Pankration

You have watched mixed-martial art competitions like the Ultimate Fighting Championships. But many of you did not hear the sport called Pankration. This sport is the first ever form of mixed martial arts. It started in Greece in 648 BC, and it is combination of boxing and wrestling with submissions or even death of an opponent. Permament injuries happened. There were no weight divisions and no time limit. Fewer rules were applied. Competitors were killed, and this was a life-threatening sport. Imagine if we have this type of sport today with the same type of rules back then. Then many people would be killed and be outlawed in the world. Then we go back watching the UFC and the Pride FC.

Submissions: the real way to end a fight.



I love submissions in mixed-martial art matches. Although it is not permitted in Olympic and other amateur wrestling competitions, submissions is a goal in real fighting. Sure you can knock your opponent down, but he can have a chance to fight back to kick your ass after you defeat him. A pain on the arm or a loss of breath causes your opponent to stop fighting. If your opponent cannot use his arm to fight, he would have to stop and submit. He can still fight, but he will deal with the pain more than a comback. Otherwise, a 10-count knockout and concussions would declare victor.

This is what makes the Ultimate Fighting Championships and the Pride Fighting Championships more interesting than any other combat sports. People love to see pain the real way. No, I am not saying that I hate pins. Those are reserved to scholastic wrestling where takedowns and pinning combinations are taught and devoloped. Those are the first things a fighter needs to learn before he can learn submissions. Pinning is an application for submissions.

Being a black belt in ju-jutsu is not a requirement to learn to make submission combinations. It can be taught straight from wrestling. There are submission wrestling organizations and competitions. If you want to learn to do submissions, you need to be in shape, and you need to be very athletic and prepared to be a fighter. You can watch UFC videos, but you need anyone in martial arts or wrestling experience to learn submissions.

Oilers kicked Sharks' ass

I am not very fucking happy about this.

ESPN.com

EDMONTON, Alberta (AP) -- The Edmonton Oilers are in the Western Conference finals for the first time in 14 years.

Michael Peca and Shawn Horcoff scored in front of a sellout crowd of pompom-waving fans Wednesday night, and Dwayne Roloson made 24 saves in the biggest game of his career as the eighth-seeded Oilers held off the San Jose Sharks 2-0 in Game 6 of the quarterfinal series.

After dropping the first two games in San Jose, Edmonton stormed back with four straight victories. It is the first time the Oilers rallied from an 0-2 deficit to win a series.

They'll face the sixth-seeded Anaheim Mighty Ducks, who will host Game 1 on Friday. The winner of the best-of-seven series will take on the Eastern champion -- Buffalo or Carolina -- in the Stanley Cup finals.

The Oilers just squeaked into the playoffs but are peaking at the right time. They upset the No. 1 seed Detroit and then took out San Jose, the top team left in the wild West, to reach the NHL's final four for the first time since 1992.

"This is obviously an exciting day," forward Ryan Smyth said. "We want to go down to Anaheim and give ourselves another chance. ... It's nice to shut another team out."

Peca scored when he and Sharks defenseman Scott Hannan chased a loose puck over the San Jose blue line. He outfought Hannan, and sent him down to the ice before racing in and wiring a wrist shot past the glove of goalie Vesa Toskala.

Horcoff doubled the lead with just over 8 minutes left in the game. He took Todd Harvey's pass from the corner and found himself alone in front of the net. With Toskala out of position, Horcoff lifted a shot in under the crossbar.

The Oilers were bailed out by Roloson after taking seven minor penalties in the first two periods. Roloson got stronger throughout and posted his first career playoff shutout.

"It's starts from your defense up, and we seem to play solid defensive hockey," Smyth said.

In the first period, Roloson used his quick glove hand to thwart Sharks captain Patrick Marleau on a close-in wrist shot. Soon after, on a 5-on-3 power play, he jumped in the air like a shortstop to snag a puck flying through the slot.

Roloson also foiled Nils Ekman on a one-timer in front of the crease, and got a little help when Steve Bernier fired a shot off the crossbar in the second period.

"I'm just having fun and enjoying this," Roloson said.

Toskala also played well, stopping Peca on two breakaways in the first period and flicking out his right pad to stop Horcoff's breakaway in the second.

The Oilers fans razzed Toskala, who allowed 11 goals in the previous two games after giving up just five in the first three. The crowd serenaded the goalie with mocking chants of "Ve-sa! Ve-sa!"

The Sharks can also blame their exit on their woeful power play. San Jose was 2-for-27 going into the game and then went 0-for-8 on Wednesday.

This is the second consecutive season the Sharks have been knocked out by an Alberta-based team. They lost the 2004 Western Conference finals to the Calgary Flames, also in six games. San Jose was an overtime goal away in Game 3 from taking a 3-0 lead in the series but instead lost in the second extra session.

The turning point on the series came midway through Game 4 when the Sharks failed to protect a 3-1 lead. The Oilers stormed back in a 5-minute span to tie the game and then went on to win 6-3.

Pistons on the brink of elimination

Cavs seems to have an edge. They kick the shit out of the Pistons.

ESPN.com

AUBURN HILLS, Mich. (AP) -- All series long, the Detroit Pistons huffed and puffed. On Wednesday night, it was LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers who blew their house in.

A stunning role reversal on the Cavs' fairy tale ride?

Maybe not.

"It's just basketball," James said. "They're not the Big, Bad Wolf. And we're not the Three Little Pigs."

The Pistons, on the brink of elimination after two straight trips to the NBA Finals, have not been giving much respect to the Cavs, who are in the second round for the first time since 1993.

That should change now, but will it be too late for the big, bad Pistons?

Game 6 in the best-of-seven series is Friday night in Cleveland, and if the Pistons force a Game 7, they will be back on their home court Sunday.

"LeBron is playing unbelievably, and they're playing with a lot of confidence," Detroit coach Flip Saunders said. "But it doesn't mean the series is over, we just have to revert to what we did for much of the season."

Ben Wallace blew a chance to give the Pistons the lead for the first time since early in the second quarter when he missed two free throws with 40 seconds left. That left one of the NBA's worst free-throw shooters 0-for-7 for the game, which remained tied at 84.

James deferred to Gooden on the ensuing possession, and the power forward came through with a low-post basket to put the Cavs ahead by two with 27 seconds left.

"I took a picture of the basket," Gooden said. "That's what my freshman coach in high school used to tell me, take my time and make the shot."

After a timeout, Donyell Marshall blocked Tayshaun Prince's shot in the lane and James tipped a rebound -- off Lindsey Hunter's missed jumper -- to teammate Eric Snow, who tossed the ball down the court to kill time.

The Pistons had the ball back with 1.9 seconds left, but could not get a shot off to try to force overtime -- or win the game they didn't seem to deserve.

"That was about as perfect a game of basketball as you can play against that team," Marshall said.

Cleveland beat Detroit 74-72 and 86-77 to even the series after being routed in Game 1 and losing Game 2 by six points after a big early deficit.

After losing Game 3 in Cleveland, Rasheed Wallace guaranteed Game 4 would be the last game played there because the Pistons would close out the series in Game 5.

Oops.

"Everybody wrote us off, but we started to get some confidence in the second half of Game 2 and we've just kept it going," Cavs reserve Damon Jones said.

Detroit hopes to draw from its postseason experience. Before the Pistons beat the Los Angeles Lakers in the 2004 NBA Finals, they fell behind New Jersey 3-2 -- with three straight losses -- before winning on the road and at home to advance to the conference finals.

"I'm still not concerned because I know what we're capable of," Chauncey Billups said. "We've been there before.

"We can't be looking for a Game 7 because if you're not careful, there won't be (a Game 7)."

James played like a star -- again -- in his first postseason appearance, and many of his teammates chipped in throughout Game 5.

Zydrunas Ilgauskas scored 14 before fouling out, Marshall had 14 points and 13 rebounds off the bench and three other players added at least six points apiece.

Prince scored 21, Billups had 17 before fouling out, Richard Hamilton scored 15, Rasheed Wallace added 10 while battling foul trouble and reserve Antonio McDyess chipped in with 11 points.

The Cavs went ahead 63-53 midway through the third quarter on James' 3, leaving Prince holding his jaw. Then, the Pistons punched back, perhaps fearing elimination for the first time in the series.

A 13-3 run tied the game before Cleveland went back ahead 68-66.

The Cavs scored the first six points of the fourth, the last point coming on a free throw when Rasheed Wallace was called for a technical after his fifth foul.

McDyess -- who was held to six total points in Games 3-4 in Cleveland -- made three straight shots to tie the game at 77 with 5:10 left.

After the score was knotted again, Jones was fouled as he made a 3-point shot, but he missed the ensuing free throw, then had a shot blocked, leading to Billups' layup that made it 82-81.

McDyess sat on the bench for several minutes following the game -- putting his hands behind his head, staring across the court in disbelief.

The Pistons began the playoffs at the favorites to win it all after falling just short of repeating as champions last year in Game 7 at San Antonio.

The first quarter Wednesday ended 20-all, the fifth tie of the game after 10 lead changes.

Cleveland went ahead on Marshall's 3-pointer with 8:57 left in the first half, and the Pistons didn't have the lead the rest of the game.

The Cavs led 50-45 at halftime.

Ilgauskas gave James plenty of support in the first half. He had nine points -- surpassing his point totals from the previous two games -- and seven rebounds along with four blocks, which tied a Cleveland playoff record for blocked shots in a half. Ilgauskas finished with six blocks, tying a franchise postseason record.

While the Cavs were warming up at halftime with a 50-45 lead, James leaned against the scorer's table checking out the box score.

He had to like what he saw.

The 21-year-old phenom scored 22 first-half points on 9-of-17 shooting; Ilgauskas was off to a strong start; and the Cavs' reserves were outscoring Detroit's 17-2.

For the third straight game, the Cavs were without starting shooting guard Larry Hughes, who has been with his family since the death of his 20-year-old brother. The entire team attended Justin Hughes' funeral in St. Louis on Tuesday, the morning after winning Game 4, then flew to suburban Detroit without a practice between games. Cavs general manager Danny Ferry said there was still no timetable for Hughes to return.