Pugură

Pugură

Also known as	Pugură boxing, Caphirian footfighting, Caphirian kickboxing
Focus	Striking
Hardness	Full contact
Country of origin	Caphiria
Creator	Adrijan Salvarrech
Famous practitioners	(see notable practitioners)
Parenthood	Boxing, Ancient footfighting

Pugură, also known as pugură boxing, Caphirian footfighting, or Caphirian kickboxing, is a Caphirian kickboxing combat sport that uses the hands and feet as weapons combining elements of Occidential boxing with graceful kicking techniques.

Initially, only foot kicks were allowed but over time the sport evolved to allow the use of the knees or shins, eventually allowing strikes in any part of the body. Pugură is a Sarpic word for "old shoe or boot" as fighters wear specially designed boots. A male practitioner of pugură is called a priprečo while a female is called a pripreča.

Gear

In official competitions, competitors wear an scuțin or a vest and pugură trousers. They wear boxing gloves (with or without padded palms) and pugură boots. Pugură is the only kicking and punching (only) style to use footwear, although some other combat sports sometimes also wear grappling-type shoes/boots. Pugură boots can be used to hit with the sole, the top of the foot, the toe, or the heel. Sometimes a helmet can be worn, e.g. in junior competitions and in the early rounds of duels.

Rules

Modern codified pugură provides for three levels of competition with slightly differing rulesets: collatis, duellum and certatio.

Collatis (lit. "putting it together; sparring): requires the competitors to focus on their technique while still making contact; referees assign penalties for the use of excessive force.

• Bouts are usually 3 rounds (lasting 2–3 minutes each) with a 1-minute rest in between rounds
• Fighters can score through punches or kicks, striking above the waist and foot sweeps, executed below the ankle.
• Punches, kicks, and foot sweeps are awarded 1 point. Kicks to the head or jumping kicks to the body are awarded 2 points. Jumping kicks to the head are awarded 3 points.
• Hook kicks and Axe kicks are allowed but must be executed with the sole of the foot.
• The use of the shins is seldom allowed, save for jumping and spinning techniques.
• Elbows, knees, and spinning backfists are forbidden.
• Clinch fighting, throws and sweeps (with the exception of foot sweeps) are forbidden.

Duellum (duel): allows for full-strength fighting so long as the fighters wear protective gear such as helmets and shin guards.

• Bouts are 3 to 5 rounds (lasting 3 minutes each) with a 1-minute rest in between rounds.
• Fighters are allowed to strike their opponent with punches, kicks and knees including kicks below the waist, except for the groin.
• Elbow strikes are forbidden.
• Very limited clinch fighting is allowed (in some competitions, only one single strike is allowed before the clinch has to be released, in other promotions just a few seconds of clinch are allowed).
• Throws and sweeps are not allowed

Certatio (contest): the most intense level, is the same as duellum, but protective gear other than groin protection and mouthguards is prohibited

• Bouts are usually 3 to 10 rounds (lasting 2 minutes each) with a 1-minute rest in between rounds.
• Fighters are allowed to strike their opponent with punches, kicks, including kicks below the waist, elbows and knees.
• Clinch fighting is allowed
• Certain throws and sweeps are allowed (however hip throws and heel sweeps are illegal)
• Kicking to mid-body and head are scored highly

Generally, for a strike to count towards the point score, it has to hit without being blocked or guarded against by the opponent. Strikes also do not score if they hit the opponent's glove, forearm, foot, or shin. Strikes to the groin are against the rules and if found to be intentional are counted as fouls. If both pugură fighters have the same score at the end of the round, the winner is determined by which fighter has a more powerful strike.

Techniques

Kicks

The two most common kicks in Pugură are known as the pes (literally "foot jab") and the pes firo (kicking upwards in the shape of a triangle cutting under the arm and ribs), or roundhouse kick. The Caphiric roundhouse kick uses a rotational movement of the entire body and has been widely adopted by practitioners of other combat sports. It is done from a circular stance with the back leg just a little ways back (roughly shoulder width apart) in comparison to instinctive upper body fighting (boxing) where the legs must create a wider base. The roundhouse kick draws its power almost entirely from the rotational movement of the hips, counter-rotation of the shoulders and arms are also often used to add torque to the lower body and increase the power of the kick as well.

Almost every type of kick can be aimed high at the head (calva), to the body (lateri), or low to the legs/thighs (crus).

1. pes evisor (straight kick)
2. pes firo (literally "whip"; roundhouse kick making contact with the toe—hard rubber-toed shoes are worn in practice and bouts)
3. pes retro firo (reverse roundhouse kick)
4. pes baeru orepto (half-shin, half-knee kick)
5. pes sollatu (side ("pes sollatu aper") or front ("pes sollatu ante") piston-action kick
6. pes căre, frontal or lateral ("reverse" or hooking kick) making contact with the sole of the shoe
7. pes detazăcrus ("low kick", a front or sweep kick to the shin making contact with the inner edge of the shoe, performed with a characteristic backwards lean) low only

Punches

1. mavo bras (jab, lead hand)
2. pano bras (cross, rear hand)
3. vortio (hook, bent arm with either hand)
4. untes (uppercut, either hand)
5. batrius (overhand/haymaker)
6. ivicam (backfist/spinning backfist)
7. densupera (superman punch/cobra punch)

Elbows

The elbow can be used in several ways as a striking weapon: horizontal, diagonal-upwards, diagonal-downwards, uppercut, downward, backward-spinning, and flying. From the side, it can be used as either a finishing move or as a way to cut the opponent's eyebrow so that blood might block his vision. The diagonal elbows are faster than the other forms but are less powerful. The elbow strike is considered the most dangerous form of attack in the sport. For that reason, elbows are only allowed in contests.

There is a distinct difference between a single elbow and a follow-up elbow. The single elbow is a move independent from any other, whereas a follow-up elbow is the second strike from the same arm, being a hook or straight punch first with an elbow follow-up. Such elbows, and most other elbow strikes, are used when the distance between fighters becomes too small and there is too little space to throw a hook at the opponent's head.

Elbows can be used to great effect as blocks or defences against, for example, spring knees, side body knees, body kicks, or punches. When well connected, an elbow strike can cause serious damage to the opponent, including cuts or even a knockout.

1. ulna filă (elbow slash)
2. ulna circino (horizontal elbow)
3. ulna retro circino (reverse horizontal elbow)
4. ulna untes (uppercut elbow)
5. ulna casaequo (forward elbow thrust)
6. ulna circumactio filă (spinning elbow)
7. ulna duplex filă (double elbow job)
8. ulna salire filă (mid-air elbow strike/jump elbow chop)

Knees

1. genu ante (straight knee strike)
2. genu etrius (diagonal knee strike)
3. genu nestum (curved knee strike)
4. genu scravus (knee slap)
5. genu reterius (knee bomb)
6. genu aere ante (flying knee strike)
7. genu accessus ante (step-up knee strike)

Clinch

In traditional Occidental boxing, the two fighters are separated when they clinch; in Certatio contests of Pugură, however, they are not. It is often in the clinch (luctamen) where knee and elbow techniques are used. To strike and bind the opponent for both offensive and defensive purposes, small amounts of stand-up grappling are used in the clinch. The front clinch should be performed with the palm of one hand on the back of the other. There are three reasons why the fingers must not be intertwined. 1) In the ring fighters are wearing boxing gloves and cannot intertwine their fingers. 2) The front clinch involves pressing the head of the opponent downwards, which is easier if the hands are locked behind the back of the head instead of behind the neck. Furthermore, the arms should be putting as much pressure on the neck as possible. 3) A fighter may incur an injury to one or more fingers if they are intertwined, and it becomes more difficult to release the grip in order to quickly elbow the opponent's head.

A correct clinch also involves the fighter's forearms pressing against the opponent's collar bone while the hands are around the opponent's head rather than the opponent's neck. The general way to get out of a clinch is to push the opponent's head backward or elbow them, as the clinch requires both participants to be very close to one another. Additionally, the non-dominant clincher can try to "swim" their arm underneath and inside the opponent's clinch, establishing the previously non-dominant clincher as the dominant clincher.

In addition to the standard clinch, there are several variants used across the world:

1. luctamen brachium (arm clinch): One or both hands controls the inside of the defender's arm(s) and where the second hand if free is in the front clinch position. This clinch is used to briefly control the opponent before applying a knee strike or throw
2. luctamen latus (side clinch): One arm passes around the front of the defender with the attacker's shoulder pressed into the defender's arm pit and the other arm passing round the back which allows the attacker to apply knee strikes to the defender's back or to throw the defender readily.
3. luctamen crus (low clinch): Both controlling arms pass under the defender's arms, which is generally used by the shorter of two opponents.
4. olor luctamen (swan-neck): One hand around the rear of the neck is used to briefly clinch an opponent before a strike

Defenses

Defensively, the concept of "wall of defence" is used, in which shoulders, arms and legs are used to hinder the attacker from successfully executing techniques. Blocking is a critical element in Pugură and compounds the level of conditioning a successful practitioner must possess. Low and mid body roundhouse kicks are normally blocked with the upper portion of a raised shin (this block is known as a "check"). High body strikes are blocked ideally with the forearms and shoulder together, or if enough time is allowed for a parry, the glove (elusively), elbow, or shin will be used. Midsection roundhouse kicks can also be caught/trapped, allowing for a sweep or counter-attack to the remaining leg of the opponent.

Punches are blocked with an ordinary boxing guard and techniques similar, if not identical, to basic boxing technique. A common means of blocking a punch is using the hand on the same side as the oncoming punch. For example, if an orthodox fighter throws a jab (being the left hand), the defender will make a slight tap to redirect the punch's angle with the right hand. The deflection is always as small and precise as possible to avoid unnecessary energy expenditure and return the hand to the guard as quickly as possible. Hooks are often blocked with a motion sometimes described as "combing the hair," that is, raising the elbow forward and effectively shielding the head with the forearm, flexed biceps, and shoulder. More advanced Pugură blocks are usually in the form of counter-strikes, using the opponent's weight (as they strike) to amplify the damage that the countering opponent can deliver. This requires impeccable timing and thus can generally only be learned by many repetitions.

There are several defensive maneuvers in Pugură, categorized in six groups:

1. Blocking – defender's hard blocks to stop a strike in its path so preventing it reaching its target (e.g. the shin block described in more detail below)
2. Parries – defender's soft parries to change the direction of a strike (e.g. a downwards tap to a jab) so that it misses the target
3. Avoidance – moving a body part out of the way or range of a strike so the defender remains in range for a counter-strike. For example, the defender moves their front leg backward to avoid the attacker's low kick, then immediately counters with a roundhouse kick. Or the defender might lay their head back from the attacker's high roundhouse kick then counter-attack with a side kick.
4. Evasion – moving the body out of the way or range of a strike so the defender has to move close again to counter-attack, e.g. defender jumping laterally or back from attacker's kicks
5. Disruption – Pre-empting an attack e.g. with defender using disruptive techniques like jab, foot-thrust or low roundhouse kick, generally called a "leg kick" (to the outside or inside of the attacker's front leg, just above the knee) as the attacker attempts to close distance
6. Anticipation – Defender catching a strike (e.g., catching a roundhouse kick to the body) or countering it before it lands (e.g., defender's low kick to the supporting leg below as the attacker initiates a high roundhouse kick).

Ranking system

Pugură uses glove colors to indicate a fighter's level of proficiency (unlike arts such as many modern styles of karate, which assign new belts at each promotion, moving to a higher color rank in Pugură does not necessarily entail a change in the color of one's actual gloves, and a given fighter may continue using the same pair of gloves through multiple promotions). Novices begin at no color.

The qualifications for competition vary depending on the association or commission. In Caphiria's Pugură Guild, a yellow glove can compete, and in Urcea a green glove can compete. In Zaclaria, the competition levels start at novice (6 months).

Pugură is unique in that it is divided into three paths that a priprečo can choose to take depending on their interests - the technical path, the competitive path, and the instructor path. Additionally, there is a fourth unofficial path for refereeing and judging. The paths are linear meaning a fighter must fully progress the previous path in order to move to the next, i.e. in order to compete competitively, a fighter must first have the rank of Technical Silver III.

Paths of Pugură progression

Technical	Competitive	Preceptive
Blue	Silver I	Sapphire
Green	Silver II
Red	Silver III
White	Silver IV
Yellow	Silver V	Emerald
Silver I	Platinum I
Silver II	Platinum II
Silver III	Gold

On average, 6 years of training are necessary to advance through the technical path, another 8-12 years for the competitive path, and a further 9-15 years to complete the preceptive path.

In Caphiria, a priprečo must have a certificate of mastery in specialized teaching (coMIST) in order to achieve the title of master and teach a masterclass. These coMIST diplomas are university level education in sports with specialization in Pugură - supervised by the National Pugură Guild and associated disciplines (Tepiù pugna, Self Defense). The National Pugură Guild however, is still allowed to award mastery to non-Caphirian nationals without requiring such rigid system of education. Caphirian nationals have to submit and succeed to the rigid system of education and prove themselves in competition as well as being respected by peers, in order to have a slight chance to become a master.