Street fighting

thumb|[[Francisco Goya|Goya, Man Interfering in a Street Fight (181220)]]

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Street fighting, street combat, street brawl, or simply brawl is hand-to-hand combat in public places between individuals or groups of people. The venue is usually a public place (e.g., a street), and the fight sometimes results in serious injury or even death.

A typical situation involves two individuals arguing in a bar, during which dispute one suggests stepping outside, where the fight commences. It is often possible to avoid the fight by withdrawing from the situation; whereas in self-defense, a person is actively trying to escape the confrontation, using force if necessary to ensure their own safety.

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History

Evidence for human fighting goes back 430,000 years in Spain, where a fossil skull was found with two fractures apparently caused by the same object, implying an intentional lethal attack. Another record of early human fighting is one that happened 9,500 to 10,500 years ago in Nataruk, Kenya. The hunter-gatherers fight was a group fight involving both males and females, including children, In street fights, everyone can be an opponent, including friends, relatives or even strangers. Street fights usually start with an outbreak of emotion such as anger, fear and indignation.

Causes

The causes of street fighting are varied. Originally, street fighting was a way of defending oneself. In the Stone Age, fights were mostly aimed for survival purposes – protecting territory, securing resources and defending families. According to Mike Martin, a London lecturer in war studies, "Humans fight to achieve status and belonging. They do so because, in evolutionary terms, these are the surest routes to survival and increased reproduction".

As humans evolve, new conflicts arise in order to gratify more sophisticated wants. The purposes of street fighting shifted to solve interpersonal conflicts. These conflicts could be stratification, misunderstanding, hate speech or even retaliation. For instance, in areas that are not under police surveillance and criminally dominated, violence is believed to be the substantiation of superior reputation and pride. In other words, people take part in street fights to obtain dominance because of social status given to the ruler. Since the consumption of alcohol negatively impacts the brain function, drunk people fail to assess the situation which often results in overreacting and unpredictable fights. The jaw adductors (the masseter and the temporalis) stretch as a means to absorb energy from the punch in order to reduce the likelihood of jaw dislocation and prevent fracture.

Physical and mental health

The consequences of street fighting are undeniably dangerous and critical, and street fighters are exposed to short-term and long-term physical health issues. Such poor health includes temporary and permanent disabilities, fractures, partial body part losses, severe injuries, or death. For instance, the face, other parts of the head and neck, and the thorax are the most targeted parts in the body, which account for 83%, 4% and 2% of fractures, respectively, amongst all injuries. Extreme feelings of guilt experienced by some perpetrators in the aftermath of a violent event may lead to suicide. Adults have the high probability of coping with trauma, even when they do not sustain direct injuries, leading to increases in preterm birth, mortality rate, and communal trauma. In New South Wales, Australia, persons involved in a fight that could intimidate the public can be charged by the police for the offence of affray with a maximum punishment of ten years imprisonment. If any injuries are caused during the fight, the severity of the injury will impact the penalty of the participants. In 1995 in Basque city, the destruction of public transport resulting from street fights cost 2.5 million euros. With the exposure to social media, however, street fights have become more transparent.

Despite the fact that some illegal fight clubs still run within the authorisers' competence, some street fight clubs even obtain authoritative approval, meaning these sanctioning entities are running under the supervision of a certified regulator. The promoters are in charge of finding different locations to host these fights where indoor boxing rings,

Chuck Wepner: A retired professional boxer. He was once a street fighter and took part in multiple street fights from a young age.
Tank Abbott: He engaged in many street fights before beginning his professional career with UFC.
Josh Barnett: Former UFC Heavyweight Champion Barnett engaged in street fights that he organized online prior to his professional MMA career.
Kimbo Slice: He started his career participating in street fights and gained public recognition after footage of him defeating his opponents went viral on the internet. In his first taped fight against a man named Big D, Ferguson left a large cut on his opponent's right eye which led internet fans to call him "Slice", becoming the last name to his already popular childhood nickname, Kimbo.
Jorge Masvidal: He was a known street fighter prior to his professional MMA career, including fighting and beating Kimbo Slice's protégé "Ray."
Eddie Alvarez: Former UFC Lightweight Champion Alvarez engaged in street fights due to a lack of opportunity before his professional career.

Bar fights

A bar fight, sometimes known as a pub brawl, is a type of street fight that happens in bars, pubs, and taverns. It is commonly depicted in fiction, most notably in Hollywood films and crime video games.

Street fighting

History

Causes

Physical and mental health

Bar fights

See also

References