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Greek Combat Sports and their Transmission to Central and East Asia
- Classical World
- Johns Hopkins University Press
- Volume 106, Number 3, Spring 2013
- pp. 431-459
- 10.1353/clw.2013.0064
- Article
- Additional Information
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After the conquests of Alexander the Great and during the reign of his numerous successors, the tradition of combat sports games became institutionalized by the elite of an Hellenized warlike aristocracy in Asia. The heroic cult of the Greeks was perpetuated as far as Central Asia, improving the local traditions by building a gymnasium in every new city of the colonies. The various technical aspects of ancient Greek combat sports were transmitted as well in order to improve effectiveness in close-combat fighting. To trace back these technical features, a detailed description of wrestling, boxing and pankration as developed in ancient Greece are compared together with their East-Asian counterparts.