On the one hand, I adore the take on Marquess of Queensberry rules. On the other hand, I find that this attitude is a disservice to those...

Sorry. I do not understand the bloodier sports.

Pugilism and, to a lesser extent, pro wrestling, are sports where the primary goal is to cause damage to one’s opponent.

Many of the games in the “kill the guy with the ball” theme [there’s lots!] also feature bloody players as a means of audience excitation. Australian rules football regularly features players who have taped their ears to their heads in order to prevent other players from pulling them off.

And in every contact sport, you have player after player after player refusing the advice of their medical technician and rejoining the ‘game’ despite the obvious deleterious effects on their minds and body. You have recruiters picking up younger and younger players for their ability to 'bounce back’ and ignoring the long-term effects on their bodies.

There are very few combat-initiated sports that are a means of meditation. The martial arts are prominent in my mind, and Tai Chi holds first place.

Tai Chi would have a place in Wiwazheer as a combination exercise, meditation, and mental focussing tool. Wiwazheer is, after all, a society founded by technohippies trying to make a better world for themselves. Pugilism… not so much.

I have a low opinion of pugilism. I have a low opinion of any sport that maims people whilst simultaneously making them so inept at anything else that they volunteer to go back to being maimed. I have a low opinion of the entire “bread and circuses” atmosphere surrounding most, if not all, of the spectator sports in the mainstream.

…but maybe I resent it all for taking pride of place on the TV instead of science fiction - which makes people think. [Or it used to. I see the mainstream is doing a marvellous job of reducing thought-inspiring works into the usual testosterone-laden-hero, tacked-on-romance pablum that works in all other genres. Argh]

Sorry again. I’m a bit cross with the world, today.