Ken Shamrock made a name for himself as The World’s Most Dangerous Man. Still, there is one emerging form of combat sports that he won’t touch.
Power Slap is a thing now, a show where men slap each other and take turns until one man cannot take the abuse anymore. It’s been around for years, but Dana White’s association in the “sport” brought a new wave of focus on the idea.
While speaking to Wrestling News, Ken Shamrock made his point very clear about Power Slap. He wouldn’t touch the “sport” with any length of pole, in fact, he wants nothing to do with it.
“You know, I can’t control that. All I can do is basically do what I want to do. And you know, even from the beginning, in the very beginning days with me, it’s always been about competitiveness, it’s always been about honor integrity. And I’ve always lived that way. I’ve always thought that way. I’ve always trained people that way. And so for me, it’s about focusing on something positive. And, you know, we got a lot of heat for, for Bare Knuckle (Fighting) in the beginning, because people were saying, ‘Oh, that’s so brutal and barbaric.’ And it’s like, but, and even in the UFC, when we first started doing it back in the beginning days, we got the same heat, you know, back in 93, where people were saying ‘aww that’s barbaric.’ Because they didn’t understand how much it took to get in there and train and the technical stuff that it took to be good at it at a very high level.
So, I think that would Bare Knuckle coming out it’s that same thing, where people are not understanding how technical it is to go in there and fight Bare Knuckle because you have to be more accurate than you would if you had a glove on it. So therefore, you have to be more professional and be able to be a little bit more accurate with your striking because you break your hands. So to me, that’s kind of my focus is being able to get people educated to what it is. As far as slap boxing, that’s not even in my vision, man. That’s not something I’m looking at. Not something I want to look at. I don’t understand it. But if people are watching it, obviously people want to make money and put business together and if it’s working, God bless them, whatever. But that’s something I won’t touch.
“Our media, when they see all these bad things happening with police officers or with teachers, or whatever it is they’re showing, and even though it’s bad, they get the most ratings because it’s bad, even though it’s something that’s not good, right? And everybody knows it. But it just seems like that’s what sells. That’s what people look at. Unfortunately, I don’t know about the slap boxing thing. I don’t understand it and don’t understand as a fighter, you know, I don’t understand standing there and letting somebody hit you. I understand being hit, but it’s only because somebody had to earn it, not standing there and let somebody do it. So, you know, I don’t understand it. But it seems to be doing whatever it’s doing. I’m not paying attention to it. And it’s not in my vision. My vision is Bare Knuckle and trying to bring a sport out there that people can enjoy and something that I’m accustomed to.”
Power Slap is a big tough to watch for some fans, and that might be why they are finding a new television home. Obviously, there is a market to watch grown men slap concussions into each other’s brains, but Ken Shamrock isn’t all about that at all.
What’s your take on Power Slap? Is it the future of combat sports? Sound off in the comments!