

Pankration - benbreen
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pankration

======
ddlatham
Notable is the story of Arrhichion who won the Pankration when his opponent
surrendered even though he died in the attempt. His corpse was crowned and
proclaimed the victor.

~~~
joaotorres
The story of Damoxenos of Syracuse on this Quora answer to the question "What
is the most unsportsmanlike conduct you have seen in any sport?" is also
pretty interesting: [http://www.quora.com/What-is-the-most-unsportsmanlike-
conduc...](http://www.quora.com/What-is-the-most-unsportsmanlike-conduct-you-
have-seen-in-any-sport/answer/Daniel-McLaury)

------
theophrastus
"... The only things not acceptable were biting and gouging of the opponent's
eyes."

so (in honest curiosity) why didn't the first man to grab a thorny branch (or
burning brand) aimed at the other man's genitals always win the contest?

~~~
dougk16
Earlier mainstream MMA events like the first few UFC tournaments actually
allowed groin strikes. I know for at least several bouts the athletes would
have a gentleman's agreement not to employ them despite the legality.

Beyond that, the problem with attacking another man's genital's is...he can
attack yours too. So the athletes employ defensive measures that usually
nullify each other.

There are some positions like full guard where groin strikes are much easier
to pull off for one person. And what can I say - that's hard to watch. Usually
at the least they're wearing cups but it can still be painful.

------
carsongross
Certainly the current surge of MMA popularity (perhaps abating) appears to me
to be a return to more primitive western mores around violence.

It is interesting how eye gouging and biting were, even in greek times,
considered out of bounds. Why? From where does this moral sense of fairness-
in-violence come? Why would people cheer a man who has successfully broken
another mans neck, but shun a man who has gouged another mans eyes out?

One wonders if we will eventually return to widespread animal sport fighting.

~~~
_yosefk
Rules must be such that enough people enjoy watching the fights, and enough
people agree to fight. Presumably, few will agree to fight if nothing is off
limits, and even if that is false, few will have the chance to gain the skills
making the fights enjoyable before their eyes are gouged out.

(Personally, I'm not into this sort of entertainment to say the least, but
that is beside the point...)

~~~
jetti
Modern day Vale Tudo is as close as you get to organized Pankration[1]. It has
very limited rules and was (not sure if it still is) popular in Brazil.

[1]
[http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vale_tudo](http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vale_tudo)

------
mcguire
The Greeks invented mixed-martial arts? And did it naked?

~~~
sanoli
Yes, they did. Then the Brazilians invented it again and it became modern day
MMA.

~~~
ProAm
> Then the Brazilians invented it again

This is untrue, there were many people who traveled the world to fight 'all
comers' in no holds barred competitions. Mitsuyo Maeda[1] is one of these
people who brought judo to Brazil which later become BJJ. Maeda is not the
only that did this however (travel and fight anyone, in any discipline)

[1]
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitsuyo_Maeda](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitsuyo_Maeda)

~~~
sanoli
Yes, there was Maeda, and there was a bunch of other stuff (Merikan fights,
shooto, etc). However, Vale Tudo was created by the Gracies, who eventually
went on to create a very similar thing with the UFC, which then caught on and
today MMA is pretty much what the UFC is.

Plus, before, there were fighters pitting their style against other styles. In
Brazil, besides the BJJ fighters, there were 'Vale Tudo' fighters, who trained
in many styles and mixed, BJJ, wrestling and stand-up (Marco Ruas for example.
His trained in everything, and when asked, he said his style was Vale Tudo).
Which is what any MMA athlete is today.

------
zmonkeyz
My introduction to this was Jeffery in Virtua Fighter.

