Fight Sports in America

Christopher David Thrasher is a professor of history at Calhoun College in Decatur, Alabama, USA and the author of several scholarly articles on the history of fight sports. He lives in Huntsville, Alabama.

Table of Contents


Acknowledgments vi

Preface 1

Introduction: Global Fight Sports from Prehistory to 1607 13

I. “To Cut Out the Tongue or Pull Out the Eyes”: Fight Sports in the Americas, 1607–1810 29

II. “A Boxing We Will Go”: Boxing Takes Root in the United States, 1810–1915 49

III. “With the Energy of a ­Trip-Hammer and the Vehemence of a Sioux”: Asian Martial Arts Come to the United States, 1850–1941 99

IV. “We Live in Our Heroes”: Boxing Reigns Supreme in the United States, 1915–1941 140

V. “Everybody Was Kung Fu Fighting”: Asian Martial Arts Gain Unprecedented Popularity in the United States, 1941–1981 166

VI. “We Shall Not Stand by Helplessly”: The Birth of Mixed Martial Arts, 1981 to the Present 198

Chapter Notes 237

Bibliography 280

Index 290