It is not surprising that attending an Ivy League institution involves many long and frustrating hours of academic exertion. But thankfully, there are almost as many ways to relieve the stress as there are classes, and now the Princeton community has added one more.
When you're sick and tired of studying linear vectors or Chaucer in Middle English there is a new way to take out all your frustrations — beat the crap out of your best friend.
"We do this purely to have fun," said Neil Shenvi '01, who founded Princeton's Fight Club, "and it's a great time."
The rules are simple, and no, the first rule is not, "Do not talk about Fight Club." The club meets once a week at various locations. Anyone can fight, but you must fight a friend or someone you know. Most people fight with boxing gloves and head gear, but the participants make up the rules.
"We have guys who kick box or do karate," Shenvi said. "Some guys want to wrestle while others want to box, whatever the participants want to do."
Most participants choose to box, but some want to use the other fight techniques that they know. But a martial arts champion will never square off against someone who is not as skilled. Both participants must agree on the rules of the fight before it starts, and that includes the style of fighting.
Shenvi and some of his friends started the club out of pure curiosity. "I just grabbed some friends because we wanted to know what it was like to fight," Shenvi explained.
But how much did the movie starring Brad Pitt and Edward Norton influence the club's founding?
"Obviously it was an influence, but this is not the movie," Shenvi noted. "And I'm not Tyler Durden, except for the cinematic good looks and physique." Shenvi also claims that he doesn't have a split personality. Nor does the club have any plans for violence directed against corporations.
On the contrary, Princeton's Fight Club is much safer, but no less intense. "We've had some black eyes and a bloody nose, but we've never had anyone get knocked out or anything like that," Shenvi said.
The club does not make members wait outside for an extended period of time before they are admitted into the club. It is also believed that no member has ever beaten himself or herself up.
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