By Craig Smith President, World Pankration Federation

Combine kickboxing, karate, Muay Thai, judo, jujitsu, submission grappling and elements of no-holds-barred fighting and you have what is being called the ultimate combat sport of the new millennium – pankration.

First introduced into the Olympic Games in 648 B. C. during the 33rd Olympiad, pankration soon eclipsed both boxing and wrestling in popularity and prestige, and became the “King of Olympic sports” because of its inclusion of all martial techniques of striking, grappling and submissions. It held that position as the most highly regarded Olympic event for over a thousand years. The Greek sophist Philostratos called pankration “The worthiest contest of the Olympiads and the most important preparation for warriors”, and pankration champions retired to lives of state sponsored luxury while Greek legions spread the tactics, techniques and concepts of pankration to the farthest corners of the known world, including India, where it became the seed of Oriental martial arts.

Today, a world wide movement is underway to return pankration to its rightful place as a full medal sport in the modern Olympic Games, and an increasing number of people are getting involved each year, whether as competitors, coaches, referees, sponsors or simply appreciative spectators.

After several years of confusion, during which several groups made conflicting claims of Olympic recognition and affiliation, the international pankration movement has solidified behind the leadership of the World Pankration Federation, which the International Olympic Committee (IOC) recently recognized as leading the way in international pankration. This unity allows pankratiasts throughout the world to train and compete according to consistent and equitable rules and guidelines as set out by the WPF, and provides for standardized national and international rankings for competitors as well as regulatory tournament sanctions.

Competition rules have evolved from fairly complicated and restrictive regulations to simplified rules designed to ensure fairness and proper athlete safety while taking the matches out of the hands of referees and returning them to the competitors. Also, the WPF’s recently implemented requirement that all referees be, or have been, full contact fighters now ensures that competitors are refereed by those with experience in that which they are officiating.

The challenging aspects of competitive pankration, combined with its unique historical and Olympic heritage, make pankration not only the “grandfather” of modern combat sports, but the leader in competitive mixed martial arts for the future, allowing those elite martial athletes who bring “all powers” to the ring to compete with one another on a level few will ever reach, and in the traditional spirit of strength, honor, and fair competition.

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