Fist-fighting for sport probably arose independently in various prehistoric cultures. Archaeological evidence indicates that the Egyptians may have practiced the sport as early as 3000 BC, and boxing is depicted in Sumerian relief carvings from the third millennium BC. The earliest evidence for boxing in the Mediterranean can be found in the Minoan civilization.
Ancient Greek Boxing
According to the Iliad, Mycenaean warriors included boxing among their competitions honoring the fallen, though it is possible that the Homeric epics reflect later Greek culture. Another Greek legend holds that the heroic ruler Theseus, said to have lived around the 9th century BC, invented a form of boxing in which two men sat face to face and beat each other with their fists until one of them was killed. In time, the boxers began to fight while standing and wearing gloves (with spikes) and wrappings on their arms below the elbows, although otherwise they competed naked.
Boxing was first accepted as an Olympic sport in 688 BC. Participants trained on punching bags. Fighters wore leather straps over their hands, wrists, and sometimes breast, to protect them from injury. The straps left their fingers free.
In China in the Zhou Dynasty, Jiao li, a form of wrestling that included boxing, was recorded in the Classic of Rites. This combat system included techniques such as strikes, throws, joint manipulation, and pressure point attacks.
Forms of boxing are mentioned in early Buddhist sources. In the Lotus Sutra, Gautama Buddha refers to boxing while speaking to Manjusri. Another early Buddhist sutra Hongyo-kyo describes a boxing contest between Gautama Buddha's half-brother Prince Nanda and his cousin Devadatta.The boxing martial art of Vajra Mushti was described in the Buddharata Sutra, written in the 5th century, though it was used by the Hindu Kshatriya caste centuries earlier.
In ancient Rome, fighters were usually criminals and slaves who hoped to become champions and gain their freedom; however, free men also fought. Eventually, fist fighting became so popular that even aristocrats started fighting, but the practice was eventually banned by Caesar Augustus. In 393 A.D., the Olympics were banned by the Christian emperor Theodosius, and in 500 A.D., boxing was banned altogether by Theodoric the Great.
