Fight Church
Directed by Bryan Storkel & Daniel Junge
Do you love Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) fighting? Do you also love God, and believe that He approves of MMA fighting?
Calmly and gently stacking the deck, this documentary directed by Bryan Storkel and Daniel Junge and produced by Eben Kostbar follows multiple pastors who are also current or past MMA fighters. Each of the men is shown to be kind, loving, and spiritual before they go into a cage and endeavor to beat the living daylights out of an opponent. (Or cheer on a fighter they've trained.) Before and after a match, they pray to God that no permanent damage be inflicted, and they are always ready to give credit for a victory to God.
The men are pastors at modern ministries in different parts of the country. Their beliefs and activities, including training fighters, are contrasted with the stern traditional beliefs espoused by Father Duffell, a Roman Catholic priest in New York City, who is dismayed that anyone would think that God approves of MMA fighting.
After apparently placing all their cards on the table, however, directors Storkel and Junge pull out another deck and begins shuffling. More words of dissent are heard from the priest and from New York assemblyman Bob Reilly, speaking against the legalization of professional MMA fighting in the only state where it's still against the law.
And other notes of caution are expressed. One pastor scoffs, 'Oh, we don't have very many injuries,' while in a separate interview his wife says that her husband has already suffered 10 concussions. In Houston, Texas, a former MMA fighter has become conflicted; now working as a martial arts instructor after years away from the cage, it has become more difficult for him to reconcile his religious beliefs with MMA fighting and training. The more extreme side of another pastor/fighter is revealed; he brings a gun to his church and is teaching his young sons to shoot. He also speaks fondly about the Crusades and says that he has modeled his church on what he views as their "liberating" views. Asked how he would respond if someone 'got in his face and disrespected him' verbally, the pastor says plainly that he will 'put them in their place.'
Ultimately, Fight Church allows the viewer to draw their own conclusions, presenting as much evidence as possible about the intersection of Western religions and MMA fighting.
Screens Sunday, June 22, at 3:30 p.m. at Bishop Arts Theater Center. More information here.