University of Manitoba officials bust fight club involving 87 members

WINNIPEG - Officials at the University of Manitoba have busted a fight club in a squash court at the institution.
They believe that young men have been taking part in consensual bare-fisted fights arranged through a Facebook site.
The underground phenomenon took off after the 1999 movie "Fight Club," which starred Brad Pitt and Edward Norton, and popularized the line: "The first rule of fight club is you do not talk about fight club."
Kenneth MacKendrick, a University of Manitoba religion professor, says he has researched issues of masculinity and says fight clubs are an extreme that some men will go to in order to prove their manliness.
"To be a man means to be, look at me, I'm in crisis. The bruises are being used as a fashion accessory," he said.
"They did this at the U of M, where, if they needed it, they would have medical attention."
He said he understands the impetus of initiation rituals but added: "I don't understand wanting to have someone punch me."
There were 87 members of the Facebook site - primarily university students and four part-time staff - who had their gym membership suspended for one month.
The university says further penalties, including academic discipline, could be imposed.
At the Special Edge Fitness and Conditioning gym in southwest Winnipeg, owner Jordan Cieciwa said he doesn't know why anyone would choose to punch each other with bare fists.
Cieciwa teaches martial arts as fitness activities, and trains Ultimate Fighting Championship fighters.
"The guys that are professional, they try not to get injured and not to get marked up," he said. "Those injuries take a long time to heal."
Black eyes, broken fingers, possible brain injuries - they're not conducive to making a good impression in the workplace the next day, he said.
"We want people to know there are better ways to do this. If you're doing it for the rush, there's a better way to do it, without the black eye," said Cieciwa.
At his gym, there's always a referee supervising, people wear head gear, and their padded gloves are four times the size of the gloves worn in competition.