A Russian "Wall to Wall" Brawl

With reflections on what does and doesn't count as violence in the USA

We don’t do politics at our Fight Club. Members, men and women, from various nations — the UK, Finland, Sweden, Australia, Czech Republic, Switzerland, France, Germany, Russia, USA, Cambodia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Nigeria, and more — are there to train. Spar as they wish.

And participate as they wish (providing a match-up) in fights roughly 4 times a year with members from other clubs. The next Interclub match, one week from now in July.

So when our beloved member Dmitri went back to Russia for the first time in nine years to visit his family, the conversation was and remains about his safe return — not about whatever our varied opinions might be on the Russian-Ukrainian war.

A Glimpse inside Russia, early July 2023

But how are things in Russia? A nation on the verge of collapse? A terrified populace suffering under a despotic madman? Et cetera, et cetera.

For many people, life simply goes on. And whatever their feelings are about Putin or the current government, many Russians experience NO shame in being Russian — in sharing a language, culture, and heritage. Their loyalty is not primarily to the state or to any political system, but to themselves — to the greater Russian people.

We denounce any such sentiment in the USA as ethno-nationalism — even though it is both globally and historically normative. Try asking someone born in and native to Lithuania, for example, to apologize for being Lithuanian. Someone born in and native to Eritrea or Scotland, et cetera. Good luck with that.

The “Wall to Wall” brawl

Below, a video (1 minute, 16 second long) from Dmitri, documenting a Russian tradition he was participating in — the “Wall to Wall” brawl:

Your author’s friend is on the front line in the black shirt brigade, squaring off against the yellow shirt brigade. What’s the emblem on the shirts?  An old-fashioned Russian coat of arms. Pre-Soviet.

Toxic or Tonic Masculinity?

Details discussed, back to the “Wall to Wall” brawl. So, toxic masculinity or good, clean fun?

Your author sides with good, clean fun.

The brawl lasts about minute. It’s reasonably all out, but always one-on-one. All fighters must glove up. People who want protective headgear can wear it. There are referees, so to speak, in orange vests supervising the fight. Everyone involved has freely chosen to participate. And it stops when the airhorn blows.

About a minute or so into the video, a man hoists his daughter onto his shoulders so she can get a better view.  Adorable!

Does this look like a dispirited nation on the edge of collapse to you? Does it look like a nation easily conquered and perhaps occupied by NATO-backed forces?

Just wondering. Whatever you make of this video clip, one thing seems certain: the participants have priorities other than their pronouns.

But Your Author Could Be Dead Wrong

But maybe your author is wrong. Dead wrong. This could be ugly political ideology on display.  An effort to terrify and intimidate the general populace. State-enabled, if not state-sponsored, domestic terrorism.

Please compare it with the following below — an American Antifa attack on five unarmed protestors which took place on 25 April 2023 in Fort Worth, Texas:

We certainly cannot mistake these acts of violence as examples of toxic masculinity. The toxic lack of masculinity, perhaps. But it raises some questions about the current state of American culture.

What Counts as Violence? And Why?

An American rendition of the “Wall to Wall” brawl would be denounced as some form of fitness fascism. Dangerously unhealthy for the body politic. But the violent destructive antics of the Antifa get a free pass from the MSM and our cultural guardians. Even praise and support. The individuals involved in this criminal conduct — the Fort Worth incident — were bailed out shortly after arrest.

Why?

Because you are required to submit to this short-term Anarcho-Tyranny.

Why?

Because this current Anarcho-Tyranny will be followed by the totalizing Corporate-Government takeover of all aspects of public and private life. The end of our Constitutional Republic. This takeover is for your own good, of course — wouldn’t want you getting a black eye in a “Wall to Wall” brawl. You might not survive.

Defamation as Intimidation

If you do not submit, you will be denounced as a xenophobic transphobic racist bigot. Fascist. And likely anti-Semitic as well. Sure as Larry Elder is the black face of white supremacy.

Fair enough. Your author grew up in a tough, working-class neighborhood in decline. It was on the way to being the next Kensington, but instead later got gentrified beyond recognition. Small, deeply depressing pockets of the old hood sorta linger on — but are being property-taxed into evaporation.

Your author didn’t fight for his right to party — he fought for his right to carry books home from the Public Library in the summer. No joke.

Beyond dealing with actual physical violence, “faggot” was the term of contempt for young males like myself who did not fall in lockstep with a fearful and rigidly defined but failing social hierarchy. Now, it is “bigot” — and coming from the intelligentsia your author once aspired to join, becoming the first person in his tribe to go to college, eventually earning a PhD.

No matter. The fight continues. Now his sixth decade, your author spars with Russians in South-East Asia — and does what little he can at Substack against the enforcers of our emergent Corporate-State.