2008 Woodie Awards
Amateur fight club dukes it out
Clary Tedford
Issue date: 1/24/08 Section: Features
Though Village Fight Club may entail the occasional broken bone or tooth, senior accounting student and club founder Dylan Nickels denies that the group is thoughtless toward danger.
"The club was meant to be a place of meeting and mutual expression of desire to engage in injury-less physical combat," Nickels said. "I worry sometimes that the name might imply a more nihilistic and careless group than we really are."
The sport sparked national interest in 1999 when Chuck Palahniuk's book inspired the movie Fight Club, starring Brad Pitt, Edward Norton and Helena Bonham Carter. Like the movie, Village Fight Club membership is exclusive, often by invitation only. Many members prefer to keep their identities secret, according to Nickels.
Although Fight Club is one of Nickel's favorite movies, it did not inspire him to create the group.
"I formed the club because I was unaware of anything like it immediately available to the students here at UNCA," he said. "Initially it was just a meeting between a few friends once or twice a week to spar, but eventually word spread and interest grew, and we formed the club."
While injuries come with the territory, Nickels worries about the painful repercussions. Some members sustained injuries ranging from mildly painful blows to broken bones and teeth. Once a participant almost dialed 911.
"The club has seen more and greater injuries than I'd like," Nickels said.
Though violence can be punishable, the group operates under the assumption that their actions are permitted for two reasons, according to Nickels.
"The first is we know that the officially recognized martial arts club has sparring matches, so clearly the school does not object to sparring," Nickels said.
"Also, in the year of the club's inception, there were several matches that officers from campus safety watched. We assumed that if they found our actions unacceptable, they'd have stopped them."
Because the club is not associated with UNC Asheville, many students are unaware of it. Scott Szymanski, junior biology student, was surprised to hear about the club. He wondered if its members were not appropriately trained since the club is not associated with the university.
"They should step their game up and get a teacher," Szymanski said.
Jensel Garcia-Robles, junior music technology and Spanish student, expressed concern for the safety of those participating in the fights.
"They should do what they want to do, but they shouldn't break each other's bones," Garcia-Robles said.
Such injuries have caused the club to adopt rules concerning contact that could result in X-rays. These rules have prevented many injuries since their inception, according to Nickels.
Students interested in watching sparring matches can catch club members dueling around campus.
"We do not have regularly scheduled meetings. Rather, we meet whenever any two of us feel like sparring," Nickels said. "When it's warm enough, we meet in the grassy area between Governor's Village and Governor's Hall. When it's too cold, we go either to the third floor of Highsmith or one of the lounges in the village. People are certainly free to watch."
"The club was meant to be a place of meeting and mutual expression of desire to engage in injury-less physical combat," Nickels said. "I worry sometimes that the name might imply a more nihilistic and careless group than we really are."
The sport sparked national interest in 1999 when Chuck Palahniuk's book inspired the movie Fight Club, starring Brad Pitt, Edward Norton and Helena Bonham Carter. Like the movie, Village Fight Club membership is exclusive, often by invitation only. Many members prefer to keep their identities secret, according to Nickels.
Although Fight Club is one of Nickel's favorite movies, it did not inspire him to create the group.
"I formed the club because I was unaware of anything like it immediately available to the students here at UNCA," he said. "Initially it was just a meeting between a few friends once or twice a week to spar, but eventually word spread and interest grew, and we formed the club."
While injuries come with the territory, Nickels worries about the painful repercussions. Some members sustained injuries ranging from mildly painful blows to broken bones and teeth. Once a participant almost dialed 911.
"The club has seen more and greater injuries than I'd like," Nickels said.
Though violence can be punishable, the group operates under the assumption that their actions are permitted for two reasons, according to Nickels.
"The first is we know that the officially recognized martial arts club has sparring matches, so clearly the school does not object to sparring," Nickels said.
"Also, in the year of the club's inception, there were several matches that officers from campus safety watched. We assumed that if they found our actions unacceptable, they'd have stopped them."
Because the club is not associated with UNC Asheville, many students are unaware of it. Scott Szymanski, junior biology student, was surprised to hear about the club. He wondered if its members were not appropriately trained since the club is not associated with the university.
"They should step their game up and get a teacher," Szymanski said.
Jensel Garcia-Robles, junior music technology and Spanish student, expressed concern for the safety of those participating in the fights.
"They should do what they want to do, but they shouldn't break each other's bones," Garcia-Robles said.
Such injuries have caused the club to adopt rules concerning contact that could result in X-rays. These rules have prevented many injuries since their inception, according to Nickels.
Students interested in watching sparring matches can catch club members dueling around campus.
"We do not have regularly scheduled meetings. Rather, we meet whenever any two of us feel like sparring," Nickels said. "When it's warm enough, we meet in the grassy area between Governor's Village and Governor's Hall. When it's too cold, we go either to the third floor of Highsmith or one of the lounges in the village. People are certainly free to watch."
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