Why Men Fight: A Look Into a Silicon Valley Fight Club

I recently saw The Fighter with my friend and was left wondering why the hell men fought. I mean.. seriously.. Why would you want to voluntarily get into a ring knowing that you were about to get the crap beaten out of you or be responsible for beating the crap out of someone else? I can imagine it's part of our animal nature to want to fight and I'm sure we can look into the animal kingdom to see them fighting for dominance regardless of whether or not their ability to secure food or procreate is involved. But as a woman, my nature tends to air on the side of motherly and protector. So when I came across a video on Gizmodo via The Next Wave about men in Silicon Valley creating a fight club, I was intrigued.The fighters talked about how the men bonded with each other by hitting each other. It was a way to test each other, build courage and a remedy for sitting at their desks all day. According to one of the participants, Silicon Valley has the highest concentration of aggressive people in the United States. So let's get back to nature for a minute here. For the better part of human existence, aggression was a key component to securing ones food or protecting ones family. Men in Silicon Valley no longer have to use physical force and strength to provide for their family. Instead, they use intelligence, strategic thinking, and endure countless hours behind the a computer - quite possibly for all the same reasons - that they want to provide for themselves and their family. So coming full circle, competitive or violent video games, sports, and... fight clubs are all most likely fueled by that residual aggression. Nike picked up on this insight years ago coming up with the strategy line, "Sport is war without the killing" which resulted in the line "Just Do It." And not to be outdone, Silicon Valley has taken that idea one step further with their very own fight club.

Click on the link to watch the video.

Uppercut from California is a place. on Vimeo.