvanitis helped facilitate the formation of MMA. Arvanitis believed that the Ancient Greeks were the first to invent a mixed-fighting style and created Neo-Pankration: a form of Pankration that he argued was more efficient and effective than merely learning one discipline. Jim proceeded to preach the value of multi-discipline fighting to the masses, eventually aiding in the widespread adoption of MMA. The style he promoted was a slightly modified version of ancient Pankration, hence the striking similarities with modern MMA.
Therefore, it stands to reason that without Pankration, there would be no modern MMA. At least not in the exact form we find it in today.
PANKRATION TODAY
Pankration today is a modern sport enjoyed by martial-art enthusiasts around the world. In 2010, at the World Combat Games, Pankration was at last contested after centuries of neglect, showing the world in a direct sense that the influence of Ancient Greece is still very strong, or perhaps, as the Greeks would say, "All Power."
Landon Girod
HFC Blog Writer