A Night On the Town

Myles, Scott, McKay, and Christina (from Taldykorgan) were in Kokshetau for one last time before they leave for America for good. They wanted to go to a disco, so we headed for the Kokshetau favorite, Jyldyz. When we got there, we were delighted to discover that not only was the cover lower than usual, that night there was to be no-holds-barred fighting! Indeed, in the middle of the dance floor they had set up a makeshift ring with mats and ropes, and we watched three fights - light, middle, and heavyweight. Each fight was five three-minute rounds. Other than boxing gloves, the contestants wore no protective gear, not even mouthguards, although all sorts of blows, like punching the back of the head, kicking anywhere, and elbows to the kidneys were legal. Wrestling was allowed, and at one point when one contestant had the other in an arm bar, the emcee gleefully announced, "he has the right to break his arm!"

The audience was mostly made-up young women who were obviously there expecting a night of dancing and not of MMA

fighting, but there were an assortment of middle-aged men in the balconies who shouted things like "joshe"! (more

cruelly!) and "lamai nogu!" (break his leg!).

And if that wasn't enough, in between fights there was striptease!

And if that wasn't enough, the emcee at one point between fights pulled Christina and a Kazakh girl, who was teetering on high heels on the soft mats, into the ring, and had some kind of contest where they had to make believe they were sizing each other up and posturing as if before a fight. The Kazakh girl got a little pushy, and Christna knocked her down, which earned our table a free bottle of vodka courtesy of the establishment.

After it was all over, they cleared out the ring, and it reverted back to your everyday disco. Which goes to show that you never know what you'll get from a night on the town in Kazakhstan.