Violence (E)

This is the very first Tape I ever recorded. I wanted it to show how you can use TapeWrite as a space for publishing spoken essays and open up discussions. I talk about the dichotomy between violent sports and the violence in society. Explicit language.

• 00:00
  

  I would like to share with you a story about how my relationship with violence in different forms has changed during my life. This tape will go as far back as my childhood but I would like to start by telling you about the day when I discovered my favourite sport.

  After a stint in New York City I found myself back in my home country Spain, desperate in need to rid myself of the results of the American lifestyle. I needed to burn all that fat and I knew that kickboxing would do the trick. Someone I  had just met told me to look into Mixed Martial Arts instead. I did, and what I found would change my life.

  
  

• 00:44
  

  I typed MMA in the YouTube search bar and saw  there was a video that had been posted that same day and had several million views. That video is no longer available but you can see the same content here.

  It started as a regular kickboxing match between two very scary looking guys. One was Brazilian and looked like a psychopath and the other was a military looking Croatian.
  

• 01:03
  Wanderlei Silva vs Mirko Filipovic (credit serdog.com): View Image
  
• 01:16
  

  I immediately noticed how small the gloves were. They looked like the ones you would use to hit the bag in the gym but these gloves did not cover the fingers. I knew from my time training thai boxing that to punch a human skull with those gloves is not a good idea. Boxing gloves have a lot more padding for a reason. To be fighting with such tiny gloves meant that every punch could result in a KO and every contact with the face could cause a cut.

• 01:36
  

  It took  just a few seconds of the fight for me to find out why these gloves were open. The Croatian took the Brazilian down to the ground and he started punching him. WTF? 

  This was not just kickboxing. 

  This was total fighting and grappling was as important as punching and kicking. A fight could end with a KO or you could force your opponent to tap out. This was the definitive answer to the old question “which  martial art is the most effective?”.

• 02:12
  I felt guilty for enjoying watching two human beings beating the crap out each other like that but I did. A fucking lot.
• 02:42
  

  Today, MMA is the only sport that I passionately follow. I have trained it and can honestly say that   while I don’t do it any more, I still miss punching people in the face and being punched back.

  What does this say about me? Do I have a sadistic personality? Am I a violent person? Why are violent sports very popular in some societies like the US, Brazil or Japan but  ignored in other countries?

• 03:09
  

  Let me tell you about my upbringing  on the beautiful island of Gran Canaria. What images does that name evoke ? Calm, idyllic holidays for families and retired people? Well, you are right. The island is blessed with eternal spring, dramatically beautiful natural landscapes or all-inclusive resorts by the beach, if this is your thing.

  
  

  What no one expects to find in Gran Canaria is a violent society, yet is one of the most aggressive I know.

• 03:24
  Gran Canaria (credit Patronato de Turismo Gran Canaria): View Image
  
• 04:14
  

  The neighbourhood where I spent my childhood was rough. The kind of place where people breed  pit bulls for fighting and have relatives in jail. I was a late bloomer, all sinews and bones, so during the critical teen years I felt weak. At the same time I am competitive so I felt the need to develop and overly aggressive personality as a coping mechanism.

• 04:33
  We all invent ourselves once we leave childhood behind. I chose not to be the bullied kid.
• 05:17
  

  Then I discovered muay thai . If you are a certain age, you will remember the epic action movies of the 80’s. There was a revolution in my school when the TV aired “kickboxer” by Jean-Claude Van Damme. I got a  VHS  from a friend and I just could not stop watching it. I wanted to do that! Avenge my brother and save a village by kicking the crap out of the bad guy, just like Jean-Claude. What could possibly be better than that?

• 05:41
  KickBoxer (1989) - Licensed under Fair use via Wikipedia: View Image
  
• 05:58
  

  Now, what would you expect from the people who train full-contact martial arts? Those guys -and girls- who day in and day out learn how to punch and kick other humans in the most destructive way possible. They must love violence, right? They probably learn these skills because they are looking for better ways to be the toughest bully around. That’s at least what I thought I was going to find when I started muay thai.

• 06:24
  Bullies do not last long in contact sports. At the gym, people punch you back, hard, and they do not like it.
• 07:31
  

  In fact, many of the most talented and tough martial artists I have seen were actually bullied and turned to fighting sports as a way to learn self defence. Uriah Hall is a famous case: a kid who went from considering suicide due to intense bullying to become a decorated professional mixed martial artist. I would pay to see the faces of the guys that used to bully him when they see the lethal weapon his body has become.

• 07:49
  Uriah Hall at the UFC. Go bully him now! (credit sheerdog.com): View Image
  
• 08:02
  

  I told you at the beginning I was surprised by the amount of violence which I saw in  the MMA combat. In any other combat sport I know, when a guy falls down you do not keep hitting him. I thought it was brutal and unjustified until I discovered that there is a little thing called Brazilian jiu jitsu that teaches you how to beat an opponent in multiple ways when you are on the floor and he is on top of you.

• 08:33
  If you see people training MMA it looks like they want to kill each other but when the bell rings they smile and hug.
• 08:59
  

  What may also surprise most of you is that most mixed martial arts practitioners are much less likely to get into a fight outside the gym than the average guy. I have experienced this first hand. 

  When you know you can destroy the guy who is threatening you in a bar or on the street you’ll keep your cool and this is normally enough to signal the other guy you are not to be messed with and the situation usually will not escalate. 

• 09:45
  

  I now live in The Netherlands. This country perfectly embodies this dichotomy between combat sports and violence which I am trying to explain. I have never seen a more peaceful society. I live in a city centre where the people go out and get drunk , yet never have I seen any violent behaviour. It still amazes me after 6 years how different social interactions are around here. Sometimes I actually find myself being the overly aggressive one.

• 10:07
  

  The Dutch are anything but weak, though. In fact they are really, really good in kickboxing and muay thai, even having produced several world champions. It is perfectly normal for those calm, peaceful kids that I see getting drunk near my house have been training martial arts from a very young age.
  

• 10:24
  

  Now that I am a father, I frequently think about violence and how to teach my kids about it. I am very happy they are growing up in such an advanced and peaceful society. At the same time, I know  there is a world out there that is not so safe, so I do not want them to be completely sheltered from violence, and I have already made my decision that martial arts is going to be a vital part of their education.