Читать книгу Complete Shotokan Karate. History, Philosophy, and Practice онлайн

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Roman boxing, incidentally, was less of a sport than a spectacle for popular amusement. The leaders of Rome felt that boxing was not an art that had practical military applications: far better if young warriors trained in the use of spear and sword. Boxing practice was left to the gladiators, who utilized a new, deadlier type of cestus, one with metal projections, that made the sport a bloody melee. As such, Roman boxing did not possess the skillful techniques or moral aspects of the Greek and Asian versions.

There existed in Greece another sport, known as the pankration, or "game of all powers," since at least 648 B.C., when it was instituted as an Olympic event.³ This sport developed as a combination of earlier forms of Greek boxing and wrestling. In it, any technique except eye-gouging and biting was permitted (although some city-states may have allowed even this). Kicking was common, and statues exist that show practitioners competing what in modern karate would be called the front kick. Other techniques permitted were straight punches, jumping kicks, and throws similar to the tomoe-nage, or "circle throw," of judo, a move in which the thrower grasps the opponent's lapels and while falling backward, presses his foot in his adversary's stomach and throws him over his head. On some pottery fragments can be seen a front kick that has been caught with the defender moving in to sweep the supporting leg with a throw similar to judo's o-uchi-gari (inner-leg hook). Pankration contests were held under strict supervision, the referees using a long rod to strike the fighter who violated the rules. It was this form of empty-handed Greek art that most closely resembled Asian karate.