Product Description
Black Belt Magazine called Pankration "the most practical street combat form of the martial arts that I have ever seen".Throughout this fascinating and completely updated volume, Jim Arvanitis provides extensive insight into the facts and myths of pankration's early history (including its inclusion in the earliest Olympic Games), its techniques and strategies, and its impact on today's martial arts. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (8)

Great book
Coming from a wrestling background and martial arts I have to say that I really enjoyed the book
for ne I rather enjoyed the history and translations. I have a trip to Greece planned for next year and while I am there
I am definately foi g to train in Pankration while I am there.

One of the Best
I bought this book as a guide to Jim's video series at the recommendation of Massad Ayoob. It is Pure gold. Pankration is not flashy, and is, at it's core, very similar to modern MMA. The addendum of Spartan options are for street defense. Arvantisis teaches everything: history, standing, grappling, and technique. The Spartan options, as mentioned earlier, are optional for a street encounter. If you have any boxing or wrestling experience in your past and wish to learn a viable martial art then pankration is just for you!

Million Dollar Question
The "Million Dollar Question," if you had to choose and master only 5, 10 or maybe even 20 techniques, and your life may depend on it...which ones would you choose?

I've spent a lot of time debating and arguing this question with my co-workers. Since we all have such diverse martial arts backgrounds, everyone has their opinion and thinks their art is the best, of course.

After carefully looking through this book, we all finally found something to agree upon. Pankration covers all the core essentials and provides these techniques. Just enough boxing, judo, wrestling, jiu-jistu and Muay Thai in the right proportions and straight to the point, for your all around fighting technique needs.This is the best catalog of "no-nonsense" techniques I've seen.

If you buy this book, you could probably pick the 5, 10 or 20 most effective techniques for yourself and develop your own workout around them.

Great Book
Well first of all when I saw this book I was a little if-ie about buying this book since so many others suck so I checked the reviews and they were surprizingly amazing so I took a chance and loved it, only problem I saw in the book was that the move on the cover of the book isnt show (its a spartan disarmment technique SHOWN ON HUMAN WEAPON ([...] then search human weapon) UNDER PANKRATION) but other than that he goes into amazing depth with the moves and combinations (amazing) with a brief chapter on the history of the sport (very basic) but he shows everything that a modern mma fighter does and wrestlers like me (judo sombo jujitsu) would do to make this review short I would say definitly get the book if you would like to learn the moves and training to go with it also!!!!

Excellentread!
This is definitely Grandmaster Arvanitis best work to date on his revised form of the ancient Greek martial arts. It is both thorough and clearly explained as is usual for this expert teacher and is a must for anyone interested in Pankration. In fact, it is such an excellent book I would recommend it to anyone as it could easily tempt someone to take up the art. The first section of the book deals with the history and evolution of the art and it's inclusion in the early olympics while the second half covers clearly the physical components involved in modern Pankration such as the ready position, mobility, strikes, upright grappling and ground fighting. This is definitely one of those books I will read again and again and as such can't recommend it highly enough! ... Read more

Product Description
Chapters: Pankration, Greek Wrestling, Amateur Pankration. Source: Wikipedia. Pages: 28. Not illustrated. Free updates online. Purchase includes a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Excerpt: Pankration (pronounced or ; from Ancient Greek: "all-in wrestling" Modern Greek: ) is a combat sport introduced into the Greek Olympic Games in 648 BC and founded as a blend of boxing and wrestling. The term comes from the Ancient Greek , literally meaning "all powers" from (pan) "all" + (kratos) "strength" or "power". It is also used to describe the sport's contemporary variations. Some consider it as the first all-encompassing fighting system in human history. It is also arguable that pankration competitions in antiquity were the closest an athletic event has come to outright, no-rules, empty hand combat. Modern mixed martial arts competitions have come to feature many of the same methods that were used in pankration competitions in the ancient Greek world. In Greek mythology it was said that the heroes Heracles and Theseus invented pankration as a result of using both wrestling and boxing in their confrontations with opponents. Theseus was said to have utilized his extraordinary pankration skills to defeat the dreaded Minotaur in the Labyrinth. Heracles was said to have subdued the Nemean lion using pankration, and was often depicted in ancient artwork doing that. In this context, it should be noted that pankration was also referred to as pammachon or pammachion ( or ), meaning "total combat", from -, pn-, "all-" or "total", and , mach, "combat". The term pammachon was older, and would later become used less than the term pankration. The mainstream academic view has been that pankration was the product of the development of archaic Greek society of the seventh century BC, whereby, as the need for expression in violent sport increased, pankration filled ...More: http://booksllc.net/?id=24245 ... Read more

Product Description
Purchase includes free access to book updates online and a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Chapters: Long Jump, Discus Throw, Javelin Throw, Pankration, Chariot Racing, Ancient Greek Boxing, Greek Wrestling, Ancient Olympic Pentathlon, Dolichos, Hoplitodromos, Stadion, Diaulos, Herald and Trumpet Contest. Excerpt:Boxer of Quirinal resting after contest (bronze sculpture , 300 200 BC) Ancient Greek boxing dates back to at least the eighth century BC (Homer's Iliad ), and was practiced in a variety of social contexts in different Greek city-states. Most extant sources about ancient Greek boxing are fragmentary or legendary, making it difficult to reconstruct the rules, customs and history surrounding this activity in great detail. Still, it is clear that gloved boxing bouts were a significant part of ancient Greek athletic culture throughout the early classical period. Origins Minoan youths boxing (1500 BC), Knossos fresco. Earliest evidence for use of gloves. There is archeological and artistic evidence of ancient Greek boxing ( - pux or - pugme in ncient Greek ) as early as the Minoan and Mycenaean periods. There are numerous legends about the origins of boxing in Greece . One legend holds that the heroic ruler Theseus invented a form of boxing in which two men sat face to face and beat each other with their fists until one of them was killed. In time, the boxers began to fight while standing and wearing gloves (with spikes) and wrappings on their arms below the elbows, although otherwise they competed naked. According to the Iliad , Mycenaean warriors included boxing among their competitions honoring the fallen, though it is possible that the Homeric epics reflect later Greek culture. Boxing was among the contests held in memorial of Achilles ' slain friend Patroclus, toward the end of the Trojan war. It was in commemoration of Patroclus that the Greeks later introduced boxi... ... Read more

Product Description
Chapters: Ancient Olympic Sports, Long Jump, Discus Throw, Javelin Throw, Pankration, Chariot Racing, Hoop Rolling, Kottabos, Ancient Greek Boxing, Greek Wrestling, Ancient Olympic Pentathlon, Dolichos, Hoplitodromos, Stadion, Diaulos, Episkyros, Herald and Trumpet Contest. Source: Wikipedia. Pages: 109. Not illustrated. Free updates online. Purchase includes a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Excerpt: The long jump is a track and field event in which athletes combine speed, strength, and agility in an attempt to leap as far from the take-off point as possible. Competitors run down a runway (usually coated with the same rubberized surface as running tracks, crumb rubber also vulcanized rubber) and jump as far as they can from behind a foul line (commonly referred to as the "board", and usually defined by the trailing edge of a takeoff board embedded flush with the runway surface, or a painted mark on the runway) into a pit filled with finely ground gravel or sand. The distance traveled by a jumper is often referred to as the "mark" because it is the distance to the nearest mark made in the sand from the foul line. If the competitor starts the leap with any part of the foot past the foul line, the jump is declared illegal and no distance is recorded. At the elite level, a layer of plasticine is placed immediately after the board to detect this occurrence. Otherwise, an official (similar to a referee) will watch the jump and make the determination. The competitor can initiate the jump from any point behind the foul line; however, the distance measured will always be from the foul line. Therefore, it is in the best interest of the competitor to get as close to the foul line as possible. Usually, each competitor has a set number of attempts (typically three) to make his or her longest jump, and only the longest legal jump counts towards the resu...More: http://booksllc.net/?id=18084 ... Read more