The cliché is that MMA is as much a team sport as it is in individual one, but so is Street Fighter. Spending hours perfecting link timing in Street Fighter with friends, only to have to compete against them in a tournament would be soul destroying. They know your plan of attack, hell they probably helped devise your plan’s B and C as well. The playing field is level however, as you have repaid the favor and have honed their skills as well, acting as a whetstone to their steel. An individual competition, yes but neither of you would be there if it wasn’t for each other. Unfortunately I’ve never received that kind of brotherhood from playing Street Fighter. All my friends prefer to grind me into dirt while I repeatedly bash out the same one move with E. Honda. Beating them would be sweet, sweet victory, I would have to fight the urge to rub it in their stupid faces and… Sorry got carried away there.
Self-deprecating jests relating to my inability to play video games aside, fighting your friend in Street Fighter is totally different to fighting your friend for real, in say M-1 Ukraine. Wanting to beat the crap out of your opponent while also hoping they don’t get hurt is a fair juxtaposition but one that both men in the video below faced. As you’ll see, the victor is much more professional than I could ever hope to be.
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