Pankration - Techniques

Techniques

The athletes engaged in a pankration competition-i.e., the pankratiasts (παγκρατιαστές) employed a variety of techniques in order to strike their opponent as well as take him to the ground in order to use a submission technique. When the pankratiasts fought standing, the combat was called anō pankration (ἄνω παγκράτιον "upper pankration"); and when they took the fight to the ground, that stage of pankration competition was called katō pankration (κάτω παγκράτιον "lower pankration"). Some of the techniques that would be applied in anō pankration and katō pankration, respectively, are known to us through depictions on ancient pottery and sculptures, as well as in descriptions in ancient literature. There were also strategies documented in ancient literature that were meant to be used to obtain an advantage over the competitor. For illustration purposes, below are examples of striking and grappling techniques (including examples of counters), as well as strategies and tactics, that have been identified from the ancient sources (visual arts or literature).