I know it sounds counter-intuitive, but fighting through martial arts is often a great tool for bringing people together. It teaches its practitioners about discipline and respect and there have been many tournaments over the years where martial artists from different backgrounds have met and competed and left with a better understanding of each other.
This is not one of those tournaments.
Things got crazy during a European Championship Kung Fu competition for kids after 12-year-old Armenian David Petrosyan was attacked after the bell by his Azerbaijan opponent. Tensions between Armenians and Azerbaijani have been high after a four-day war for control of the neighboring Nagorno-Karabakh Republic was fought in April this year.
It was the worst flare-up of violence between the two countries since 1994 and depending on whose statistics you believe, between 100 and 300 soldiers and dozens of civilians died during the conflicts. That may explain why this incident of bad sportsmanship exploded into a full on riot involving multiple people from both countries. After the brawl was contained, the team from Azerbaijan was disqualified from the tournament for inappropriate behavior.
While this is just another sign that relations between Azerbaijan and Armenia are terrible, at least their issues only played out in a ring instead of a battlefield this time.
(Via Bloody Elbow)