Pankration Research Paper

Pankration and its Relation to Modern Day Sports

“All-Powerful”; this is the meaning of the ancient Greek term pankration. Pankration was not only a sport, but a will driven, fight to the death. The empty-hand event had simple rules: no eye gouging and no biting. Everything else was fair game. The violent sport, which first made its way into the Olympic program in 648 (Miller 57), was a crowd favorite. When one opponent could not or refused to continue, the other was named victorious. In pankration, to concede was of utmost humiliation. This is what lead most losing challengers to merely accept their fate, and be choked to death.
Pankration has a very rich Greek history. The sport is said to be invented by Herakles and Theseus as they collided with great mystical beasts. The son of Zeus, Herakles was forced to wrestle the Nemean lion because its skin was impenetrable, thus making biting, gouging, and sharp weapons useless (Miller 57). Theseus, the founder-king of Athens, was said to have

It involves throwing opponents to the floor and holding them in submission”. The grappling skill required show much similarity to pankration, but striking is strictly prohibited. The sport was developed in the 1880s in Japan. Judo found its way into the Olympics in 1968 and includes seven events for men and seven events for women (https://www.olympic.org/judo).
Meaning “the way of kicking and punching”, taekwondo origins date back to Korea, 50 BC. Taekwondo involves a point system where kicks to the torso and head award competitors with different values. The use of hands is only allowed for blocking. The World Taekwondo Federation was founded in 1973 and acted as the first worldwide governing body of the sport. Making its Olympic debut in 1988, taekwondo now has four men’s events, and four women’s events