August 5, 2008 • 7 mins
The 1996 Chuck Palahniuk novel, "Fight Club," has been blamed -- and lauded -- by various groups for inspiring several real-life fight clubs. Take a look at our HowStuffWorks article to learn more about real-life fight clubs.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Brought to you by the reinvented two thousand twelve camera.
It's ready. Are you welcome to stuff you should know
from How Stuff Works dot Com? Stuff you should know
is brought to you by Visa. We all have things
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of them, because with every purchase, PISA prevents, detexts, and
(00:20):
resolves online fraud safe Secure Visa. I am welcome to
the podcast. I'm Josh Clark, as staff writer here at
How Stuff Works dot Com. With me is my fellow
staff writer, Charles Bryant. Charles W. Bryan Right, that's right,
we'll welcome Chuck. How you doing. I'm doing great, Josh.
How about you? I'm doing pretty good, Chuck. I'm feeling
a little jacked up. I actually kind of feel like
(00:42):
punching you right in the face. Well, you know what, Josh,
if you did that, I would I would probably just
would take it like a past Like every good pacifist,
I would take it. I see, I'm not. I'm not
necessarily pacifist. I'm more fear pain me too. Yeah. Okay,
So I think that means that neither one of us
should actually join a fight club. No, I've never been.
I've never been hitting the face, and I don't plan
to start now at my advanced stage. It's been many
(01:03):
years since I was hit in the face, and uh,
I think that was the first and only time, and
I quickly became scared of being hit in the face,
which is my fear of pain that you know. It
explains that. So fight clubs not for us off limits,
but they are for some people. Yeah, and actually they
are real. Surely you've seen the movie Fight Club several times. Yeah,
every guy you know that's a real man's man, I think,
(01:23):
has seen Fight Club at least three times, at least
maybe four. Even you read the book. I did. I
read the book. I saw the movie. I uh, you know,
I put on a one act play. The Fight Club
was great. I'll bet, I'll bet it was your own interpretation.
It was so. The author of the book, Chuck Palin
yuck right, I think, uh, he has been accused many
(01:45):
times over, especially after the movie came out, because I
think most people who start fight clubs don't read necessarily.
But he was accused of of starting a trend of
conceiving of these fight clubs, which he says that he
made up, um and on the real thing. Yeah, like
lots of lots of people who like to fight, um
(02:06):
start to their own fight clubs. Yeah, and actually, uh,
there are some out there. I found some when I
wrote the article are their real life fight clubs, um,
and found that a lot of them really mirror some
like the rules in the setup that that you find
in the book. Like, Um, did you read about Bloody Knuckles. Yeah,
Bloody Knuckles in San Francisco is they have their one rule,
(02:28):
which is the famous rule from fight Club. If you
show up, you have to fight. You can't just be
a spectator and you have to say it like that,
yeah exactly or else it's just you know, loses his
meaning and it kind of you kind of wonder like
what exactly would happen if you're like, Okay, you know,
I'm gonna go to Bloody Knuckles fight club. He he
lives in a hotel. I imagine a really run down,
weird hotel, UM, and everybody meets in his room. There's
(02:51):
like a secret knock you have to know somebody, UM,
and they take you down to a sub basement to fight. Right.
What happens if you get to the sub basement You're like,
I don't want to fight, right, I don't. It might
quickly turn into a pulp fiction scene, you know, yeah, yeah,
get they get might Oh yeah, yeah yeah that scene. Yeah,
(03:11):
that's a bad one. And I think I'd rather fight.
I would too. I would too, you know, like just
go ahead and go through with it, because you're either
going to be beaten and maled or you know, just
you know, fight somebody else whatever. Yea, So California seems
to be the place to be for real life fight club. Yeah,
there was another one in Oakland, just on the other
side of the Bay called the sp Rats or or
(03:33):
a gang of motorcycle tuffs or Vespa tuffs, and they
they use it actually as a formative initiation. And you know,
apparently like hundreds of people show up to these fights
so you can be a spectator. Yeah, it's not just
a form of initiation. They they and there are like
hundreds of people. It's like the place to be on
Friday nights if you ride a motorcycle. Right. Um, So,
(03:54):
some gangs, including I think the Rats, use it as
an initiation for prospects. They basically throw him in the
ring and have him beat the tar out of one another,
and I guess whoever's left standing is the new member.
That kind of thing, right, And if you lose, then
I'm not sure what remember what happens either. And actually
there's a really extensive article in UM the I think
(04:16):
San Francisco Guardian, Bay Guardian something like that. It seemed
like an underground kind of newspaper or alternative press at least.
And this guy chronicled UM this night, Friday night at
the S A S B Rat fight club, there were
girls fighting one another. He went up and interviewed one
of them, and she got about halfway through this quick
interview and turned and started vomiting because she was beaten
(04:39):
so badly. Some prospects got jumped in. And that's when
you're earning your money as a journalist. Yeah, yeah, and
this guy, you could tell it was very thrilling, you know.
But I mean, when you're writing about a fight club,
the best way to do it is to go yourself.
I unfortunately didn't have time to do that, right. I
didn't find any in Atlanta. Right, although it would be legal.
I know, you found out that as long as two
(05:01):
dudes or two women or whoever, adults, adults have adults
and they have to be not paid. They can beat
the snot out of each other and there's you know,
no repercusion as long as as long as you're concending, right. Yeah,
And actually I also ran into something that didn't make
it in the article. It's called the pillow fight Club.
Have you heard of this? I've heard of National Pillow
Fight Day. They have every year. They have like flash mobs, um.
(05:23):
But there was one in Tel Aviv, iFund one in Seattle,
um where everybody just shows up at a predetermined time
and starts beating one another pillows. That sounds like a
lot more at my allien, it's much more of a
loving Yeah, as a lover, I think you'd appreciate that.
I think anybody would appreciate are their real life fight clubs.
So you should go read it now or else Me
and Chuckle find you and stay tuned to find out
(05:45):
what the Brady Bunch and Hurricane Katrina vacumies have in common.
Right after this stuff you should know is brought to
you by Visa. We all have things to think about,
like say, what's the best sight to buy a new
leather jacket? But whether to buy the three or six
megapixel camera. But thankfully we don't need to think about
online fraud because for every purchase you make, Visa keeps
(06:05):
an eye out for fraud with real time fraud monitoring
and by making sure you're not liable for any unauthorized purchases.
How's that for peace of mind, safe, secure Visa? So, Chuck,
do you know what Hurricane Katrina evacuees and the Brady
Bunch have in common? You know, Josh, I don't. You've
teased me with this one for weeks and I've been
(06:27):
dying to know. I'm finally going to reveal it to
you what they're both exposed to from alde hyde through
particle board. Do you know anything about this now? But
how does the Brady Bunch figure in? Well, the Brady
Bunch had that faux wood paneling in their in their
living room. Uh, and Hurricane Katrina evacuees were exposed to
it through um female trailers, which the government recently ordered
(06:49):
them out of because of health issues. Right. Yeah, yeah,
that's a bit of a reach, but I'll buy Actually
it's not. I found that the combination. In one of
our colleagues articles, Kristin Conger wrote, Uh, ten everyday dangerous
things in your home, and you can find that on
how stuff works dot com. Learned about formaldehyde and nine
other interesting things you should be very scared of. For
(07:10):
more on this and thousands of other topics, is it
how stuff works dot com. Let us know what you think.
Send an email to podcast at how stuff works dot com.
Brought to you by the reinvented two thousand twelve camera.
It's ready, are you
Brought to you by the reinvented two thousand twelve camera.
It's ready. Are you welcome to stuff you should know
from How Stuff Works dot Com? Stuff you should know
is brought to you by Visa. We all have things
we like to think about. Online fraud shouldn't be one
of them, because with every purchase, PISA prevents, detexts, and
(00:20):
resolves online fraud safe Secure Visa. I am welcome to
the podcast. I'm Josh Clark, as staff writer here at
How Stuff Works dot Com. With me is my fellow
staff writer, Charles Bryant. Charles W. Bryan Right, that's right,
we'll welcome Chuck. How you doing. I'm doing great, Josh.
How about you? I'm doing pretty good, Chuck. I'm feeling
a little jacked up. I actually kind of feel like
(00:42):
punching you right in the face. Well, you know what, Josh,
if you did that, I would I would probably just
would take it like a past Like every good pacifist,
I would take it. I see, I'm not. I'm not
necessarily pacifist. I'm more fear pain me too. Yeah. Okay,
So I think that means that neither one of us
should actually join a fight club. No, I've never been.
I've never been hitting the face, and I don't plan
to start now at my advanced stage. It's been many
(01:03):
years since I was hit in the face, and uh,
I think that was the first and only time, and
I quickly became scared of being hit in the face,
which is my fear of pain that you know. It
explains that. So fight clubs not for us off limits,
but they are for some people. Yeah, and actually they
are real. Surely you've seen the movie Fight Club several times. Yeah,
every guy you know that's a real man's man, I think,
(01:23):
has seen Fight Club at least three times, at least
maybe four. Even you read the book. I did. I
read the book. I saw the movie. I uh, you know,
I put on a one act play. The Fight Club
was great. I'll bet, I'll bet it was your own interpretation.
It was so. The author of the book, Chuck Palin
yuck right, I think, uh, he has been accused many
(01:45):
times over, especially after the movie came out, because I
think most people who start fight clubs don't read necessarily.
But he was accused of of starting a trend of
conceiving of these fight clubs, which he says that he
made up, um and on the real thing. Yeah, like
lots of lots of people who like to fight, um
(02:06):
start to their own fight clubs. Yeah, and actually, uh,
there are some out there. I found some when I
wrote the article are their real life fight clubs, um,
and found that a lot of them really mirror some
like the rules in the setup that that you find
in the book. Like, Um, did you read about Bloody Knuckles. Yeah,
Bloody Knuckles in San Francisco is they have their one rule,
(02:28):
which is the famous rule from fight Club. If you
show up, you have to fight. You can't just be
a spectator and you have to say it like that,
yeah exactly or else it's just you know, loses his
meaning and it kind of you kind of wonder like
what exactly would happen if you're like, Okay, you know,
I'm gonna go to Bloody Knuckles fight club. He he
lives in a hotel. I imagine a really run down,
weird hotel, UM, and everybody meets in his room. There's
(02:51):
like a secret knock you have to know somebody, UM,
and they take you down to a sub basement to fight. Right.
What happens if you get to the sub basement You're like,
I don't want to fight, right, I don't. It might
quickly turn into a pulp fiction scene, you know, yeah, yeah,
get they get might Oh yeah, yeah yeah that scene. Yeah,
(03:11):
that's a bad one. And I think I'd rather fight.
I would too. I would too, you know, like just
go ahead and go through with it, because you're either
going to be beaten and maled or you know, just
you know, fight somebody else whatever. Yea, So California seems
to be the place to be for real life fight club. Yeah,
there was another one in Oakland, just on the other
side of the Bay called the sp Rats or or
(03:33):
a gang of motorcycle tuffs or Vespa tuffs, and they
they use it actually as a formative initiation. And you know,
apparently like hundreds of people show up to these fights
so you can be a spectator. Yeah, it's not just
a form of initiation. They they and there are like
hundreds of people. It's like the place to be on
Friday nights if you ride a motorcycle. Right. Um, So,
(03:54):
some gangs, including I think the Rats, use it as
an initiation for prospects. They basically throw him in the
ring and have him beat the tar out of one another,
and I guess whoever's left standing is the new member.
That kind of thing, right, And if you lose, then
I'm not sure what remember what happens either. And actually
there's a really extensive article in UM the I think
(04:16):
San Francisco Guardian, Bay Guardian something like that. It seemed
like an underground kind of newspaper or alternative press at least.
And this guy chronicled UM this night, Friday night at
the S A S B Rat fight club, there were
girls fighting one another. He went up and interviewed one
of them, and she got about halfway through this quick
interview and turned and started vomiting because she was beaten
(04:39):
so badly. Some prospects got jumped in. And that's when
you're earning your money as a journalist. Yeah, yeah, and
this guy, you could tell it was very thrilling, you know.
But I mean, when you're writing about a fight club,
the best way to do it is to go yourself.
I unfortunately didn't have time to do that, right. I
didn't find any in Atlanta. Right, although it would be legal.
I know, you found out that as long as two
(05:01):
dudes or two women or whoever, adults, adults have adults
and they have to be not paid. They can beat
the snot out of each other and there's you know,
no repercusion as long as as long as you're concending, right. Yeah,
And actually I also ran into something that didn't make
it in the article. It's called the pillow fight Club.
Have you heard of this? I've heard of National Pillow
Fight Day. They have every year. They have like flash mobs, um.
(05:23):
But there was one in Tel Aviv, iFund one in Seattle,
um where everybody just shows up at a predetermined time
and starts beating one another pillows. That sounds like a
lot more at my allien, it's much more of a
loving Yeah, as a lover, I think you'd appreciate that.
I think anybody would appreciate are their real life fight clubs.
So you should go read it now or else Me
and Chuckle find you and stay tuned to find out
(05:45):
what the Brady Bunch and Hurricane Katrina vacumies have in common.
Right after this stuff you should know is brought to
you by Visa. We all have things to think about,
like say, what's the best sight to buy a new
leather jacket? But whether to buy the three or six
megapixel camera. But thankfully we don't need to think about
online fraud because for every purchase you make, Visa keeps
(06:05):
an eye out for fraud with real time fraud monitoring
and by making sure you're not liable for any unauthorized purchases.
How's that for peace of mind, safe, secure Visa? So, Chuck,
do you know what Hurricane Katrina evacuees and the Brady
Bunch have in common? You know, Josh, I don't. You've
teased me with this one for weeks and I've been
(06:27):
dying to know. I'm finally going to reveal it to
you what they're both exposed to from alde hyde through
particle board. Do you know anything about this now? But
how does the Brady Bunch figure in? Well, the Brady
Bunch had that faux wood paneling in their in their
living room. Uh, and Hurricane Katrina evacuees were exposed to
it through um female trailers, which the government recently ordered
(06:49):
them out of because of health issues. Right. Yeah, yeah,
that's a bit of a reach, but I'll buy Actually
it's not. I found that the combination. In one of
our colleagues articles, Kristin Conger wrote, Uh, ten everyday dangerous
things in your home, and you can find that on
how stuff works dot com. Learned about formaldehyde and nine
other interesting things you should be very scared of. For
(07:10):
more on this and thousands of other topics, is it
how stuff works dot com. Let us know what you think.
Send an email to podcast at how stuff works dot com.
Brought to you by the reinvented two thousand twelve camera.
It's ready, are you
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