History of Boxing in Ancient Greece.

[Tankdestroyer]

Thought this was going to be another kang baiting thread. I see shoulder roll in the comments section. So a red flag instantly popped up on my notifications

[Zaroku]

Little did he know I would take this and make it about ancient boxing.

Ok, not wet t-shirts, but, let's be honest you're interested in ****. Boxing has ****:



The history of female combative sports goes far back into centuries, although not too many historical documents remain. In the past, women were extremely rare guests in unarmed combative activities which were considered as exceptionally men’s. However, in some places and at some epochs, female combative sports were relatively popular for those patriarchal times. Legendary ancient Spartan women, Andean indigenous women in South America, Polynesian women and British women in the 18-19 centuries can be recalled as good examples.

The first evidence of female hand-to-hand combatants has come to us from the Greek mythology. Women in many ancient Greek city-states were involved in some athletic exercises and even in competitions. Every four years the most respected married Greek women organized The Heraea Games, the Olympics for maiden competitors. Women were barred from even attending the Olympics let alone participating.

In contrast to other Greeks, ancient Spartans prized the physical fitness and courage of girls as well as boys. According to Xenophon, who seems to have approved wholeheartedly both of women’s sports and of Sparta’s atmosphere, the legendary Spartan legislator Lycurgus encouraged girls to run, wrestle, box and pankration. Since Spartan men most of the time were out for war and war training, there was shortage of capable men in settlements. That’s why full contact contests in different forms were quite natural for ancient female Spartans. They competed just for fun but sometimes for dominance in the society or over a man. Contests in boxing and wrestling were held according to strict predefined rules which female combatants followed. There are evidences that the ancient female pugilists wore special garments protecting important female functions from damage. Ancient pugilists usually wrapped leather straps called himantes over their hands and wrists. Evidently, married women competed in yearly harvest celebration side by side with girls.

The love poems of Propertius testify that at least one Roman poet was enchanted by the bewitching of physically active Spartan girls. His extravagant tribute deserves quotation:



I must admire the Spartan fighting schools,
But most of all I like the women’s rules…
Girls, like men, can compete nude.
Spartans think such exercises are good for women:
Girls practice in wrestling as Helen,
They bear the brunt of the Pankration match,
Put pygmachia straps on hands, so soft and fair.
They whirl the heavy discus through the air,
Gallop the circuit, helmets on their brow,
Buckling a sword too thighs as white as snow;
With hoar-frost on their hair, they join the chase
With the determination on the face
Like Amazons, breasts naked to the fray…

According to legends, Spartan girls from free classes annually competed in boxing, pankration, or wrestling in order to win the title of the village queen. Such competitions allowed girls to raise their status in the female society for years. According to a tradition, a former village queen was a referee of the competition.

<-- That's Helen. Yep, the Helen. War were fought for them ****.



So much is the story of the Spartan Queens

Pac.....kos both hector and Achilles in slow motion..

[Marchegiano]

Pac.....kos both hector and Achilles in slow motion..

Cool of you to bump this thread.

[Zaroku]

i was a kang... then my wife beat my azz and said.. make me food fool..

so... after i made her a crepe.. i went to a barber shop.. and she showed up and said.. papa.. hurry up and get home... you got to clean up chihua hua kaka. crap.

[Richard]

Proof of fistfights, most most likely in competitive configurations, exists in ancient Crete as soon as 1650 BC. This Greek boxing sport was handed the name pygmachia at some time and was put into the Olympic Games throughout the 23rd Olympiad within 688 BC. As well as the Olympic Games, it had been later featured within the Isthmian, Pythian, as well as Nemean Games. Pygmachia had been an immensely well-liked sport in historic Greece, enjoying a lifespan of that which was likely over the millennium.

In this Greek entry within the history of boxing, competitors were completely nude aside from strips of leather-based wrapped around their own wrists, called oxys. Not just did this safeguard their hands, however the sharp edges from the cut leather might slice and gash the face area of the challenger. The athletes might fight without pause until one of these gave up, had been incapacitated, or had been killed. Naturally, this made pygmachia an infinitely more bloody and chaotic sport than contemporary renditions of boxing, though deaths were apparently not so common.

Interesting. Boxing has always been around though prior to the evolution of man as your aware.You see it loosely in nature from the small insects fighting for dominance to later evolved creatures eg kangaroos and gorillas. I remember at school as Iam sure you do in both primary and secondary same thing went on.Hence who was the toughest 😉

[club fighter]

Fighting was the first sport man invented, even before the Greeks, probably in Africa's rift valley.

You would think that running was because it's the next step after learning to walk upright, but somebody had to get their azz whooped before they figured out they had to run.

[Richard]

Fighting was the first sport man invented, even before the Greeks, probably in Africa's rift valley.

You would think that running was because it's the next step after learning to walk upright, but somebody had to get their azz whooped before they figured out they had to run.

Very true 😉

[john_newman]

Boxing is all about focus and stamina and dedication and I bet the the old greeks stand tall in all of these.

[santz92]

that was a very interesting read. thank you for the share!

[Lomadeaux]

Todays champs couldnt hold a candle to Ancient Greek fighters. Too technical, too tough.

Are you saying the Ancient Greek fighters would have no issue with todays fighters?

A LOT of fighters back in the day would have a cake walk in the park with guys today.

But I'm sure some would beat some older ones easy too. But the greats of a long time ago wouldn't have an issue with the challenges today.

The difference is they were very, very hard men back then.