Ground fighting in Pankration
By Mike Cartier (Feb 2005) |
Pankration is composed of stand up striking and standing / ground grappling, As the contest was in a large measure wrestling, many of the tricks of wrestlers akrocheirismos (wrestling with hands), anchein (strangle, throttle), lugizen (to be thrown or mastered), strebloun (twist or wrench a limb) or strephein (of wrestlers, twist the adversary back) were often used. Violently to throw oneself on one's opponent (enallesthai) was a common feature.
When two pankratiasts began their contest, they stood with outstretched arms: and the first object which each of them endeavored to accomplish was to gain a favorable position and grip, each trying to make the other stand so that the sun might shine in his face, or that other inconveniences might prevent his fighting with success. When the contest began, each of the fighters might commence by boxing or by wrestling, accordingly as he thought he should be more successful in the one than in the other. The using of teeth and butting with the head were considered unfair fighting (kakomachein) and contrary to the law of the games (nomos enagonios). The victory was not decided until one of the parties was Knocked out, or lifted up a finger, thereby declaring that he was unable to continue the contest either from pain or fatigue (Philostr. l. c.). It usually happened that one of the combatants, by some trick or other, made his antagonist fall to the ground, and the wrestling which then commenced was called anaklinopale, and continued until one of the parties declared himself conquered or was strangled.
Ground fighting in Ancient Greece was known as
halindesis (rolling in dust, exercise in which wrestlers rolled on the ground) , kulisis ( rolling, esp. of athletes in the dust after anointing) or anaklinopale or more commonly known as Kato Pale (ground wrestling). Upright or stand up wrestling being called Orthia Pale.
Edited Exerpt from A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities (1890) (eds. William Smith, LLD, William Wayte, G. E. Marindin)
at the Perseus Archives
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In the Image A the fighter on top is leveraging himself against the opponents arm and shoulder to put him in a position of dominance where he can tie up his opponent with his limbs while keeping his striking hand free to give him the chance to deliver some undefendable strikes .
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Image A |
In Image B the fighter on the right is pushing the opponent back with the force of his momentum and keeping him attached while making space for his striking hand to get better leverage for a shot.
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Image B |
If we look at Image C the fighter on left and on top is holding the opponent with one hand while striking with the other, the opponent on the bottom is using a type of scissor guard to attempt an escape to a neutral position (or possibly just to stall).
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Image C |
In Image D the fighter on left has thrown the opponent and is in the process or either fish hooking or covering the breathing areas with his hand while he raises his rear hand up ready to strike.
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Image D |
| In Image E the wrestler on the left is attacking an opponent in the turtle position with a reverse triangle type of technique and grasping the opponents arm ready to turn him over. (this triangle is not a submission but a control technique) | 
Image E |
| In Image F we see another attack on a turtled wrestler, the wrestler on the left is grasping a leg while entwining his own leg around the opponents other leg in what seems to be another control technique. | 
Image F |
| In Image G Herakles has worked an ankle pick take down on Antiaos and is attempting to consolidate the position with a head press or crank, from underneath Antiaos is grasping at Herakles leg in an attempted leg trip sweep. | 
Image G |
| In Image H the fighter on the right (underneath) has a side head lock on and is trying to turn his hips to throw (sweep) his opponent off balance onto the ground, the opponent is trying desperatly to strike his way out of the position. | 
Image H |
Some Text Descriptions of Pankration
Dionysiaca XXXVII 594-609 by Nonnos
And having thrown the man completely spread out in the dust
Aikos got on the middle of the opponent's back
And sending his outstretched feet along under the spread out stomach,
Binding together a bent bond around just above the knees,
He pressed sole on sole and encircled the ankles to their outermost tips;
And having quickly stretched himself over his opponent's back,
And winding his hand over each other like a wreath,
He cast a bond on the neck with his arm, having bent his fingers;
He drenched the heaped up sand with soaking wet sweat,
Cleaning off the running drops with dry sand,
So that the entwined man might not slip through the knot of his hands
While sending hot moisture down from his squeezed neck.
And while he was being squeezed by the sharp palm
The heralds chosen as overseers of the games wandered over,
So that the forearm with the yoked-together lifting-strap would not kill him.
For there was not at that time such a rule, which their
descendants made later on, that when a man is overwhelmed
by th strangled pain of necks being stretched by bonds
he gives over the victory to his wrestling opponent with sensible silence,
having tapped the winning man with a shameful hand.
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This is an excellent detailed description of the Rear Naked Choke including proper placement of the hooks(feet)
And from a Dionysiaca XLVIII 150-170 by Nonnos
But the girl jumped up again from the dust and stood up steady on her feet once more. Then Dionysos with an agile movement mercilessly set his knee against Pallene's belly, and holding her tried to to roll her over on to her back, and tried to hook ankle or shin, or to catch the knee. At least the god fell back of himself rolling on the ground and let a feeble hand conquer him: a charming physic it was for his love, when he lay beautiful in that happy dust on his back, bearing upon his own belly that lovely burden-- he lay upon his back, bearing upon his own belly that lovely burden -- he lay still, and did not throw off the girl, but held her fast with soul consoling bonds of desire. She pulled herself from the manly hands of love mad Dionysos, and lifted herself to her feet with a twist of her legs in a quick supple movement; but the god with a slight effort simply rolled over and laid the rosy girl flat on the ground, So there lay the girl on the ground stretching her arms abroad, and as she lay along the ground he joined his arms neetly in a clasp about her neck.
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This source describes a sweep by Dionysos followed by a choke.
And from a Description by Pausianus of a painting describing the death of Arrichion
Having already grabbed Arrichion around the waist, the opponent had in mind killing him and rammed an arm against his throat, cutting off his breath, while with his legs fastened around Arrichion's groin, he pressed his feet against the back of both his knees. He got ahead of Arrichion with this stranglehold since the sleep of death was from that point creeping over his senses, but in relaxing his grip, he did not get past Arrichion's strategem. For Arrichion kicked away his heel, which put his opponent's right side into an unfavorable position, since now the knee was dangling. Then Arrichion held his opponent, who was not really an opponent anymore, to his groin and leaning to his left he trapped the tip of his opponent's (right) foot in the bend of his (right) knee and pulled the ankle out of joint with the violence of his twist in the other direction.
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Another good description of the Rear Naked Choke.
And from another Description by Philostratus of the death of Arrichion (Book II . 6 )
And as to the wrestling? Those who engage in the pancratium, my boy, employ a wrestling that is hazardous; for they must needs meet blows on the face that are not safe for the wrestler, and must clinch in struggles that one can only win by pretending to fall, and they need skill that they may choke and adversary in different ways at different times, and the same contestants are both wrestling with the ankle and twisting the opponent's arm, to say nothing of dealing a blow or leaping upon an adversary; for all these things are permissible in the pancratium --- anything except biting and eye gouging. The Lacedmeamonians, indeed, allow even these, because I suppose, they are training themselves for battle, but the contests of Elis exclude them, though they do permit choking. Accordingly, the antagonist of Arrichion, having already clinched him around the middle, thought to kill him; already he had wound his forearm about the other's throat to shut off the breathing, while, pressing his legs on the groins and winding his feet one inside each knee of his adversary, he forestalled Arrichion's resistance by choking him till the sleep of death thus induced began to creep over his senses. But in relaxing the tension of his legs he failed to forestall the scheme of Arrichion; for the latter kicked back with the sole of his right foot (as the result of which his right side was imperiled since now his knee was hanging unsupported), then with his groin he holds his adversary tight till he can no longer resist, and throwing his weight down toward the left while he locks the latter's foot tightly inside his own knee, by this violent outward thrust he wrenches the ankle from its socket. Arrichion's soul, though it makes him feeble as it leaves his body, yet gives him the strength to achieve that for which he strives.
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A different interpetation of the Arrichion death detailing the use of the rear Naked Choke and a counter to it.
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An Outline of Pankration Ground Fighting
Because Pankration rules did not recognize normal wrestling pins or throws as winning moves the focus was on submission by either choke or limb twist or , more commonly, submission from strikes. The Pankratiasts used their wrestling skills to gain a dominant position from which they could control the opponent while keeping a limb free to strike, hopefully with the opponent fully controlled so that no defense against the strike is possible. This was done using the Ground Stance described in the Pankration Stance Article. Submission moves included chokes, arm and leg wrenchings or twistings, strikes used on the ground were straight and hooking punches as well hammerfists much like todays ground & pound in MMA/NHB. All the dominant groundfighting positions of modern MMA/BJJ/Wrestling (side control, mount, half guard and knee on belly) were of use here except for the offensive BJJ guard, which so far has not been evidenced in any historical sources either of pottery or literature however the guard used as a postion of control was certainly used. Striking played a critical role throughout the Pankration bout. Punching and kicking were used to close the distance to clinch , once at clinch range you can either throw or strike, using punches, elbows and knees. Once on the ground the Pankratiast sought to place the opponent into a position where dominant leverage can be brought to bear to hold them in place either to apply strikes or submissions.
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Rules for groundfighting
In Pankration the rules were simple, no biting and no eye gouging, although the Spartans preferred to allow eye gouging and biting and perhaps even instituted them as team sports. The other city states of ancient Greece kept to the no biting and no eye gouging rules , but even this seems to be a flexible rule, because in some images the fighter using foul tactics was clearly being admonished and beaten by the judge but in other images foul tactics seem to go unnoticed (this is noted by M. Poliakoff in his book "Combat Sports of the Ancient World"). Some contemporary sources suggest that Pankration fighters suffered many injuries consistent with being eye gouged. There are also stories of a nickname given to one Greek citiy states pankration fighters who were dubbed 'The Lions" for their frequent use of the illegal biting tactic.
Pankration was a true no rules fighting sport, no weight categories, no time limits or rounds, win by knockout or submission. Despite what some sources would have us believe, they did not fight to the death and in fact Boxing was considered more dangerous (this is evidenced by the story of one participant in the olympic games asking that the Pankration event be held before the Boxing event so that he would be less likely to be injured were he to participate in both events.)
What rules should we use in a modern reconstruction of Pankration and Wrestling contests if we seek to emulate the Ancient Greek versions of these sports? For Pankration any holds, chokes or limb wrenches, any strikes with hand , fist, knee or elbow, standing or on the ground, submission either by strikes or submission being complete victory regardless of points. For wrestling points are awarded for clean takedowns (probably not falling takedowns but takedowns where the opponents feet are put above his head so it would be easier to score [note: this is pure speculation on my behalf]), shoulder pins to the floor. Any chokes or other submissions give a point towards victory in a best of three point matchup. The opponent is made to submit either verbally, with a finger raised or a tap.
Conclusion
Pankration groundfighting comprised a large part of the action in Pankration, just like today the grapplers sought to go to the ground phase and the strikers sought success in their free movment phase. Once the free movement phase of combat was closed to the clinch phase/range, grappling dominated the fight. Each fighter grappling for a good throw using waistlocks, hip throws, foot trips, headlocks, shoulder throws and all manner of falling sacrifice throws. The primary purpose of the ground fighting and standing grappling was to get into a dominant position to use your leverage on the opponent either to apply incapacitating submission holds such as the Guillotine, headlock, leg and arm or joint twistings and wrenchings or more commonly to gain a dominant grappling position so that strikes can be applied from clinch or ground in a manner that will result in either a knockout or force submission.
The strikes used ranged from straight punches , hooking punches and overhand hammerfists to elbows/forearms, knees and probably headbutts (although no historical sources mention headbutting specifically and in fact one source mentions it as a banned foul tactic).
Very few indications of fighting actively from ones back can be found in the historical sources, therefore the notion of the modern BJJ / Submission wrestling guard is noticably absent from Pankration and Greek wrestling much as it is from other western wrestling disciplines. Leg scissoring techniques are evidenced but from the back during the rear naked chokes and backwards as in Image C, or as methods of holding an opponent in place to apply strikes, but as yet nothing really evidences fighting from the back. One notable exception is this picture of Herakles fighting Antiaos.
This is one of the few historical sources I have seen that could be said to show evidence of a
fighter working actively from his back, the fighter underneath (Antiaos) has been taken down by the fighter on the top (Herakles), Antiaos is trying to do two things from underneath. Grasp Herakles ankle and apply his foot to the hip to effect a sweep takedown and so reverse his situation. Interstingly enough Antiaos (sometimes also spelt Anteus or Antaios) had to be defeated by keeping him from touching the ground where he drew strength from the earth (his mother was earth goddess Gaia). Could this be an ancient mythological description of the need to keep an experienced ground fighter out of his element in a fight? 20 years ago we would have said no definitvely, but today with our knowledge of the strengths of ground fighting we can at least have some modern experience to base this interpretation upon when we talk about the dangers of groundfighting with an experienced groundfighter.
Another excellent description of a fighting actively from ones back from Imagines by Philostratus (Book II .6)
Accordingly, the antagonist of Arrichion, having already clinched him around the middle, thought to kill him; already he had wound his forearm about the other's throat to shut off the breathing, while, pressing his legs on the groins and winding his feet one inside each knee of his adversary, he forestalled Arrichion's resistance by choking him till the sleep of death thus induced began to creep over his senses. But in relaxing the tension of his legs he failed to forestall the scheme of Arrichion; for the latter kicked back with the sole of his right foot (as the result of which his right side was imperiled since now his knee was hanging unsupported), then with his groin he holds his adversary tight till he can no longer resist, and throwing his weight down toward the left while he locks the latter's foot tightly inside his own knee, by this violent outward thrust he wrenches the ankle from its socket. Arrichion's soul, though it makes him feeble as it leaves his body, yet gives him the strength to achieve that for which he strives.
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How frequently did the Pankration end up in the groundfighting phase? Thats a difficult question to answer, but just like today the answer lies in the individual skills of the fighters. We can get some clues from literary sources however. here is part of the above description of Pancratium from Philostratus
Those who engage in the pancratium, my boy, employ a wrestling that is hazardous; for they must needs meet blows on the face that are not safe for the wrestler, and must clinch in struggles that one can only win by pretending to fall,
he mentions that they must clinch in struggles that one can only win by pretending to fall, a clue to the prevalent action in the Pancratium which according to Philostratus had in large part a frequent need to fall to the ground with ones opponent.
I think its safe to say that it comprised roughly 50% of the action in Pankration bouts, but given what we know today about ground fighting and the effect of skilled grapplers in the NHB/MMA environment, its quite possible that it may have been of much higher frequency. We will probably never know for sure but knowledge of modern combat sports with similar rules can allow us to make some educated guesses about the sort of fighting styles that dominated the sport of Pankration. Today the phases of the fight in NHB/MMA are separated into 3 phases... Free Movement, Clinch and Ground.
Free movement phase is the open striking phase where kickboxing/boxing is most applicable, it includes everything up until the fighters clinch up in a grapple. This phase is dominated by footwork and striking. The next phase is Clinch where the fighters clinch up with 1 or 2 hands. The position can be done in many variations from neck and elbow to double neck clinches or even reverse headlock clinches. In clinch phase striking and grappling share the load equally and only predominate depending on the skills of the fighter (strikers try to break clinch, grapplers try to throw or improve clinch position). The last phase is the Ground phase, it comprises everything after a hand or foot hits the ground for either fighter, in this phase positional dominance rules, striking methods from the free movement phase are negated to the point of being useless, Clinch phase striking is of great use here however.. the ground phase is all about gaining a position of dominance where irresistible leverage can be applied to apply a submission move or to rain down strikes from relative safety.
Modern No Holds Barred fights ranging from the original UFC to the original Vale Tudo matches in Brazil and the modern UFC and Pride fights worldwide have given us an excellent testing ground to view a combat sport similar to Ancient Pankration. In the beginning the Vale Tudo and UFC events were dominated by the ground fighters, specifically the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu fighters using pure submission wrestling where positional ground dominance was exploited to leverage submission holds. As fighters became more experienced with the dangers of ground combat as espoused by the jiu-Jitsu fighters the Western combat wrestlers began to emerge as a powerful force in NHB/MMA winning with a brutal mixture of athleticism, wrestling technique and striking, again using positional dominance to apply a punishing Ground and Pound attack. As the NHB/MMA events evolved strikers began to focus on grappling skills to maintain the fight in their preferred phase and so exploit their skills. This is of course an over simplified history of modern NHB/MMA but gives the outline of its modern evolution in the last 20-30 years.
The main element in the above history of NHB/MMA is the dominance of a phase of combat, in all 3 evolutions of the modern combat sport (Vale Tudo /NHB/MMA) a phase of combat was used strategically to dominate the fight and win. Likewise in ancient Pankration fighters sought to control the fight in their preferred phase, with the ground and Clinch phases more than likely dominating the action as the preferred way to avoid the wrong end of a powerful striker. But then just like today in modern NHB/MMA if the striker has sufficient grappling skills he can avoid the clinch and ground phases to apply his strength in the free movement phases to the fight. The ancient art of Pankration had a strong and vibrant competetive history lasting just over 1000 years from its earliest mention at the 33rd Olympics in 648 B.C. to when The Games at Olympia came to an end in 435 A.D., when the Emperor Theodosius issued an Edict banning the use of pagan structures. As the Games were dedicated to the pagan god Zeus, (heavy athletics training centers or palaestras also contain many elements of god and hero worship from Herakles and Thesues to Athena and Hermes) it was impossible to continue the Games and quite possibly the training without these facilities.
Clearly however the arts that Pankration sprang from (wrestling and boxing) and probably Pankration itself can be said to have existed long before thier entry into the Olympics and more than likely were still around long after the banning of the Olympics. We know that Greek wrestling certainly continued onwards to Byzantine times from mentions of a Greek wrestling teacher who fought in various wars during Byztanine times. Certainly elements of wrestling, boxing and Pankration must have survived in various local martial art forms but clearly no one can claim an intact lineage of either wrestling, boxing or pankration.
So the combat sport of Pankration and Pancratium lasted competitivly for around 1000 to 1100 years (possibly longer) with many athletes earning their living as heavy combatants with some getting sponsorship by cities around the Greek and Roman world. Some families fielded heavy combat athletes of great re-known over many generations. With such a long competitive history it is safe to assume that many parallels exist between the ancient and modern combat sports making the realities of modern NHB/MMA a vitally important secondary source of information in the reconstruction of historical Pankration, and its best testing ground.
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