Single Combat
We’ve all seen a few movies that went down something like this:
- Two giant armies, ready for war, standoff against each other
- The generals of each side decide at the last minute that, instead of having the armies battle, they will just have each side’s best fighter compete
- The top soldier of each army fights the other, and the victor determines the victor of the overall battle with no further bloodshed
For instance, the opening scene of Troy:
But is this legit? Did kings and warlords really let the fate of their nation be determined by a fight between two soldiers? Did tens of thousands of soldiers really march for days, reach the brink of combat, and then decide just to give up after their best soldier was defeated?
Surprisingly, yes. And in fact, many of these battles determined by “Single Combat” are far stranger than anything you have seen in the movies.
Zarrar Ibn al-Azwar
Zarrar Ibn al-Azwar was a companion of the prophet Muhammad who lived during the 600s, and who went from being a tax collector to a full blown warrior savage. He was also known by his full name below…
Dhiraar bin Al-Azwar bin Malik ibn Aws bin Jadhimah bin Rabia bin Malik bin Sha’labah bin Asad bin Khuzaymah bin Mudrikah bin Ilyas bin Mudar Bin Nizar bin Adnan al-Asadi
Dhiraar’s balls were evidently about as large as his name, given that he became widely known for going into battle without armor or even upper garments, and was commonly referred to as “The Naked Warrior”.
One of Dhiraar’s most famous moments came during the Battle of Ajnadayn. Dhiraar and the Rashidun army were at war with the Romans, and as the armies neared each other, Dhiraar asked his emperor if he could challenge the Roman army to single combat. His emperor YOLO obliged, and Dhiraar moved towards the Romans, evidently chanting the following on his approach:
I am the death of the Pale Ones
I am the killer of the Romans
I am a scourge sent upon you
I am Dhiraar bin al-Azwar!
Some of the Romans best fighters approached and fought him one by one, and in his characteristic fashion, Dhiraar took off his armor and garments as they approached. Dhiraar, essentially naked, proceeded to kill multiple Romans in Single Combat, including two of the Roman’s most prominent generals.
Seeing their generals defeated so easily by a naked guy yelling insanely awesome battle chants absolutely destroyed the Roman morale and sowed discord among the Roman ranks, causing the battle to basically end right away, and the Romans to give up. Dhiraar went on to fight many more battles :)
Triple Combat
The Romans were evidently big fans of battles being won by individual soldiers. One of the other most famous cases of this occurred in a battle between Rome and the army of a nearby city called Alba Longa.
As the two armies neared, the leader of the Alba Longans realized that if the two armies fought, both would suffer heavy losses, allowing the nearby Etruscan army to come in and finish off whoever was left. In an effort to avoid this, he proposed the idea of Single Combat to the Roman emperor.
Through some series of negotiations, the result was even better: Triple Combat. Each army had a pair of triplet brothers which happened to be some of their best soldiers, and so it was decided that the battle would be decided by the victor of a fight between the Horatii brothers of Rome and the Curiatii of Alba Longa.
Evidently, in the initial skirmish, two of the three Horatti brothers were killed, but all three Curiatii were injured. This allowed the third Horatti brother to pick off the Curiatii one by one as they approached him, leading to the Romans winning the battle and the Alba Longans giving up.
The Battle of Kulikovo
A notable battle between the Mongols and the Russians in the late 1300s began with Single Combat between each side’s champion. Sadly, however, both champions died in the course of this battle, and as a result the armies ended up slaughtering each other.
More broadly, Single Combat was extremely common in Russian antiquity, and was known as bash na bash. Commanders would regularly send emissaries to meet between the two amassing armies to negotiate which of the most skilled fighters on each side would fight, with the outcome often determining the course of the battle.
Crowheart
In 1866, two Native American tribes were in the midst of a deadly battle. After 5 long days of fighting and casualties on both sides, the chiefs of each tribe agreed to a Single Combat duel that would decide the outcome of the battle. The losing side would surrender their rights to the land and go home.
Evidently, the two chiefs, Chief Washakie of the Shoshone and Chief Big Robber of the Crow, climbed to the top of a hill and fought while their armies watched from below. Chief Washakie ended up victorious. While Native American tradition at the time would have dictated that he should scalp his opponent, Washakie was so impressed with Big Robber that he instead took out his heart and put it on top of his spear (evidently this was a sign of great respect?).
Big Robber’s army saw the spear with Big Robber’s heart, and immediately surrendered their rights to the land and left, honoring the contract of the duel. To this day, the Butte in which they fought is called Crowheart, in honor of the dead Crow chieftan.
Some Other Examples
- John Smith (of Jonestown fame) was a mercenary early in his life, and fought, killed, and beheaded three Turkish commanders in Single Combat. These fights significantly impacted the outcome of various battles, and lead to John being knighted.
- The Japanese Samurai were well known for deciding battles between small cohorts of Samurai with single combat. This practice was known as Ikki-uchi. A Samurai commander commanded a unit of retainers, and the two commanders would fight until one was killed, at which point the retainers of the defeated commander would retreat.
Modern Single Combat
Did you know that even today, Single Combat is sometimes used to determine the outcome of battles of great significance?
In 1990, Southwest Airlines launched the slogan “Just Plane Smart”, and another airline called Stevens Aviation sued them, arguing they had already been using this slogan. How did the two airlines settle the lawsuit? Instead of going through millions in legal fees, the CEO of Southwest challenged the CEO of Stevens Aviation to a Single Combat bout of arm wrestling.
They decided to host the event publicly in a major sports arena in downtown Dallas, and both airlines heavily promoted the event in the preceding weeks. Herb Kelleher, the CEO of Southwest, showed up in a bus full of cheerleaders wearing a white satin robe, and the CEO of Stevens Airline showed up in a red robe. The Rocky theme song played before the battle, and Stevens Airline ended up winning.
Who says Single Combat is dead?
