Baby Fight Club

I saw the above-titled documentary recently. Apparently, some British folks interpret parenting to mean they have license to allow their children, from as young as four years old, to participate in a controlled-brawl they like to call Thai Boxing. These tots are ushered into a ring where they are cheered on by their parents to either "kick em, kick em" or "punch him". It is the only place in the world where children are egged on and even incentivized to hurt what on another civilized society would call a "playmate."

Because it is a fairly new sport, considering that most toddlers still find great joy in sucking their thumbs and playing with their toys, rules and regulations are still undercooked at best. At one competition, a boy wearing a protective headgear zestfully punches another boy in the face whose head unfortunately is not equally protected. Rules and regulations are still to evolve to clearly stipulate the acceptable conditions for having an unprotected head receive fistful of blows. When the parents thrust their kids to the ring, the only thing that keeps their precious little ones from being beaten needlessly into pulp is a referee. This means that now and again, illegal punches and kicks are thrown and illegal punches and kicks are received.

There was a boy, who at age 10, was considered a veteran of the sport and had tw0 knockouts under his belt. It is safe to assume that two souls who make up this disturbing statistic are about the ages of 10, as well. Before entering the ring, which may or may not be caged, he'd have ran for about 9 miles, made 400 sit-ups and spent at least 10 hours on the bags and sparring. For whatever time that he has left, I assumed he spends it sleeping. But according to his folks he also goes to school.

It is easy to fling mud at the parents of these children and call them unfit and abusive. But before you do so, they want you to know that they are doing this for their children's own good. The benefit may be obscured by visions of 4-year olds tearfully entering the ring to face another 4-year old for a kicking and punching match. But by introducing these children to the sport, their parents are confident that their children will grow up not to be pushed around and bullied by others. Their children, unlike your kid who is busy pretending that he is a masked superhero, will know how to protect and defend themselves against exploitation.

Understandably, any concerned parents would not want their children exploited. By others.