UK's newest spectator sport: Cage fighting children

LadyShea · #1 09-22-2011, 04:40 PM

Child cage fighting stirs U.K. controversy - CBS News

Jolly good! As we can no longer foxhunt, we must have some diversion!

Qingdai · #2 09-22-2011, 04:49 PM

I've seen 8-9 year old boys boxing in Golden Glove boxing matches.
It was pretty awful.

LadyShea · #3 09-22-2011, 05:04 PM

Golden Gloves at least requires protective gear, correct? Do they allow children that young to fight to knockout, or is it light contact points?

Not sure about other MAs, but TKD does not allow full contact in sparring, and they are required to wear protective gear on their head, hands, feet, and use mouth guards.

erimir · #4 09-22-2011, 05:06 PM

It looks like grappling, not striking.

LadyShea · #5 09-22-2011, 05:09 PM

Perhaps cage fighting is no more dangerous than wrestling or MA grappling, but I am used to seeing protective gear on such child athletes, and the whole cage aspect is disturbing.

Vivisectus · #6 09-22-2011, 05:12 PM

About bloody time! Next, we should bring in important shows like The Biggest Loser - Fat and Fourteen! And Preteen Dating In The Dark. And ofcourse the real ratings-magnet: Fast Animals, Slow Children.

LadyShea · #7 09-22-2011, 05:14 PM

Hey, I didn't say we were better! We just distance ourselves through the TV.

erimir · #8 09-22-2011, 05:48 PM

The issue I would see with grappling vs. (Greco-Roman) wrestling you would see in a school sports program is that they seemed to be doing joint locks and such, which might be more dangerous than going for pins. An overzealous kid could break an arm or hyperextend a knee or elbow that way.

I'm not sure if it's really "worse" though, as I'm not really aware of how dangerous Greco-Roman wrestling is, aside from the danger to the ears.

livius drusus · #9 09-22-2011, 06:27 PM

Ugh. That boy's little toothpick legs getting yanked freaks me out. He's so tiny! Stop pulling on him! That shit'll just come apart. :shudder:

Miisa · #10 09-22-2011, 06:38 PM

Who was it who said that we are just a TV season or two away from The Running Man. Frightening.

Watser? · #11 09-22-2011, 06:45 PM

Rollerball!

Gonzo · #12 09-22-2011, 07:33 PM

I don't see anything in that video that implies the children are in any serious physical danger.

LadyShea · #13 09-22-2011, 07:36 PM

Maybe not Gonzo, but again even wrestlers wear protective headgear and mouth guards, and they're on mats, not in a metal cage.

I dunno, the whole caged and unprotected thing makes it quite viscerally repulsive to me. I don't think it's any more dangerous than football or other sports. It's just so Mad Max...half naked kids fighting in a cage.

Qingdai · #14 09-22-2011, 07:49 PM

Yeah, Golden Gloves still has protective gear, but it's still disturbing to see the kids hitting each other, mostly because they are realizing they're getting hit and they don't shield their emotions like an older person.
Sobbing kids hitting each other even in protective gear isn't my idea of a good sporting environment.
Adults viewing and encouraging this sort of sport is also backwards from the expected adult role and is disconcerting.

beyelzu · #15 09-22-2011, 07:51 PM

Yeah, I think the reason people are upset is that one of the kids was crying, which we can't tell in blurry land. but if a child was crying and did want to stop I don't see the problem.

also, like others have said, no strikes allowed.

Gonzo · #16 09-22-2011, 08:03 PM

Quote:

Maybe not Gonzo, but again even wrestlers wear protective headgear and mouth guards, and they're on mats, not in a metal cage.

It isn't something I'd overreact about. Young kids practicing fighting techniques is no big deal as long as they are supervised and following the rules and to call it 'barbaric' as was quoted in the article demonstrates ignorance about what's happening in the match. What they are doing is the equivalent to sibling roughhousing. Even without gear, those kids aren't in serious danger.

Quote:

I dunno, the whole caged and unprotected thing makes it quite viscerally repulsive to me. I don't think it's any more dangerous than football or other sports. It's just so Mad Max...half naked kids fighting in a cage.

You are grasping to try to make this seem controversial. Comparing MMA or any kind of mat wrestling to football is an unnecessary stretch. In football you are being tackled, sometimes by multiple players at once, and your head comes crashing to the ground in a such a way that it requires a special helmet so that your brain doesn't slosh up against your skull. Positioning around on a mat is much, much safer.

When it comes to head injuries, football could learn from MMA

Quote:

A growing problem in the National Football League is its players sustaining concussions, and the frightening effects those concussions bring about. The scene above was from an Eagles-Falcons game. Dunta Robinson and DeSean Jackson collided violently. Jackson was knocked out, and suffered memory loss and a severe concussion. What does this have to do with MMA?

Everything, if the powers-that-be in football look to MMA for guidance. Marc Ratner, the UFC's VP of regulatory affairs, former head of the Nevada State Athletic Commission and also the commissioner of high school football officials in Nevada, is familiar with the concussion problem in the NFL.

"Obviously, it is a problem with the NFL and hockey. People don't think that those are combat sports, but they really are in a lot of ways," Ratner told Cagewriter.

The referee is supremely important in maintaining the health of fighters.

"When you're talking about a combat sport like boxing or mixed martial arts, the referee is the most important person in the whole arena," Ratner said. "Unlike being a referee in football or basketball, your job is for the real safety of the fighters."

Ratner maintains that MMA causes less trauma than football. He is not alone, as former football player-turned-fighter Matt Mitrione says that MMA is much safer.

"I think there's a lot less trauma in MMA than football, because for the most part, the fights are three rounds, and you're on the ground a lot, and if the referees are doing their job, they jump in before there are too many head blows. A one-punch knockout is a lot less hurtful than a combination of taking nine minutes of continued head blows," Ratner said.

He pointed out how tight the concussion regulations are in MMA.

"The thing in combat sports is if there is any kind of concussion, or any kind of head blows, we send them to the hospital that night. The commissions are very, very observant of that," Ratner said. "For the most part, you can't spar for 30 days and you can't fight for 45. If it's a really severe thing, it might be that you can't spar for 45 and fight for 60. But you'd never fight for 45 days for any kind of concussion."

Though the NFL does have guidelines on how to handle concussions, they do not have a rule on how long a player has to sit after a concussion. Early in the season, the Eagles allowed a player who woozily fell twice while walking off the field back in the game. Football players have been back on the field just one week after an injury.

This is leading to long-term problems for players. Former Bears QB Jim McMahon reported memory problems, and Mitrione said that he believes he has brain damage.

A more frightening effect is chronic traumatic encelopathy, a disease linked to depression and problems with impulse control. Cincinnati's Chris Henry and University of Pennsylvania's Owen Thomas both suffered from CTE at the time of their tragic deaths.

The bottom line is that the NFL needs to be doing everything they can to protect their players in a violent sport. Taking some of the same actions as MMA, like a mandated time to sit out after a concussion, and discipline of coaches who don't abide by safety rules.

Gonzo · #17 09-22-2011, 08:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Qingdai

Yeah, Golden Gloves still has protective gear, but it's still disturbing to see the kids hitting each other, mostly because they are realizing they're getting hit and they don't shield their emotions like an older person.
Sobbing kids hitting each other even in protective gear isn't my idea of a good sporting environment.
Adults viewing and encouraging this sort of sport is also backwards from the expected adult role and is disconcerting.

That's not exactly what was happening.

Gonzo · #18 09-22-2011, 08:11 PM

The only thing I think is really even somewhat controversial about this was that the official let the kid continue because he wanted to. He had the power to stop it if he thought the boy was in danger.

Escapegoat · #19 09-22-2011, 08:14 PM

I find it ALL distasteful. Boxing, MMA, football and....this.

Violence as a sport is base and uncivilized, IMO.

The reason I do not announce boxing or MMA despite having offers that pay better than pro wrestling tends to is that it is disgusting and makes me upset.

The idea that children are using these same techniques on each other (techniques that I have seen make grown men weep) for the entertainment of adults is disgusting.

Not even watching tosh.0 or jackass is as uncomfortable to me. People hurting people should not be entertainment.

I know...."get out, you pussy" but that is how I feel.

Gonzo · #20 09-22-2011, 08:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Escapegoat

Violence as a sport is base and uncivilized, IMO.

Jerome · #21 09-22-2011, 08:31 PM

I prefer midgets.

LadyShea · #22 09-22-2011, 08:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gonzo

You are grasping to try to make this seem controversial.

I am not grasping, hence my use of "viscerally repulsive". I think others use of "barbaric" was also an expression of a visceral reaction, and not a rationally drawn conclusion based on the relative dangers or whatever.

Seeing kids grappling in a cage while adults cheer is immediately and highly disturbing to me. And apparently to other people.

Now, my further statements, such as comparing it to other sports, are my rational mind working backwards from that "OMG save those babies" gut reaction. I posted the OP while in that state of highly disturbed.

Gonzo · #23 09-22-2011, 08:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JEROME DA GNOME

I prefer midgets.

Interesting times.

Crumb · #24 09-22-2011, 08:40 PM

It is not the danger of the children that is necessarily the disturbing part. What is disturbing is imagining what type of person would find this entertaining.

Jerome · #25 09-22-2011, 08:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gonzo

Quote:

Originally Posted by JEROME DA GNOME

I prefer midgets.

Interesting times.

I started that meme because every time I would post an OP the content would be bypassed for a page or so before the article or link I posted would be commented on. The initial comments were just related to my initial thoughts posted on the info in the OP. So I started only posting "Interesting times" as my take on my OP. :yup:

It worked well, much faster input into the topic as opposed to comments about me. :cool: