Martial Arts of Ancient Greece

The ancient friezes and decorative motifs of ancient Greece contain abundant scenes of combat, one-on-one and hand-to-hand. In THE MARTIAL ARTS OF ANCIENT GREECE, the authors offer close inspection of these depictions to reveal that they exactly correlate to the grappling and combat arts as they are practised today. They, also, show that these artefacts document the historical course of the development of both the weaponry of the warrior classes and the martial responses those weapons required when fighting hand-to-hand. The depiction of each ancient technique is accompanied by sequenced step-by-step photos of modern practitioners performing the various stances of one-on-one combat. In addition, the authors explain how the development of Hellenic combat arts was tied at its heart to a spiritual practice. The centeredness, clear mind and consequent courage that develops from a spiritual practice was considered a martial strength for a warrior, enabling him to be at his best, unobstructed inwardly by conflict or inertia. THE MARTIAL ARTS OF ANCIENT GREECE provides a practical and comprehensive approach to the techniques and philosophy of the martial arts of the ancient Mediterranean that will be welcomed by modern fighters.