Combatsports have been a formal part of ancient sporting competition, most notably part of the ancient Olympic games (684 BC). From it ancient roots, combatsports have progressed and transitioned to the modern Olympics with more modernised rule sets.
Combatsports has been present in human society since the earliest forms of recorded history. Due to the vast variety of combat sports in the modern era, it is not surprising that combat sports existed in the ancient Greek and Roman Olympics in the forms of pankration and ancient boxing.
Ancient boxing in the Greek Olympics was initially introduced as a brutal but artistic display of hand only combat. The hand wraps at the time were made from ox hide ‘himantes’ and followed the rules outlined in the translated ‘code of honour’. Boxing was then adopted by the Romans whose gladiatorial influence changed the himantes from ox hide to ‘caestus’, battle gloves that that were made from thick leather straps studded with small iron rivets. This gruesome form of boxing ended with the Roman empire in 487 AD.
Contemporarily, boxing shifted to the modern-day rules after the development and implementation of the Marquess of Queensberry Rules in1867. 40 years after the 1867 Marquess of Queensberry integration the act of boxing was recognized as a sport and included to the eminent Olympic games. Excluding the addition of Greco-Roman wrestling in 1896, amateur boxing was introduced to the modern Olympics in the Saint Louisa 1904 USA Olympics (see below). The two combat sports of wrestling and boxing acted as a precipitous for the addition of the following Olympic combat sports:
Wrestling (Greco-Roman) – 1896 Athens (Greece) Olympics
Wrestling (Freestyle)– 1904 Saint Louisa (USA) Olympics
Boxing (amateur) –1904 Saint Louisa (USA) Olympics
Fencing – 1924 Paris (France) Olympics
Judo –1932 Los Angeles (USA) Olympics
Taekwondo – 2000 Sydney (Australia) Olympics
Karate – 2020 Tokyo (Japan) Olympics
Whilst there are now many Olympic combat sports performed today, many other combat sports are considered non-Olympic combat sports, these sports are inclusive but not limited to the following:
Sambo
Aikido
Arm Wrestling
Sumo wrestling
Brazilian Jiu-jitsu
Shoot Boxing
Kung Fu
Muay Thai
Many others
Using the example of boxing, we can see how the combat sport(s) have evolved to incorporate a more participation safe approach. This approach involves various targeted and effective strategies set forth by sport specific governing bodies to help promote athlete availability through lower-risk participation and improved training exposures. At the Combatsportschiro, we look to provide athletes with skills and information where available to help maintain a high athlete availability.
Based in Sydney Australia, my goal is to provide high quality information about boxing injuries, chiropractic, and academia to the boxing and wider sporting communities.
