This Week In Violence! Presents Pitz

The Maestro - May 20, 2016May 19, 2016

I'm breaking one of my rules this week: this edition of This Week In Violence! explores a sport that is no longer practised anymore. I'd say this is a shame, except the reality now is that recruiting top athletes would probably be quite difficult, considering the whole, y'know, extremely regular death thing.

This Week In Violence! Presents The Eton Wall Game

The Maestro - May 13, 2016

My father went to private school. I did not. It's a completely foreign environment to me, particularly now as a public school teacher. One thing I do know about private school, however, beyond the stereotypical throwback uniforms, strict rules, and such, is that many have incredibly long-running traditions that are

This Week In Violence! Presents Water Jousting

The Maestro - May 6, 2016May 6, 2016

Game of Thrones has been back for two weeks. I've been stoked as hell about it. Obviously the fantasy elements - the dragons, White Walkers, blood magic, etc. - are the most fun elements of the show, but there's something to be said for the entertainment value from knights, horses,

This Week In Violence! Presents Yağlı Güreş

The Maestro - April 29, 2016April 29, 2016

Oil wrestling! We've probably all dreamed about witnessing this in a certain manner... at least perhaps in the manner suggested by B-comedies and gentlemen's magazines. And while this is perhaps fun, and most certainly entertaining for the heterosexual male demographic, in Turkey, oil wrestling is in fact a time-honoured tradition

This Week In Violence! Presents Sepak Bola Api

The Maestro - April 22, 2016April 29, 2016

I've always liked soccer. I played from ages 4-11, and played on a pretty decent intramural team for a few years in college. I also used to coach fundamentals as a part-time job in high school, which was pretty fun. All this said, I know I could be a lot

This Week In Violence! Presents Shin-Kicking

The Maestro - April 15, 2016April 15, 2016

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I'll never forget the chemistry prof I had for the one science class I was required to take in my freshman year of college. "Yes, I'm from Wales. Where men are men, and sheep are nervous." I never did particularly well in that class, but I did enjoy coming to lectures. That

This Week In Violence! Presents Kotta Pora

The Maestro - April 8, 2016April 8, 2016

Pillow fights! The domain of children and unreasonably attractive sorority sisters in underwear, right? That's what society has led us to believe up to now, at any rate. The truth is this: pillow fights are not any one person's exclusive domain. Indeed, I had not realized until recently that they're

This Week In Violence! Presents Ki-o-rahi

The Maestro - April 1, 2016April 1, 2016

New Zealand - two islands full of sheep, mountains, kiwi birds and fruits, hobbits, and especially rugby. The All-Blacks' legendary Haka chant strikes fear and wonder into opponents and crowds all over the world. Indeed, the culture of rugby in New Zealand may stem from well beyond when the first

This Week In Violence! Presents Cheese-Rolling

The Maestro - March 25, 2016March 24, 2016

The English are well known for their absurdist sense of humour. From Monty Python to Mr. Bean to even Parliament itself, the weird and surreal come out in so many aspects of everyday life in the United Kingdom. Thus, it comes with absolutely zero surprise that amongst all the slapstick

This Week In Violence! Presents Buzkashi

The Maestro - March 18, 2016March 18, 2016

When you think about polo, what do you think about? Pretentious wankers in jodhpurs? Giant-sized croquet mallets? The most bland, reserved crowds ever? Overall, polo as we know it is reserved almost exclusively for the wealthy elites of the United Kingdom and the northeastern United States and as well in

This Week In Violence! Presents Calcio Storico

The Maestro - March 11, 2016March 11, 2016

Ah, Italy. A country of romance, wine, food, art, history, and culture! Such a refined, sophisticated place to live. Why on earth would such a place have a need for such silly, brutish things as competitive sports, right? Well, turns out that not only do they do all those previously-mentioned things

This Week In Violence! Presents Bo-Taoshi

The Maestro - March 4, 2016March 4, 2016

To residents of the Western world, it seems almost standard for us to use the adjectives "weird" or "crazy" to describe most things coming out of Japan, and yet despite these cliches, I simply can't find another word more appropriate to describe the game of bo-taoshi to you all. This is