LOCK UP

THE CLINCHING LESSONS TAUGHT IN THE ANCIENT GREEK MARTIAL ART OF PANKRATION ARE STILL RELEVANT - AND EFFECTIVE!

- JIM ARVANITIS

You’re engaged in a physical conflict, moving about as needed — and then all of a sudden, you find yourself locked up with your adversary. There’s no referee to separate you. Now what? Do you struggle to get free or work it to your advantage?

In pankration, the stand-up component of combat (Greek: ano machia) consists of two modalities: free motion, in which one deploys his or her striking tools from different angles and distances, and the clinch, in which the combatants tie up. Because there’s little room between them, the emphasis in the clinch is on grappling techniques even though striking is possible.

Clinching in combat training dates back thousands of years, with ample evidence coming from Babylonian artifacts and Assyrian and Egyptian tombs — for example, the frescoes at Beni Hasan, which are from 2000 B.C. The ancient Greeks referred to clinching as hamma, meaning “to tie in a knot.” Relevant artistic renderings and literary works emphasize the importance of wrist and head control, limb checks and the body lock from the front and the rear. Wrestlers and pankratiasts also are depicted engaging in what we know today as pummeling drills to gain a dominant position.

Nowadays, waging war in a clinch serves different objectives depending on the combat sport. Grapplers use it to transition to ground fighting. Boxers use it to immobilize their opponent’s arms to get a moment’s rest or disrupt the pace of a bout until the ref intervenes.