drop bear
Sr. Grandmaster
In a way yes. It's wasn't always gang warfare the way we see it today (gangs engaging in criminal activity and fighting to defend a business/tuff), it would be the students of rival martial arts schools getting into fights to defend the honor of their school/master. The challenge fights, not simply "let's fight punk" they were often well attended events to prove which school/martial art was superior.
On top of that when you are fighting for a school/system/Master, especially with the filial piety that was shown to the Master, what is the point of not using the system in which you are trained? Zero.
The CMA have a long history of legitimate pressure testing in Asia. In the West no so much but to take a Western context and make the assumption that applies to an Eastern one as well, that a bit patronizing.
Speaking of assumptions.
Anyway timor has a similar culture of rival martial arts gangs.
Are you suggesting similar or different to that?
Otherwise how many challenge fight had either of those two guys had before that one?