Greece (Pankration)

Pankration is considered to be one of the oldest martial arts. In Greek mythology, Heracles and Theseus invented the art when the combined both wrestling and boxing in their fights. The old term pammachon was used instead of the later term pankration and appeared in Greek legends such as Theseus' victory against the Minotaur and Heracles' against the Nemean lion, both of which have been depicted in ancient artwork. The first official record of sport Pankration was in the 33rd Olympic Games in Athens, 648 BC but the combat form may have been practiced two thousand years before that.

Before it became an atheletic competition, Pankration was a staple part of the arsenal of Greek soldiers. In the case of losing both the sword and shield, soldiers were always prepared to fight hand-to-hand combat. This famous martial arts was practiced by the Spartans, who were said to  have fought with bare hands and teeth once spears and swords has shattered) and by Alexander the Great's incredible army which conquered almost the entire civilised world of his time. Spartan soldiers trained in Pankration as well as other weapon arts at the age of 7 years old for 25 years in military training known as the Agoge. Women were not exempt- many regularly exercised and competed in sports such as Pankration. Pankration kicks were trained to be strong enough to break a shield in half. Alexander the Great's formidable Macedonian phalanx would have also practised Pankration and his invasion of India in 326 BC is said to have spread martial arts throughout Asia.

In Athens, Pankration was established as an event in the men's division in 648 BC alongside the previously existing boxing and wrestling events. As a combination of the two, Pankration is considered a predecessor to modern day MMA matches (mixed martial arts) and contains numerous similarities even today. However, Pankration began as a bloody sport that all too often resulted in death. Dr Emmanuel Mikzogiannakis states that the lack of weight divisions meant that only the biggest and heaviest competitors dominated the event. The amount of pride that went into the event also contributed to fatal injuries as many refused to submit, even though the rules allowed them to at any time. The majority of deaths resulted from chokeholds when the opponent refused to admit defeat.

Pankration involves a variety of grappling techniques such as takedowns, chokes and jointlocks but also strikes with both arms and legs. The rules of Pankration were limited only to forbidding biting and eye-gouging, but other than that, it was 'anything goes'. One such competitor was nicknamed 'Fingertips', famous for starting off matches by breaking his opponents fingers.

http://www.usadojo.com/styles/about-pankration.htm
http://www.fightingarts.com/reading/article.php?id=164
http://www.atlantamartialarts.com/styles/pankration.htm
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/28473-ancient-greek-pankration-the-origins-of-mma-part-one
http://www.pankration.gr/history.htm (this site is kinda debatable in reliability though- "The oldest written evidence of Pankration can be found in the 586th lyric of Orfica in the ancient poem Argonautica, which researches believe dates as far back as the 12th Millennium BC" 12th millenium??
http://www.historical-pankration.com/article-7.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U0ueeS-zoxc