After seeing Kickboxer 4 on tv last night, the question comes to mind… do those outlawed high-stakes fights to the death really happen? And if they do, are they really patronized by the rich and beautiful champage-sipping globe-trotting class?
Out of respect for this Board, I’m not even going to ask if the finalist from Spain really would really emulate bullfighting moves and whether the African contenders really jump around like monkeys.
“Where there is clarity, there is no choice. And where there is choice, there is misery. But then, why should I speak, since I know nothing?”
There is some types of fighting that are much more brutal than the tournaments that exist here, but to the death? Probably not. Any fighter skilled enough to fight in such a fight would know that their real determination of the winner has a considerable basis on luck. One bad night and bye bye birdy.
Anyway, in Thailand, Cambodia, and other countries in southeast Asia there are fights that are pretty raw (I have been there, and I have seen them… they aren’t very secretive). Also, in many countries there is the practice of shootfighting which is also pretty brutal as well, but again not to the death (I have never been to a shootfighting match, but apparently they are common in Japan although illegal).
Of course, it is possible that such fights exist but since I am not a rich bored aristocrat I haven’t been invited yet (I also haven’t been invited as a martial artist either).
What more could you expect from somebody who lets people kick him to the head?