Ranking #1 on today’s “You’ve got to be kidding!” list is the Garage Boys Fight Crew in Carthage, Missouri. Make that the OMG!! list.
This is not a fight club like those in the movies, where groups of grown men decide testosterone, fists, and blood equal a fun “guy thing.” Nope. The members of this fight club are kids ranging in age from 6 to 14, and their proud parents cite the “discipline” and “sportsmanship” their children are learning.
Say what?! The only discipline these kids are learning is to get their pads on (some don’t even wear gloves); the only sportsmanship is to touch fists before their fight … er, bout … starts. The only skill this “sport” teaches, the only objective, is to beat your opponent into submission. This assumes, of course, that one of the fighters will have the maturity and presence of mind to submit (i.e., quit) in front of their opponent, their friends, their teammates, their coaches, and their parents.
Involving kids in such fights is a misdemeanor in most states. Even the movies depict fight clubs as secret, underground operations, with good reason.
Putting pads on the kids doesn’t make the GBFC any more acceptable; injury rates are not the point here. These kids are learning that fighting is cool and that their parents encourage and support it.
This would be child abuse if the parents hit the kids. What is it when the parents get the kids to hit each other?
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Is this what it’s really come to? My gawsh! Can you imagine cheering for your kid on the sidelines of this “sport”,
“C’mon Timmy, kick ‘um in the head, THAT’S IT! GOOD JOB!” Now, break his neck!!!” *Proud parenting moment*
I know at some REGULAR sporting events parents have to be told to calm down – I can only imagine the parental involvement going on with this fight club? This is sick. Just sick.
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Sorry I couldn’t include the film clip I saw on TV. Two kids, maybe 7 or 8, going at it. One basically picked up the other and dropped him on his head, a la WWF. Then a close-up of the “loser” (like kids will leave that appellation in the ring …) trying really hard to suck it up and not cry. Makes me want to send in the Terminator to drop those parents on their heads!
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I saw this on Geraldo. What the hell are we doing to the next generation?
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I just checked the precise definition of “obscene” and this activity definitely qualifies. Can parents in the Ozarks really be that different from the rest of us?
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shut up unless you know what youre talking about! you think this is any worse than football or hockey?! then youre just plain retarded! and its not like the parents force the kids to do it. if they like it why not allow it?! and its much better to have a kid unleash his anger in a ring with protection, than in school bullying a weaker kid and get him depressed to the point he is willing to commit suicide. . . i once saw a documentary about kids who killed themselves because they were bullied. what if the bullies (or the victims) had been to this club? maybe they would still be alive.
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So the weaker kid goes to the fight club to learn how to fight. And the bully goes and learns how to fight better. And the net result is the bully still beats the hell out of the weak kid. Nothing has changed! The point is that fighting is not the way to settle anything, and I can’t imagine it will do anything to help a suicidal child who needs professional counseling, especially if he gets beaten in the ring.
Or perhaps you meant bullies can go to the fight club and beat each other up there instead of at school or on the street. Teaching bullies to fight even better, supporting their fighting, and encouraging them to “unleash their anger” instead of teaching them that fighting and bullying are antisocial, unacceptable, and wrong, and that there are other ways to deal with their anger — yeah, that’s really a responsible way to deal with them.
Fights like this are illegal in most states. Or did you overlook that little detail?
You people are missing the point of the training. You wrestle with your kids dont you? Thats just what young boys like to do. The idea behind disciplines of jui jitsu or muay thai or sambo fighting is just that…. A discipline. As a kid I was taught to keep it on the mats. You dont see these kids that learn these disciplines going to school and bullying. our instructors will not allow it. You people sit there in your chairs and complain about fighting. Its has been in our civilization since man was put on earth.
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The various martial arts are ancient disciplines taught by experts. I appreciate what they can teach, even to young children, and the many years of training and dedication it takes for a student to become a master.
A bunch of ignorant or seriously misguided parents getting their kids together just let one beat another into submission is in no way a recognized martial art or discipline. It’s not even wrestling or boxing. There are no trained instructors or experienced coaches. It’s just kids fighting — with their parents’ encouragement.
To put this illegal activity in the same class as jiu jitsu, tai kwon do, or muay thai is to totally miss my point.