Roman Athletics Fights Sweep Soochow Campus with Fun

As the fencing-style fun contest ”Roman Athletics Fights” initiated by the hosts of the YouTube Channel “I Got All Day” has gone viral in most universities in Taiwan, Soochow students also kept up with the trend and competed for a championship at Waishuangsi Campus on May 27^th, 2020. A large crowd of spectators packed the school’s public square, overwhelming the first and the second floors of the building.

The competition was organized by a freshman student from the Department of Economics Yao-Ming Chuang, who was responsible for all the arrangements for venues, sound effects, referees and scorekeepers. To ensure procedural fairness, the whole activity had been broadcast live to public audience.

The only equipment required for the game is an empty plastic bottle, with which the participants could hit slightly on their rivals to get points: one point with a strike on the opponent’s arm or hand, 2 points on the front torso, and 3 points on the back. Ultimately, the one reaching 10 points first wins the match.

To pull off a victory, the contestants performed diversified tricks, including sneak attack from behind, wacky attack accompanied by animation soundtrack for more dramatic effects, and dazzling moves mocking the sword fights in popular Japanese animations. Some students said they love the game for the surprising contrast of this amusing contest held in a serious way.

Tzu-Wei Chiu, a freshman from the Department of Politics, stood out from the contestants as Soochow’s champion, winning a spot in the national finals of Roman Athletics Fights to contend against representatives from 64 universities. Chiu shared his key to success: Saving the hit targeting the opponent’s back for the last to end the match because such an attack would give opponents a better chance to hit your front torso if used too early.