The Earliest European Martial Arts Manual

Papyrus Oxyrhynchus III 466 (P. Oxy. III, 466), a fragmentary 2nd century Greek papyrus, discovered in an ancient rubbish dump near Oxyrhynchus, Egypt, constitutes the earliest European martial arts manual. It contains instructions for wrestling, including the description of various grips and holds. The text is in three columns with 13, 15 and 10 lines, respectively. Each instruction is followed by plexon (πλέξον) "tangle", translated by Miller (2004) as "mix it up!" (in the sense of "execute!"). Poliakoff (1987) translates "you fight it out".

In 1907 the papyrus was donated to Columbia University by the Egypt Exploration Society.