Injury. Firecrackers. Police. A student-organized “Fight Club” inspired by the movie of the same name that took place in early June in the underground car park of a Shunyi villa compound caused a wave of concern in the community. But what actually happened? We talked to a participant, a spectator, and a parent to give you multiple sides of the story.
The incident, discussed widely amongst international school students, parents, and administrators, has since grown in notoriety as rumors, hyperbole, and overactive imaginations took the (so-far) one-off incident to new heights.
For those involved, some people failed to follow the first rule of Fight Club: Don’t Talk About Fight Club, and thus the organization looks to be dead in its tracks after its first meeting.
Ubiquitous cell phone ownership means the incident was well recorded; we viewed the video of the event, and to protect the privacy of the individuals present, we are only presenting it in stills with identities disguised.
In it, two stocky students with proper boxing gloves but no protective headgear spar in a dingy underground garage with what looks like about a dozen other students looking on.
When talking to two of the students present at the event, both said that the only motivation was to get together with friends for some fun, not to inflict wanton pain upon each other as seemed to be the case in the Hollywood film.
The now infamous incident was, according to observers, not a particularly brutal fight, with relatively few punches landed. Students on the side were tasked with being unofficial referees, watching out for the level of violence and timing the rounds. Music was played and many came as a result of hearing their friends were going, too.
One of the evening’s fighters told us that his motivation was nothing beyond having a unique experience and a bit of fun. During the actual fight, he didn’t feel he was at risk for serious injury.
However, the event was not without unplanned incident.
Interviewees we talked to admitted that at least one unplanned fight broke out amongst the observers, with students going at it without gloves, pre-arranged observers, or timed rounds. Whereas the initial fight was set up to measure boxing skills, these unplanned fights came about apparently due to previous disagreements between the combatants, and one younger student ended up being treated at a local hospital for minor injuries.
Additionally, another irresponsible spectator decided to light firecrackers and throw them into the group of observers, startling everyone and alerting the attention of nearby compound guards.
In retrospect, organizers of the Fight Club agreed that it wasn’t the fight itself but crowd control issues that pretty much doomed the club (at least in its current incarnation) after its inaugural meeting.
“Guys have been squaring off and fighting each other for thousands of years in front of groups of cheering onlookers,” said one concerned parent. But doing it in an improper and unsupervised environment has major risks, he said. “For the fighters, the risk of one boy getting hit hard and falling down [onto the floor of the cement carpark]with a head injury is quite high.”
Then there’s crowd control, which as these organizers discovered, can quickly get out of hand. “I have safety concerns for everyone present, not only the boys fighting,” he said.
“This type of social media street fighting could end up very bad and sad for families and the whole community,” he said. “Local neighbors and the police could also get involved and things could really escalate, and as foreigners here, it would not send a positive message.”
He suggests the kids reconvene, but this time in front of a trained referee. “If the guys wanna duke it out, then organize the event at a boxing gym — put head gear on, 12oz gloves, mouthguard, and a coach referee in the ring to control it. You’ve now eliminated the major risks. But as an underground event like this, the risks are just too great for everyone.”
The final question that I asked both students was: “If you could say something to worried parents about the Fight Club, what would it be?” The spectator answered first, specifying that for him, it was a way to bring people together and have fun. The participant agreed and said the key element that made the official Fight Club fight harmless was that it was consensual by both parties, and it wasn’t motivated by anger.
However, all participants interviewed admitted that it was a learning experience for them. The unanticipated behavior of getting crowds together hit them like a punch in the face.
Images: Stills captured from anonymously recorded video, 20th Century Fox Pictures
