START OF FIGHTING UNKNOWN TO MANY
San Francisco, CA– The murals on the tomb of Beni Hasan along the Nile go back to the time of 3,000 BC. The murals show hand to hand fighting techniques mostly from wrestling, but includes other fighting arts.
START OF “MAN TO MAN” FIGHTING
In 643 BC, Greek Pankration was introduced to the Olympic games. This art included kicks, punches, takedowns, chokes and joint locks. The only rule to Pankration competition was no biting or eye gouging. The term Pankration is based on two Greek words, Pan – means “all” and Kratos – means “powers.”
ALEXANDER THE GREAT WAS A FIGHT FAN
Pankration was taken to India through Alexander The Great’s Army, where it became the ancestor of Asian Martial Arts. Ancient times in India had a glorious history of wrestling, including such legendary wrestlers as Hanuman. A Buddhist monk from India named Bodhidharma, ventured into China to where the first Shaolin Temple was formed 495 AD and introduced what would evolve into Kung Fu to other monks.
GENE LE BELL “KING OF CHOKE HOLDS”
The 1963 fight between “Judo” Gene LeBell v. boxer Milo Savage was not the first mixed bout. The Boxer v. Wrestler is an age old question, that has been around since these arts have been devised.
Highlights Of Organized Historically Recorded Bouts Mixing Different Types of Fighters:
1850s: Mixed organized bouts in Paris were putting Boxers, Wrestlers and Savate men together started occurring.
1905: Paris, a well known Savate and Fencing master named George Dubois lost to a Jujitsu fighter named Ernest Regnier.
1908: Paris, American boxer Sam McVey beat Judoka Tano Matsuda.
1800s: In the United States, previous to London Prize Fighting Rules being established there were the Bare Knuckle Fights. A lot of the Bare Knuckle fighters were also trained Wresters and competed in mixed bouts. Wrestling was a conventional part of training for Bare Knuckle boxing to build strength.
CROSSOVERS FROM BARE KNUCKLE TO GLOVED FIGHTS
Early fighters that made the transition from Bare Knuckle Fights to the London Prize Fighting rules of today were the great John L. Sullivan and Jerry Driscoll. Both Sullivan and Driscoll competed in mixed bouts with Wrestlers.
JOHN L. FIRST REAL WORLD BOXING CHAMPION
Sullivan is considered the first Heavyweight Champion under London Prize Fighting Rules.
JOHN L. DID MORE THAN BOXING
John L. was also an accomplished Wrestler. Sullivan competed in not only mixed bouts with Wrestlers, but was also reported to have fought a Savate man. During the fight with the Savate man, Sullivan was kicked to the ground at one point before coming back to knock his opponent out. Sullivan lost in a mixed bout to a well known Wrestler named William Muldoon.
1800s: United States, American Wrestlers Frank Gotch and Evan “Strangler” Lewis were known to compete in numerous “anything goes bouts” often at carnivals.
1905: United States, Professional Wrestler Eddie Robinson started taking on numerous Judo and Jujitsu experts from Japan.
1909: United States, Wrester Eddie Robinson beat a well known Judo expert from Japan named Tokugoro Ito in Seattle.
1912: Australia, Boxer Jack Howard beat Jujitsu expert Ryugoro “Shima” Fukushima.
1916: Hawaii, Judoka and Pro Wrestler Taro Miyake beat Boxer Ben deMello, starting a series of mixed bouts in the islands.
1920s: Hawaii, well known Judoka Professor Okazaki took on numerous Boxers in mixed bouts around the Hawaiian Islands.
1925: In Okinawa, Japan, a Boxer from Russia spent some time there taking on all indigenous Martial Artists. Okinawa is Karate’s birthplace. The Russian Boxer with his fluid movements was beating all of the Okinawa Karate fighters. At age 52, Choki Motobu, reportedly came out of the audience to fight the Russian Boxer and knocked him out with a front kick to the solar plexus and chop to the neck.
JACK DEMPSEY WAS THE “MANASSA MAULER”
1940: United States, Boxing legend Jack Dempsey refereeing Professional Wrestling matches, got shoved in a match by Cowboy Luttrell. The confrontation escalated to a mixed bout with the 45 year old Dempsey. Dempsey knocked Luttrell out of the ring. This led Dempsey to compete in a few other mixed bouts that year. Jack was also an accomplished Wrestler and trained in Judo and Jujitsu.
MMA AT MADISON SQUARE GARDEN WAS GROUND BREAKING
1974 United States, Aaron Banks promoted a show at Madison Square Garden called the Oriental World of Self Defense, that featured mixed bouts like Boxer v Kick Boxer, Wrestler v Judoka, and Kung Fu v Karate.
AND YES ALI-INOKI GETS MENTIONED
1976 Japan, Boxing legend Muhammad Ali took on Japanese Wrestling legend Antonio Inoki. Televised on the undercard, venue New York, was Chuck Wepner v Andre The Giant. Andre The Giant threw Chuck Wepner out of the ring in the third round.
Malcolm Boutwell
MMA Historian
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HISTORY OF FIGHTING, BOXING, MMA