Pankration / Mixed Martial Arts (MMA)

Pankration is the ancient Hellenic sport of free fighting, which was the most popular of the ancient Olympic games. The word ‘Pankration’ comes from the Greek words, Pan (all) and Kration (powers), or ‘All Powers Combat’. There were only two rules; no biting or eye gouging and victory came by knockout or submission. The Christians later abolished Pankration leaving behind only two elements of the contest, wrestling and boxing.

Today, the sport of modern Pankration has been revitalized and is practiced in various forms by different organizations around the world. A relatively new form of Pankration exists today, widely referred to as Ultimate Fighting. Modern Pankration, also known as Shootfighting, Vale Tudo, No-Holds Barred or Mixed Martial Arts challenges combatants in a contest of striking skills and submission grappling techniques. The combination of multiple disciplines and athletic ability determine the winner in Pankration fighting. It is both a departure from traditional martial arts and a return to the origin of contests of hand-to-hand combat.

Pankration techniques are based on reality, while more traditional martial arts are based on theory. PBBA founder, Charles Pearson as well as his students have been learning and competing in high-level competitions around the globe. PBBA Martial Arts teaches these same techniques to the recreational student as well as the world-class competitor.

Kickboxing

The history of Kickboxing is a little complex and varies from country to country. American kickboxing became popular in the 1970’s and was a combination of full-contact karate and boxing. American kickboxing started with regular boxing rules and allowed kicks above the belt line.

Oriental kickboxing utilizes the same techniques (with some differences in application), as it’s American counterpart, but also allowed Knees, Elbows and kicks to the legs.

Traditionally, American kickboxing was called ‘Kickboxing’, and Oriental Kickboxing was called ‘Muay Thai’ in honor of the Thai fighters that dominated the oriental rules circuit. Now days, American Kickboxing closely resembles Muay Thai. The exceptions that knees are sometimes used and sometimes not, and elbows are used mainly in professional Muay Thai matches.

At PBBA Martial Arts, we teach the same techniques used by both kickboxers and Muay Thai fighters, in an exciting and safe manner. We focus on proper techniques and conditioning for the recreational student up to the professional fighter. Fighters trained at PBBA have earned state, regional and national titles.

Boxing

Boxing, is a sport where two participants of similar weight attack each other with their fists only, in a series of three-minute rounds. In both Olympic and professional divisions, the combatants avoid their opponent's punches while trying to land punches of their own. Points are awarded for clean, solid blows to the legal area on the front of the opponent's body above the waistline, with hits to the head and torso being especially valuable. The fighter with the most points after the scheduled number of rounds is declared the winner. Victory may also be achieved if the opponent is knocked down and unable to get up before the referee counts to ten (Knock Out) or if the opponent is deemed too injured to continue ( Technical Knockout).

Submission Wrestling

Submission wrestling (also called submission fighting, and referred to as grappling) is a general term describing the aspect of mixed martial arts that focus on clinch and ground fighting with the aim of obtaining a submission using submission holds. Submission wrestling is sometimes also considered a separate sport, with many grappling arts integrated into single system, and can include techniques from a wide range of arts. Submission grappling is very common in association with Pankration, Catch wrestling, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Shootfighting, and others.

Komodo Kids Grappling / Striking

PBBA Martial Arts is proud to announce the formation of “Charlie’s Kids Club”, a unique Martial arts program that safely teaches the art of Pankration to kids aged 6-14. Pankration utilizes concepts of boxing, wrestling, kickboxing and submission wrestling, while demanding the values and discipline of traditional martial arts. Click on the Schedule link for class times!