This is a picture of the character Jacques el Noble, professor, teacher and mentor to D. Dan. Of the many styles armed and unarmed combat that he has mastered in his very long life, his favorite one is that of the martial arts style of Pankration.

Pankration is the first style of hand to hand combat that he learned and is the first of many that he has mastered. One of the oldest styles of martial arts in the history of the world, Jacques el Noble learned the style when it was still relatively new.

Traditionally, Pankration, when practiced or performed in public, was done in the nude. In modern times, however, clothing like boxing shorts, wrestling shorts / briefs or other similar sports clothing are used.

In this picture, Jacques el Noble poses for a camera shortly before beginning a round of practice in a gym. Though Jacques el Noble is one of the foremost practitioners of Pankration, dutiful and constant practice is the norm in any given martial arts.

Originally meant to be a picture of Jacques el Noble as a body builder, I changed my mind near completion of the picture since I have been meaning to do a picture of him as a Pankration fighter and this picture seemed perfect for that role. Albeit he is not doing any fighting, but the clothing that I ended up drawing on him fits well for a practitioner of Pankration.