1. FIGHT CLUBS
By Joshua Fernandes

2. BOOK SUMMARY
Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk In the book, Fight Club, the reader jumps into the life of an unnamed narrator whose lonely life has become a boring meaningless cycle. He is a typical consumer for his time, measuring the value of his life by the possessions he owns. Due to the unhappiness in his life, he develops insomnia. In attempt to get rid of the insomnia the narrator takes a vacation where he meets a very friendly man named Tyler Durden. They become quick friends and one night they begin a consensual fight outside a bar, because they came to the conclusion that they truely know nothing about themselves if they’ve never been in a fight. They continue to fight each night and soon other people begin to join. This is how Fight Club is created, and the purpose of the club is for the fighters to attempt to regain control of their consumer driven lives through a fight. They are fighting everything they hate in their lives. Fight Club grows in popularity and a sudden turn of events causes the narrators life to take a downward spiral as he tries to stop the one thing he created, Fight Club. Read more about Fight Club here

3. TOPIC OF INTEREST Fight Clubs
A Fight club consists of planned or controlled consensual fights, that can be operated on a small or large scale. This is a very broad definition because Fight clubs can range anywhere from fights between two animals (dog fights), to a fight between two or more people (Florence fight club) or even to virtual fights (mortal combat tournaments).
Dog fighting is a form of blood sport in which game dogs are made to fight, sometimes to the death. It is illegal in most developed countries. Dog fighting is used for entertainment and may also generate revenue from admission fees and gambling. A case you may be familiar with that involves dog fighting happened in August 2007 when professional American football player Michael Vick pleaded guilty to felony charges of running a dogfighting ring. He had been running an operation called bad news kennels for over six years.
Take a look inside the Michael Vick dog fighting case here

4. TOPIC OF INTEREST pg. 2
The Florence Fight Club really shows how far back fight clubs go in history, dating back to the time of the gladiators. The men fighting within the ancient arena hold that distinction with honor to the death. Four teams represent each village in Florence. The teams are made up of 27 men. There are no substitutions and no rules. To win, a ball must be brought to the other teams end zone by any means necessary. To the winner: a white veal calf. Watch the incredible Florence Fight Club documentary here
Virtual Fight Clubs are those which involve violence in video games. Two players battle against each other in a combat game to determine a winner. Major League Gaming hosts the event in which the winning player can win up to $

5. THE LEAGLITY OF FIGHT CLUBS
Fight Clubs can usually be legally referred to as prize fights. A prize fight is a boxing match between professional boxers for a cash prize. Any consensual fight can be legal under certain circumstances, it is just heavily frowned upon by police, and in some circumstances a fighter may be fined a small fine, sometimes a warning. What makes a fight club truly illegal is when there is a cash prize or gambling involved. As stated by the Criminal Code of Canada any prize fight must be held under the authority of an athletic board or commission or similar body established by or under the authority of the legislature of a province for the control of sport within the province, which most underground fight clubs are not. Even if there is not cash involved in the underground fight, the fighters and owner of the property still run into the risk of manslaughter, which is murdering someone in the “heat of the moment”, no intention to kill is present at the time.

6. THE UFC
Many may be familiar with one of the largest, legal fight clubs in the world, the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). The UFC’s roots began with a traditional Japanese Jujitsu which required a very specific level of physical attributes such as speed and strength. The jujitsu was later modified in Brazil by the Gracie family. Gracie Jujitsu was a standard but effective method that could be learned by anyone. Rorion Gracie brought the style of fighting to America in 1978 with intentions of establishing the method all around the world. At that time nobody had ever heard of the method outside of Brazil. Every person Rorion invited was offered a free class, and if they had enjoyed it, he/she could return with a friend and receive another free class. The class grew in popularity and students began bringing their formal martial arts instructors who couldn’t believe how effective the form of fighting really was. In 1989 the Gracie jujitsu school had been opened and run by the family. Rorion soon realized came to realize that the fights he was hosting at his school were so popular that he could successfully bring the fighting into a larger scaled operation. This was how the Ultimate Fighting Championship began. The main idea of the UFC was to determine in a fight, which method of fighting had been most effective. After the very first fight was televised, the UFC had been branded by society as the bloodiest, most barbaric show in history. The UFC was no holds barred fighting, which means anything is allowed. At the time the realist fight people were aware of was boxing, fans described the UFC to be more like street fighting. When word of the UFC’s reputation reached the politicians they immediately took action, claiming the events could not be televised because of their violent nature. John McCain, who at the time had sat on the senate commission of the cable industry, pulled the UFC of T.V. The passion and popularity of the sport began to decline and the UFC was on its deathbed. When Dana White and the Fertitta brothers purchased the UFC, the trio embarked on a journey to make MMA the world’s most popular sport. Instead of ignoring regulation of the sport, the executive’s pursued it because they knew the importance of obtaining it. They had emphasized fighter safety by introducing weight classes and timed rounds. They had been successful in persuading politicians and once again the UFC became reigning supreme amongst sports.

7. A LOOK INSIDE THE UFC
We can learn more about the UFC by taking a closer look into the sport and the fighters involved.
The Fighter
It takes a whole lot of hard work and dedication to become a UFC fighter. UFC fighters train enough hours each week to make it their full time job. Some of the up-and-coming fighters even juggle an additional full time job on top of their training regimen. Also these fighters are not average Joes who join the sport because throwing their fists is all they are intellectually capable of. These fighters are well educated men who just happen to have a passion for the sport. Some examples of fighters are :
Shane Carwin – Bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering
Chuck Liddell- Accounting Major
Rich Franklin- Bachelor’s degree in mathematics
Many fighters have had other career options which offer safe, low risk, good paying jobs, but they all refuse because they have a passion for the sport. And the passion starts with something as simple as learning karate to defend yourself against school bullies as George St. Pierre did at a very young age. Or the reason for being a fighter could be as simple as you like hurting people, like Tank Abbot, who says quote “If I wasn’t here right now I’d be in prison, for hurting somebody, thank you ultimate fighting.” Learn more about the fighters and their vigorous lifestyle at

8. A LOOK INSIDE THE UFC part 2
The Sport
The basic idea of the UFC is a competition to determine the most effective martial art for unarmed combat situations. It wasn't long before the fighters realized that if they wanted to be competitive among the best, they needed to train in additional disciplines. This is why the general fighting style in the UFC is known as mixed martial arts (MMA).
Ways to win
There are three possible ways to win a fight: a knock out, a submission, or a decision. A knockout is when a fighter is knocked down and either unconscious, disoriented or unable to intelligently defend himself. A submission can be performed in two ways. A choke hold is when a fighter outs pressure to the neck of another in attempt to cut off blood flow to the brain and cause loss of consciousness. Another method is called a joint lock in which the fighter brings another’s joint to its maximum range of motion which is incredibly painful. If neither of the fighters can knock or submit each other out then a decision is made by judges.
Watch videos and learn more about the ways to win here

9. Part 2 continued
Weight Classes In order to emphasize safety, the UFC recognizes eight weight classes, ranging from pounds. The Heavyweights are known for their devastating power and throw punches with extreme force. The Bantamweights and flyweights are known more for their speed and agility. However before weight classes had been introduced in the Gracie days of ultimate fighting, there could be a fight that involved a man who was 265 pounds, fighting a man who weighed 125. This made the fight incredibly dangerous and deadly and that is why weight classes had been introduced.
Jump into the details of each weight class and see where you stand amongst the champions here

10. Part 2 continued
The Octagon There is reasoning behind the shape of the ring fights are held in. The octagons walls have padded surfaces to protect fighters from falling out (or getting thrown out). The wide angles prevent fighters from getting stuck in a corner with no way out. Since boxing is fought in a square ring and wrestling in a circle, the Octagon avoids giving any one martial arts discipline the advantage.
Learn about the positions within the octagon and who’s involved here

11. Conclusion
Violence and fighting have been present all throughout our history, however over time we have learned to harness violence. The human race at some point created violence, but it may be argued that we cannot sustain violence. Humans should live peacefully and thrive off of one another. Violence on each other poses as a threat to the human race as a whole. However violence can exist as long as it is controlled. For example events such as the UFC, which has been incredibly successful as a sport are sanctioned and pose as a safe way for the output of violence. Fight Clubs can be argued to be a pro or con in society. They can be labelled as a way to channel the output of violence humans feel or as another way for someone to get hurt and possibly die. What do you think?

12. Bibliography Michael Vick – Dog Fighting Case
Florence Fight Club Documentary
Major League Gaming Virtual Fight Tournament
The Legality of Fight Clubs
UFC Documentary
A look inside the UFC