An Insight into the Honor of the "Mosh Pit" or Can a Gentleman Partake of the "Mosh Pit" and Remain a Gentleman

William Tsitsos, author of "Rules of Rebellion: Slamdancing, Moshing, and the American Alternative Scene" states; "Moshing is a dance in which participants push and/or slam into each other. They also flail their limbs to breakdowns of hardcore punk and its sub-genres. It is most associated with aggressive music genres, such as hardcore punk and heavy metal. It is primarily done to live music, although it can be done to recorded music."

Indeed I myself, a self styled gentleman, or at least one seeking gentlemanship, have never partook of this "moshing" due to the antithetical nature of said activity. When compatriots of mine related their harrowing story of kneeing people in the face and shoving other people from their blindside into the faces of the other frenzied dancers I scoffed and judged the sport ungentlemanly. As the story continued I felt my baser nature jump at the idea of unrestrained and unmitigated pure violence without repercussion. I withheld my excitement. I had just railed against the dance, how could I turn and embrace it? I posited that it was an unchristianly activity. Did not Jesus say a bunch about all that? They returned that at a Christian mosh after you deck someone the frenzied crowd pauses to restore said decked individual before returning to their senseless craze. I felt my objections eroding. Could one wear a helmet?, I asked, secretly wishing to gain a theoretical advantage over my fellow moshers in said theoretical mosh dance. I acted out several silent pro-wrestling type moves, letting my excitement escape me for a moment. Then I came to my senses. What foolishness. There is no honor in the mosh pit! They claimed that more honor can be found in the pit than in two men wrestling. Again, I scoffed in a gentlemanly fashion. There is much honor to be found in a match between two combatants, even though they may come near killing each other, it is fair! Ah! Fairness is a good judge of honor and gentleman-ship.

Honor: Honesty, fairness, or integrity in one's beliefs and actions: a man of honor.

Gentleman: a civilized, educated, sensitive, or well-mannered man: He behaved like a true gentleman.

Certainly, there is no honor to be found in the mosh pit. Though I must try it once to be able to silence my critics who claim that a man with an argument is at the mercy of a man with an experience. A feeble-minded objection to be sure.