NEW YORK – On September 13 at 2pm (EST), the East Mediterranean Business Culture Alliance (EMBCA) in association with AHEPA’s Hellenic Cultural Commission will host a Panel Discussion Zoom Webinar titled Warrior Arts of the Hellenes: From Ancient Times to the Modern Era.

Lou Katsos, EMBCA’s President and Chairman of AHEPA’s Hellenic Cultural Commission, will moderate the panel. The distinguished panelists will include the President of the Pammachon Cultural Union, Author and Engineer Kostas Dervenis, Pammachon Instructor, Martial Artist, Technologist Eric Hill, Martial Arts Instructor, Investment Fund Attorney Peter Tsirigotis, Martial Artist, International Investment Officer Dimitris Horiatis, and Elias Kazakeas, Senior Instructor Japan Karate Association and international business strategy consultant.

Martial arts and combat sports in Greece have a long and documented history, going back to the Minoan era circa 1900 BC and reaching all the way into the modern age. Long before the celebrated Samurai of Japan even existed, the warriors of ancient Hellas achieved legendary status on the battlefield. Over the millennia, martial arts in Greece evolved – their historical course following the development of military strategy and the necessary responses to new weapons and what they dictated for hand-to-hand and melee combat. More than just a means of close quarter combat, Hellenic martial arts were also a means of strengthening character and fortifying the mind, body, and spirit.

The panel will discuss the history and evolution of martial arts and combat sports in ancient and modern Greece, how they may be practiced today to allow the practitioner to thrive in the turmoil of the modern world, and how they may be propagated as a cultural artifact for the empowerment of Hellenic society around the world today.