Melancomas was of a school of boxers whose technique was not to strike a blow, but to wear out their oppoents by holding them off with straight arms. According to Dion Chrysostom, a contemporary Greek historian, Melancomas held out for whole hours, his arms extended in the face of his antagonist, who sought in vain to reach him and bruised himself in vain efforts to break through those two muscular bars, as resistant as steel. It is said that Melancomas could remain for two consecutive days in this fatiguing position, while others were completely exhausted. he would leave the arena without having given or received (to his head or body) a single blow, "a feat which may be regarded as the perfection of the art of self-defense" (G. Depping, Wonders of Bodily Strength and Skill, 1873, p. 42. According to Depping, Melancomas "regarded with pity those of his brethren who, after heavy smashing upon each other's faces, left the arena mutilated and disfigured, and considered this great waste of strength an actual proof of weakness."