Ernest Ratsimbazafy enumerates some of the keys to victory: “Fear of punches must be overcome, calm must be maintained, and revengeful feelings must be avoided.” I just wonder what the rationale behind that last one. Has he found that vengeful feelings diminish a fighter's fight IQ or endurance, for example?
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I wonder how well these fighters would fare in MMA, especially with training.
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@tma, yes, I wonder if Israel Adesanya has a background in this.
I love articles like this, ones that teach me about something I didn't know existed and are accompanied with fantastic photography.
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Fascinating article! I especially enjoyed the quality photographs. I would have liked the author to point out that combat sports here in the States too are not just about the fighting, but play a similar cultural role and always for male (and increasingly female) bonding.
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Amazing, but I was lucky enough to live for about a year in Madagascar so I am not surprised. Along side terrible poverty is a culture from which we have much to learn.
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@PJM What exactly do we have to learn from Madagascar, based on this article? If anything, the article suggests to me the similarity between combat sports and their social function in both the US and Madagascar.
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