It’s always very interesting to discover why some backpackers are visiting our city. Quite often, it is for reasons you don’t expect.
Take Dale, a young backpacker/martial arts practitioner fromthe UK who is currently staying with us, for instance. He’s a young, polite, personable, soft-spoken but physically imposing young man.
He’s in Toronto to get into a fight. It’s not an argument he’s after, he’s preparing for an absolute fist in the face knockdown, knee in the stomach, kick-em in the head battle.
He’s a practitioner of Mixed Martial “Arts”. A new type of “sport” originating (where else?) in the U.S.A. But he’s in Toronto to train for an upcoming competition.
The words “Arts” and “Sport” are in quotes because public opinion is severely divided when it comes to this new combat spectacle.
Until very recently, it was disallowed in Ontario. It was rather hypocritical of the government when they sanction boxing matches where the objective is to render your opponent oppenent unconcious using your fists.
Mixed Martial Arts went from forbidden to record-setting in Toronto when a competition held in February 2011 (At the Rogers Centre) set a record “gate” of over 10 million dollars. This was almost double the previous record which was also set in Canada (Montreal).
Maybe Canadians (particularly Torontonians) are attracted to Ultimate Fighting Competitions (UFC) Matches because actual bar fights and street brawls are less common here than in other major cities.
A lot of “Sports Bars” carry the fights live on large screen televisions and it is, arguably, a good thing. Bar patrons can take out their aggressions vicariously watching what amounts to a “streetfight” in an UFC/MMA “Cage”.
Lest’s face it, street brawls attract crowds and motorists slow down and rubber-neck at traffic accidents. At least at Boxing and UFC/MMA Competitions, the violence is safely controlled and monitored.
And when you meet young practitioners like our current guest, you’ll find they can be far from a thuggish individuals as they are often depicted. So, we’ll reserve judgment on this new “sport” – and maybe take in a match at the nearest Sport’s Bar.