Editing Pankration (section)

====Strikes with the legs====

Strikes delivered with the legs were an integral part of pankration and one of its most characteristic features. Kicking well was a great advantage to the pankratiast. [[Epictetus|Epiktētos]] makes a derogatory reference to a compliment one may give another: "{{lang|grc|μεγάλα λακτίζεις}}" ("you kick great"). Moreover, in an accolade to the fighting prowess of the pankratiast Glykon from Pergamo, the athlete is described as "wide foot". The characterization comes actually before the reference to his "unbeatable hands", implying at least as crucial a role for strikes with the feet as with the hands in pankration. That proficiency in kicking could carry the pankratiast to victory is indicated in a sarcastic passage of Galen, where he awards the winning prize in pankration to a donkey because of its excellence in kicking.
[[File:Panathenaic Amphora by the Berlin Painter, inscribed TON ATHENETHEN ATHLON, c. 480-470 BC, earthenware with slip decoration, view 1 - Hood Museum of Art - DSC09142 01.JPG|thumb|A pankratiast quickly takes to the rear side of his opponent. Panathenaic Amphora by the Berlin Painter, inscribed 'TON ATHENETHEN ATHLON' (a prize from Athens<ref>{{cite web |title=Panathenaic prize amphora |url=https://www.carc.ox.ac.uk/carc/resources/Introduction-to-Greek-Pottery/Shapes/Amphorae |website=Classical Art Research Centre |access-date=10 July 2024}}</ref>), c. 480-470 BC, [[Hood Museum of Art]], New Hampshire.]]

=====Straight kick to the stomach=====
The straight kick with the bottom of the foot to the stomach ({{lang|grc|γαστρίζειν}}/{{lang|grc|λάκτισμα εἰς γαστέραν}} – {{lang|grc-Latn|gastrizein}} or {{lang|grc-Latn|laktisma eis gasteran}}, "kicking in the stomach") was apparently a common technique, given the number of depictions of such kicks on vases. This type of kick is mentioned by Lucian.

''Counter'': The athlete sidesteps the oncoming kick to the inside of the opponent's leg. He catches and lifts the heel/foot of the planted leg with his rear hand and with the front arm goes under the knee of the kicking leg, hooks it with the nook of his elbow, and lifts while advancing to throw the opponent backward. The athlete executing the counter has to lean forward to avoid hand strikes by the opponent. This counter is shown on a [[Panathenaic amphora]] now in [[Leiden]]. In another counter, the athlete sidesteps, but now to the outside of the oncoming kick and grasps the inside of the kicking leg from behind the knee with his front hand (overhand grip) and pulls up, which tends to unbalance the opponent so that he falls backward as the athlete advances. The back hand can be used for striking the opponent while he is preoccupied maintaining his balance.<ref name = "Pankration - An Olympic Combat Sport" />