MMA, for all intents and purposes, appears to be the rebirth of Pankration - one step up from gutter fighting, although it appears to be slowly losing that raw

MMA, for all intents and purposes, appears to be the rebirth of Pankration - one step up from gutter fighting, although it appears to be slowly losing that raw edge as time passes. It appears to be the inevitable bane of these martial arts that not long after they are divorced from the singular purpose of killing the enemy efficiently they decline into stylized play-acting and often, pseudo-philosophical woo. Besides, it has to appeal to the mothers of all those eight-year-olds, and teaching eye-gouges and groin-shots and all the other nasty tricks won't fly there... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pankration https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pankration