Become a fan of Slashdot on Facebook

 


Forgot your password?
Close
typodupeerror
×

Techie Fight Clubs Springing Up 648

Posted by ScuttleMonkey from the unleashing-geek-fury dept.
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.'"
This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.

Techie Fight Clubs Springing Up More

Techie Fight Clubs Springing Up

Comments Filter:

  • Weenie Club (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Skyshadow ( 508 ) * on Tuesday May 30, 2006 @07:18PM (#15431849) Homepage
    Weird, I don't remember Fight Club being about a bunch of dorks in headgear smacking each other with sticks until one of them got a bloody nose while spouting poorly-paraphrased movie quotes at some bored reporter.

    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?

    • No weapons! (Score:5, Insightful)

      by khasim ( 1285 ) <brandioch.conner@gmail.com> on Tuesday May 30, 2006 @07:24PM (#15431877)
      From TFA:
      Kicking, punching and swinging every household object imaginable -- from frying pans and tennis rackets to pillowcases stuffed with soda cans -- they beat each other mercilessly in a garage in this bedroom community south of San Francisco.
      What the fuck?

      Hitting someone with a frying pan? What fool would take that?

      Using your fists on someone ... that I can see. The damage level is low (unless you're trained) and you get really tired really quickly.

      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:No weapons! (Score:5, Informative)

        by mepex ( 687816 ) on Tuesday May 30, 2006 @07:30PM (#15431920)
        Using your fists on someone ... that I can see. The damage level is low (unless you're trained) and you get really tired really quickly.
        Being married to a health care professional and hearing the stories of the ER, I know (secondhand) how wrong this is. Broken orbital bones happen all the time. Broken hands can take years to heal, and hurt like hell (just ask Fernando Vargas). The one picture in TFA shows a guy trying to knee another guy in the head. You get lucky and land flush, you're talking brain bleed, easily fatal. Actually, in my limited time of martial arts sparring when I was young, I noticed that it was the novices and not the experts that seemed to hurt and get hurt more often than the experts. But this was sparring for points, not for damage.

        • Re:No weapons! (Score:5, Informative)

          by vux984 ( 928602 ) on Tuesday May 30, 2006 @07:42PM (#15431979)
          Actually, in my limited time of martial arts sparring when I was young, I noticed that it was the novices and not the experts that seemed to hurt and get hurt more often than the experts. But this was sparring for points, not for damage.

          The experts know how to both hit and be hit (and are better at avoiding the hits); they take a lot less damage than novices, and unless they INTEND to deal damage, they deal less damage too.

          On the flip side an expert INTENDING to deal damage will deal it a lot more effectively than a novice.

          The same is generally true in most sports.

          • Re:No weapons! (Score:5, Funny)

            by grammar fascist ( 239789 ) on Tuesday May 30, 2006 @11:38PM (#15432972) Homepage
            The experts know how to both hit and be hit (and are better at avoiding the hits); they take a lot less damage than novices, and unless they INTEND to deal damage, they deal less damage too.

            On the flip side an expert INTENDING to deal damage will deal it a lot more effectively than a novice.

            The same is generally true in most sports.

            Yeah, I've noticed the same thing in golf. My father-in-law takes a whole lot less damage than my brother-in-law, in general.

            They play full-contact, though, which I'm told is uncommon.

        • I'd say that picture was staged. (Score:4, Insightful)

          by khasim ( 1285 ) <brandioch.conner@gmail.com> on Tuesday May 30, 2006 @07:45PM (#15431999)
          Look at the position of the leg with regards to the arm.

          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.

        • Re:No weapons! (Score:3, Interesting)

          by ajs ( 35943 )
          I used to spar with a friend when I was in high school. He was one of the young marines, or whatever they call them, and so he knew how to fight. I had no clue, but I put my heart into it. It was a lot of fun, and I had no hope of ever hurting him (though I did manage to flip him once, nearly by accident).

          Looking back, though, I think that if we had both been untrained it would have been uglier.

          Still, I wonder why we're all assuming these people are untrained. The majority may be, but it only takes one or t

        • Re:No weapons! (Score:5, Funny)

          by CodeBuster ( 516420 ) on Tuesday May 30, 2006 @10:43PM (#15432797)
          Using your fists on someone ... that I can see. The damage level is low

          That depends upon your class and level. I have five levels in the monk class with the shadow warrior prestige class, +3 brass knuckles of the whale, and 18/00 strength, so technically I would deal 3d6 + 3 hit points of damage and with my improved dodge feat you would not be fast enough to parry my attacks of opportunity.
        • Broken hands can take years to heal, and hurt like hell (just ask Fernando Vargas).

          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

      • Re:No weapons! (Score:5, Insightful)

        by DragonWriter ( 970822 ) on Tuesday May 30, 2006 @07:42PM (#15431976)
        Hitting someone with a frying pan? What fool would take that?


        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.

      • Re:No weapons! (Score:5, Insightful)

        by Adult film producer ( 866485 ) <van@i2pmail.org> on Tuesday May 30, 2006 @08:10PM (#15432127)
        "Hitting someone with a frying pan? What fool would take that?

        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.

      • Re:No weapons! (Score:3, Insightful)

        by jandrese ( 485 )
        To me this seems more like an extension of that backyard wrestling thing that was big a few years ago. And before that it was an extension of boys just beating each other up in the backyard.

        • Re:No weapons! (Score:3, Insightful)

          by cgenman ( 325138 )
          When growing up I used to wrestle with other kids. Frequently the match would end when someone scraped up an arm, or hit their head hard enough to make them dizzy, or one of the big guys rolled over the leg of one of the little guys. In college, we sparred quite a few times. I distinctly remember one match where a thai kickboxing friend kicked me in the thigh muscle lengthwise... I couldn't walk for about 4 days. Since graduating I've fought with friends who are a lot more experienced and controlled, an

          • Bubbles (Score:3, Interesting)

            by ObsessiveMathsFreak ( 773371 )
            When growing up I used to wrestle with other kids. Frequently the match would end when someone scraped up an arm, or hit their head hard enough to make them dizzy, or one of the big guys rolled over the leg of one of the little guys. In college, we sparred quite a few times.

            I always hated this. The idea of someone pawing and walloping me was never very appealing. Nonetheless, many, perhaps well meaning, individuals attempted to get me to "join in the fun". That's my bubble you're encroaching on, in a very i
    • Is this what it looks like when geeks fight? [usatoday.com]

      Face Masks! Pool Cues! Knee Sniffing!

      ugh.

    • Re:Weenie Club (Score:3, Insightful)

      by WormholeFiend ( 674934 )
      So exactly when did "getting your ass kicked by a bunch of jerks" turn into being "an unwilling Fight Club participant"?

      IIRC there was a rule in FC that said "if this is your first night, you have to fight"...
    • So exactly when did "getting your ass kicked by a bunch of jerks" turn into being "an unwilling Fight Club participant"?

      There was apparently plenty of willing participants in this particular instance (or at least "unwilling to press charges"). The video in question portrayed a number of "consensual" fights. It came into public view when an unwilling participant was seriously injured.

    • Re:Weenie Club (Score:5, Insightful)

      by timeOday ( 582209 ) on Tuesday May 30, 2006 @09:26PM (#15432493)
      I don't remember Fight Club being about a bunch of dorks in headgear smacking each other with sticks until one of them got a bloody nose while spouting poorly-paraphrased movie quotes at some bored reporter.
      Then again, Fight Club is not real. It's not fair to complain when real life falls short of fiction.

  • I'm sorry, but... (Score:5, Funny)

    by Kagura ( 843695 ) on Tuesday May 30, 2006 @07:19PM (#15431853)
    Doesn't this article violate the first and second rules of fight club?

  • There's no need for RL violence (Score:5, Insightful)

    by UmberGryphon ( 937359 ) on Tuesday May 30, 2006 @07:19PM (#15431858)
    The teams I've been on have always handled stress by Quake/Unreal Tournament/etc. deathmatching. What's the appeal of brawling? Same thrill of victory, longer-lasting agony of defeat.

    • Re:There's no need for RL violence (Score:4, Insightful)

      by Irish_Samurai ( 224931 ) on Tuesday May 30, 2006 @07:57PM (#15432060)
      While i will admit that a good multiplayer fragfest will vent some frustrations, there is nothing better than a good sparring match. You don't even have to get to heavy with it, some basic response and counter work is really exhilerating - especially between two equally skilled people who respect each other and are open to practicing variants.

      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:There's no need for RL violence (Score:5, Funny)

      by kfg ( 145172 ) on Tuesday May 30, 2006 @08:30PM (#15432220)
      What's the appeal of brawling?

      Depends on how big an asshole you are.

      KFG

  • well now (Score:4, Funny)

    by spune ( 715782 ) on Tuesday May 30, 2006 @07:20PM (#15431859)
    No one saw this coming. No one.
  • DO NOT post stories about Fight Club to Slashdot.
  • Check out this [revision3.com] episode of diggnation and you can catch a bunch of guys really going for it. very amusing, they look like absolute idiots... do I want a go? Hell yes!

    Bring on that printer

    *sticks on "still" by the geto boys*

  • Unsupport claims (Score:5, Insightful)

    by remembertomorrow ( 959064 ) on Tuesday May 30, 2006 @07:22PM (#15431869)
    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.

    Is this fact, or just poor reporting?

    • Re:Unsupport claims (Score:2, Insightful)

      by Anonymous Coward
      Clearly violence didn't exist before video games, cartoons, and movies.

    • Re:Unsupport claims (Score:5, Insightful)

      by DragonWriter ( 970822 ) on Tuesday May 30, 2006 @07:29PM (#15431914)
      It is probably a fact that "Michael Messner, a University of Southern California sociology and gender studies professor".

      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".

    • Re:Unsupport claims (Score:5, Interesting)

      by feyhunde ( 700477 ) on Tuesday May 30, 2006 @07:35PM (#15431958)
      Poor reporting treats it as a fact.

      There was violence before TV and Games and Movies.

      There were farm boys who grew up in peaceful farms that never heard a shot fired in anger or had a punch thrown whom grew up to be Soldiers. There were gun deaths that had nothing to do with Grand Theft Auto.

      The reporter (or more likely editor) is a PC fool whom doesn't realize the simple basic truth. Violent Video games save us from wayyyyyy more random acts of violence then they do encourage them. Anyone whose actually played the things in a bad mood knows what I'm talking about. The simulation is a cathartic. The bad date or club cockteases have made plenty a man hate women, if only for a bit. Killing a whore in GTA lets you get the release and satisfaction without actually hurting a human being.

      I guess too many of these folks are naive and really believe everything is sunshine and lollypops and don't understand the dark sides we all have. The side that comes out when we get cut off in traffic, the side that wants to slap everyone with a stupid answer. The part of us deep down that wants to be a Viking and Rape, Pillage and Burn. Or they might know they have such a side, but their own morality is such that they can not admit such a side exists.
    • Strange, I always thought my violent impulses came from my bosses making ridiculous demands while constantly criticizing my performance, my company overworking me while cutting my hours to make sure our stock price doesn't drop 10 cents, my customers treating me like dirt because I have to quote prices they consider outrageous to fix the computers their little demons fucked up by downloading free music, and my SO bitching that I work too much but then complaining when I can't afford to take her out for dinn

    • Re:Unsupport claims (Score:5, Insightful)

      by nsmike ( 920396 ) on Tuesday May 30, 2006 @08:42PM (#15432280)
      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.

      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.

  • Psh, that's nothing (Score:3, Funny)

    by ConfusedGuy ( 791335 ) on Tuesday May 30, 2006 @07:23PM (#15431871) Homepage
    This doesn't worry me much... yet. I mean, transgressional fiction was bound to come true at some point. People tend to break out of the cube. What worries me is that this might be a trend in fiction influencing reality. If Patrick Batemans start cropping up all over the place then we have a problem.
  • The problem with this is that these things is that these guys don't know how to fight and as such could really get hurt. And the thing is, if you accidentally kill someone in an illegal fighting event, it is still manslaughter. Course, a few dead dorks might mean that new positions open up in the fields they're in. HEY!!! That's a great idea. I need a job, I could get it Klingon battlecruiser style.

  • I hate people (Score:5, Funny)

    by bigtangringo ( 800328 ) on Tuesday May 30, 2006 @07:25PM (#15431881) Homepage
    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.

    Dear Michael Messner,

    Please accept this large steaming cup of shut the hell up.

    Sincerely,

    BigTanGringo

  • Rubber gloves...? (Score:5, Funny)

    by Otter ( 3800 ) on Tuesday May 30, 2006 @07:26PM (#15431890) Journal
    Ummm, Roger Tinkoff -- you might want to wear rubber gloves befor wiping up some random weirdo's blood...

    Anyway, my favorite part is the two professors eagerly spouting theories about "fight clubs" as though they'd ever heard of this before the USA Today reporter came calling.

    No, my real favorite part is:

    Five-year fight club veteran Dinesh Prasad, 32, a heavily tattooed Santa Clara engineer, said he once broke a rib in a match but never complained to his fellow combatants. He also recently skipped his first wedding anniversary to attend a fight rather than drive to Los Angeles, where his wife is finishing law school.
    Fast forward to Marital Fight Club...
    • Fast forward to Marital Fight Club...

      The guy wanted to find out what it would feel like to have his ass kicked. I suspect he's about it find out.

      • The guy wanted to find out what it would feel like to have his ass kicked. I suspect he's about it find out./blockquote. More like he was looking for the quickest way to get a divorce. Yeesh... I know I'm obsessvie but at least my activities are innocous like building robots.

  • Well, if you really want to fight, (Score:3, Insightful)

    by i am kman ( 972584 ) on Tuesday May 30, 2006 @07:26PM (#15431893)
    it's alot better to fight other nerds than get beat up in real life... At least that pocket protector will save you :)

    They should try a moshing. At least you get to beat people to music.

  • Utopian Nostalgia (Score:5, Insightful)

    by GeekLife.com ( 84577 ) on Tuesday May 30, 2006 @07:27PM (#15431902) Homepage
    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.

    Hopefully we can someday return to the world where none of thoseexisted, and men never fought each other.

    • Re:Utopian Nostalgia (Score:5, Funny)

      by linvir ( 970218 ) on Tuesday May 30, 2006 @07:50PM (#15432026)
      Dude, he's a university professor! Don't try to lecture him on common sense! He knows sociology! One day you're just walking along the street, whistling some new Eminem song, and BAM!!, he descends from the rafters, slices your head off with a 200-page dissertation on the causal relationship between videogames and violence, and gets like 6000 boners all at once. And that's what I call Real Ultimate Power!
    • Alexander the Great . . .flower arranger.

      KFG

  • Shenanigans (Score:3, Insightful)

    by poopie ( 35416 ) on Tuesday May 30, 2006 @07:27PM (#15431903) Journal
    Okay, I call shenanigans. This just sounds too ridiculous to be real.

    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.

  • Steps to success in fight club (Score:3, Interesting)

    by technoextreme ( 885694 ) on Tuesday May 30, 2006 @07:30PM (#15431924)
    Step 1: Learn a martial art. See below. Step 2: Become a master Step 3: Step 3 depends on step one. See below. Akido-Laugh at people as they discover that their attacks are turned against them. Taekwondo- Laugh at people as you kick the living crap out of them. Wrestling- Laugh as you drop people on their head. Jui-Jitsu- Laugh as you break limbs. Judo- Laugh as you start throwing people over your hip. Kendo- Laugh as you teach those idiots in the article about how to use those sticks. In all seriousness, I've taken martial arts before and I think it's kind of pathetic. PS. Is this the first Slashdot article that actually mentions S&M .
    • Sorry to say it but these days most of the martial arts you mentioned are now either sports with rules protecting the combatants or have bugger all to do with common ways of being attacked. This includes stuff like UFC which rule out attacks on "vital points" like eyes, throat, groin.

      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
  • His name is Linus Torvalds.
    His name is Linus Torvalds.

  • Consumerism (Score:4, Insightful)

    by oSand ( 880494 ) on Tuesday May 30, 2006 @07:33PM (#15431941)
    "You get to be a superhero for a night," Klimanis said. "We have to go to work every day. We're constantly told to buy things we don't need, and just for a couple hours we have the freedom to do what we want to do."

    Yes, buy things like the Fight Club DVD, you sheep. Some people, if worried about excessive consumerism, would stop buying shit.

    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.

    Videogames. Always videogames. I'm surprised he hasn't blamed myspace.
  • ... as long as nobody farts on my meringues. Thanks.
  • "You get to be a superhero for a night," Klimanis said. "We have to go to work every day. We're constantly told to buy things we don't need, and just for a couple hours we have the freedom to do what we want to do."

    And that is beating each other up? Idiots...
  • There are many MA clubs where sparring with or without protective gear is allowed. There are also mixed-martial arts clubs where you can learn and practice (sparr) strikes, throws, grapple, and do submissions just like you see on Spike TV, or Ultimate Fighting. Why not go join them where the skill levels are high (so you dont get killed by accident), and competition is stiff?
  • for (int i = 0; i 10; i++) println("The " + i + " rule of fight club is, you don't talk about Fight Club");

    (I know, I should use a static array of "first", "second", etc., but I left it out for brevity)
  • Strangely my brother in law and his coworkers have been doing this in NYC. They're not geeks though, they're all automechanics for Mercedes Benz. When I heard what they were doing I shrugged at their stupidity. There are more creative and energizing ways to vent frustrations, unload stress. What is going to happen when one co-worker goes overboard and really injures someone. By USA Today and other media outlets even giving these idiots the time of day, I can see where the younger crowds get the moronic idea

  • if elif fi (Score:5, Funny)

    by packetmon ( 977047 ) on Tuesday May 30, 2006 @07:47PM (#15432010) Homepage
    10 REM Nerd Fight Club
    20 REM packetmon
    30 FOR X=10 TO 1 STEP -1
    40 PRINT X;"Oh yea";
    50 IF X<>1 THEN PRINT "!";
    60 PRINT "take that,";X;"jackass";
    70 IF X<>1 THEN PRINT "!";
    80 PRINT "give in!"
    90 NEXT
  • Hmmm... Sounds like the "interesting" SCA fighting styles that were around LONG before I was in high school in the early 80's. Only difference is that it is santioned through a national organization and didn't need a relatively lame movie for people to imitate.

    That said I was really interested in the SCA until I actually learned how to fence, then the SCA wasn't interesting at all... Oh well, maybe I should have tried heavy weapons after all

  • We have "fight clubs": boxing, martial arts, football, rugby, and lots of other sports. But, I suppose, that requires more dedication and skill than these people can muster.
  • I searched and searched and searched on the article for some way to contact the "journalist" who wrote this piece of garbage but was unable to find any contact info. Anybody have any luck? I'd love to Slashdot his mailbox with reasons why he needs to find another profession since he is disgracing this one.

  • Confusing to say the least (Score:3, Insightful)

    by ArchAngelQ ( 35053 ) on Tuesday May 30, 2006 @08:30PM (#15432219) Homepage Journal
    Ok, as someone who *has* been in more than my fair share of fights, studied martial arts, etc, I'm confused by this to a certain degree. Not by the fight clubs, just the news story. I haven't had to use my martial arts skills in anger or self defense, because my insturctor taught self respect and that first rule: the best way to not get hurt by a punch is to not get hit by it. That means he focused on avoiding blows, not blocking them, but it also means he focused on avoiding fights in the first place. Anyway.

    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.

    • IMHO... (Score:3, Interesting)

      by jd ( 1658 )
      If the story is accurate, then these people have no medical backup (as they would in professional boxing) and, in fact, no idea of what medical consequences there might be. It's hard to tell, in the brain haemorrage case, what actually happened. We see a couple of lines that tell us exactly nothing. However, if people actually go to work on smashed ribs, they are likely to be going to work with far more serious (but less obvious) injuries.

      (The brain has no nerve endings, so I suspect you can suffer a lot of

      • Re:IMHO... (Score:4, Interesting)

        by ArchAngelQ ( 35053 ) on Wednesday May 31, 2006 @01:02AM (#15433187) Homepage Journal
        I don't disagree, really. I'm not saying this is a healthy outlet, just that it's healthier than some of the alternatives, such as taking out these destructive tendancies on people who *didn't* ask to be involved. TFA didn't provide much detail.

        As for techies being smarter than the majority? Not really. They are more capable of more focused, dedicated tasks. They are able to expend all their energies concentrating on a singular task. This makes them ideal for jobs where this is required. Coding is one of them. Design in general, really. You've got to be completely dedicated to truely get something right. Or even half right. That doesn't, inherantly, make someone smarter. I've met some brick stupid techies.

        As far as the 'evil' bit? I agree. It's why I'm not involved in corporate americ (or any other nation's version of same) any longer, and why I personally find this rather needless, mindless, and sad. But I can't just step in and say 'that person is doing something stupid' without justification, because frankly, I tell people who do that to me off, and go on with my life. And I'm not really intrested in posting such justification on, ya know, slashdot. I mean, c'mon. Slashdot. The majority of the people reading this have already made up their minds anyway.

  • MAYBE the reason Fight Club is so copied... (Score:5, Interesting)

    by tetsu96 ( 790788 ) on Tuesday May 30, 2006 @08:40PM (#15432271)
    ...is that the themes in the book / movie really hit home for a lot of people. Sitting back in your chair laughing at the idiots may be fun for the armchair warriors at large, but not everyone has really been tested and that was one of the core themes FC - how do you know what you've got if you never put it to the test? How do you know how you'll react to a fight when you've never been in one? How can you prove you've really pushed yourself to the limit without scars to show for it?

    And talk about a way to find out - if it's either kick some tail or get yours kicked in for you, I think that almost everyone would go into a full on a$$ kicking mode. At that point, it's the better man that wins but either way you're gonna push yourself harder than posting comments on a web site.

    For the office warrior who never got into a fight in his life, I can easily see this as thrilling beyond compare.

    I wouldn't recommend this to everyone, and there should probably be some safeguards put into this as even the UFC has rounds and referees to stop fights when it's clear that 1 person is taking too much of a beating, but I get it.

  • Pictures from the fight (Score:5, Funny)

    by jlarocco ( 851450 ) on Tuesday May 30, 2006 @08:49PM (#15432324) Homepage

    Exclusive pictures [jlarocco.net] from one of the fights.

  • The first rule of fight like a girl club is... (Score:5, Funny)

    by jheath314 ( 916607 ) on Tuesday May 30, 2006 @10:14PM (#15432702)
    ...you do not talk about fight-like-a-girl club. For obvious reasons.

Slashdot Top Deals

"Protozoa are small, and bacteria are small, but viruses are smaller than the both put together."

Close