Let us begin with an historical snapshot, this is but one of the multitudes I could have chosen to illustrate. The following excerpt is from Whitman Mead’s Travels in North America [1820.] The author refers to an incident he witnessed in 1817 while travelling though Georgia. Such gatherings, according to Mead, occurred 2-3 times per week where folks would gather to fellowship, feast, drink, dance, gamble, exchange wares, and often following the ever-present horse-race a public challenge may be issued. At which time: “ A ring is formed, free for anyone to enter and fight…After a few rounds, they generally clinch, throw down, bite and gouge, and the conquered creeps out under the ring as a signal of his submission .” Mead tells of meeting several past combatants who had noses bitten off, eyes gouged out, and more than a few who had been castrated in such affairs. Many of these now unsavory tactics were not mere desperation moves in the heat-of-battle, but sought for ...
Examining & Resurrecting Indigenous Skills and Frontier Rough & Tumble Combat