THE HANDS ON SPORT

In the pantheon of African sports, where football reigns supreme, rugby commands fierce loyalty, and athletics showcase raw talent, a new contender is emerging from the shadows-slap fighting, a visceral, no-frills combat sport where opponents take turns delivering open-handed blows to each other’s faces.

- By Paula Slier

SLAP FIGHTING IS A RAW, VISCERAL, LITTLE-KNOWN COMBAT SPORT GAINING MOMENTUM AND FOLLOWERS ACROSS SOUTH AFRICA. IT'S NOT FOR THE FAINT-HEARTED THOUGH, UNDERSCORING THE NEED FOR GREATER REGULATION, EVEN AS PROPONENTS ARE TRYING HARD TO FORMALIZE THE SPORT.

It’s fast carving out a space in Africa’s diverse sporting landscape. What began as a niche spectacle, propelled by viral videos and grassroots enthusiasm, is now gaining traction with South Africa leading the charge and whispers of interest echoing from Nigeria to Kenya.

The sport’s introduction to Africa coincided with a post-Covid pandemic hunger for powerful entertainment, and local organizers seized the moment.

Founder and CEO of Ultimate Slap Fight South Africa, Bobby ‘The Punisher’ Krisch, discovered the sport while scrolling online. “In 2020, when we had the first lockdown, my son introduced me to YouTube, and I started looking at all these slap fights. I just fell in love with the sport. I had a bag at the back of my house and every day I would walk past it and slap it. The first time, I hurt myself, so I left it for two weeks. But there was nothing to do and when I went back to the bag and started hitting it again, I thought, ‘flip man, I can do this.’”

Slap fighting’s origins are often traced to Eastern Europe, particularly Russia, where videos of burly men slapping each other senseless went viral a decade before Krisch discovered the sport. It gained further prominence in the United States through promotions like Power Slap, led by Ultimate Fighting Championship president, Dana White, and Slap FIGHT Championship, which formalized rules and attracted millions of online viewers.

By 2022, the sport had crossed oceans, and the South African Slap Fighting Association (SASFA) emerged as a pioneer, hosting its first events that year, while independent organizers like Krisch launched Punisher Slap Fighting.