Pankration and JJ

[Rory McDonell]

"Pankration was basic to the majority of the Greek warriors who served under Alexander the Great during his invasion of India in 326 B.C. Many authorities now contend that this dispersal of pankration techniques throughout the subcontinent laid the foundation for countless Asian martial arts which evolved soon thereafter, including Chinese kung fu, Okinawan karate, and Japanese jiujitsu. This theory has been the subject of a raging controversy for the past twenty years. "

I'm writing my undergraduate history thesis, and one of the things I was thinking about researching was Pankration. I came across the above quote, and I was wondering if anyone has ever heared that before? I think I might write about it regardles of weather or not its true (as in I'd try and prove or disprove it)

 

[Gsoares2***]

ive heard of it but no ideas on the histroy.

 

[D3thr0n3d K1ng]

It seems kind of spurious to me.

 

[Rory McDonell]

well that is a stance I could take. Its a research project, so if it isn't true, then I'd just have to do the research to back that up.

 

[Ybot]

Be an intresting project. I'd be intrested to see your paper when you finish. I think you could take an equally strong stance in either direction and the evidence would be just as good.

 

[flyingknee16]

If you go back far enough, people have always been doing martial arts since the beginning of time. There are basic things every does . . . punch, kick, armbar, choke, etc . . . and everyone has their own way of basically doing the same thing. To say that pankration is the root of Asian martial arts is a probably taking it a bit too far (meaning the theory), since it's safe to seay that those martial arts techniques have always been around and people have always been copying each other. The romans probably copied their techniques from some other culture too (or were too proud to admit it).

 

[Rory McDonell]

The Romans took their techniques directly from the greeks, and were open about it. Alexander pre-dated the Romans by almost 400 years.
I just think its an interesting theory, I might do the project just to see if I can substantiate it.

 

[DMcKayBJJ]

I just started a similar thread recently, on submission wrestling in Ancient Greece.
FYI...check out judoinfo.com...there's a research section and a great paper somebody wrote that you'd probably find interesting on pankration and submission wrestling back then.

I think it would be hard to make the direct connection from the weaponless combat of ancient Greece to the majority of martial arts that arose around the rest of the globe. Basically, you'd be trying to prove that the techniques from Pankration lived on and were perpetuated throughout the Orient, Western civilization, African civilizations, etc...

I'm no history expert, but as I know it, the Western world and Eastern world developed simultaneously yet on opposite sides of the globe. Marco Polo was one of the first westerners to even visit the East in the 1300's or so, and was followed by the Age of the Explorers (Magellan, Columbus, etc.) in their search for a route to the Far East. Of course, we now all know that they discovered the Americas in the process.

In short, it would be a big challenge to prove or even undoubtedly support the notion that Ancient Greece gave birth to combat in India, Indonesia, the Orient, etc.

I personally believe, as others apparently do, that hand-to-hand combat developed in different cultures, at different times in history, strictly out of necessity ("the mother of invention"), and that coincidence, time, and trial-and-error allowed different peoples to learn how to MOST effectively and efficiently maximize weaponless combat. This is to say that pretty much every culture would eventually realize that a good and safe way (if not the best way) to control an opponent is from their back, and to choke/strangle them with your hand/arms somehow to incapacitate them. Hence, the RNC.

Anyways, I say do the paper. Unless you got a better topic, it sound like it would be more fun than work. And let us know when it's done!

 

[VampireMonk]

where did ancient greece get it from?

they were a posporous city with many thinkers,
they were also an island with sailors/merchants with good navigation skills.

perhaps the roots lay in Egypt and Arabia, but
it doesn't take a brain to make your own style but to evolve it as far as it did
had to have come from cross training and testing

 

[krellik]

"Pankration was basic to the majority of the Greek warriors who served under Alexander the Great during his invasion of India in 326 B.C. Many authorities now contend that this dispersal of pankration techniques throughout the subcontinent laid the foundation for countless Asian martial arts which evolved soon thereafter, including Chinese kung fu, Okinawan karate, and Japanese jiujitsu. This theory has been the subject of a raging controversy for the past twenty years. "

I'm writing my undergraduate history thesis, and one of the things I was thinking about researching was Pankration. I came across the above quote, and I was wondering if anyone has ever heared that before? I think I might write about it regardles of weather or not its true (as in I'd try and prove or disprove it)

Im planing on doing something with pankration or other related combat sports next term in university. I love to share some resources with you later on