’

Page 16, March 28, 1979 - North Shore News

um-fast aoe of tag.

Lo a

New.

ciate

-_ territorial- gain’. and real ‘or

-

yf the -

society,
ae to emphasize warlike ©

research in. ‘this
or at least his

* Sipest
field,

published findings in The

American . -Anthropologist,
aré now a year.old.-But in

‘view -of.. ‘that : outburst of

‘studied. goonery in a junior
hockey game at New
| Westminster last week, his
“: conclusions should be more
__, than passing interest today.
oe The New Westminster
Bruins’ bully boy’ style’ of

3 “Royal: City’ all through the
"1970's. People there really
“seem t to identify with it. So,

he’ says, ‘and. it’s - societies;

‘sufficient
. Among

“warlike societies.
them, the Thais, Tibetans

topot provides a
alve for aggression.

eally. ‘fact. or just an oft: |
parroted assumption. -

" \"Hle' Selected a “stratified .
random example” of 20

10.

peaceful societies: He had to
sift through data on more
than 130 societies, past and
present, before finding

eaceful :
for- --shis > studies:
them :were the.
Hutterites, the Lapps and !
the Copper Eskimos.

No problem

didates

finding
Among

and ancient Aztecs. Of the

10 warlike societies, Sipes

found that all but one had
aggressive, combative sports

.involving body contact,

‘decided to look into
matter to séeyif it was’

‘10 that he con-”.
_ | sidered: “warlike. ‘and
- -peaceful. He. reports he had
‘a hell of a time finding 10

cans

“ “For: ‘warlike examples: -

“The Timbira, an.

“ageressive primitive central

Brazilian. society, play a
‘game in-which young men
-take . turns’ dodging arrows
- Shot by ‘Opponents. 7

"The: Aztecs hada ‘favorite
game played: on a high-
walled stone court. ‘It in-
volved tossing a ball through
a hoop made of vertical

=Stones hung on a wall. It was _

rugged. The players dressed
themselves with leather hip

, Protectors, girdles and
* gloves.’
The. warlike Thais

“compete in a special boat

race where the object of the.
exercise is to ram an op-
ponent’s boat and try to sink
it. They. also have raised
boxing to ‘a more violent
pastime by permitting
kicking, as well as punching.

4

: “10: peaceful
~Societiés he studies;.only' two |
had. combative. ‘sports... ‘And: «

bo

: They: also- have ‘a game
_ Called .tipcat, played -with. a
small ‘stick and a large stick.

The small stick is placed ona °

' rock and flipped into the air
by ‘the. large: stick, ‘Not too
interesting: or. exciting. But
‘peaceful. -

‘Sipes’ findings ‘go against
the common view

‘released. . The °
~ wasting an enemy- village, or
the, . middle. linebacker,
cutting ‘down a_ halfback.
‘running with. the ball, are
both responding | toa killer
instinct.

4

Asa result, there has been 7

‘a persistant hope, ever since,
the. days. of ‘the ‘ancient
Greeks, that..this instinct
might be channeled away
from:the battlefield and onto
the playing field.

His findings are. that hope .

and fact: are two different
matters... He cross-checked
his results by focusing on his
own country, the United
States, in a second study. He

.reasoned that if sports satisfy

some inborn, ingressive
drive on the part of athletes

+ and spectators, then the

level of sports activity should

‘drop in time of war.
Presumably, those drives
would be satisfied on the
battlefield.

He concentrated on the
potential spectators or
participants in football and

calories
_ and 5O¢lighter

in price:
just *4.35 dozen

Trilight. Nobo
"brews it Rene

that |
‘aggression is an inborn drive. .
in humans. ‘which must be.
‘popular ©
- reasoning is that a soldier,

“hunting, during
war (World War I, Korea

and Vietnam). He found the _

. devel ‘of. activity did ‘not: fall.

An fact it.rose. He believes 7

“his findings challenge the
idea that. sports might

war.

What emerges, then, is.a
picture of sports as ‘clearly a

cultural. pastime. Aggression -
is molded in the culture, not |
passed on in the:‘games. The ~
individual athlete .may get.
his aggressive kicks. out of |.
BEress! nt. then: ‘how: ‘does’; one: explain a

laying a violent sport. But.> -;
ale Pe the’ continuing violence in + ’

is not.

in doing: so he
responding: to some inborn,
primal need. He ‘is_ the

periods of |

' provide an™ alternative to -

product of the culture in

which he is brought up:

Sipes points to. himself as.

an example. A_ registered
gunsmith and a member of
the Natinal ,
Association, he says: “I’ve
always been an aggressive

person myself, but it wasn’t

inborn. I learned it.”

If you go along with the
- Sipes conclusions, there are
some h
there in the toyland of sport.
The ‘racquet sports, in which

there is no body contact, are - f

Wow! It’s ski season
and you can't zeait to hit
the slopes! Hey, what's
this? Last year’s ski gear
fits you about as well as
your 1976. cast-offs fit
little sister. Gross.

You should have listened
to mom—she offered to
take you both to

SHYLINE
SPORTS

FOR THE GAMES PEQPLE PLAY

119 West 16th St.

North Vancouver, B.C.

(Just off Lonsdale)

985-9161

Open until 9 p.m., Thurs. & Fri,

“Rifle.

rtening signs out ..

warlike | and .

“ae all this n means s that North
Americans - are : becoming \
less warlike and. aggressive, -

hockey? Actually, ‘there’s no...
need to explain it. Juist'check ~
the registrations at ‘the child
and’ youth levels; They've
been shrinking - for. the’ last

five of six years, despite. .-
growing: .

Canada’s.
population.

A reflection of - ‘a’ less.

Canadian’ culture? Could be..

| reer You ame |

Skyline Sports. But you
couldn't be bothered.

Now all your friends are
wearing Skyline’s super new
vests, matching wind shirts
and the very latest in
stretch-pants. It's off to
Skyline for yqu...mom
really does know best!

aggressive - |