On the Kicking Techniques of Pankration

Abstract

The ancient Hellenic art of pankration differed from that of pugilism and wrestling in that it included two additional unique aspects: joint manipulations (including chokes, in the form of groundwork) and kicks. Its history of Olympic competition spans at least 869 years, from 648 BCE to 221 CE. In the following study, the comprehensive list of compiled kicking-related terms includes five general terms, seven primary techniques, six distinct variants, and five strike placement denominations for a total of 23 descriptors, amassed for this purpose for the first time in modern literature. All terms that are to be listed were sourced directly from ancient texts. The study also includes an analysis of how the ancient Greeks viewed kicking techniques in competition based on Hellenic literature of antiquity and pankration depictions (pottery, statues, & reliefs). The goal is to create a comprehensive database of Hellenic pankration’s kicking techniques and practises to incorporate in an academically sound modern renewal of the combat sport that can support adequate teaching and competition that can carry into its return to the Olympics.

Keywords:

• Pankration
• Combat Sports
• Martial arts
• Kicking techniques
• Ancient Greece

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Correction Statement

This article has been corrected with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Notes

1 Plutarch, Moralia. Translated by Gregorius N. Bernardakis. Vol. 3–4 (Leipzig: Teubner, 1891). Quaestiones Convivales, 638D.2.

2 Lucian. Lucian, vol. 4., ed. A. M Harmon (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1925; repr. 1961), Anacharsis, 3.2.

3 Eusebius, Chronicle. Translated by Robert Bedrosian (2008), https://archive.org/details/EusebiusChroniclechronicon (accessed July 15, 2023), 60.72.

4 British Library. ‘Digitised Manuscripts’, https://www.bl.uk/manuscripts/FullDisplay.aspx?ref=Papyrus_1243 (accessed July 15, 2023), Papyrus 1243.

5 World Pangration Athlima Federation (W.P.A.F.). History of Pangration Athlima. https://worldpangration.net/index.php/explore (accessed July 15, 2023).

6 Hellenic Ministry of Culture and Sport. Δελτίο Τύπου [Press Release]. Γενική Γραμματεία Αθλητισμού. [General Secretariat of Sport] https://gga.gov.gr/grafeio-tupou/deltia-tupou/3326-18-3-2021 (accessed July 15, 2023). Proof of recent governmental funding.

7 Ελληνική Ομοσπονδία Παγκρατίου Αθλήματος [World Pangration Athlima Federation]. Ιστορία του Αθλήματος [History of the Sport]. https://pangration.org/index.php/istoria-tou-athlimatos (accessed July 15, 2023).

8 Julius Pollux Gramm. Pollucis Onomasticon, 2 Vols. ed. E. Bethe (Leipzig: Teubner, 1900; 1931; repr. 1967), 2.175.3.

9 Homer, Homeri Opera in Five Volumes (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1920), Iliad, 1.58.

10 Pindar, The Odes of Pindar Including the Principal Fragments with an Introduction and an English Translation by Sir John Sandys, Litt.D., FBA (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann Ltd., 1937), Isthmian 5.10.

11 M. Poliakoff, Combat Sports in the Ancient World: Competition Violence and Culture (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1987), 57.

12 Epigram 7.692. (Anthologia Graeca), https://anthologiagraeca.org/passages/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg7000.tlg001.ag:7.692/(accessed July 15, 2023).

13 E.N Gardiner, Greek Athletic Sports and Festivals (London: Macmillan and Co. Limited 1910), 486.

14 Xenophon, Xenophontis Opera Omnia, vol. 1 (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1900; repr. 1968), Hellenica 2.4.16.

15 Logeion. https://logeion.uchicago.edu/(accessed July 15, 2023), s.v. ἐνάλλεσθαι.

16 Pausanias, Pausaniae Graeciae Descriptio, 3 Vols (Leipzig: Teubner, 1903), 3.14.10.

17 Comica Adespota, Comicorum Atticorum Fragmenta, vol. 3., ed. T. Kock (Leipzig: Teubner, 1888), 14.8D.

18 Galen, ‘Protrepticus vel Exhortatio ad Medicinam’, in Claudii Galeni Opera Omnia, ed. Karl Gottlob Kühn (Leipzig: C. Cnobloch, 1821), 13.

19 Epictetus, Epicteti Dissertationes ab Arriano Digestae, ed. Heinrich Schenkl (Leipzig: B. G. Teubner, 1916), Discourses, 3.14, 4.1, 4.5.

20 Beazley Archive. ‘Beazley Archive Pottery Database (BAPD).’ (Classical Art Research Centre), https://www.carc.ox.ac.uk/carc/pottery (accessed July 15, 2023), Vase no.351283, ca. 525-475 BCE.

21 Beazley Archive, Vase no.201368, ca. 525-475 BCE.

22 Beazley Archive, Vase no.31339, ca. 400-300 BCE.

23 Beazley Archive, Vase no.215021, ca. 450-400 BCE.

24 Terracotta Lamp, 83.AQ.377.86, ca. 1st-4th c. CE. ‘Museum Collection.’ (Getty Museum), https://www.getty.edu/art/collection/object/103Y3E#full-artwork-details (accessed July 15, 2023); Gardiner, Greek Athletic Sports and Festivals, Fig.22.

25 M. Cartwright, Ancient Greek Pottery (World History Encyclopedia, 2018), https://www.worldhistory.org/Greek_Pottery/ (accessed July 15, 2023).

26 LSJ (Liddell, Scott, Jones). https://lsj.gr/wiki/Main_Page (accessed July 15, 2023), s.v. ὑπολακτίζω.

27 Philostratus the Elder, Philostrati Maioris Imagines, ed. O. Benndorf and K. Schenkl (Leipzig: Teubner, 1893), 2.6.3.9-10.

28 Aristophanes, Aristophanes Comoediae, ed. F. W. Hall and W. M. Geldart, vol. 1–2 (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1907), Peace, 898; Birds, 442.

29 Pausanias, Descriptions of Greece, 8.40.2-5; Philostratus Lucius Flavius, Flavii Philostrati Opera, vol. 2. ed. C. L. Kayser (Leipzig: Teubner, 1871; repr.1964), De Gymnastica, 21.1; Philostratus Major, Imagines, 2.6.1. Note that all three authors are the only accounts of the death of Arrichion, and all authors are of roughly the same time period (circa second to third century CE).

30 G.M. Hollenback, ‘Arrichion’s Last Fight: What Really Happened?’ Journal of Combative Sport, Electronic Journals of Martial Arts and Sciences (2003), https://ejmas.com/jcs/jcsart_hollenback_0903.htm (accessed July 15, 2023).

31 Lucianus, Anacharsis, 8.

32 T. Green, Martial Arts of the World: An Encyclopedia Volume 1: A-Q (Santa Barbara, California: ABC-CLIO, Inc. 2001), 634.

33 Poliakoff, Combat Sports in the Ancient World, figure 62.

34 Beazley Archive, Vase No. 4820, ca. 550-500 BCE; Vase No. 200209, ca. 550-500 BCE.

35 Theocritus, Idylls. Translated by R. J. Cholmeley (London: George Bell & Sons, 1901), 22.66.

36 E. Gardiner, ‘Regulations for a Local Sports Meeting’, The Classical Review, 43, no.6 (1929): 210–12. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0009840X00054123.

37 Beazley Archive, Vase No. 216811, ca. 450-400 BCE; Vase No. 3401, ca. 450-400 BCE; Vase No. 216017, ca. 475-425 BCE.

38 Beazley Archive, Vase No. 214089, ca. 475-425 BCE; Compare to: Dieselnoi Chor Thanasukarn vs John Moncayo, July 14, 1984 (The Muay Thai channel, 2007), https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rAxcPE_0eXw (accessed July 15, 2023), 0:54; 1:32; Beazley Archive, Vase No. 3401, ca. 450-400 BCE; Compare to: Saenchai vs Singdam. Muay Thai Sparring No Shin Guards (YOKKAO, 2016), https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aXMfm4xxKco (accessed July 15, 2023), 0:05.

39 Beazley Archive, Vase No. 203278, ca. 500-450 BCE.

40 Shane Wallace, ‘Greek Culture in Afghanistan and India: Old Evidence and New Discoveries’, Greece & Rome 63, no. 2 (2016): 205–26, https://www.jstor.org/stable/26776786 (accessed July 15, 2023), 215.

41 Sylvie von Duuglas-Ittu, ‘Padwork with Daeng at Lanna – Dracula Guard (Long Guard Variation).’, 8LimbsUs, published: June 6, 2016, https://8limbsus.com/muay-thai-thailand/padwork-daeng-dracula-guard-muay-thai (accessed July 15, 2023).

42 Beazley Archive, Vase No. 211553, ca. 475-425 BCE; Vase No. 210094, ca. 475-425 BCE; Vase No. 200640, ca. 525-470 BCE.

43 Beazley Archive, Vase No. 275089, ca. 525-475 BCE; Vase No. 9025100, ca. 525-475 BCE.

44 Beazley Archive, Vase No. 210094, ca. 475-425 BCE.

45 Lucianus, Anacharsis, 10.5; All transliterations follow the ISO 843 Type 1 standard.

46 Theocritus, Idylls, 22.66.

47 Homer, The Odyssey with an English Translation by A.T. Murray, Ph.D. In Two Volumes (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann, Ltd., 1919), 17.233.

48 Pseudo-Apollodorus, Apollodori Bibliotheca. Pediasimi Libellus de Duodecim Herculis Laboribus, ed. R. Wagner (Leipzig: Teubner, 1894), 3.2.

49 Plutarch, De Cohibenda Ira, 8.

50 Logeion s.v. λάξ.

51 Scholia in Homerum, Scholia Graeca in Homeri Iliadem (Scholia Vetera), vols. 1–5, ed. H Erbse (Berlin: De Gruyter, 1:1969; 2:1971; 3:1974; 4:1975; 5:1977; 7:1988), 5.620.1-3.

52 Eupolis, Comicorum Atticorum Fragmenta, vol. 1-3, ed. T. Kock (Leipzig: Teubner, 1880), 411.1.

53 LSJ s.v. ἐκλακτίζω.

54 Poliakoff, Combat Sports in the Ancient World, 172.8.

55 Pherecrates, Fragmenta, 136.1; LSJ s.v. λακπατέω.

56 Theocritus, Idylls, 24.25.

57 Logeion s.v. διά.

58 T. Myers, N. Balmer, A. Nevill & Y. Al-Nakeeb, ‘Techniques Used by Elite Thai and UK Muay Thai Fighters: An Analysis and Simulation’, Journal of Combat Sports 8, no. 2 (2013): 123–37.

59 Ibid.

60 Aulus Gellius, The Attic Nights of Aulus Gellius with an English Translation, trans. John C. Rolfe (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1927), 13.28.

61 Oribasius, Oribasii Collectionum Medicarum Reliquiae, vols. 1–4, ed., by J. Raeder (Leipzig: Teubner, 6.1.1:1928; 6.1.2:1929; 6.2.1:1931; 6.2.2:1933), 6.31.3.

62 Logeion s.v. ἀνα.

63 Lucianus, Anacharsis, 28.

64 LSJ s.v. ὑπολακτίζειν.

65 Hippiatrica, Corpus Hippiatricorum Graecorum, Col. 1., ed. E. Oder and E. K. Hoppe (Leipzig: Teubner, 1924; repr. 1971), 40.6.5.

66 Logeion s.v. πτερνίζω.

67 Beazley Archive, Vase No. 303050, ca. 500-450 BCE.

68 Cratinus, Fragmenta, 399.1.

69 LSJ s.v. γονατίζω.

70 Apollonius Rhodius, Argonautica, trans. George W. Mooney (London: Longmans, Green, 1912), 4.1446.

71 Sextus Empiricus, Sexti Empirici Opera, vols. 2 & 3, ed. H. Mutschmann and J. Mau (Leipzig: Teubner, 2:1914; 3:1961), 1.217.1-5.

72 Myers et al., 183.

73 LSJ s.v. τύπτω.

74 See note 23.

75 Logeion s.v. κώρυκος.

76 Beazley Archive, Vase No. 202343, ca. 500-450 BCE.

77 Beazley Archive, Vase No. 4704, ca. 500-450 BCE.

78 Beazley Archive, Vase No. 31339, ca. 400-300 BCE.

79 Beazley Archive, Vase No. 201368, ca. 525-475 BCE.

80 Beazley Archive, Vase No. 303049, ca. 500-450 BCE.

81 Beazley Archive, Vase No. 303049, ca. 500-450 BCE; Vase No. 215021, ca. 450-400 BCE.

82 Scholia in Aeschylum, The Commentary on Aeschylus’ Prometheus in the Codex Neapolitanus, ed. H. W. Smyth (Harvard Studies in Classical Philology, 32, 1921), Scholia in Prometheum vinctum, 881.2.

83 Hesychius, Hesychii Alexandrini Lexicon, vols. 1–2, ed. K. Latte (Copenhagen: Munksgaard, 1:1953; 2:1966), Lambda, 285.1.

84 Aeschylus. Suppliant Women (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1926), 937.

85 Logeion s.v. ἀπολακτίζω.

86 Scholia in Apollonium Rhodium, Scholia in Apollonium Rhodium Vetera, ed. K. Wendel (Berlin: Weidmann, 1935; repr.1974), 132.12-16.

87 Philostratus, Heroicus, 678, 10.

88 Logeion s.v. ἀποπτερνίζω.

89 Theodosius of Alexandria, Theodosii Alexandrini Grammatica, ed. K. Göttling (Leipzig: Libraria Dykiana, 1822), 5.31.

90 Apollonius, Argonautica, 2.106.

91 Logeion s.v. ἐπορούω.

92 Pausanias, Description of Greece, 3.14.10.

93 Logeion s.v. ἐμπηδάω.

94 Lucian, Anacharsis, 4.3.

95 See note 90.

96 Julius Pollux, Onomasticon, 3.150.5-8.

97 Logeion s.v. ἐνάλλομαι.

98 Aristophanes, Aristophanes Comoediae, vol. 1–2, ed. F. W. Hall and W. M. Geldart (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1907), Knights, 273; 454.

99 Sextus Empiricus, Adversus Mathematicos, 1.217.4-5.

100 LSJ s.v. ἀντικνημιάζω.

101 Beazley Archive, Vase No. 217232, ca. 450-400 BCE.

102 Sextus Empiricus, Adversus Mathematicos, 1.217.5.

103 LSJ s.v. γαστρίζω.

104 Scholia in Aristophanem, Prolegomena de Comoedia. Scholia in Acharnenses, Equites, Nubes, ed. D. M. Jones and N. G. Wilson (Groningen: Wolters-Noordhoff, 1969), Scholia in equites, 273.1.

105 Hipponax, Iambi et Elegi Graeci, vol. 1, ed. M. L. West (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1971), Fragmenta, 104.13.

106 Lucian, Anacharsis, 9.17.

107 See note 99.

108 LSJ s.v. μυκτηρίζω.

109 Cleanthes Phil, Stoicorum Veterum Fragmenta, vol. 1, ed. J. von Arnim (Leipzig: Teubner, 1905; repr. 1968), 613.2.

110 Comica Adespota, Fragmenta Incertorum Poetarum, 1174.1.

111 LSJ, Greek Liddell-Scott s.v. κεφαλίζω.

112 See note 7.

113 C.J. Gavagan & M.G.L. Sayers, ‘A Biomechanical Analysis of the Roundhouse Kicking Technique of Expert Practitioners: A Comparison Between the Martial Arts Disciplines of Muay Thai, Karate, and Taekwondo’, Journal of Sports Science 12, no. 3 (2017): 456–70.

114 Imperatory Theodosiani Codex. Liber Decimus Sextus (The Latin Library), https://www.thelatinlibrary.com/theodosius/theod16.shtml (accessed July 15, 2023).

115 O. Bopearachchi, From Bactria to Taprobane, Volume II, Art History and Maritime Trade (Manohar Publishers & Distributors, 2015), 5, 64.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Athanasios Bonas

Athanasios Bonas is of Hellenic heritage, born in New York and raised in Greece. He has practised and researched pankration for over 20 years. He studied Nuclear Engineering at Texas A&M.