The Rules of Fight club
- Fight Club Rule 1 | You don’t talk about fight club.
- Fight Club Rule 2 | YOU DO NOT TALK ABOUT FIGHT CLUB.
- Fight Club Rule 3 | Someone yells stop, goes limp, taps out, the fight is over.
- Fight Club Rule 4 | Only two guys to a fight.
- Fight Club Rule 5 | One Fight at a time.
- Fight Club Rule 6 | No Shirts, No shoes.
- Fight Club Rule 7 | Fights will go on as long as they have to.
- Fight Club Rule 8 | If this is your first night at fight club, you have to fight.
The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation.Henry David Thoreau
Oregon author Chuck Palahniuk wrote Fight Club in 1996. In 1999, Fight Club the movie released worldwide, and became an even bigger hit than the book thanks to the directing style of David Fincher. Fight club became a hit once it released on DVD and syndicated television.
Who is Tyler Durden?
Tyler Durden is a masculine icon. He has no attachments to society, no job–he’s a soap entrepreneur, he doesn’t care where he lives, he’s dripping with style even though he doesn’t have nice clothing, he’s stoic, he seems to not feel pain, he has a mission he doesn’t talk about, he’s shredded, and most importantly, he is a leader of men who are desperately seeking meaning that cannot be found in the menial existence of corporate America.
To the men of Fight Club, Tyler Durden is a messiah. A God that gives meaning to the desperation arisen from a commercialized world devoid of meaning, pride, or authenticity. He doesn’t care what people think about him, just like a God.
People are conditioned by corporations partnered with government entities to based your identity based on what is on the outside. This creates a society based on inauthenticity and reinforces the need to constantly give our time to corporations so we can buy things we don’t need to impress people we don’t like.
- You are not your job
- You are not how much money you have in the bank
- You are not the car you drive
- You are not the contents of your wallet
- You are not you’re fucking khaki’s
This is how corporate entities want you to identify. There is no concept of living philosophically to your own values; instead you are conditioned to align with an operating system, a car brand, a football team, a beer brand, all so these entities can take money away from you so you can continue to work from them.
Fight Club Rule 1 | You don’t talk about fight club
Do not talk about what you are doing or planning. Your words can always be used against you, and you cannot tell who is plotting against you, or who may use your words as a scapegoat to avoid trouble. It is better to stay quiet and focus on the path than discuss the path with someone who is not walking near you.
Only speak openly with those who are on the same path as you, like an ally, or a spouse. You need to verify allegiance through consistent action; words mean nothing.
People who talk too much have little value in their words. Their word is common. Often people will talk about what they aren’t, like when men brag about how badass they are; you know the men who do this are not what they say.
Fight Club Rule 2 | YOU DO NOT TALK ABOUT FIGHT CLUB
Durden said you do not talk about Fight Club, yet men did and the club grew. Tyler wanted them to understand that they can break rules imposed on them by any authority figure. Tyler Durden is the master of fight club. There are masters in society who control us because we tolerate and accept their rules because we depend on their things that we don’t need. Tyler wanted his followers to break the rules of Fight Club, which lead to project MAYHEM, which broke the rules of society.
Fight Club Rule 3 | Someone yells stop, goes limp, taps out, the fight is over.
Controlled chaos. Managed chaos is a method for growth and development, but it requires trust with all parties, even if the only party is the self.
The methods used for training are what become used in exhibition. If you have no training, you will act instinctually which is usually detrimental because our instincts have not adjusted to the modern world.
Training and exhibition occur on all paths. With training, you need to have the control to stop before a decisive conclusion. You need to be able to pull back when you see the opportunity to take-advantage of an ally. This is the difference between training and exhibition–whether or not you use the leverage you have built to get the desired result.
Fight Club Rule 4 | Only two guys to a fight
You focus on one major event at a time, keeping your attention focused on one thing.
At times, you will be a participant, and other times an audience member.
Fight Club Rule 5 | One Fight at a time
You cannot do everything you want; but you can pick something and do that. Have one fight at a time; walk one path at a time. You cannot solve multiple problems at the same time, but you can solve one, than another, than the next.
If you don’t have something to fight, a conflict to overcome, you are not living authentic to the human experience which is lived through conflict.
Fight Club Rule 6 | No Shirts, No shoes
Be aware of the differences between needs and wants. Be adequately prepared for the conflict and do not take extras as they will slow you down.
Having less can give you more.” The things you own end up owning you”. The less you have the more free you are. But freedom from all is not the objective; you want to be free from powers that attempt to take you off the path. Devotion to the path, friends, family, art,
Tyler wanted the followers of project mayhem to be stripped of all of their attachments so they could be further devoted to their shared mission, a vision from their leader. He wanted to give those without meaning a sense of purpose which is what all humans need at a core level.
Outside of fight club, Tyler’s followers are what they pretend to be: Accountants, gas station attendants, artists. In Fight Club, they just are.
Fight Club Rule 7 | Fights will go on as long as they have to.
It takes as long as it has to take. Being in the moment without expectations for the future frees you from desiring what is outside of you, understanding that everything you need is inside of you.
Goals take as long as they take, the path is as long as it is. The point is the journey, not the end; there is no such thing as the end to the wanderer who seeks to spend his life on the path. Rewards on the path can lure you off the path. Meaning comes from the act of being and doing; not talking.
It takes as long as it takes.
Fight Club Rule 8 | If this is your first night at fight club, you have to fight.
Start now. You need to be in the arena if you want to be a fighter, like you need to do anything to be what you want to be. An individual who desires to be a chief has to cook; another who wants to be a fighter has to train and follow the path of a fighter, their path, which will be different than other fighters but similar in some ways too.
Unmanaged emotions will cause you to hesitate and keep you off the path. Sometimes you have to jump to get started on the path. The longer you wait to begin, the farther the path gets away from you, and the less time you have with the path once, and if you eventually decide to follow it.
The focus of our mortal lives must be mastery, and every master decided to take the first step down the path.
Tyler Durden required Fight Club members to fight on the first night so they could immediately begin walking down the path to salvation. If you want to be part of something, you need to contribute and your contributions will be painful, but the path is always worth it because it is who we are.
4 comments
I do not agree with some of these interpretations, or at least I suggest alternative interpretations:
A Fight Club is a private club with exclusive membership and it also parallels a secret society.
1 and 2 – Like a secret society what goes on inside is, usually, prohibited to be known to non-members, including the order and events of the meeting agenda, information shared among members, and the identity of members. Reinforcing this rule (as #2) can also remind the members that this club does things which many others may not like, understand, agree with, or could have laws against, we don’t believe it wise to share this with just anyone.
6 – This is a dress code or uniform. Some secret fraternal lodges wear robes. The robes not only have symbolic significance but they also conceal one’s identity. A member has the same status as another member; they are brothers. Who you are outside the lodge may be very diverse, you may be rivals, of different class, prestige, rank, ideological disposition, religion, and so on – Inside the lodge (you are a different person) we are all brothers.
7 – “It takes as long as it takes” is simply a variable replacement of the Law of Identity: A = A. Tyler probably had the foresight that some fights would take a long time and eager psyched-up rowdy men would want to get fighting and their impatience would be hard to control if not impossible. Everyone who wants a turn will have a turn and no one is given a special privilege.
Interesting interpretation.
This article has got me so freaking pumped up this could be like a really good motivational concept to apply to ones own life.
That is the goal. Glad you found something useful in it.