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Greek Pankration History

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In the Greek Olympics, Pankration is one of the sports that have influenced the modern sporting events. Pankration was a very popular combat sport in Ancient Greece. It was made up of two sports- wrestling and boxing; kicking was allowed as well. This sport is basically where the modern society founded mixed martial arts from. The poet Xenophanes describes the Pankration as "that new and terrible contest...of all holds" (Xenophanes 2). The Pankration name came from the Ancient Greek words παν and κράτος, which insinuates that the winner of the sport was the one who had all the ability and control of his fellow competitors. The competitors who participated in the Pankration were called Pankratiasts, and it was first founded as a sport in the Greek Olympics during the 33rd games held …show more content…

Immediately it became very popular and the spectators were drawn to it by the fact that it was a diverse and exciting sport, very different from other combat sports that were in the Ancient Olympics. Although the show was exciting and spectacular for those fans who enjoyed blood and violence, the sport itself was very dangerous for the pankratiasts. During the games, there were a lot of severe injuries sustained and sometimes even death occurred, which occurred to the opponent who was losing or would refuse to surrender. The fact that the sport was becoming too violent, and most of the Greek society was becoming more sophisticated and civilized, that then meant that the men's Pankration was replaced by the Pankration for boys; a less extreme version of the sport. The Pankration for boys was officially deemed a sport for the games in 200 BC. When Pankratiasts would compete, they

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