by: Andreas V. Georgiou
Pankration—An Olympic Combat Sport is an illustrated reconstruction of the ancient Greek sport of pankration. This sport lasted over a millennium (from at least the seventh century BCE to the fourth century CE) and was the most popular event in the ancient Olympic Games. In pankration, well rounded fighters used whatever empty-hand techniques worked, with minimal rules. The book draws information from all the primary sources—from the literature and the products of the visual arts of antiquity. Volume I traces the origin of pankration; addresses the characteristics of successful pankratiasts in antiquity; details the rules of competition; and discusses fighting style, specialization, and preparation of the ancient practitioners. Volume II details the techniques employed in pankration, including the fighting stance, defensive moves, strategy and tactics, use of pressure points, strikes, locks, chokes, throws, and takedowns, as well as counters to these techniques. This book is a reference for students of the topics of pankration and of combat sport in ancient Greece. It also provides practitioners and enthusiasts of combat sports/mixed martial arts useful information and lessons from the ancient practice of pankration. The book reproduces 100 artistic representations of pankration from ancient Greek art objects found in world museums.
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Andreas V. Georgiou is a native of Greece and has lived in the United States since 1979. For primary and secondary education he attended Athens College in Greece. He received his BA (Summa Cum Laude, Phi Beta Kappa) from Amherst College in Economics and Political Science/Sociology and his PhD from the University of Michigan in Economics. He has worked for the International Monetary Fund (IMF) since 1989. The author received a classical education in Greece and has continued his pursuit of classical studies in private since then, including in the context of producing his present book on Pankration. His practical knowledge of the subject of this book is based on his study of martial arts/combat sports (he has a black belt in JuJitsu and experience in boxing) as well as teaching experience in this area. He has also competed in track and field and Olympic weightlifting. 
