How good do you think ancient greek olympic wrestlers were?

[Smeshpass]

How good were olympic wrestlers in the days of the ancient greeks and romans?
They were heavily funded as it was a hugely important part of their culture back then, a great spectacle with money to be lost and won, and they would have sourced the very best athletes from around the known world to train.
They had exceptionally good diet for the time, and the greatest wrestlers of the eras gone would be hired to train them.
It should also be noted that the ancient greek olympic games ran for 622 years.
622 years of generation after generation of fully focused, highly funded and cultured wrestling programmes would have produced some immense wrestling talent, how do you all think that these wrestlers would stand up against the D1 and olympic wrestlers of today?

Do you think the grappling GOAT was alive more than a thousand years ago?

This also leads into another question, Pankration was practically MMA. If one were to apply the above thoughts to Pankration, which ran for 705 years, ended by roman emperor Theodosius, mixing wrestling and striking, how would they fare against MMA fighters of the 21st century?

I thought of this idea after reading this article which is fairly irrelevant to the whole topic but it made some cool points which sparked my thoughts.

https://www.fightstorepro.com/blogs...-sport-on-earth-and-what-you-need-to-start-it

 

[Karl_Hungus]

Milo of Croton and Leontiskos of Messene would merc these fools.

 

[LiQuiD42]

Didn’t they wrestle naked as well? Such a strange world.

 

[TorontoTO]

Milo of Croton and Leontiskos of Messene would merc these fools.

"He was not known for his good wrestling skills, but for his superior finger bending skills."

Leontiskos of Messene would body Khabib

 

[JacJeanFinger]

Interesting thread, but the facts that they were naked and they spoke Greek are enough to make me turn away.

Abraham Lincoln being the catchwretling GOAT is the oldest point in history I'd go back to.

 

[wwkirk]

I don't know how their skill level could be evaluated, but have a question about groin/genitals protection. They apparently performed all their athletics in the nude. Does that mean absolutely nude? If so, how did they avoid getting their balls smashed, repeatedly?!?

 

[Yrat]

How good were olympic wrestlers in the days of the ancient greeks and romans?
They were heavily funded as it was a hugely important part of their culture back then, a great spectacle with money to be lost and won, and they would have sourced the very best athletes from around the known world to train.
They had exceptionally good diet for the time, and the greatest wrestlers of the eras gone would be hired to train them.
It should also be noted that the ancient greek olympic games ran for 622 years.
622 years of generation after generation of fully focused, highly funded and cultured wrestling programmes would have produced some immense wrestling talent, how do you all think that these wrestlers would stand up against the D1 and olympic wrestlers of today?

Do you think the grappling GOAT was alive more than a thousand years ago?

This also leads into another question, Pankration was practically MMA. If one were to apply the above thoughts to Pankration, which ran for 705 years, ended by roman emperor Theodosius, mixing wrestling and striking, how would they fare against MMA fighters of the 21st century?

I thought of this idea after reading this article which is fairly irrelevant to the whole topic but it made some cool points which sparked my thoughts.

https://www.fightstorepro.com/blogs...-sport-on-earth-and-what-you-need-to-start-it

They did this wrestling with no shorts right?

 

[Yrat]

Didn’t they wrestle naked as well? Such a strange world.

 

[Sweater of AV]

They were the GOATs until USADA showed up ~ 300 BC.

 

[europe1]

Lacking access to modern appliances such as PEDs, strenght training, diet and conditioning, all the scientific stuff, would surely hinder them.

And regarding training, do not overestimate the accumulated knowlage of premodern societies.

Look at sumo training for instance. A sport that had progressed for centuries as a unbroken tradition. Undoubtedly effective. Yet influences of Western strenght-training still made a big impact when introduced. Callisthenics/bodyweight focus only took people so far.

 

[Fluffernutter]

Lacking access to modern appliances such as PEDs, strenght training, diet and conditioning, all the scientific stuff, would surely hinder them.

And regarding training, do not overestimate the accumulated knowlage of premodern societies.

Look at sumo training for instance. A sport that had progressed for centuries as a unbroken tradition. Undoubtedly effective. Yet influences of Western strenght-training still made a big impact when introduced. Callisthenics/bodyweight focus only took people so far.

Better than CrossFit

 

[Hellowhosthat]

I read they had some incredible oil checking techniques.

 

[DougieJones]

This rule should 110% be implemented in the UFC... immediately

 

[don't ask]

I've frequently read that unremarkable people back then were producing what would be considered, today, remarkable performances. I distinctly remember a study that involved historical naval records and concluded there weren't enough Olympian rowers in modern times to duplicate the feats of rowing entire armies were doing back then. I also have a hazy record of some footprint analyses of early humans that concluded that their ability to run was comparable to the top runners in the world today.

I also remember in an anthropology class I took that bones of early female humans indicated that their forearms became so muscular from rolling early rolling pins over grain that their bones were actually warping to allow for the growth of the muscles and tendons. (This may have been neanderthals, but i don't think so. I'm pretty sure I remember it as a discussion on humans.)

A lifetime of hard work has it's effects on the human body.Those old wrestlers would be tough as absolute fuck and i think that, if fighting by their rules, would have their way with modern fighters.

 

[Paolo Delutis]

I think the term Nude may have meant something else then ... .

Like unarmed ...or no armor ...or without tunic but with undergarments . .. .im finding it hard to believe fights took place with balls flapping around...but this was society without TV and society norms were much different then today soooo....maybe? .

That always tripped out about that shit...

Now about there skills...they would be probably be very very good wrestlers ..like top notch multiple gold medals good as they invented many if notall of the moves we Simply follow today...and to create something always takes more skill then following something...also most ancient moves of martial arts in other styles are usually more damaging or brutal as the rules and purposes of matches where different (pankation duel to the death,a cestus boxing match)...kinda like japanese jiujitsu and early judo...

 

[don't ask]

I think the term Nude may have meant something else then ... .

Like unarmed ...or no armor ...or without tunic but with undergarments . .. .im finding it hard to believe fights took place with balls flapping around...but this was society without TV and society norms were much different then today soooo....maybe? .

That always tripped out about that shit...

Now about there skills...they would be probably be very very good wrestlers ..like top notch multiple gold medals good as they invented many if notall of the moves we Simply follow today...and to create something always takes more skill then following something...also most ancient moves of martial arts in other styles are usually more damaging or brutal as the rules and purposes of matches where different (pankation duel to the death,a cestus boxing match)...kinda like japanese jiujitsu and early judo...

I think it was nude nude. I'm not an expert, but I'm pretty sure they're depicted as nude nude in artwork.

Also, can you imagine what it was like back then? Everything injures you, everything is as violent as possible, but you have no concept of germs so people just die of infections, randomly, all the time. It's like the huge percentage of women who died in childbirth, but this affected everyone. And it was basically invisible.

"How did Assphrates die?"

"He just died of angry gods. And it's crazy because he was so alive and vital a few weeks ago when we were fighting on shards of broken pottery and feces."

 

[Patrick Jane]

I don't know how their skill level could be evaluated, but have a question about groin/genitals protection. They apparently performed all their athletics in the nude. Does that mean absolutely nude? If so, how did they avoid getting their balls smashed, repeatedly?!?

Fighting nude seems to be less risky regarding low blows than fighting with clothes, because your junk isn't trapped in place by clothes.

 

[Hellowhosthat]

Fighting nude seems to be less risky regarding low blows than fighting with clothes, because your junk isn't trapped in place by clothes.

Some fighters probably mastered bobbing and weaving their ballsack to avoid low blows.

 

[Paolo Delutis]

I think it was nude nude. I'm not an expert, but I'm pretty sure they're depicted as nude nude in artwork.

Also, can you imagine what it was like back then? Everything injures you, everything is as violent as possible, but you have no concept of germs so people just die of infections, randomly, all the time. It's like the huge percentage of women who died in childbirth, but this affected everyone. And it was basically invisible.

"How did Assphrates die?"

"He just died of angry gods. And it's crazy because he was so alive and vital a few weeks ago when we were fighting on shards of broken pottery and feces."

Artwork back then was highly subjective though and full of hidden meanings... often times art was done to show the best versions of someone and not what they actually looked like...so the nudity could just be a way of showing masculine dominance... but it could also mean they were naked haha....in which case WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK...i

 

[Patrick Jane]

Some fighters probably mastered bobbing and weaving their ballsack to avoid low blows.

I think the Gary Goodridge testicular squeeze submission would be much less effective if the fighter oiled up his nutsack nice and wet so he could slip out of any Von Erich Claw attempt.