The winters are long in Russia, and especially in Siberia. Sometimes you need to do something stupid to make yourself feel alive, like stand in front of another man and let him slap you as hard as he can. A large group gathered recently in the city of Krasnoyarsk (population about 1 million) to slap, be slapped and watch some slapping. It wasn’t just for fun, though. There was a prize of 30,000 rubles ($470) on the line.
The competition was absolutely brutal. Nearly every man who dared step up to the man in the blue sweater had to have someone standing behind him to catch him when his knees buckled.