FIGHTING At a private conference this week, I was asked what I think of Mark Zuckerberg’s recent MMA training, Elon Musk’s challenge to a cage fight, and public reports that a Zuckerberg/Musk MMA fight may well happen later this year, perhaps in the actual Roman Colosseum... https://pmarca.substack.com/p/fighting
Not a fan of adults acting like children, but really can’t argue these are skills the world needs more of: “MMA teaches not just combat skills – and it does teach those – but also discipline, emotional control, respect, and a deep sense of responsibility.”
acknowledging your note about gender and suspending reality for a sec... imagine that this was actually two hot female tech CEOs (instead of Zuck/Musk) publicly challenging each other to a cage fight lol you and i still may call the result "real self-respect", but would media or twitter or the rest of the world?
@pmarca coming with the heat after 5 months of no casting to new users like
I read this earlier today, have boxed/wrestled/MMA/BJJ/combatives/etc all my life, and am pretty ambivalent about your reasoning. I'm a huge advocate for people feeling confident in their ability to utilize their body, but framing it as protection for yourself and others feels like wishful thinking at best...
Read it & 100% agree re benefits of teaching our kids self-defense, correlation w/ self-respect & ensuring they understand the skills are for defense. I wish UFC & its athletes did more to help communicate that message as it’s easily lost in marketing that glorifies violence (though I know it’s competitive sport).
Will you be watching from the stands in a toga, drinking wine and having interns feed you grapes?
Will you be watching from the stands in a toga, drinking wine and having interns feed you grapes?
I’ve always felt a bit uncomfortable with the visceral reactions I get when watching a fight. It’s bloodlust by proxy. I’ve known a few people who have done MMA training. A common theme I saw as they first developed their talents was looking for an excuse to fight. Why buy a gun you can’t fire?
Other notable classical references: Odysseus, the first philosopher, won the wrestling contest in Iliad Socrates advocates wrestling along with music for an ideal education Plato means “the broad-shouldered” — awarded for wrestling fame Jacob, Yahweh’s chosen founder, earned it by wrestling God
I wrestled in hs & college. Combat sports training is incredibly demanding and innately enjoyable; I understand why they like it. I don't understand why they need to make a media spectacle out of fighting each other.
In classic Farcaster spirit i hearby challenge @dwr to a food fight! 🥝 v 🍦
Settling beefs by combat once and for all is the biggest missing feature of Twitter and I’m glad musk is finally shipping it @dwr when can we get this in the protocol?
MMA is cool but it's also an efficient way to irreversibly damage your brain. If you understand the risk and still want to train it - great. But I'd not say it's a good thing for everyone. (been training both striking and grappling for some years, also know people who had severe problems because of the training)
been around fighters my whole life…this framing is complete fantasy, hard pass on the spectacle of non atheletes doing performative combat a pure bjj match, sure, but mma combat, nah
This is so true. I practiced Maui Thai in college and wanted to do Greco-Roman wrestling but we didn't have it. I've been considering taking BJJ lessons for myself and my 4yo daughter.
So many wrong takes in this article. Sport isn’t the solution to fight obesity, better nutrition is. If you want to end violence, use your money to end poverty. Teaching your kids to fight won’t help solving these issues.
