History is filled with examples of powerful people and nations settling their differences through warfare. But sometimes, instead of guns and tanks, victory is reached through fruits and veggies. These lesser-known battles, debates, festivals, and contests have all revolved around the throwing of food.

10 Corn Diplomacy

Nikita Khrushchev, the Soviet leader who spearheaded the Cuban Missile Crisis, really loved corn. He made it his mission to plant corn across Siberia and even established a corn institute in Ukraine.

To learn more about the corn belt in America’s Midwest, Krushchev’s agricultural staff visited the farm of Roswell Garst, a farmer who was interested in bringing his hybrid corn seeds to the Soviet market.

The staff took interest, and Garst traveled to the USSR to meet with more Soviet officials. In 1959, Khrushchev visited the US and returned the courtesy by going to Garst’s farm.

Of course, the visiting Soviet premier attracted lots of media attention, which Garst didn’t appreciate on his property. So he took the mature route and threw husks of hybrid corn at reporters and photographers. Khrushchev was heartily amused.

However, corn diplomacy didn’t work out as Khrushchev had hoped. The Siberian steppes weren’t as fertile as Iowa, and Soviet farmers weren’t adept with Garst’s methods. In Khrushchev’s own words: “Corn was discredited, and so was I.”

9 Taiwanese Lawmaking

In recent years, US citizens have lost confidence in Congress, whose members seem to do little except argue and achieve gridlock. In March 2016, approval ratings for Congress dropped to a mere 13 percent. But American citizens might disapprove even more of the Legislative Yuan, Taiwan’s congress.

The Legislative Yuan has a history of using more than words in their floor debates. The video above shows one instance of an all-out floor fight which came from a disagreement about a trade pact with China.

This type of behavior is commonplace in the Legislative Yuan. In fact, this legislative body is so well-known for its brawls that it was awarded the Ig Nobel Peace Prize, a satirical version of the Nobel Prize.

Despite this record of violence, only one food fight has occurred so far—when the legislature was debating arms sales in October 2004. It isn’t clear who started the fight, but the Legislative Yuan engaged in hurling their lunches for a few minutes. After the fight, Chu Fong-chi, a member of the opposition party, reportedly yelled, “My whole body smells like a lunch box!”

8 Tootsie Rolls

This isn’t so much a food fight as a serious fight that became centered on food during the Korean War. In winter 1950, US Marines and UN allied forces found themselves cornered in the bitter cold of the Chosin Reservoir. They were massively outnumbered by over 100,000 Chinese troops.

The Americans were short on supplies, so they radioed for ammunition. The code word for 60 mm mortars was “Tootsie Rolls.” In a seeming disaster, the radio operator misunderstood the request. Actual Tootsie Rolls from supply bases in Japan were airlifted to the struggling troops.

However, the Tootsies proved to be immensely useful. Marines thawed the candies in their armpits, sucked on them for nourishment, and used the sticky remainders to plug holes in their equipment.

Fighting their way to the sea against the enemy Chinese, the Chosin soldiers moved along 130 kilometers (80 mi) of narrow road, dropping thousands of Tootsie Roll wrappers in the North Korean snow on the way.

They sustained heavy losses—3,000 out of 15,000 troops were killed in action and thousands more were wounded—but they made it. Many credited their survival to the Tootsie Rolls.

7 Cod Wars

Britain has a proud history of getting violently involved in everybody’s business. British troops have invaded, controlled, or fought in almost 90 percent of UN member states. So it should come as no surprise that the Royal Navy was dispatched in a fight over fish.

To be fair, the British were provoked. Iceland, with few natural resources on its mainland, depends heavily on the fishing industry. In fact, fishing accounts for at least 12 percent of the Icelandic GDP.

So when Iceland gained its independence in 1944, it decided to help out the fishers by extending its territorial boundary from 5 kilometers (3 mi) to 6 kilometers (4 mi). As the UK is about 1,300 kilometers (800 mi) from Iceland, this wasn’t a problem. Right?

Wrong.

Britain brought the 2-kilometer (1 mi) extension to the International Court of Justice and was forced to concede. Following this, Iceland began slowly expanding its fishing zone, eventually reaching the current radius of 320 kilometers (200 mi). The British fought every extension, leading to three Cod Wars between 1958 and 1976.

Thankfully, both irate nations managed to keep the violence to a minimum. Throughout the long stretch of diplomatic strife and naval presence, each side suffered only a single casualty. Britain was eventually forced diplomatically to allow Iceland to expand its boundaries.

6 La Tomatina

From the country that stages the Running of the Bulls, Spain gives us La Tomatina, another hard-to-understand tradition. As part of an annual festival in Bunol, Spain, thousands of people gather on the streets for a massive tomato fight on the last Wednesday of every August.

The tradition began in 1945, although it’s uncertain exactly how it started. Some sources cite an accidental tomato fight between two young boys that grew into a town-wide event. Others claim that it began when citizens angrily threw tomatoes at politicians.

However it began, La Tomatina has grown into a shockingly large event. Almost 145,000 kilograms (320,000 lb) of tomatoes were thrown at the 2015 festival. As a whole, the week-long festival attracts about 40,000 visitors—temporarily quadrupling Bunol’s population—with 22,000 tickets to the tomato fight sold in 2015.

After the hour-long frenzy, the streets are caked with tomato paste, so fire trucks hose them down. Participants are responsible for their own cleanup, with many wearing goggles and swimsuits to the event to aid this process.

5 Greek Yogurt

In America, Greek yogurt is a healthy breakfast fad. In Greece, it’s a symbol of political resistance.

In the 1950s, a male subculture known as the “Teddy Boys” initiated the practice of yaourtama, which is throwing yogurt at a disliked person. Authorities weren’t a fan of the practice, and Law 4000 was passed in 1958 to deal with it.

Law 4000 enacted a strange punishment for youths who threw yogurt at others. They were given buzz-cuts, had their shorts torn, and then were paraded through the streets. Since the Teddy Boys prided themselves on their fashionable style, this was supposed to be an effective deterrent.

Although Law 4000 did reduce instances of yaourtama, it was repealed in 1983 when throwing yogurt was no longer an issue. But during recent protests over austerity measures in Greece, the practice has seen a resurgence.

For example, the BBC reported that protesters threw yogurt and stones outside the Greek Parliament building during a general strike in 2011. In the video above, a Greek newscaster is pelted with eggs and yogurt while interviewing a politician. More recently, an old man approached PASOK leader Evangelos Venizelos, complained about pension cuts, and threw a yogurt at him.

Reactions among politicians have been mixed. Some are understandably upset by the practice, but some find it reasonable. Former Deputy Minister of Regional Development Sokratis Xindis once said, “The time has come for all of us to pay the price. I am ready to be thrown a yogurt.”

4 Battle Of The Oranges

In the Italian city of Ivrea, a mass of people comes together every year to celebrate a festival based on a centuries-old legend.

According to the story, a 12th-century tyrant exercised the right of jus primae noctis—the apocryphal right of feudal lords to spend the night with a bride before her wedding—on Violetta, the miller’s daughter. Violetta took the opportunity to behead the lord, an action which incited a popular revolt and the destruction of the castle.

Today, this story is celebrated every February with the Battle of the Oranges. Unlike most food fights, it’s actually a highly organized ritual. Every year, a young girl is elected to play the role of Violetta, and a procession on Saturday evening honors her.

The next day at 2:00 PM, armored men in horse-drawn carts represent the tyrant’s despised soldiers, and about 4,000 belligerents from various teams begin hurling oranges at one another.

The fight lasts an impressive three days, ending on the Tuesday of Mardi Gras. After the battle, judges present awards to the best teams. To conclude the ceremony, Violetta watches over the burning of the scarlo, a pole covered in bushes. A scarlo that burns quickly is said to be good luck for the coming year.

3 Flour War

The French Revolution is often seen as a peasant’s revolt against the greedy, incompetent Louis XVI. However, Louis was inciting uproar long before the revolution of 1789.

After his accession in 1774, he appointed Anne Robert Jacques Turgot as controller-general of finances. Turgot was a conservative economist. His first message to the king was “no bankruptcy, no increase of taxation, no borrowing.”

Unfortunately, France wasn’t ready for his policies. Turgot decided to reduce government control by leaving grain prices to the free market. This choice came during a low grain harvest, so prices spiked dramatically. To make matters worse, Turgot had also sold the king’s reserve grain supply for cash.

The issue came to a head on April 27, 1775. The previous market had sold wheat and rye at disappointingly high prices. But after more supplies arrived, consumers were expecting that price to drop.

So when the price increased by over 20 percent, they dunked the merchant in a fountain and slashed prices themselves. This incited over 300 riots for three weeks, which became known as the Flour War.

2 Punkin Chunkin

The World Championship Punkin Chunkin almost certainly has the greatest concentration of firepower in a food fight. In the annual competition, teams compete to send pumpkins flying the longest distances.

Over 100 pumpkin-hurling machines are registered in numerous categories. The air cannons, which launch pumpkins through long, narrow metal tubes using pressurized air, typically achieve the best results. The current record for an air cannon is 1.43 kilometers (0.89 mi).

American Chunker Inc., the team that achieved that record, is one of the most accomplished groups in the Punkin Chunkin world. The team consists of experts ranging from mechanical engineers to a horticulturist who specializes in pumpkins. Their winning shot, fired from a cannon over 30 meters (100 ft) long, brought a pumpkin to supersonic speed.

Apart from air cannons, most of the devices are based on medieval principles. Some teams build catapults, which reach impressive distances of almost 900 meters (3,000 ft). Others have centrifugal machines, which rotate and release pumpkins like discus throwers.

Perhaps the most exciting teams are those with human-powered machines, which require a person to load energy. One team accomplished this by putting an unlucky member on a hamster wheel for “two minutes of torture.”

1 Pea Shooting

Cambridgeshire is home to possibly the classiest food fight in the world. Nobody is hit with any food, and no food is splattered. Participants wait in line and take turns throwing their edibles. They aim at clay targets with carefully demarcated rings. The projectiles?

Green peas.

Every year since 1971, people have gathered to participate in the World Pea Shooting Championships. While children do participate, the main competition is among serious adults.

The only rules are that the gun must be 30 centimeters (12 in) and the pea must be fired 4 meters (12 ft) from the target. So there are plenty of opportunities for creativity. Some contestants arrive with laser-guided devices, which has caused controversy among those who opt for more traditional methods.

Since pea shooting is a relatively recent phenomenon, the group of champions is small. The most well-known is Emma Watson, who won the Ladies’ Championship in 2011 and was runner-up in 2013.

Although Miss Watson has wisely stuck to her day job, some competitors take a year-round interest. Ian Ashmeade, the 40th and 41st world champion, published a book on the sport following the 2011 contest. Unfortunately, one of the chapters was titled “How I will be 1st in 2012, the 42nd World Championship”—a wish that did not come true for him.

“Food fight!” is a call which has echoed through many school playgrounds and dining halls throughout history. However, this seemingly childish waste of food is not restricted to juveniles.

In many cultures around the world, a food fight has been part of end-of-harvest traditions and a fun way to dispose of inedible food. Other events have drawn on early 20th century comedians to develop food throwing contests in the name of charity. Whether they are traditional rituals or just very messy fun, here are ten food fights you can join in on your travels around the world.

10 Haro Wine Festival
Spain

Residents in the Spanish town of Haro in the La Rioja region, which is known for its wine, have an usual way of showing their thanks for the plentiful grape crops. At the festival of Saint Peter in June each year, they don’t just drink the region’s produce; they throw around 70,000 liters (18,500 gal) of red wine at each other. Festivalgoers must wear white, with a red sash. Armed with water pistols and buckets, they spend an hour dousing each other in the region’s famous wine.^[1]

The Haro Wine Festival covers two days, but for an hour or two on the second day, thousands of people converge on the town for the famous Batalla del Vino (Wine Battle). The wine fight dates back to the sixth century and a dispute over town boundaries with neighboring villages. The battle continues until the wine kegs are empty, and everyone is drenched in red wine.

9 Battle Of The Oranges
Italy

Hurling oranges at people is part of the Carnival of Ivrea, which is held in the eponymous Italian town.

While there are many Italian festivals which involve throwing food at one another, the orange fight is the largest food fight in Italy. Tons of oranges are thrown during the reenactment of the town’s liberation from a medieval tyrant, Marquis William VII of Montferrat. Teams of aranceri (orange throwers) parade through the streets, both on foot and in carts, representing the villagers of the past throwing stones at the tyrant’s troops.^[2]

If you don’t want to don protective gear and get involved in the event, make sure to wear a specially marked spectator’s hat to avoid getting hit by fast-flying citrus.

8 Grape Throwing
Mallorca

A massive grape battle is part of Binissalem’s two-week La Festa des Vermar, a grape harvest festival. Once the grapes are harvested, the Mallorca town becomes a full-on party zone. The grape battle originated from villagers gathering the grapes which had gone bad and throwing them at each other for a bit of fun.

A rocket is fired in the town square, signaling the beginning of the grape war, with competitors filling their hands with as many mini-missiles as possible to hurl at their opponents.^[3] The battle continues until the square is a sticky mess, everyone is covered in grape pelt, and not a single unused grape remains on the ground.

7 La Tomatina
Spain

Throwing a rotten tomato at someone is never seen as a friendly gesture. However in Bunol in Valencia, that is exactly what the villagers do at the end of each August.

The tomato fight began not as part of a harvest festival as with other food fights but after a tussle over a position in a parade in 1945. Some young boys decided they wanted to be part of the parade. Their actions led to another participant falling over. This man flew into a rage and started throwing punches. This snowballed into people pelting each other with fruit, and the fun continues today as the biggest organized food fight in the world.

The event was banned for many years, but tourists today flock to the town for the tomato fight. Around 120 metric tons of overripe red tomatoes, which would otherwise have been dumped, are trucked into the festival area. Everyone attempts to gather up as many tomatoes as possible to hurl at other members of the crowd in an epic food fight which lasts an hour.^[4]

6 Els Enfarinats
Spain

Shortly after Christmas each year, the Valencian town of Ibi erupts into a massive egg and flour fight. The Els Enfarinats festival on the Day of the Innocents, December 28, dates back over 200 years.

On the eve of the festival, men dressed in blankets parade through the streets, reenacting events which have occurred during the past year. The next morning, the “Enfarinats” dress in mock military garb to stage a mock coup. The race is on to grab the mayor’s ceremonial mace, thus taking control of the city and imposing ridiculous laws. Citizens are fined for breaking these laws, with the funds raised donated to local charities.

The citizens then fight against the Enfarinats with eggs and flour. Hundreds of eggs and hundreds of kilograms of flour are catapulted through the streets, with flour-filled firecrackers and even fire extinguishers used during the mock battle. “Flour power” inevitably wins the day, and the city is restored to order at the conclusion of the festival.^[5]

5 Fruitcake Toss
Colorado

Many people don’t really like fruitcake all that much, so in Colorado, they have a unique way of disposing of these seasonal leftovers. Manitou Springs residents gather at the end of January each year to devise the most unique means of tossing leftover fruitcake into the air.^[6]

After donating a nonperishable food item to a local food bank, contestants line up to see who can launch their fruitcake the farthest. Hand tossing, slingshots, and even cannons have been used to propel the Christmas leftovers. In 2007, a group of Boeing engineers devised a propulsion method which saw their fruit cake reach a record 433 meters (1,420 ft).

The fun annual food competition includes dress-up events and also provides “rented” fruity missiles for those who have actually finished their fruitcake. There’s even a bake-off for those who actually like fruitcake.

4 World Custard Pie Championships
England

Pie-in-the-face routines were a staple of early filmed comedy. Inspired by comedian Charlie Chaplin’s antics in the movie Behind the Screen, the town of Coxheath in Kent holds an annual custard pie throwing championship in June each year.^[7]

Villagers and visitors in Coxheath have been lining up to hurl pies at each other since 1967. Teams of pie throwers assemble from around the world, donning the fancy dress which is usually expected at these madcap events. They compete under hilarious team names such as “Pie Dodgers” and “Custard Spies.”

As the pie fight begins, contestants are awarded points according to where their custardy missiles hit the opposition. A direct hit to the face achieves the highest score, whereas missing your target three times could see you getting a penalty. Pies can only be flung with the left hand, with no slingshots or other propulsion devices allowed.

3 La Merengada
Spain

The ancient Spanish festival held in Vilanova i la Geltru has evolved over the centuries from a simple village entertainment into a full-on food fight. The festival offers a range of sweet treats and entertainment over a week leading up to Ash Wednesday, with the highlight being La Merengada, where everyone spends the day throwing sticky meringue at each other.^[8]

The Catalonian residents begin the day with a traditional fish meal before heading outside to bomb each other with meringue. Once all the festivalgoers are covered in a sticky morass, it is time for the Batalla de Caramelos, in which tons of candy are launched into the festival crowds.

2 Setsubun
Japan

A bean throwing festival is held on February 3 each year in Japan to celebrate the coming of spring. During Setsubun, roasted soybeans are thrown to ward off evil spirits and ensure good luck during the coming year. Originally a private family festival in which an older male would don a devil’s mask a while the others would throw beans at him, the event has developed into a more public affair.^[9]

Bean throwing rituals are carried out at at temples and shrines. It is also traditional to eat one bean for each year of your life. Often, an extra bean is eaten to ward off evil spirits and bring good luck. They can’t be just any beans though; they must be roasted soybeans.

1 Cheung Chau Bun Festival
Hong Kong

In May each year, thousands of people descend upon Cheung Chau, a tiny island off Hong Kong. Residents spend weeks prior to the annual event baking buns, making masks, and creating papier-mache sculptures of traditional gods, which will be paraded through the streets during the festival.^[10]

After a day of music and parades, including the popular “pui silk” parade, everyone assembles outside the temple, where three massive bamboo towers are traditionally studded with sesame, lotus, and bean paste buns. Trained competitors scramble up the the towers at the stroke of midnight to grab as many lucky buns as they can.

Following a 1978 tragedy when a tower collapsed under the combined weight of the buns and the climbers, the event was banned for nearly 30 years. The bun competition was reintroduced in 2005, albeit with new safety measures. Since 2007, imitation plastic buns have been used, but the genuine buns are still available to feast on during the festival.

Lesley Connor is a retired Australian newspaper editor who provides articles for online publications and her own travel blog.

Some movies feature fight scenes that feel like mere filler, but others craft them so expertly that they become iconic. Whether they dazzle with creativity or feel particularly realistic, these fights elevate the film they are a part of. All these fight scenes have their own interesting journey from the mind of their creator to the screen, so here are 10 behind-the-scenes facts about the making of some of the most iconic movie fights, from stunts gone wrong to last-minute changes that drastically altered the movie.

Related: Top 10 Most Brutal Modern Fighting Sports

10 Hiding the Camera

Enter the Dragon (1973) is one of the best martial arts movies ever made, but unfortunately, Bruce Lee never got to see its massive impact, dying just a month before the premiere. The most iconic scene is the climactic fight between Lee and Han (Shih Kien) in the mirror room, where kicks are replicated in reflection, and Han temporarily evades Lee’s attacks.

The mirror room setting was director Robert Clouse’s idea, but shooting came with the obvious issue of the camera being visible. To tackle this problem, cinematographer Gil Hubbs explained that they built a “closet” with mirrors on the outside and a hole for the camera. Then he and an assistant filmed from inside. Hubbs recalls that he “actually got nauseous in the room” and that “Bruce banged himself into the mirrors a whole bunch.”^[1]

9 Creating the Power Loader

The Power Loader in Aliens (1986), which makes Ripley’s hand-to-hand combat with the Alien Queen possible, was designed by director James Cameron himself. The drawings were then given to John Richardson, the practical effects supervisor, to make Cameron’s vision a reality.

Richardson stated that creating the Power Loader was the “most challenging thing in the movie,” particularly because they only had three months to do it. It was operated by stuntman John Lees, who was hidden directly behind Sigourney Weaver. However, because the Loader was so large, it was also supported with wires from the top and a pole arm from the back. Lees and Weaver had to be perfectly in sync, so they rehearsed during lunch each day, with Weaver recalling that they would walk “the Power Loader around in a sort of ring somewhere in the studio, like a horse going through its motions.”^[2]

8 Odes to Martial Arts Movies

Quentin Tarantino is known for filling his films with references to other films, and the two Kill Bill (2003 and 2004) movies are no different. The scene where Uma Thurman’s The Bride takes down the katana-wielding Crazy 88 gang is packed with shots that draw on martial arts movies, among others.

The Bride’s yellow outfit is an homage to Bruce Lee’s outfit in Game of Death (1978), and the gang encircling her and then moving back in fear when she raises her sword mirrors a scene in Lee’s Fist of Fury (1972). The eye being plucked out was inspired by Five Fingers of Death (1972), and the person being vertically cut in half is from Ichi the Killer (2001). The section shot in silhouette against a blue background was inspired by Samurai Fiction (1998), which uses a red background.

Tarantino went beyond just imitating shots, though; he also made Kill Bill in what he calls “the Chinese Way.” He wanted the look of 1970s Samurai movies, so he used condoms filled with fake blood instead of CGI blood. Tarantino again turned to Asian cinema for guidance when the goriness of the Crazy 88 fight ran the risk of censorship. In the ’70s and ’80s, bloody scenes in kung fu movies were played in black and white on television so they could be run without cuts, so that is exactly what Tarantino did for part of his iconic fight.^[3]

7 An Original Depressing Ending

Rocky (1976) ends with the titular character, played by Sylvester Stallone, losing his fight against Apollo Creed (Carl Weathers) but joyously embracing Adrian (Talia Shire) in the ring as he has proven he can go the distance. But the ending scene that was initially shot is of Rocky and Adrian somberly leaving through a tunnel strewn with litter. The film’s poster of Rocky and Adrian holding hands is taken from this footage.

Producer Irwin Winkler has said that during test screenings, “everybody was standing on their feet cheering and yelling” for the fight scene, but when Rocky and Adrian walk out, “that whole high that we were getting from the audience suddenly dipped down to a real low.” The studio refused to pay to reshoot it, so Winkler and fellow produced Bob Chartoff personally paid $25,000 to shoot the triumphant scene of Adrian coming into the ring.^[4]

6 The “Duel of the Fates” Score

The climatic battle between Qui-Gon Jinn (Liam Neeson), Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor), and Darth Maul (Ray Park) in The Phantom Menace (1999) is one of the greatest lightsaber fights in the Star Wars movies. The duel is narratively important, but it also looks cool, from the fight choreography to Maul’s double-bladed lightsaber. John Williams’s orchestral and choral masterpiece “Duel of the Fates” elevates the fight even further.

The lyrics are a Sanskrit translation of part of a medieval Welsh poem called “Cad Goddeu” (“Battle of the Trees”). Williams explained that he wanted the score to sound “religious or have a religiosity to it so that you felt that you were watching a ritual.” He viewed the fight as a ritualistic battle between good and evil, so his score “wasn’t action music accompanying the fighting, but some support to a spiritual contest.”^[5]

5 Bullet Time Technology

In 1999, The Matrix popularized the effect known as bullet time, which is not just a fancy term for slow motion. Instead, bullet time has the camera moving through the scene at normal speed while elements within the shot are captured in slow motion. In The Matrix, this effect perfectly blends the sci-fi storyline, which sees characters bending the laws of physics with kung fu action.

To create bullet time, visual effects supervisor John Gaeta and his crew would make a computer simulation of the scene to figure out how the cameras would be positioned around the actor. The most famous bullet time scene, where Neo bends backward to dodge bullets on a rooftop, required 120 still cameras and two film cameras. Keanu Reeves performed the move on a green screen with the aid of wires as the cameras around him shot in sequence. A process called interpolation adds extra frames and then smooths out the assembled photos to make them appear more fluid.^[6]

4 The Influence of Wrestling

When casting the lead of They Live (1988), director John Carpenter wanted someone with the weathered look of a life of hard work. Carpenter was a wrestling fan and realized that “Rowdy” Roddy Piper would make the perfect Nada. “Unlike most Hollywood actors, Roddy has life written all over him,” Carpenter explained. The influence of wrestling then seeped into the film’s iconic six-minute-long fight scene between Nada and his friend Frank (Keith David).

Stunt choreographer Jeff Imada had creative control over this scene but recalled that Carpenter “asked me to include three things; three wrestling moves. A suplex, a clothesline, and a sidewalk slam.” Carpenter took full advantage of Piper’s wrestling experience, and “Why not?” he declared, “I had a wrestler as the star!” Piper lent the fight a scrappy realism, with his co-star and fight partner stating, “No one could sell giving or taking a punch better than him.”^[7]

3 Trick Horse Riding

Although stunt doubles are utilized in the John Wick franchise, Keanu Reeves does about 90% of his own stunts. And this was pushed to new limits in John Wick 3 (2019). Director Chad Stahelski, who was also Reeves’s stunt double for The Matrix films, wanted to feature horses, and Reeves suggested having a fight in a stable. Stahelski then decided, “F*ck it, he’s gonna get on a horse because Keanu said he can ride a horse.”

The resulting scenes offer some of the best action in the film, from the brutal use of horses as weapons to the thrilling chase on horseback through the streets of New York City. Reeves learned how to do trick-riding for the scene, which involved him riding a horse at high speed, hanging off its side, and then smoothly reseating. He was attached to a safety harness throughout training and filming, but the stunt was still pretty dangerous.^[8]

2 An Unplanned Single-Shot

The corridor fight in Park Chan-wook’s Oldboy (2003), which sees Oh Dae-su (Choi Min-sik) take out many enemy henchmen with his trusty hammer, was originally meant to unfold in the typical style of splicing together different shots, ranging from close-ups to overheads. However, once on set, Park decided to shoot it in one continuous take.

The single-shot fight feels incredibly realistic, but it was exhausting for Choi to film. Yang Kil-yong, the film’s martial arts choreographer, stated that “60 to 70 moves” were in the scene and that Choi “was so tired, he could barely stand. He was about to drop dead.” Choi himself commented that “after doing over ten takes, I started getting nauseous. That crafty director waited until I actually got tired. So we did 16 or 17 takes.” The only added movie magic was the CGI knife in Dae-su’s back.^[9]

1 Real Violence

The Raid (2011) stars Iko Uwais as Rama, a rookie cop who relentlessly takes down the bad guys of an apartment building run by a crime lord. Uwais, who helped choreograph the fight scenes (i.e., almost the entire movie) with his Silat teacher Yayan Ruhian, is a skilled martial artist, so he was able to convincingly sell his countless hits. But another reason some of the fights looked so realistic is that they were actually real.

In an interview with GQ, director Gareth Evans recalls that during one scene, Uwais and his sparring partner decided to fully hit each other: “They’re just beating the crap out of each other because they’ve worked on a previous film together, and they know their limits.” Not all of the violence was planned, though. During a stabbing stunt that used chest padding and a retractable blade knife, the padding slid down, which meant the stuntman was hit so hard he could barely breathe.

Even worse was the scene where Rama launches someone over a balcony, and they break their back on the balcony of the next floor down, which required the use of wires. During one take, the wire-pull was miscalculated, so the stuntman smashed his head into a wall on the second floor. He lost his balance and let go of the wire, bouncing away from the crash mats and falling 16 feet (5 meters) onto concrete. Evans added, “We figured he must be dead.” But, unlike his character, the stuntman was luckily okay.^[10]

It’s the most wonderful time of the year, or that is what Andy Williams merrily proclaims in his hit song that crashes face-first into all stores at the beginning of the festive season (and in some cases even before that). What is never mentioned in all the joyous writings of the jovial holidays and endless feasts is the stress it places on people, particularly their relationships. Rising costs and familial pressures to love everybody, allowing the family to take over your home for a few weeks could cause even the most solid parent to devour most of the eggnog, leading to fights and conflict.

In fact, Christmas is blamed for such levels of conflict that it’s considered a contributing factor in divorce shortly after that. Whether you are part of a family that loves to bicker or spend Christmas with smiles and hugs, here are 10 fights and battles fought around the festive season that might make you rethink your hate for the silly season.

10 Jack Johnson Beats Tommy Burns in a Fight

Leading up to the historic bout, Tommy Burns had defended his title against 12 men, no small feat. Yet on the day after Christmas in 1908, held in Australia, it was Jack Johnson who beat out his Canadian counterpart. But not before taunting him and allowing him a free shot or two just to rile him up and show him that there was no fear. Jack meant business. With racial tensions brimming (considering the time), the taunting that ensued after Johnson so soundly beat his opponent caused unrest to such an extent that the police eventually piled in and stopped the show.

On that day, Jack Johnson became the first black world heavyweight champion. Afterward, he had to endure an endless streak of white boxers being thrown at him in the racially motivated hopes of ending his reign. Johnson only left carnage in his wake, though. Ironically Boxing Day has nothing to do with boxing as a sport, but the day will live on in infamy among those who are aware of Johnson’s antics.^[1]

9 Soviets Invade Afghanistan

Being a predominantly Islamic country, the Afghans don’t celebrate Christmas. The Russians, however, do. Imagine eating yourself into a carb coma only to have to get into your full kit and invade a Middle Eastern country. On the eve of Christmas of 1979, the Soviets sent in around 30,000 troops, toppling the current government and installing a Soviet-friendly president named Babrak Karmal and plummeting the country into a civil war that cost an estimated one million civilian lives.

In what was ultimately a failed campaign for the Soviets, they battled the U.S.-backed mujahideen for almost ten years before an accord was struck with Pakistan, the United States, and Afghanistan. The withdrawal of the Soviet troops was completed on February 15, 1989, also effectively ruining Valentine’s Day.^[2]

8 Belgian Ship Leopoldville Torpedoed

Built in 1929 as a Belgian steam passenger ship, the Leopoldville was converted into a vessel ferrying troops to battle by the Ministry of War Transport in WWII. On its way to reinforce troops locked in combat at the infamous Battle of the Bulge (more on this later), the ship encountered a German U-Boat that fired two torpedoes, effectively ending the voyage in an explosive groan.

Some 2,235 officers and servicemen of the U.S. 66th Infantry Division—who were being transported to the upcoming battle—and a crew of 139 men were on board when the explosives struck. The British destroyer escort, the HMS Brilliant, attempted to rescue those stranded survivors. However, the rescue attempts were made difficult by the bobbing current. The master, 55 crew members, and 763 American soldiers perished at sea.^[3]

7 Battle of the Bulge

Many people, especially those in the southern hemisphere, dream of a white Christmas. The white decked trees, the fireplaces crackling in the living room, hot chocolate for the tummy-tums. That was not the case at the Battle of the Bulge. On December 16, 1944, Hitler launched what is known as the final Blitzkrieg of World War II. The large-scale attack by three German armies of hundreds of thousands of soldiers along the front of the Ardennes Forest of Luxembourg attempted to capture Bastogne and aimed for Antwerp in Belgium.

In what was eventually one of the single bloodiest battles of the war, the siege was eventually broken (but not ended) on the day after Christmas by Gen. George S. Patton Jr., whose third army came to the rescue, breaking through the Germans with his tank units.^[4]

6 Eggnog Riot

We touched on this matter earlier—the effects of too much eggnog turning even the most civilized of interactions sour. That is exactly what happened at the great eggnog riot, and it sounds like more fun than it actually was. ‘Twas the year 1826, at West Point, when the academy’s 260 cadets, known for their bodacious drinking, were snubbed by the powers that be. They had made the executive decision not to add alcohol to the traditional Christmas Eve eggnog. The cadets took it upon themselves to spike the nog, leading to copious amounts of alcohol consumption and ultimate riots, which included bouts of vandalism and assault on a superior officer.

Of the 206 cadets, as many as 90 could have been indicted. However, considering the poor reflection that would have on the academy, 19 of the most aggressive offenders were identified and expelled. Among those who seemed to have managed to escape the night relatively unscathed were Jefferson Davis (later president of the Confederate States president) as well as future general Robert E. Lee.^[5]

5 Christmas Raid

With the advent of railway transport that turned the gears of war, General John Hunt Morgan was entrusted to cut the supply lines of the Union army by attacking and destroying certain key points. In what is now known as the Christmas Raid, although it took place after Christmas day in the final days of December, Morgan took his cavalry and launched a raid into Kentucky.

The raid saw horsemen decimate Union supply convoys of food, forage, and supplies from Louisville, destroy essential trestles (or bridges), and fight a series of skirmishes that resulted in magnificent losses for the Union army. Before long, it was mission accomplished as Morgan took his command back to Tennessee.^[6]

4 Washington Crosses the Delaware River

One of the most celebrated moments of the American Revolution happened on Christmas Day in 1776. After several months of significant defeats suffered by Washington’s army, which resulted in their loss of New York City and other strategic points in the region, Washington took his army of around 5,400 troops in the hopes of surprising the Hessian force during their festive celebrations. Taking on the icy waters where heavy artillery, horses, and the support of experienced seamen, about 2,400 made it over the river. About 3,000 men and crucial artillery failed to reach the meeting point in time.

At 8 am on the morning of December 26, the groggy Hessian defenders were caught with their pants down, underestimating the patriot threat, and Washington’s men quickly overwhelmed the defenses. The failure of the artillery to arrive cost Washington dearly, and they were eventually forced to withdraw. However, news of the victory quickly spread and raised the spirits of the American colonists.^[7]

3 Sinking of the Scharnhorst

The Scharnhorst, one of the German fleet’s most vaunted and dangerous warships, had been tormenting the seas for the duration of WWII. In 1943, information reached the HMS Belfast that it had been deployed from a Norwegian base to intercept a convoy making its way back to Britain.

In a battle fit for a silver screen adaptation out of the Christopher Nolan playbook, the convoy—made up of numerous ships, including the Scorpion, Norfolk, Sheffield, and The Duke of York—left the Scharnhorst fleeing with its tail between its legs. A gun-blasting rabbit hunt ensued with direct hits and near misses, but in the end, it was the HMS Belfast that landed the killer blow and condemned the Scharnhorst to the depths of the icy ocean. Of the 55 torpedoes that were fired, 11 hit the target, and of the 1,968 men on board, only 36 survived.^[8]

2 Italy’s Invasion of Ethiopia

When Mussolini’s war in Ethiopia was already not going to plan when a 200,000-strong Ethiopian army launched a counter-offensive on Christmas Day in 1935. What was known by informed circles as the “Black Period” of the war, the counter-offensive gave rise to the “Harvest of Gold,” in which Mussolini asked his own countrymen back home to raise funds for the war as a pledge to his fascist regime. The public donated valuable personal effects, including wedding rings. In exchange for gold jewelry, they were given rigs of steel to show their commitment to the cause.

The counter-offensive was met with initial success, but the superior Italian weapons and the use of illegal chemical warfare ultimately crushed any chance of victory.^[9]

1 Takanakuy

In Quechua, the primary language in this particular region of Peru, the word Takanakuy means “when the blood is boiling” or “to hit each other.” In short, this day is celebrated (is celebrated the correct word?) annually on Christmas Day and involves people of all ages and sexes coming together and beating each other up, or at least watching people settle scores with their fists.

The ultimate aim of the event is to begin the new year in peace, allowing those who do not have access to law enforcement or alternative dispute resolution to settle their scores in a public arena. The conflict is mutual, and like any Christmas fight, it starts and ends with a hug. The festivities originated during colonial times, and to this day, the Peruvian tradition carries with it a festival of celebration, drunkenness, and religiosity to go along with the hitting.^[10]