Fighters

I was watching "60 minutes"--or some show like it--recently and they were interviewing this Spanish bullfighter, who couldn't have been older than his early thirties. He got his liver gored by a bull during a fight. Most people, I would guess, don't live through that. But he did. And you know what he said afterwards? He will fight again next year. Is he nuts?! I figure he MUST have a death wish. I mean, if that happened to me and I lived, I would take that as a sign from God: "Hey, stupid! I'm giving you another chance. Don't screw this one up." But he says being so close to death makes him feel more alive. His friend got gored in the leg, severing his femoral artery and he lived too! Amazing. He may never walk again, though. If he does, he'll probably fight again, if he can move well enough to avoid getting gored again. What an insane sport. And a cruel one, too. They're killing bulls for the sport. Kill or be killed. What the hell? The bull didn't ask to be there. The bull is fighting for its life, and unless it gores the matador, it doesn't have a chance. Even if it does gore the matador, it probably still gets killed. It just seems so senseless and mean and barbaric. It's the most primitive of activities. The interviewer was marveling at the paradox that Spain has such an advanced society and yet a primitive sport like bullfighting is one of the main attractions and cultural elements.
Then there are those people who run with the bulls. There's an intelligent idea. I think I'd like to run with hundreds of other people down a narrow street with several sharp-horned, thousand-pound animals chasing me. Sounds awesome. Do people really need to do such things to feel alive? I wonder if any of these people have ever been in love. I don't see bullfighters as the 'family man' type. I don't see how that would work. "Bye, kids. Have a good day in school. I'll see you when you get home--if I live." Who would marry a bullfighter? Can you imagine being the wife of one? The anxiety, the stress? Every time he goes out into the arena, wondering if that's the last time you'll see him alive? Crazy. I think bullfighters are the bachelor-for-life types. They can probably get laid pretty easily. They all seem suave and cool and have sex appeal, so I bet women really go for them. But only as a lay, not as a steady boyfriend and definitely not, I would wager, as a husband. I wouldn't marry a bullfighter, I'll tell you that. It's one thing to marry a soldier, someone who's serving his country and fighting to protect your rights. He's fighting because somebody has to. But nobody has to be a bullfighter. it's completely gratuitous. It's sport. So why would you enter into a committed relationship with someone who's putting himself at a high, unnecessary risk for death over and over again? Why would you want to experience the anxiety and the pain if he were injured or killed? I really want to know if there are any married or engaged bullfighters out there.
Ultimate fighters are a similar story, though obviously not as extreme and not as cruel. The risk of death is lower (no one is guaranteed death, as the bull is)--but by how much? One good punch or kick to the temple can kill you. Probably not in most cases, but it can. So imagine being hit multiple times in the head and vital organs by a muscle-bound martial artist. I can't see that as being too good for longevity. I'd be nervous and anxious and stressed as hell if I were married to an ultimate fighter. I know one--a great guy--and he just got married and his wife's pregnant. He also just got over a severe concussion from punches to the head. He's in his mid-forties. I'd be scared if I were his wife. Scared about the well-being of my husband and our child if, God forbid, something should happen to him. But it makes people feel more alive, and there are those who thrive off fighting. I wonder what it is about fighters that draws them to the sport. What is it they all have in common? Where does it come from, this thirst for blood, this love of danger and enjoyment of pain? Is it genetic at all? Purely environmental? Is it just a macho thing or is there more to it than that? Do they want to feel like they can protect themselves and their families (if they have families)? I'd love to examine the brain of a fighter and compare it to a non-fighter's. I'm a martial artist, but I have no desire to be a fighter. A friend of mine who used to be a boxer once told me, "You don't want to be a fighter. Fighting's for people who don't have anything else." (He was talking primarily about people who fight for a living. The guy I know doesn't--he's got a real job). Thankfully, I have so much else. But some kids in the inner cities don't. Fighting's all they have, or at least that's what they believe. I don't know if it's true. I think there's always an alternative. I don't think anyone has to go that route. But I'd have to be an inner-city kid or at least live there for a while to know for sure. I'd much rather be an artist than a fighter, that's something I do know.