Fight Club Spied on by Police
Date: 2008-11-01 01:00:00
Source: http://www.thesudburystar.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?...
Submitted By: School Fights
A Northern Times probe into purported lunchtime fights being staged by high school-aged students in the Model Town has led to the Ontario Provincial Police launching an investigation into what has been termed by experts as a dangerous game. Evidence of local backyard battles was found on youtube.com.A quick search for "Kapuskasing" uncovered videos with names like "Lunch Time Boxing," "Tanner boxing Junior," and "Pierre versus Eric." They show groups of teenagers between the ages of 14 and 17 sporting red boxing gloves in MMA-style and simple boxing fights, one of which featured a teenager fighting with his hand wrapped in a common bath towel instead of a glove. Most of the videos were made in the Murdoch outdoor rink, although there are several in backyards, and one that appears to be made right in the middle of Winnipeg Street. These types of activities could potentially result in legal ramifications said Sgt. Maria Baker of the Kapuskasing Detachment of the OPP. "There are several charges, which could come from these types of things," she asserted. "There could be charges related to causing a disturbance, trespassing, and if someone is injured as a result of a fight, assault charges could result." To get some perspective on untrained, unsupervised teenagers pounding away on each other in backyards and outdoor rinks, the Times contacted one of the best-known mixed martial arts fighters on the planet, Bas Rutten. The former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) champion and King of Pancrase holds a black belt in Gojo-Ryu karate, a 2nd dan black belt in Tae Kwon Do and a black belt in Thai boxing. He pulled no punches weighing in with his opinion. "There is nothing 'cool' about backyard fighting, really, nothing. If you want to be cool, then get trained professionally and fight against professionals. You get paid to kick some ass, now that's cool." said Rutten. "Sooner or later, somebody is going to get hurt and for what? Even worse, someone could die." Rutten pointed to one of his charges Kevin "Kimbo Slice" Fergusson as a prime example of a very gifted street fighter who realized there were better avenues. "The reason that he didn't want to continue with street fights is because it was dangerous," he said. Local karate and Jiu-Jitsu instructor Alain Morvan, whose son Rémi is currently in the early stages of a professional mixed-martial arts career, commented on the importance of a controlled environment pertaining to combat sports. "When you fight amateur or professionally, there are people in place who are all watching like hawks," he said. "The referee, the fighter's coaches and the ringside doctor are all there looking for the slightest sign of anything being off. Remember, we're talking about a sport where one wrong punch in the wrong place at the wrong time could be extremely dangerous. If these kids are doing this, it needs to be stopped." Ron Dayley, a certified MMA trainer contacted through an online forum thread agreed with Rutten's and Morvan's assessments. "It's actually quite safe if you are trained correctly," he said. "It's a sport, but it's a dangerous sport if you are not trained right and not supervised." "The warning signs that your teen may be participating in backyard fights are obvious," Dayley said. "If these kids are coming home bruised up, you're going to see it -- it'll be obvious he's been in a fight. Even when I train them, they're not getting banged up because it's controlled. If they start talking heavily about fights they see on television or start using fighting terms, that may be a sign as well." Because of questions asked about the situation by The Northern Times, Sgt. Baker said the OPP has launched an investigation into this potentially dangerous activity.
