WEBVTT - A Cold Day for Violence 0:00:01.760 --> 0:00:06.040 Causer Media. 0:00:06.800 --> 0:00:11.200 You're listening to the Away Days podcast on the ground outside, 0:00:11.560 --> 0:00:17.560 reporting from the underbelly with me Jake Hanrahan. To watch 0:00:17.560 --> 0:00:22.560 Awaydays documentaries, go to YouTube dot com slash at away 0:00:22.640 --> 0:00:30.200 Days TV. This is Part one, No Rules Is No Rules, 0:00:30.240 --> 0:00:35.440 Episode one. This podcast is a production of H eleven 0:00:35.520 --> 0:00:45.320 Studio and Call Zone Media, England. It's a cold day 0:00:45.400 --> 0:00:49.400 for violence. The grounds frosty and the air hurts. Gloves 0:00:49.440 --> 0:00:54.279 and scarves weather either way, violence is happening. Two men 0:00:54.320 --> 0:00:56.600 have agreed to attack each other at a pre arranged 0:00:56.640 --> 0:01:01.840 location in Hastings, UK. I'm driving through southern back roads 0:01:01.880 --> 0:01:04.640 headed to the desolate seaside town where the fight is 0:01:04.720 --> 0:01:08.399 due to take place. I'm an outsider to all involved, 0:01:08.560 --> 0:01:12.200 and true they all hate journalists, but still have been 0:01:12.240 --> 0:01:17.880 trusted to attend this planned combat isn't about solving a dispute, 0:01:17.880 --> 0:01:21.440 though the two men have no hatred or real animosity 0:01:21.520 --> 0:01:25.840 toward one another. They just want to fight, not in 0:01:25.840 --> 0:01:28.360 a ring, or with gloves or with rounds, though this 0:01:28.480 --> 0:01:32.560 is something else. There will be no judges or sporting organizations, 0:01:33.000 --> 0:01:36.119 no health checks or even a waiting, no safety gear, 0:01:36.200 --> 0:01:40.000 and no precautions. The fight won't be televised, and there 0:01:40.000 --> 0:01:44.680 will be no official sponsors. It's important to understand that 0:01:44.760 --> 0:01:49.600 this is not unlicensed MMA, street beef or bare knuckle boxing. 0:01:50.240 --> 0:01:54.960 This is a new form of organized violence. People involved 0:01:55.000 --> 0:01:59.400 have coined it no rules, and yes, no rules means 0:01:59.640 --> 0:02:06.240 no rules. Anything goes kicking, punching, head butting, elbows, knees, 0:02:06.440 --> 0:02:13.000 eye gouging, head stamping, choking, and even biting. What's more authentic, 0:02:13.200 --> 0:02:16.919 no rules has to take place on concrete or something equivalent. 0:02:17.480 --> 0:02:21.760 Hard floors and no rules. It's as extreme as it gets. 0:02:28.200 --> 0:02:31.280 Google Maps pings. I've got to reach a location the 0:02:31.280 --> 0:02:34.440 fighters texted to me yesterday, and then I've got to wait. 0:02:35.400 --> 0:02:38.040 I'm close. I pull onto a side road through a 0:02:38.040 --> 0:02:42.040 small wooded area and follow the route ahead. It's mid 0:02:42.120 --> 0:02:45.360 January and the sun's going down fast. The sky is 0:02:45.440 --> 0:02:49.320 red and orange. You can feel the outside cold inside 0:02:49.320 --> 0:02:54.720 the car. It's hardly ideal fighting weather. My phone rings 0:02:55.320 --> 0:02:58.919 caller ID Joey hapgood. How you doing, mate? 0:02:58.919 --> 0:02:59.320 You're right? 0:03:01.639 --> 0:03:04.240 Oh yeah, you're at You're at the camp part? Yeah? 0:03:05.000 --> 0:03:07.000 All right, we were just driving about. I'll head up 0:03:07.040 --> 0:03:18.840 there now like a minute. All right, cool, right, Joey 0:03:18.919 --> 0:03:21.799 is a street fighter from South Wales. He's twenty seven 0:03:21.880 --> 0:03:24.760 years old and by far one of the most energetic 0:03:24.800 --> 0:03:28.680 people in the UK. If Methan Fhetimin was a person, 0:03:29.200 --> 0:03:32.520 it would be Joey. Most times I speak with him, 0:03:32.520 --> 0:03:36.200 he's absolutely bouncing off the walls. He's extremely friendly and 0:03:36.440 --> 0:03:41.240 very genuine. He can only be himself. It's a contagious energy. Honestly, 0:03:42.760 --> 0:03:45.920 perhaps the odds with his happy demeanor. Joey is desperate 0:03:45.920 --> 0:03:49.280 to make a name for himself in the underground fight scene. 0:03:50.120 --> 0:03:52.920 He's tough as bricks and scared of nobody, and as 0:03:52.960 --> 0:03:56.360 an up and comer, he's hungry to prove himself. Generally, 0:03:56.400 --> 0:03:59.920 no rules is organized through illegal fight clubs, but joe 0:04:00.000 --> 0:04:08.360 he's ready anywhere. I reached the location, a large but 0:04:08.480 --> 0:04:12.200 otherwise nondescript car park, surrounded by trees and street lights. 0:04:13.520 --> 0:04:15.480 When I get out of the car, I hear Joey 0:04:15.480 --> 0:04:20.440 before I see him. He's with a few friends and 0:04:20.480 --> 0:04:23.480 he's already shadow boxing on the spot, cast in rapid 0:04:23.520 --> 0:04:28.039 phosphor coated shadows. He laughs loudly every few seconds. He 0:04:28.120 --> 0:04:31.359 can't wait. We shake hands and he hugs me like 0:04:31.400 --> 0:04:33.960 an old friend. But this is the first time we've met. 0:04:34.279 --> 0:04:38.279 No Where we go, No Yeah, get picked up in 0:04:38.279 --> 0:04:38.919 a g wagon. 0:04:38.960 --> 0:04:49.840 Apparently, Joey looks like a character from the video game 0:04:50.000 --> 0:04:54.960 Mortal Kombat. He's about five ten, stocky, all muscle, blue 0:04:55.000 --> 0:04:57.880 eyes as bright as his white teeth. He's got three 0:04:57.880 --> 0:05:01.680 different haircuts in one bleach blonde down the middle, shaved 0:05:01.680 --> 0:05:04.440 to zero at the sides, long mullet style tail down 0:05:04.480 --> 0:05:08.520 the back with black highlights. His neck is pepper with tattoos, 0:05:08.760 --> 0:05:12.040 including a six to sixty six next to Jesus crucifix. 0:05:12.800 --> 0:05:15.119 He wears a George Michael earing and keeps his beard 0:05:15.200 --> 0:05:18.960 short but dyed black. The dye leaves perfect lines across 0:05:19.000 --> 0:05:21.040 his face, so it looks as if he's sprayed the 0:05:21.080 --> 0:05:24.880 whole bed on with his stencil. I've never seen anyone 0:05:25.200 --> 0:05:30.159 like it. He's a sight to behold. Joey has traveled 0:05:30.320 --> 0:05:33.760 two hundred miles from Port Talbot to be here at 0:05:33.760 --> 0:05:37.960 this random car park in Hastings. It took him five hours. 0:05:38.480 --> 0:05:41.359 He's come to fight an old school No Rules fighter 0:05:41.760 --> 0:05:46.520 nicknamed Bash. The pair organized the fire over Instagram direct messages. 0:05:47.240 --> 0:05:50.320 Joey's dream is to be respected in the clandestine No 0:05:50.480 --> 0:05:51.320 Rules scene. 0:05:51.560 --> 0:05:53.000 There's going to be a no rules fight with a 0:05:53.000 --> 0:05:55.799 guy who's very experienced with It could be any situation, 0:05:56.000 --> 0:05:58.320 anything going to happen at any time, at any second. 0:05:58.360 --> 0:06:01.400 But you could lose fingers used those balls. You can 0:06:01.480 --> 0:06:04.320 lose any sense you know, no rules, You don't know 0:06:04.400 --> 0:06:06.719 what the fuck's coming away and when it's happening. But 0:06:06.760 --> 0:06:08.760 it can you know, in his la or that situation, 0:06:08.880 --> 0:06:10.920 it can be, but it can be easily. 0:06:11.440 --> 0:06:14.400 He's not wrong. The man's about to fight is notorious 0:06:14.440 --> 0:06:16.760 in the underground for biting off a piece of another 0:06:16.760 --> 0:06:18.920 man's ear in a no rules fight a couple of 0:06:19.000 --> 0:06:31.600 years back. The brawl took place in a closed mechanic's garage, 0:06:31.680 --> 0:06:35.799 and despite permanently disfiguring his opponent with his teeth, Bash 0:06:35.920 --> 0:06:38.480 actually lost that fight. He was not to the ground 0:06:38.520 --> 0:06:41.520 by his opponent, who then pushed both thumbs deep into 0:06:41.560 --> 0:06:46.680 Bash's eye sockets. Bash screaming, was then saved by the 0:06:46.720 --> 0:06:51.479 makeshift referee. You stopped the fight. There are only two 0:06:51.520 --> 0:06:54.440 ways for no rules to end. Either you get knocked 0:06:54.440 --> 0:06:57.520 out or you get beaten so badly the appointed referee 0:06:57.560 --> 0:07:01.120 steps in. Referee in this case is a loose term 0:07:01.240 --> 0:07:04.640 it's basically anyone involved who's allocated as the guy who 0:07:04.640 --> 0:07:07.200 has to stop the fight when a one sided beating 0:07:07.240 --> 0:07:10.920 continues for an extended period. Some stop the fight when 0:07:10.960 --> 0:07:15.960 head stamping or egalgin starts, Others don't. There's no rule book. 0:07:16.480 --> 0:07:18.880 The only use for a towel in No Rules is 0:07:18.920 --> 0:07:23.400 to mop up the blood. Yes, it is brutal now, 0:07:23.520 --> 0:07:25.600 to put it lightly. Bash has been on a bit 0:07:25.640 --> 0:07:28.680 of a losing streak as of late. People in the 0:07:28.720 --> 0:07:31.240 scene have accused him of being washed up, saying that 0:07:31.280 --> 0:07:35.120 he can't stay sober for a fight anymore. Bash argues 0:07:35.160 --> 0:07:39.240 that he doesn't care win or lose. He'll fight anyone anywhere, 0:07:39.360 --> 0:07:42.240 sober or not. He claims to see No Rules as 0:07:42.280 --> 0:07:45.520 a game. A bit of a laugh. Problem is Bash 0:07:45.600 --> 0:07:49.640 is forty five now, that's eighteen years Joey senr. The 0:07:49.640 --> 0:07:53.720 potential risk of irreversible damage is considerably higher for a 0:07:53.760 --> 0:08:11.680 man of his age, but still Bash doesn't care. A 0:08:11.760 --> 0:08:15.120 black Audi hatchback with two younger lads in bubble north 0:08:15.160 --> 0:08:18.200 faced coats pulls up to the car park. We're all 0:08:18.280 --> 0:08:22.280 huddled waiting for instructions. It's fully dark now. The lads 0:08:22.360 --> 0:08:25.920 jump out and introduce themselves. It's clear that they're not fighters, 0:08:26.040 --> 0:08:30.040 just messengers. In thick Northern accents. They explain that Joey 0:08:30.080 --> 0:08:32.280 and his guys to go with them, and I'm to 0:08:32.360 --> 0:08:33.679 follow behind in my car. 0:08:35.720 --> 0:08:40.440 Two with them, We're going to follow you. Let's get. 0:08:42.360 --> 0:08:44.480 Joey flings on his jacket and jumps into the back 0:08:44.520 --> 0:08:47.080 of the audi with one of his friends. I following 0:08:47.160 --> 0:08:51.520 my car. Joey's entourage follows in theirs. We drive through 0:08:51.520 --> 0:08:55.360 the middle of Hastings in a small convoy. Our headlights 0:08:55.360 --> 0:08:58.640 flood past neon petrol stations and blocks of flats for 0:08:58.720 --> 0:09:05.400 what feels like forever. We finally arrive at a built 0:09:05.480 --> 0:09:09.640 up residential street close to the fight destination. A dozen 0:09:09.679 --> 0:09:12.920 of Bash's people are waiting. A blur of North Face 0:09:13.000 --> 0:09:17.080 and Stone Island. Bash emerges from the middle of his crowd. 0:09:17.840 --> 0:09:21.679 He's about six foot tall, broad covered in tattoos. He's 0:09:21.720 --> 0:09:24.679 half Arab, half white, and has a face worn from 0:09:24.760 --> 0:09:28.520 years of brawling. Coincidentally, he too has a six to 0:09:28.600 --> 0:09:36.920 sixty six and a crucifix tattooed on his neck. Joey 0:09:36.920 --> 0:09:40.400 hops out the car. He's aggressive, all action, ready to go. 0:09:41.840 --> 0:09:44.120 He's pushing past people who are trying to keep him back. 0:09:44.600 --> 0:09:48.240 Joey is transformed the mad as a hat a smiley demeanor. 0:09:48.320 --> 0:09:50.960 He's gone now looks like an angry dog let out 0:09:50.960 --> 0:09:56.839 a cage. This lad shouting is a big lump from 0:09:56.920 --> 0:09:59.920 up north who previously fought Bash and won. He'll be 0:09:59.920 --> 0:10:03.679 the makeshift referee for this fight. Joey and Bash are 0:10:03.679 --> 0:10:06.320 having words AND's call for calm from the gathering crowd. 0:10:07.280 --> 0:10:09.280 Bash turns back with his guys and they move off 0:10:09.280 --> 0:10:12.240 the pavement down a side road. Bright headlights spill out 0:10:12.280 --> 0:10:19.160 from the shadows. That's where the fight's happening. 0:10:20.600 --> 0:10:24.560 To boys, here the fact is going on, and where. 0:10:24.440 --> 0:10:29.800 The fact is he happening. The makeshift ref emerges a 0:10:29.880 --> 0:10:32.280 couple of minutes later and waves for us to come. 0:10:33.800 --> 0:10:36.720 Joey pulls off his coat, tenses his shoulders, and strides 0:10:36.800 --> 0:10:39.520 up the path. He's wearing a T shirt by the 0:10:39.600 --> 0:10:43.160 Underground Fight where Brand Militant an emerging force in the 0:10:43.160 --> 0:10:46.480 British hooligan and No Rules scene. The logo is a 0:10:46.559 --> 0:10:54.720 knuckle duster wired across the chest. Fitting we turn a corner. 0:10:55.040 --> 0:10:58.920 It's here about fifty square feet of fuck all. The 0:10:58.960 --> 0:11:01.400 scene is lit with headlights from a box. He landrove 0:11:01.520 --> 0:11:05.040 defender packed at the back. The floor is rough, concrete, 0:11:05.280 --> 0:11:08.320 jaggled and specked with grit for wear and tear. If 0:11:08.360 --> 0:11:12.760 your head hits this, it's bursting open. Bash stood at 0:11:12.760 --> 0:11:15.600 one end of his space, moving on his feet, fluttering 0:11:15.600 --> 0:11:19.199 the defender's headlights. Joey bowls in his back is up 0:11:19.200 --> 0:11:22.839 like a dog. When a firework goes off. At each side, 0:11:22.840 --> 0:11:28.240 people stand watching their phones up ready to record. Lady 0:11:28.320 --> 0:11:31.120 shouting as her phone torch on brighter she films. She 0:11:31.200 --> 0:11:34.719 stood next to Bash. I recognize her. I've seen her online. 0:11:35.040 --> 0:11:38.120 It's his wife. She's biggest fan and could be heard 0:11:38.200 --> 0:11:40.959 cheering him on during most of his fight videos. It's 0:11:41.040 --> 0:11:46.080 kind of romantic, honestly. Joey's boys cheer him on as 0:11:46.120 --> 0:11:51.040 he approaches Bash. There's a brief pause. Both fighters stare 0:11:51.080 --> 0:11:54.000 at each other for a second. The tension is in 0:11:54.040 --> 0:11:59.680 the air, heavy like fog. Then Bang, Bash leaps towards Joey, 0:11:59.679 --> 0:12:02.840 throwing it spinning back kick. He misses. Joey throws a 0:12:02.880 --> 0:12:06.760 stiff right jab into Bash's face. He's knocked off balanced, dropped, 0:12:07.080 --> 0:12:10.520 Bash hits the concrete. Joey moves over him, but stops 0:12:10.720 --> 0:12:14.160 for whatever reason. Both fires decided beforehand that they wanted 0:12:14.160 --> 0:12:17.280 to do no rules, but with one rule they wanted 0:12:17.320 --> 0:12:19.640 to do a stand up fight is in no groundwork 0:12:19.960 --> 0:12:22.560 but with no gum shields. Makes no sense to me, 0:12:22.720 --> 0:12:32.160 but that's the chaotic realness with no rules fighting. The 0:12:32.200 --> 0:12:35.000 ref moves in sebashkan stand up Off they go again. 0:12:35.440 --> 0:12:38.520 Joey kicks Bash and throws two huge harks. Bash kicks 0:12:38.600 --> 0:12:40.840 Joey and throws back. They both end up in the 0:12:40.840 --> 0:12:44.800 tangle of sweeping punches, some miss, some land. Joey is 0:12:44.880 --> 0:12:49.400 all power, pushing forward, grabbing, punching. Bash looks tired, but 0:12:49.440 --> 0:12:52.800 he's fighting, and he's definitely sober for this one. The 0:12:52.840 --> 0:12:55.280 crowd is on fire at this point. The two men 0:12:55.360 --> 0:12:57.800 swing it out in the shadow of the headlights. After 0:12:57.880 --> 0:13:00.280 a round a minute or so, Joey grabs back and 0:13:00.360 --> 0:13:03.559 lands three solid jabs in his jaw. Bah goes down 0:13:03.600 --> 0:13:05.640 again and scrapes his head off a brick walk is 0:13:05.679 --> 0:13:10.560 he living on? 0:13:11.360 --> 0:13:11.680 He done? 0:13:13.200 --> 0:13:15.360 Reflects him get up, but he shakes his head as 0:13:15.400 --> 0:13:25.199 he does. It's over. Joey is human. Joey's eyes are 0:13:25.240 --> 0:13:29.120 wired with adrenaline. His fist still clenched. Joey wants more. 0:13:29.480 --> 0:13:31.080 I can tell he's not happy that. 0:13:31.679 --> 0:13:37.240 Nothing else, nothing else, drinks. 0:13:37.320 --> 0:13:43.200 He disappointed times what happened? Then you just give up? 0:13:43.280 --> 0:13:43.439 Man. 0:13:46.320 --> 0:13:50.679 Bash has had enough though. The fight is over. So 0:13:50.760 --> 0:13:54.040 what's happened is basically just said, you know, he's done. 0:13:54.440 --> 0:13:56.920 He didn't want to fight anymore. Joe he's coming for 0:13:57.080 --> 0:14:01.079 expecting like a much bigger terror. Disappointed. I think you 0:14:01.120 --> 0:14:03.760 wanted to continue fighting. But now they're gonna have a 0:14:03.840 --> 0:14:06.599 drink party and everything's good, So I'm good stuff. So 0:14:07.200 --> 0:14:12.000 that's how it works. If you've seen all this from 0:14:12.000 --> 0:14:15.120 the sidelines without knowing anyone involved, you'd be forgiven for 0:14:15.200 --> 0:14:18.000 thinking it was some kind of blood feud. But Bash 0:14:18.080 --> 0:14:20.640 and Joey and now shaking hands and getting on like 0:14:20.720 --> 0:14:24.640 old friends. There's a perception, of course, of street fighting 0:14:24.760 --> 0:14:26.680 men that Joey doesn't agree with. 0:14:26.960 --> 0:14:28.680 I'm not a bad person, like I won't do it. 0:14:28.800 --> 0:14:31.560 There ain't no bully. I fucking hate bullies. I don't know. 0:14:31.560 --> 0:14:33.160 It's kind of hard to tell you unless you know us. 0:14:33.200 --> 0:14:34.760 But they're the ones missing out, you know. They don't 0:14:34.760 --> 0:14:35.400 know how much kind of. 0:14:35.360 --> 0:14:35.880 Guarded we are. 0:14:36.080 --> 0:14:38.680 Yes, we are mad crazy people because we fight bit 0:14:38.840 --> 0:14:40.520 fish in the street. No Rules, all this and aff 0:14:40.520 --> 0:14:42.440 but you know, it's just a man. It is what 0:14:42.560 --> 0:14:44.040 there's that people can think, Well the fuck they won't, 0:14:44.040 --> 0:14:44.640 don't give a shit. 0:14:47.600 --> 0:14:50.280 I first heard about No Rules in twenty twenty two 0:14:50.840 --> 0:14:54.120 through a friend of mine who's a long time football ooligan. 0:14:54.240 --> 0:14:57.480 They're gonna be so standing here, you shy chugg on. 0:14:58.240 --> 0:15:01.120 Not the original British kind where pub men suited in 0:15:01.240 --> 0:15:05.600 Stone Island and Aquascutum would fight throughout the streets and stadiums, 0:15:06.200 --> 0:15:10.560 but the European version, where well trained, combat ready firms 0:15:10.640 --> 0:15:15.000 meet secretly to fight in secluded forests around match days 0:15:15.200 --> 0:15:20.480 and derbies. Naturally, this hooligan friend of mine has his 0:15:20.640 --> 0:15:23.560 ear to the ground when it comes to organized violence. 0:15:24.200 --> 0:15:26.880 He showed me videos from some early No Rules events. 0:15:29.120 --> 0:15:31.200 The fight where the guy got part of his ear 0:15:31.240 --> 0:15:34.080 bit and off, a fight where someone is headbottied unconscious, 0:15:34.400 --> 0:15:37.680 a fight where is screaming, starred up neo Nazi has 0:15:37.760 --> 0:15:40.640 his eyes pushed in with an eye goug. It goes 0:15:40.800 --> 0:15:47.200 on and on, serious ruthless but consensual violence. All of 0:15:47.240 --> 0:15:50.080 the fights in the videos were arranged by King of 0:15:50.160 --> 0:15:55.720 the streets or COOTS, essentially the Tyler Durdan of contemporary 0:15:55.880 --> 0:15:59.600 underground no rules fighting. KOTTS is run by a group 0:15:59.760 --> 0:16:02.360 non is Hype Crew. Hype Crew is made up of 0:16:02.440 --> 0:16:08.320 Hooligan's organized criminals and seasoned street fighters. They pretty much 0:16:08.440 --> 0:16:13.240 burnt No Rules as far back as twenty eighteen. At first, 0:16:13.640 --> 0:16:16.480 Hype Crew filmed these organized fights on the streets in 0:16:16.560 --> 0:16:22.040 Sweden on concrete, no rules, no federation, no protection, all raw. 0:16:23.200 --> 0:16:26.200 They uploaded the videos to YouTube under the COTS banner. 0:16:26.880 --> 0:16:31.080 The channel eventually blew up, gaining over one million subscribers 0:16:31.360 --> 0:16:35.520 in the space of six years, and so Hype Crew 0:16:35.600 --> 0:16:38.760 created what has now become one of the most hardcore 0:16:38.880 --> 0:16:44.240 countercultures to emerge in Europe. For decades now, there are 0:16:44.360 --> 0:16:49.400 several no rules fight clubs completely unaffiliated with COTS. I 0:16:49.520 --> 0:16:55.520 found them in Germany, England, Sweden, Spain, France, Denmark and beyond. 0:16:57.120 --> 0:17:00.680 Don't get it confused. Though everyone involved with their is 0:17:00.720 --> 0:17:04.560 aware that no rules fighting is not a sport, no 0:17:04.720 --> 0:17:08.640 one cares about the money. Hype Crew themselves started cut 0:17:08.880 --> 0:17:12.600 for free. After their success, they now pay fighters anywhere 0:17:12.680 --> 0:17:15.600 from six hundred to over one thousand euros if they win, 0:17:16.160 --> 0:17:21.240 also paying for all travel and accommodation for the fight losers. 0:17:21.320 --> 0:17:23.240 It's said, get around half that if they put on 0:17:23.320 --> 0:17:27.119 a good show, nothing if they don't. The money is 0:17:27.200 --> 0:17:30.600 hardly the point mode. Nobody involved in no rules fighting 0:17:31.000 --> 0:17:34.080 is doing it for a paycheck. This isn't about profit, 0:17:34.520 --> 0:17:38.680 It's about adrenaline and exclusivity. As Hype Crew associate and 0:17:38.760 --> 0:17:43.080 undefeated COTS fighter Brian always says, your favorite fighter's favorite 0:17:43.160 --> 0:17:46.200 fighter is scared to do this shit. What Hype Crew 0:17:46.280 --> 0:17:49.760 has created is not a combat sport, it's a counterculture. 0:17:52.400 --> 0:17:56.560 Whilst the violent counterculture of no rules is new, organized 0:17:56.800 --> 0:18:02.159 no holds barred fighting is actually as old time. It 0:18:02.280 --> 0:18:04.920 dates back to at least the eighth century, where men 0:18:05.040 --> 0:18:08.520 in ancient Greece would brawl for fun, entertainment, and glory. 0:18:09.080 --> 0:18:12.720 They had a specific style known as Pancreteon, which it 0:18:12.800 --> 0:18:17.560 can be argued, was an ancient progenitor to Hypecruz no rules. 0:18:18.440 --> 0:18:23.399 Pankreteon was a combination of boxing and wrestling with almost 0:18:23.760 --> 0:18:27.840 zero physical restrictions. The only real rules were no bioting 0:18:28.040 --> 0:18:32.080 and no eyeglgin. The Greeks believed that the mythic hero 0:18:32.359 --> 0:18:36.800 Theseus created. The fighting style was defeating the mine at all, 0:18:37.080 --> 0:18:41.760 a half bull, half man monster. The historical channel Up 0:18:41.800 --> 0:18:45.560 for Education, run by a former martial arts teacher, has 0:18:45.640 --> 0:18:46.879 this to say about the sport. 0:18:47.320 --> 0:18:52.000 Despite its seemingly ruthless nature, pancreation was not just about 0:18:52.080 --> 0:18:56.520 brood strength. It required a tactical mindset, a deep understanding 0:18:56.560 --> 0:19:01.200 of leverage, timing, and the ability to anticipate and opponent's moves. 0:19:01.960 --> 0:19:05.160 It was a true testament to an athlete's physical prowess 0:19:05.359 --> 0:19:07.159 and mental agility, and. 0:19:07.280 --> 0:19:11.360 So the aim of pancretion was to incapacitate your opponent 0:19:11.640 --> 0:19:15.840 as brutally as is allowed. It was hugely popular in 0:19:15.960 --> 0:19:18.320 ancient Greece and was one of the main events of 0:19:18.359 --> 0:19:22.320 the Olympic Games after being introduced in six forty eight BC. 0:19:23.880 --> 0:19:27.720 There's pottery, mosaics, and even bronze sculptures from that era 0:19:28.160 --> 0:19:32.240 that celebrates fighting. One of the best preserved examples is 0:19:32.320 --> 0:19:36.040 the termae Boxer, a sculpture that was made somewhere between 0:19:36.160 --> 0:19:40.480 three point thirty BC and fifty BC. The relic was 0:19:40.520 --> 0:19:43.200 dug up out the ground in eighteen eighty five on 0:19:43.320 --> 0:19:47.679 the side of Crinal Hill in Rome. The sculpture depicts 0:19:47.760 --> 0:19:51.439 a lean beard fighter sat on a rock, hands wrapped, 0:19:51.560 --> 0:19:55.000 an expression tired after what was clearly a brutal fight. 0:19:55.680 --> 0:19:58.200 Half a dozen cuts etched into the bronze of his face. 0:19:58.960 --> 0:20:02.360 His shoulders are slow, lightly hunched. The muscles he's built 0:20:02.400 --> 0:20:06.639 are for violence, not for vanity. Now, all that is 0:20:06.760 --> 0:20:11.200 to say, ultra aggressive organized fighting is not just a 0:20:11.320 --> 0:20:17.119 symptom of our nightmarish, sickened lying modern society, but actually 0:20:17.280 --> 0:20:21.320 a natural practice as old as ancient Greece. So perhaps 0:20:21.400 --> 0:20:23.840 those involved in No Rules have the same fire in 0:20:23.920 --> 0:20:27.840 their belly as the pancration fighters of old. I want 0:20:27.880 --> 0:20:31.280 to find out by attending as many of these clandestine 0:20:31.359 --> 0:20:46.680 events as possible. Whilst researching the No Rules scene, I 0:20:46.760 --> 0:20:49.800 came across a small but new underground fight club looking 0:20:49.880 --> 0:20:53.280 to recruit. They're extremely low key. By asking around on 0:20:53.359 --> 0:20:56.240 the telegram app for fighters, no one will be paid, 0:20:56.359 --> 0:20:59.280 but they get to fight. A message the anonymous user 0:20:59.359 --> 0:21:02.280 looking to learn more about this fight club. At first, 0:21:02.359 --> 0:21:05.200 he was naturally suspicious, but after we spoke a while, 0:21:05.240 --> 0:21:08.200 he seemed to accept that I wasn't undercover law enforcement 0:21:08.560 --> 0:21:10.719 or some rap type purporter looking to do a hit 0:21:10.800 --> 0:21:14.000 piece on underground fight clubs. I showed him that I 0:21:14.080 --> 0:21:17.359 am genuinely fascinated with the counterculture and I'm looking to 0:21:17.440 --> 0:21:20.800 make a documentary about No Rules. I showed him my 0:21:20.880 --> 0:21:24.280 previous work with my platform, Popular Front, and he liked it. 0:21:24.800 --> 0:21:27.359 I also explained that I myself had been involved in 0:21:27.440 --> 0:21:30.800 combat sports since I was fourteen years old, having joined 0:21:30.880 --> 0:21:33.440 up at a tie boxing gym as a teenager. I 0:21:33.560 --> 0:21:36.439 still trained there to this day regularly, and I consider 0:21:36.520 --> 0:21:39.159 the people there part of my family. I understand the 0:21:39.240 --> 0:21:44.480 combat sports camaraderie to some degree. The anonymous user accepted it, 0:21:44.880 --> 0:21:48.040 and he told me his name is Leon. Leon and 0:21:48.119 --> 0:21:50.680 his friends were inspired by King of the Streets years 0:21:50.760 --> 0:21:53.560 back when it first got popular on YouTube. There were 0:21:53.600 --> 0:21:56.680 teenagers at the time, jed up on adolescent angst and 0:21:56.760 --> 0:21:59.840 the general mischief of board young men that decided to 0:22:00.040 --> 0:22:03.280 fight each other in the vein of cots. First, they 0:22:03.320 --> 0:22:06.520 did it only amongst themselves, holding their first low key 0:22:06.600 --> 0:22:10.040 gathering in the parking lot. They liked it a lot. 0:22:11.440 --> 0:22:14.040 When they realized, though, that a police station was close 0:22:14.119 --> 0:22:16.479 by to the parking lot where they were fighting, they 0:22:16.520 --> 0:22:18.960 decided to find a better location and put on a 0:22:19.040 --> 0:22:21.920 proper event. This is why they were on telegram looking 0:22:22.000 --> 0:22:25.359 for fighters. The first proper fight club would be open 0:22:25.440 --> 0:22:30.320 to anyone, even a persistent and probably annoying journalist from England. 0:22:30.840 --> 0:22:33.760 They decided I'd be allowed to attend on the condition 0:22:33.960 --> 0:22:37.840 I protect their identities. Of course I agreed. It took 0:22:37.920 --> 0:22:40.520 three weeks of this back and forth, but we sorted it. 0:22:41.119 --> 0:22:48.080 Next stop France. Now I'm stepping off a plane in 0:22:48.160 --> 0:22:52.360 the south of France. We don't actually have the address 0:22:52.480 --> 0:22:54.440 for where this fight club is. All we know is 0:22:54.520 --> 0:22:57.480 they're going to be contacting us at some point and 0:22:57.760 --> 0:23:00.480 telling me when and where, and we got a quick 0:23:00.560 --> 0:23:06.520 whenever it is that they say. Now, when I say 0:23:06.680 --> 0:23:09.960 south of France, you might be surprised to know that 0:23:10.080 --> 0:23:14.600 we're literally in Can. The fancy film festival city where 0:23:14.640 --> 0:23:18.480 Hollywood movie stars come to act, important, a place where 0:23:18.480 --> 0:23:22.040 the rich and famous fawn over each other and croff champagne, 0:23:22.600 --> 0:23:26.680 a place where film's directed for other directors are screened 0:23:26.760 --> 0:23:30.480 and applauded. Can is hardly the place for an underground, 0:23:30.720 --> 0:23:34.240 no rules fight club. But here I am. As I 0:23:34.320 --> 0:23:36.159 walk with my bag on my back en route to 0:23:36.240 --> 0:23:39.679 a cheap three day hotel, I passed by Rolex shops 0:23:39.760 --> 0:23:43.520 and Gucci stores. The streets are clean, palm trees lined 0:23:43.560 --> 0:23:46.119 the roads, and I can see literal yachts in the 0:23:46.240 --> 0:23:49.719 harbor where the hell is Leon and his mates planning 0:23:49.760 --> 0:23:53.679 to fight. I'm starting to think something is not right here. 0:23:55.080 --> 0:23:58.280 That's just occurred to me that this might all be 0:23:58.359 --> 0:24:00.879 a bit of a stitch up. So why would there 0:24:00.960 --> 0:24:04.520 be brutal, no rules fight club in one of the 0:24:04.640 --> 0:24:09.320 flashiest cities in Europe, Can of all places where film 0:24:09.400 --> 0:24:12.359 akers that I think they're too important go to stay 0:24:12.440 --> 0:24:17.479 in the mirror whiles playing their films. Maybe Leone has 0:24:17.480 --> 0:24:19.960 wound me up here. Maybe he's thought, you know what, 0:24:20.560 --> 0:24:23.199 I don't like reporters. I'm going to send this idiot 0:24:23.240 --> 0:24:25.800 on a wild goose chase and waste his money and 0:24:25.960 --> 0:24:27.639 just tell him that the fight club is in can 0:24:27.720 --> 0:24:30.280 and see if he goes there. And well, we around 0:24:30.600 --> 0:24:33.760 so part of it doesn't add up to be honest, 0:24:33.800 --> 0:24:36.200 it's so flash around here I can't see it being 0:24:36.800 --> 0:24:39.359 Where would they even have it anyway? I don't know. 0:24:39.520 --> 0:24:42.119 We'll see to me fair if he has done that, 0:24:43.600 --> 0:24:48.359 it's annoying as it would be kind of fair play, 0:24:48.480 --> 0:24:50.159 like it's a pretty good wind up if that's what 0:24:50.280 --> 0:24:55.600 he's done, but I hope not. After checking in at 0:24:55.640 --> 0:24:58.400 the hotel, I get a message on Telegram from another 0:24:58.520 --> 0:25:01.840 anonymous user. He tells me his name is Victor and 0:25:01.960 --> 0:25:04.920 he's running the can Fight Club with Lyon. I'll try 0:25:04.960 --> 0:25:07.080 to chat to him for a bit, but he's not interested. 0:25:07.560 --> 0:25:09.919 He sends me coordinates and tells me to meet him 0:25:09.960 --> 0:25:14.280 there at midnight. No cameras, no equipment. It's a solid 0:25:14.359 --> 0:25:17.000 thirty minute drive away from my hotel in what looks 0:25:17.040 --> 0:25:20.680 to be a gated community, a place where rich people live, 0:25:21.000 --> 0:25:23.840 especially rich if it's in can At least that's what 0:25:23.960 --> 0:25:27.320 it looks like on Google Maps. This has got to 0:25:27.400 --> 0:25:30.560 be a trick. I'm sure now that I've traveled all 0:25:30.640 --> 0:25:33.159 the way to Can just to be mugged off by 0:25:33.240 --> 0:25:35.840 some rowdy young fighters who have no regard for what 0:25:35.920 --> 0:25:38.720 I'm trying to document. Whatever it is, what it is. 0:25:39.280 --> 0:25:41.520 Either way, I tell this Victor Feller that I'll be 0:25:41.680 --> 0:26:01.080 there at midnight. See that. Let's see what happens. You've 0:26:01.119 --> 0:26:05.280 been listening to the Await Days podcast Next week episode two. 0:26:06.240 --> 0:26:10.200 To watch independent Await Days documentaries, subscribe to our channel 0:26:10.320 --> 0:26:16.560 at YouTube dot com. Slash at Awaitaze TV. Your Wait 0:26:16.640 --> 0:26:20.040 Days Podcast is a production of H eleven Studio for 0:26:20.200 --> 0:26:26.520