Crazy Kids!

Hi ya! How're you faring today? Help yourself to a freshly brewed mug of coffee..and a virtual muffin. Are you into Martial Arts? Nah, me neither.  A long time ago, I had thoughts of trying some Karate but then I went and took a nap until the feeling passed.

In the USA alone, an estimated 3.2 million kids aged 5 to 12 take mixed-martial arts classes, training to administer beatdowns modeled after the adults' Ultimate Fighting Championships, according to a January report in ESPN magazine, which profiled the swaggering, Mohawked Derek "Crazy" Rayfield, 11, and the meek, doll-clutching fighting machine, Regina "The Black Widow" Awana, 7. Kids under age 12 fight each other without regard to gender, and blows above the collarbone are always prohibited (along with attacks on the groin, kidneys and back). "Crazy" was described delivering merciless forearm chest smashes to a foe before the referee intervened, and the Black Widow won her match in less than a minute via arm-bar submission.

Parental involvement appears to be of two types: either fear of their child's getting hurt or encouragement to be meaner.

Crazy kids or crazy parents? Rip 'is arm off, honey, and beat 'im over the 'ead with the bloody end!!!

See ya, eh!

Bob

PS: Oh, yeah...we made it safely back to Canada. What a pleasure to be back in our own bed, eh!