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FistFighting is a sport common to the town of Ventet, in Laurondirin. Because the valley of Laurondirin can get quite hot, the citizens have invented a sport that has been around for some couple thousand years now. As the name implies, it mainly involves fighting with one's fists, but there is a far greater art to it than that.
To QualifyFistFighting is only for teenage boys, and in this respect, it is a somewhat subtle move by the governing powers to keep rebellious and disruptive attitudes and actions to a minimum. To qualify to be a FistFighter, one must of course be a male, and must also be between certain heights. The general idea is between 5 feet and 6 feet tall (roughly 150 to 180cms) but there have been some exceptions for slightly shorter people. If the fighter grows over this, they are sadly no longer allowed to play. Once a fighter reaches 18, he must stop fighting. This is to make it fair on the newer ones and also because it is assumed he would be able to find proper work by then. There are no limits to weight or build. One can be any size to enter, but if they are too slow and clumsy, they will be quickly eliminated. If they are strong and fast, they might obtain a higher rank with more severe restrictions for fighting.The RulesBasically, fighters wear special gauntlets that differ according to their rank. The higher the rank, the more difficult the gauntlets are to use and the higher chance one has of getting penalised. A boy must hit his opponent with certain parts of the gauntlet to score points within a time limit of 2 to 8 minutes, and below is the table used to calculate how many points one obtains for doing what.Point Multiplier:(part of the gauntlet that hits opponent)
Contact Points:
The Rules:
Costume:
The RingThe ring is a carved piece of sandstone, a metre high above a large area of sand, with stairs on all four edges. In the middle, painted in white, are the line marks where the fighters must stand at the beginning. If an opponent is knocked off of the ring, he must climb back up and continue. The other player must let him climb and stand again. Around the sand that circles the ring are many rows of wooden seats where audiences can watch. Quite often, the arena may be full of people in some of the more important battles between higher ranked FistFighters. At each corner of the ring there stands a judge, and each one watches an assigned combatant, making two judges per player. The judges must hastily write the point scoring they observe with great mathematic skill. At the end of the round, the judges add together all the scores, average them out, and decide a winner through this method. The final averaged scores are indisputable.
The SchoolsThere are four FistFighting schools in Ventet: north, south, east, and west schools, known as Kaurden, Putroenin, Hellentia, and Yaerala, respectively. The north is the highest quality school and has the best reputation. The east school is the most traditional and strict. The west school emphasise new techniques to catch opponents off-guard. The south school has the worst reputation; it is known for cheaters. There is a council set up to moderate and supervise each school independant to the teachers and cirriculums at the individual schools but the south school often results to handing out bribes to such officials. For the finals tournament known as Fistfighters Day, schools do not pit their own students against one another, but rather, against the other schools. There are only three 5th graders; one in Kaurden, one in Hellentia, and one in Yaerala. The south school has not had a 5th grader for many years. Each school varies to many degrees but they are all essentially the same in that the students spend weekdays and the nights between at the school and return home for the weekends. They spend a lot of time practicing and being schooled on general topics in classes, such as history, mathematics, sciences, and literacy. The higher ranked fistfighters spend more time practicing because they have personal tutors and different times for different classes. The three 5th graders have two or three tutors each and these tutors do not teach anybody else. These tutors become like a second set of parents, guiding the fistfighter in how to act appropriately and be a noble and admirable top-ranking contestant. Winning fistfighters earn money, and since many of the successful ones move on to becoming knights, this money helps them to buy the initial required equipment and other such fees. And, since they are already in good shape, they have essentially already been trained in many areas. The progressively heavier gauntlets they obtain by rising through the ranks helps to prepare them for the particularly heavy outfit of armour standard to knights of Laurondirin. Some fistfighters will learn to wield a weapon whilst advancing in their fistfighting career, but of course, weapons are not allowed in tournaments.
The RanksThere are five ranks in FistFighting, and with each rank comes an assumed mastering of the sport. As a fighter progresses in rank, his gauntlets become harder to use, as they are given gauntlets with more and more metal spikes. If a spike hits an opponent and draws blood -- which is extremely likely -- that fighter loses the match. The higher ranked FistFighters are both dangerous and cautious.
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