Techie Fight Clubs Springing Up 648
Browncoat writes "USAToday reports a new phenomenon hitting some of the cubicles of Silicon Valley. It seems that engineers and developers previously confined to sitting in front of their computers are getting their anger out the healthy way: by pummeling each other. From the article 'Inspired by the 1999 film Fight Club, starring Brad Pitt and Ed Norton, underground bare-knuckle brawling clubs have sprung up across the country as a way for desk jockeys and disgruntled youths to vent their frustrations and prove themselves. "This is as close as you can get to a real fight, even though I've never been in one," the soft-spoken Siou said.'"
Weenie Club (Score:5, Insightful)
Aside from which, I loved how they worked in this:
Earlier this month in Arlington, Texas, a high school student who didn't want to participate was beaten so badly that he suffered a brain hemorrhage and broken vertebrae. Six teenagers were arrested after DVDs of the fight appeared for sale online.
So exactly when did "getting your ass kicked by a bunch of jerks" turn into being "an unwilling Fight Club participant"? I suppose next we'll be hearing about how Ken Lay and company were actually just repeating what they learned by watching "Wall Street" at the executive team-building offsite? Or how the well-abused Zonk and ScuttleMonkey voodoo dolls on my desk are actually just a result of my having seen part of "The Craft" one time on HBO?
There's no need for RL violence (Score:5, Insightful)
Unsupport claims (Score:5, Insightful)
Is this fact, or just poor reporting?
No weapons! (Score:5, Insightful)
Hitting someone with a frying pan? What fool would take that?
Using your fists on someone
But using a blunt object? If you're anything other than a spaz, you'll crush a few ribs the first time you connect. Then the fights over.
Re:Unsupport claims (Score:2, Insightful)
Well, if you really want to fight, (Score:3, Insightful)
They should try a moshing. At least you get to beat people to music.
Utopian Nostalgia (Score:5, Insightful)
Hopefully we can someday return to the world where none of thoseexisted, and men never fought each other.
Shenanigans (Score:3, Insightful)
How many times in the past have we see some tech story get reported on and posted on slashdot only to find out that it was all trumped up - like "toothing" - people in UK using bluetooth phones to look for sex partners? I say "nerd fight club" is the same thing.
Everyone knows that real dorks adverse to physical fitness - I mean, hey why go outside when you can spend more time in front of the computer? I'll exercise next week after I rebuild my second desktop system and finish upgrading my asterisk pbx...
Oh, and nerd *fighting*? Nerds are the last people who are going to want to blow off steam by real, painful, physical fighting... Everyone knows that. Nerds would invite others for a frag-fest, whomp on their mmorpg character, hack their coworker's/nemesis' home server, and fill their cubicle with styrofoam... but fight... and risk getting hurt?
If we liked to fight, we probably wouldn't have followed the path that made us nerds in the first place.
Re:There's no need for RL violence (Score:1, Insightful)
Re:Unsupport claims (Score:5, Insightful)
It is poor (though typical) reporting that these types of claims are reported simply as "so-and-so says", but it saves journalist from having to have any knowledge of or do any research in the field they are covering, they can simply find the nearest person with a degree or job in a superficially relevant field, and get a quote, and go home for the day. If they are particularly ambitious, they'll get two conflicting quotes from different experts, to show "balance".
Consumerism (Score:4, Insightful)
Yes, buy things like the Fight Club DVD, you sheep. Some people, if worried about excessive consumerism, would stop buying shit.
Videogames. Always videogames. I'm surprised he hasn't blamed myspace.
"The freedom to do what we want to do" (Score:5, Insightful)
And that is beating each other up? Idiots...
Re:Repetition Club (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Weenie Club (Score:3, Insightful)
IIRC there was a rule in FC that said "if this is your first night, you have to fight"...
Re:No weapons! (Score:5, Insightful)
The same fool, I suppose, that would say "I'm bored, let's find some other techies and start beating the crap out of each other."
Or, I suppose, that would watch the fictional account of a character that went completely and destructively insane (but who may have, at the end of the story, "saved" himself by shooting himself in the head) and say "hey, let's imitate that."
Fight Club is a good movie. Imitating because your life is boring is, well, a sign that you need serious help.
Fiction (Score:1, Insightful)
I'd say that picture was staged. (Score:4, Insightful)
If it was a straight in kick, his leg would be tangled up with his opponent's hand.
If it was a side kick, his leg would be connecting with his opponent's shoulder. Look how his kicking foot is outside of both their bodies.
"Superhero for a night" (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:"The freedom to do what we want to do" (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:There's no need for RL violence (Score:4, Insightful)
These guys sound like dickless morons who watch way too much UFC. The guy in the photo looks like an idiot using those Kali sticks. When using them you don't get within knee strike range, and you definitely dont try to graple in the manner he is.
In my opinion these guys need to go to a real dojo, roll with some real experts, and learn that combat for the purpose of ego masturbation is fucking pointless.
Re:No weapons! (Score:5, Insightful)
But using a blunt object? If you're anything other than a spaz, you'll crush a few ribs the first time you connect. Then the fights over."
We live in a nation where 45% of eligible voters believe the world is 6000 years old and their kids think WWF wrestlers are quality role models to be emulated.... [google.com] It doesn't surprise me at all that people are smacking each other around with frying pans.
Reading comprehension (Score:5, Insightful)
Extremists misinterpreting literature for ideology is hardly new, though. These people are hitting each other with heavy metal objects, they are probably addicted to the body's painkillers or the feeling their brain makes while it is being made retarded.
Confusing to say the least (Score:3, Insightful)
The reporter is making these folks out to sound like crazies.... They aren't. They are men frustrated by their daily lives. I can understand this desire to vent physical frustration in a very real way. I learned that I don't need to hit anyone in order to do that, just pratice the martial arts forms I have learned. That is either not something these guys have tried, or found to be satisfactory. That's fine, and as long as they all agree to what they are doing, have at.
He focuses on one guy at the end who is making... questionable choices, certainly from how they where presented. Married later in life (than social norms, mind, for all that's worth), choosing to go to this fight club instead of taking the time out to be with his wife, on their first anniversary, for a very important event in her life. Talking about how tough it makes him feel... sounds like he's got other issues to me. Sounds like the writer is trying to focus on that.
Oh, and the trying to link teen violence to this stuff, and childhood media exposure? That's just poor reporting, and poor taste.
I'm modding this story -3 troll.
Re:Unsupport claims (Score:5, Insightful)
Read:
Men involved in fight clubs often carry bottled-up violent impulses learned in childhood from jocks, jerks and bullies, said Michael Messner, a University of Southern California sociology and gender studies professor, who got the sh*t kicked out of him every day for wanting to be a gender studies professor.
Re:No weapons! (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Shenanigans (Score:2, Insightful)
Actually my sensei's dojo is full of geeks, nerds, and brainiacs. She's an EE, the senior student is a physician, and I'm one of several software guys.
Many techies are budoka. A former boss of mine was an aikido instructor; I worked with one guy who was an early student of Ed Parker, and another who was a Shotokan karate instructor. The famous ESR [catb.org] is a black belt in "Moo Do", "an eclectic martial art based on Tae Kwon Do". As he mentions in the Jargon File [catb.org],
Many others are involed in SCA or similar live HTH combat similuation.
I dunno, maybe you young'ns just aren't as tough as us older geeks who grew up before "frag-fests".
Re:Repetition Club (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Weenie Club (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:No weapons! (Score:1, Insightful)
No, we live in a nation where people can make shit up and get modded insightful.
Um, most martial arts won't help much (Score:3, Insightful)
Look, they generally start as powerful self defence techniques which can be used when attacked by untrained attackers but the instant you start competitions, add rules they become methods of fencing for points. The training and techniques change for the tournaments to the point that they are largely useless against the kind of wild untrained and violent attackers they were originally designed for.
You do what you train and if you're training for head height roundhouse kicks , as good as it looks, you will end up on your arse when you try to use one on the street.
So, if you're going to practice a martial art, make sure it's with a teacher who teaches the original self defence art, not watered down long distance tournament fencing techniques. This is the elusive "become a master" step. It has nothing to do with the particular art or style btw, they're all ways of manipulating the opponent through force. It's purely down to the instructor.
p.s. you don't take or know a martial art, you have to practice it.
Re:Unsupport claims (Score:4, Insightful)
The article said: Men involved in fight clubs often carry bottled-up violent impulses learned in childhood from video games, cartoons and movies, said Michael Messner, a University of Southern California sociology and gender studies professor.
DragonWriter said: It is poor (though typical) reporting that these types of claims are reported simply as "so-and-so says", but it saves journalist from having to have any knowledge of or do any research in the field they are covering, they can simply find the nearest person with a degree or job in a superficially relevant field, and get a quote, and go home for the day. If they are particularly ambitious, they'll get two conflicting quotes from different experts, to show "balance".
PCM2 said: I see. And so, in your opinion, not-poor reporting would presumably involve the reporter spending the next six years getting an advanced degree in psychiatry and then stating his own opinion?
Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.
I can't speak for DragonWriter, but I'd like to see evidence for a wild claim like that. Perhaps a reference to a peer-reviewed study. I don't have much respect for sociologists or gender studies professors. I can't think off-hand how to perform a well-controlled experiment that would determine if what this guy said is true, so I bet he couldn't either.
Re:No weapons! (Score:2, Insightful)
I haven't seen a single comment that gets the point of Fight Club. Since it's one of my fave films I think it deserves a remark. What is Fight Club about? It's got nothing much to do with fist-fighting that's for sure. It's about schizophenia, subversion and terrorism, not necessarily in that order.
A psychologist, (it may have been Miller, but it was one of those old school peg twisting, mouse maze types) did an experiment with rats where he put enough of them in close proximity and slowly raised their stress levels until they turned on each other for comfort and relief.
It may be a bit of harmless fun because these guys don't get out enough to play football, but imho you take a deeper look at the subconsious/ mental subtext and damn well ignore these symptoms at your peril.
Sorry ... (Score:5, Insightful)
Sorry, "Fight Club" was about rebellion and self realization. Same thing with another movie of that time "American Beauty".
The protaginist (he has no name) is a bitch office worker who subconsciously develops an aggressive persona that manifests itself when he "sleeps". There was no homo-sexuality in the film. The only person who got fucked was Marla. The fact that men were hugging in a testicle cancer support group is meant to be farscicle.
Quit projecting.
Re:No weapons! (Score:5, Insightful)
Supporting link [unl.edu], link [asa3.org], and right from the horse's mouth link [gallup.com].
Re:No weapons! (Score:1, Insightful)
it's about getting your knuckles to move _very_ fast, and then getting them out before the cinderblock returns the energy.
I don't recall any physics professor stating that Newton's "for every reaction, there is an equal but opposite reaction" had a clause that indicated that quick kung-fu guys were exempt from it. What a stooooge. No, it's about applying enough force to a small area to cause the solid to break.Re:No weapons! (Score:3, Insightful)
The two biggest injuries I've seen coming out of martial arts schools were a Tae Kwon Do instructor who hyperextended both of her knees and could never walk again, and a Iaido instructor who put her sword away a little too quickly and severed all of the nerves in her hand. Both wounds were functionally self-inflicted.
In my particular circle martial arts have died down, but in others they go strong. The need for human beings to fight, and especially the need for men to fight, is strong. There is nothing unnatural about that. There is nothing wrong with that. Just be a little careful.
Re:No weapons! (Score:2, Insightful)
Depends on the dojo/sensei. The old (back in the 60s) hand-to-hand combat instructor for the army at Schoefield Barracks in Hawaii was an expert at 'combat Karate' (for lack of a better term), the purpose of which is to kill/maim your opponent as quickly as possible rather than to perfect graceful roundhouses. It didn't look pretty at all, actually. It was almost hard to tell apart from regular brawling except that he used his feet as adeptly as anyone would use his hands, and, if you paid enough attention, you'd notice that he aimed his blows carefully for maximum effect (he pulled them, of course.. no use in blinding/rupturing kidneys/crushing the larynx of your student unnecessarily
Most dojos now days teach an entirely different type of Karate, meant for self-discipline, confidence, and exercise rather than self-defense. The art has basically evolved away from its more 'savage' roots as it is not very productive to teach people 101 Ways to Kill and Cripple With Your Bare Hands(TM) in modern society.
I almost lost a fight in elementary school because knowing some martial arts hindered me quite a bit, but not for the reason you suggest. Basically it hindered me because it was too effective. I forget what the fight was about, but I remember realizing that I didn't really want to break the guy's arm/put out his eye/hit (and possibly collapse) his voicebox etc. Now, given that I was quite a novice it's likely that my attempts would have failed even if I had had no reservations, but having those thoughts running through my mind at the time meant that I was trying to be careful to avoid seriously hurting the guy I was supposed to be fighting.
Re:MAYBE the reason Fight Club is so copied... (Score:1, Insightful)
It isn't a new problem. Tyler Durden's solution to the problem was fight club, a place where men can feel alive.
But that isn't the real solution to the problem, the real solution is to get a life. Haven't you seen the disclaimer at the beginning of the DVD?
Fight club works for Tyler. But none of us are Tyler Durden, all of us are like Edward Norton. For him fight club lost its appeal, fight club didn't make him feel complete, a girl did.
And at the end of the movie Edward Norton ends up with Marla Singer and they're both happy.
Re:No weapons! (Score:3, Insightful)
Martial arts insight here - Do not attack the human skull with a balled up fist. And whatever you do, don't ever attack a human skull with a fist with the intention of hitting anywhere near where the teeth are. Seriously. Look at the hand of a skeleton. Then look at a mandible. Then bite your knuckle and see how little force is required to make your hand hurt. It's a very bad idea. And this is coming from a Karate guy - it doesn't get much punch happier than we are.
Re:No weapons! (Score:2, Insightful)
Desorientation, memory loss etc., they are the symptoms of concussion. The grandparent has no idea.
People get killed all the time by golf balls, coconuts, and just simply falling backwards on their head from their normal hight.
Can someone explain the appeal of (a) fight club? (Score:2, Insightful)
A man find's his work and his life unsatisfying. He is unable to express his individuality and to have the sort of life he wants.
His proposed solution: to spend his nights with other losers punching them and trying to hurt them while they try to do the same to him.
How is this an improvement? To me it seems far worse.
Some homoerotic themes with your defensiveness? (Score:2, Insightful)
Suggesting that Fight Club carries homoerotic themes is not to say the movie is about homosexuality. Many of the film's most important scenes involve half-naked, sweating men in close contact with each other. The contact is violent and a "legitimate" equivalent for the close contact men and women have in the film.
A clear example of a homoerotic theme present in the movie is the subplot where the unnamed narrator ("Jack") becomes jealous of Tyler Durden's relationship with Angel Face. While beating Angel Face's face to a bloody pulp, the narrator confesses
These images are partially veiled sexual references, "Panda that wouldn't screw"; "open the [. . .] valves [. . .] and smother"; and "I wanted to breathe smoke". Of course these images mean other things, too: reckless abandon, species suicide, environmental destruction, etc. But they also can be read sexually. (You, willtsmith, might say "they are susceptible to sexual projection.")
The final proof comes after Angel Face is carried away and Durden (lighting a cigarette) asks the narrator, "Where'd you go, psycho boy?" and the narrator explains "I felt like destroying something beautiful." In other words, the male narrator reacts to the blond man's beauty by beating the beautiful man up. This scene from the film directly links homoeroticism and male-on-male violence.
My guess is that the idea of sexuality being present in this film gets your panties in a wad, which is reasonable considering the film is also about macho men who in no way would be gay. But, really, it's OK. Just because sexual themes are present in these scenes of hypermasculine violence doesn't mean your wrestling buddies want to bugger you, not all of them anyways.
Re:Can someone explain the appeal of (a) fight clu (Score:2, Insightful)
When these losers want to "feel something", they beat each other. When I want to "feel something" I go get a massage.
Want to guess which one of us gets the great job and the raise and which one gets his ass fired for calling sick all the time or coming to work beaten and stupid?