Pankration --> Olympics ...

[shironinja]

Would you compete in Pankration if it came back to the Olympics ?

Here's the catch -- what if it isn't Modern-day Modified Pankration...

...like if it allowed kills, finger breaks, et cetera?

Would you do it?

[JKDChick]

Did you see that little propaganda piece the CBC did on "the original Olympics"? They did the finale on Pankration ... it was interesting. I cannot vouch for it being accurate, but it was interesting.

[Mario_Severn]

I'd love to see the point system in that. How many points do you garner for killing your opponent?

[Lights Out]

In ancient pankration if was forbidden willingly kill the opponent, altrough death was very common.
Would I compete in a extreme dangerous slaughter in where I could be easily killed or limbed for life?
No.

[Mox_Mox]

If it came back no. The level of fighters today would kill me.
Me Vs. Cro Cop = a very bad day.
But I would if I could go back to the original Olympics. I would be huge compared to most of the athletes, I would have a healthier body cause of better nutrition, and I would know techniques the Greeks had not even thought of.

[MaverickZ]

nah, got better things to do. like engineering.

[meowrsx]

No. Checking the oil is much too great a fear for me.

[X_plosion]

Some time ago, a group of sports enthusisasts from Europe held a competition in the original Athenian venue. They used the ancient rules. The Pankration was pretty much MMA on a dirt floor. Very interesting. The referee even had the traditional stick with him. Didn't see him use it on the fighters, though.

[Lights Out]

Originally posted by Mox_Mox
If it came back no. The level of fighters today would kill me.
Me Vs. Cro Cop = a very bad day.
But I would if I could go back to the original Olympics. I would be huge compared to most of the athletes, I would have a healthier body cause of better nutrition, and I would know techniques the Greeks had not even thought of.

First, check out this site http://pankration.fr.st/

Wandering into the historical, I found an interesting anecdote.
I can´t copy/paste from that site, so I´ll just sum up. When a fight couldn´t be decided by the end of the day, the two fighters stood one in front the other and hitted each other in turns, they were not permitted to dodge.
On one fight between one Creugas and ona Damoxenos, the first one asked the other to put his hands down and them punched him in the face. Then, Damoxenos asked him to lift his left arm, and then, Damoxenos inserted his fingers between Creugas ribs and pulled out his entrails.
Those pankratists were REALLY t3h D34th7y.

[Mox_Mox]

Yeah but that far back in the day the average hight was like 5'1" and like 100lbs. I could cause some trouble at 5'8" 155lbs. Pankration didn't use a heck of a guard and I bet my takedowns and GnP could be dangerous to those little guys.

[Emevas]

Hehe, and judges ruled that the finger strike was actually 5 different strikes, thus Damoxenos was disqualified.

[Lights Out]

Originally posted by Emevas
Hehe, and judges ruled that the finger strike was actually 5 different strikes, thus Damoxenos was disqualified.

You tell the other guy!

[FCTKD]

I read one of the biggest heroes of pankration in ancient times won most his matches by some how getting under the ribcage with his nails and ripping out his opponents insides so no I wouldn't

[FCTKD]

oh wait it's already been posted sorry

[Omar]

Originally posted by Mox_Mox
Yeah but that far back in the day the average hight was like 5'1" and like 100lbs. I could cause some trouble at 5'8" 155lbs. Pankration didn't use a heck of a guard and I bet my takedowns and GnP could be dangerous to those little guys.

Source?

I know we are supposedly getting bigger over the centuries but have you seen any ancient greek sculpture lately?

[Omar]

http://ancienthistory.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?site=http://www.uni%2Dtuebingen.de/uni/wwl/koepke%5Fbaten%5Ftwomillennia.pdf

According to this study, the average height was around 169.7 cm (a tiny bit less than 5'7")

That makes them shorter but only by a bit. I assume professional fighters then, as now, tended to be a bit bigger than the average. If not taller, at least heavier and more muscular.