Editing Pankration (section)

==Structure of the ancient competition==

There were neither weight divisions nor time limits in pankration competitions. However, there were two or three age groups in the competitions of antiquity. In the [[Ancient Olympic Games]] specifically there were only two such age groups: men ({{lang|grc-Latn|andres}} – {{lang|grc|ἄνδρες}}) and boys ({{lang|grc-Latn|paides}} – {{lang|grc|παῖδες}}). The pankration event for boys was established at the Olympic Games in 200 BC. In pankration competitions, referees were armed with stout rods or switches to enforce the rules. In fact, there were only two rules regarding combat: no [[eye gouging]] or biting.<ref>{{cite web
|last = Miller
|first = Christopher
|title = Historical Pankration Project
|url = http://www.historical-pankration.com/articles_wrestling.html
|access-date = 10 April 2008
|archive-date = 31 March 2008
|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080331054726/http://historical-pankration.com/articles_wrestling.html
|url-status = live
}}</ref> [[Sparta]] was the only place eye gouging and biting were allowed.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rPCGDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA18|title=Ali vs. Inoki: The Forgotten Fight That Inspired Mixed Martial Arts and Launched Sports Entertainment|first=Josh|last=Gross|date=9 June 2016|publisher=BenBella Books, Inc.|isbn=9781942952206|via=Google Books|access-date=22 October 2016|archive-date=7 April 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220407103438/https://books.google.com/books?id=rPCGDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA18|url-status=live}}</ref> The contest itself usually continued uninterrupted until one of the combatants submitted, which was often signalled by the submitting contestant raising his index finger. The judges appear, however, to have had the right to stop a contest under certain conditions and award the victory to one of the two athletes; they could also declare the contest a tie.<ref name="Pankration - An Olympic Combat Sport"/>

Pankration competitions were held in tournaments, most being outside of the Olympics. Each tournament began with a ritual which would decide how the tournament would take place. [[Grecophone]] satirist [[Lucian]] describes the process in detail:

{{Blockquote|A sacred silver urn is brought, in which they have put bean-size lots. On two lots an alpha is inscribed, on two a beta, and on another two a gamma, and so on. If there are more athletes, two lots always have the same letter. Each athlete comes forth, prays to Zeus, puts his hand into the urn and draws out a lot. Following him, the other athletes do the same. Whip bearers are standing next to the athletes, holding their hands and not allowing them to read the letter they have drawn. When everyone has drawn a lot, the alytarch,<ref group="n">{{lang|grc|ἀλυτάρχης}} ({{lang|grc|ἀλύτης}} + {{lang|grc|ἄρχω}}) "rod-ruler, referee"</ref> or one of the {{lang|grc-Latn|italic=no|[[Hellanodikai]]}} walks around and looks at the lots of the athletes as they stand in a circle. He then joins the athlete holding the alpha to the other who has drawn the alpha for wrestling or pankration, the one who has the beta to the other with the beta, and the other matching inscribed lots in the same manner.<ref>Lucian, [http://www.sacred-texts.com/cla/luc/wl2/wl205.htm Hermotimos] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090327111516/http://www.sacred-texts.com/cla/luc/wl2/wl205.htm |date=27 March 2009 }}</ref>}}

This process was apparently repeated every round until the finals.{{citation needed|date=June 2021}}

There would be a [[bye (sports)|bye]] ({{lang|grc|ἔφεδρος}} – {{lang|grc-Latn|ephedros}} "reserve") in every round containing an odd number of athletes, which could potentially be in every round until the final (but also potentially in none of the rounds, if the number of competitors was a power of 2 and none of the winners quit before fighting their next round, or any other irregularities). The same athlete could be an ephedros more than once, and this could of course be of great advantage to him as the ephedros would be spared the wear and tear of the rounds imposed on his opponent(s). To win a tournament without being an {{lang|grc|ephedros}} in any of the rounds ({{lang|grc|ἀνέφεδρος}} – {{lang|grc-Latn|anephedros}} "non-reserve") was thus an honorable distinction.{{citation needed|date=June 2021}}

There is evidence that the major Games in Greek antiquity easily had four tournament rounds, that is, a field of sixteen athletes. However, there is clear evidence from [[Plato]], who refers to competitors in the [[Panhellenic Games]], with opponents numbering in the thousands. Moreover, in the first century A.D., the Greco-Jewish philosopher [[Philo of Alexandria]]—who was himself probably a practitioner of pankration—makes a statement that could be an allusion to preliminary contests in which an athlete would participate and then collect his strength before coming forward fresh in the major competition. Therefore, we can assume regional and preliminary contests leading up to the major games could include upwards of hundreds of competitors, of which a select few will qualify to compete in the most important games.<ref name="Pankration - An Olympic Combat Sport"/>