Dueling in the Present

Dueling as a word has a very clear definition

"Definition of DUEL

1

: a combat between two persons; specifically : a formal combat with weapons fought between two persons in the presence of witnesses

2

: a conflict between antagonistic persons, ideas, or forces;also : a hard-fought contest between two opponent

Examples of DUEL

They engaged in a duel of wits. 

<a duel for the title of captain of the team> 

Origin of DUEL

Middle English, from Medieval Latin duellum, from Old Latin, war

First Known Use: 15th century"

(Oxford dictionary 2011)

Dueling in the present is a rarity in modern culture other than in fiction due to newer laws against manslaughter and human life. Although the traditional sense of duelling isn't seen very often, more loose terms of the phrase are seen in media all the time such as dueling on games, dueling in movies or as by definition, interpret dueling as one on one sports such as tennis or snooker.

modern day snooker could be interpreted as duelling without the loss of life. (Brighouse Snooker League 2008)

The one-on-one attitude to modern day duelling is a very popular subject amongst games due to peoples competitiveness and natural wanting to be the best. The vast majority of games nowadays almost always feature a form of multiplayer mode or score system, there are a lot of bonuses to games having multiplayer  especially since the ready availability for online gaming in the latest generation of games consoles such as PSN and xbox live. The biggest appeal of multiplayer gaming is the extension of replay value and more value for money let alone the social aspects.

(Kander, J 2010) Advantages of Multiplayer Games

All the competitiveness of actual boxing without any of the risks (Booyacus 2010)

In movies, especially in action films, as well as books dueling plays a big part at a final climax or final battle, by definition duelling is:


 ": a combat between two persons; specifically : a formal combat with weapons fought between two persons in the presence of witnesses" (Oxford dictionary 2011)

And almost every action film features a final one on one battle between the protagonist and the antagonist.

(Strathy G 2011) plot development

The new harry potter film features both a climactic battle at the end but its also an actual "duel" (Warner Bro's 2011)

The harry potter franchise of books also feature dueling prominently and their popularity has been astounding (Rowling J,K, 2007)


The popularity of the harry potter franchise has been phenomenal selling movies, plays and even video games based on a book. The combination of magic and dueling has led to a very profitable franchise. This will be very useful to note for my predictions (Simon S, 2011) Harry Potter and the most successful movie franchises of all time

The concept of dueling after looking at it, i realise is actually a very common feature of modern day life, even politicians in their one on one conferences where they almost battle for one and others opinion and views. (The economist 2010) Duel on the box

Even multiplayer toys are based around competitive duelling (Ann, K 2011)

I assume most toys are focused around being for just one child, due to the bigger market, although there is a wide branch of toys for siblings or toys that can be shared. As with the trend, these toys mainly feature competitive play as there's always a clear winner.

Even this simple ring toss game revolves around competitive play. (educational insights, 2008)

The game Red Dead Redemption featured a duelling mode in which the player could have a one on one duelling battle much like that of the old wild west duels. This game mode was more true to the definition of actual duelling and proved to be very popular, I believe due to its extremes of one on one fighting much like the original duels themselves.

(IGN, 2010) Red Dead Review

A duel in a game which is more true to the original term. (Rockstar 2010)

While looking at pistol duelling I noticed that although the sport now is very much illegal, the pistols themselves are still very collectible and sell for hundreds of pounds. War memorabilia has always been a very popular theme for collectors and authentic duelling equipment can be very popular.
 (Gordan 2011) war memorabilia

This replica dueling cap gun sells for almost $500 (ebay 2011)

This will be very relevant to my research as the popularity of "obsolete" technology and themes will help my with my predictions.

The next step of duelling in the modern day is professional boxing, by every definition the sport is indeed duelling. Not only is boxing ever popular as a duelling sport, its also incredibly profitable. Professional boxing is a global sport which brings in thousands and thousands of pounds in bets, media and even in merchandising. This is very interesting considering how simple the concept of boxing actually is.

(Seepersaud S,2004) Boxing revenue

Boxing is less hazardous then traditional dueling but it isn't without its risks. (sportsencounter.com 2010)

Duelling oriented sports are a very popular, they give people someone to support and believe in, and the person or team represents them. I believe this could revolve around a power belief, the people who support them feel empowered if the team who represents them wins, as if they themselves have won. The biggest and most prominent example of is football.

Being represented can swing both ways (Whitehead C, unknown date)

Football is a massive sport, with millions of supporters of both cities and nations, the game of football is duelling on a larger scale, rather than a one man on one man duel, it's a community on community battle, but the principles are very much the same. you quite often hear phrases such as "we beat you" or "we won" as if the supporters themselves have won the football match themselves, This feeling of power that the supports get from what is in essence, standing around and watching, shows that the competitive team vs team sports are and always be very popular as its a way for the average man to feel like they're great at something. (Ashish D, 2008) Sports Fan Psychology

a Quicker and less life threatening version of modern dueling is the humble game of rock paper scissors. this two player game is in essence a duel usually used to decide who goes first at something or often trivial matters like who gets the last piece of toast! Although a trivial game, its based on an almost random situation.

Even with the almost random results of the game, rock paper scissors still remains, by definition and by spirit, a duel. (Boychuk B 2011)

My research into the present of dueling shows that the traditional sense of dueling has evolved from aiming to kill or maim your opponent into simply just defeating your opponent at a task, this is especially true in games and sports however traditional duelling is still seen as plot in some movies, books and games. to investigate the past of dueling, i will look more into its original form and its variations such as the Mexican standoff.