[tomboy999999]

Up to you to decide after watching this vid of the US women's team training .They have to be very strong with super stamina and VERY physical.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MiWfSxmWvwE

[catfightlover40]

The short answer: yes and no.

The longer answer: simply does not compute. Ever since the advent of the nuclear bomb and trade largely (but not entirely) replacing warfare, a crafty illusion developed that people no longer crave revenge... well, crap shoot, nothing could be further from the truth. I see your US training and I raise you with training of nations threatened by their neighbors and by nations who fought on the Axis side for national pride and territorial gains, yet still think they were righteous to do so.

In my view, it's not the sport that's the most brutal, but people doing them. People who enter the pool, the mat, the tatami with the clear mission to destroy their rival, literally. Personally, I still think last year's UFC match between the Polish and the Chinese fighter kicking each other's faces in was the most brutal I have ever seen, and I sensed a ton of national pride and a heaping helping of racism.

Having had that mindset implanted into me for very long years, I get that level of aggressiveness.

[fleuger99]

I played water polo in both high school and university and it is a very tough sport. Fitness is a critical factor and required lots of fitness training along with team work, like any sport, if the team is cohesive then it will be more successful. There is a side to water polo fans don't see, what goes on under the water. Players used to grow their toe nails long so they could scratch the back of the legs of the people they were covering. Elbows also used to fly under the water. It is a tough but awesome game. Not sure if its the toughest though.

[catfightlover40]

I played water polo in both high school and university and it is a very tough sport. Fitness is a critical factor and required lots of fitness training along with team work, like any sport, if the team is cohesive then it will be more successful. There is a side to water polo fans don't see, what goes on under the water. Players used to grow their toe nails long so they could scratch the back of the legs of the people they were covering. Elbows also used to fly under the water. It is a tough but awesome game. Not sure if its the toughest though.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2080536/ and this doesn't even cover cheating

[Tiberius J.C.]

This story (mainly the central section) is about women's water polo:
https://www.freecatfights.com/forums/index.php?topic=89846.msg619494#msg619494
The 'central section', I exaggerate. Two or three pages in the middle.

[DJP60]

i chatted with 2 different players on 2 different occasions who told me they have an after game fight. 1 was close to the event in a park and the other was in a [layers fenced back yard an hour after the game. yea its happens but so do softball fights after games and i hotel rooms, my wife will tell you that. no there are not fights often but they do occur its just rarely happens.

[wasteland1952]

About the only time I've seen water polo is during intl. competition, like the Olympics.  What amazes me most is the players have to tread water for long periods of time, all the while being hit, punched, grabbed, etc.  The physical stamina required to play must be amazing.

[cooper4]

I remember watching a video on YouTube, about women soccer players  behaving badly, in one clip two girls were arguing  about an illegal hit. And, one of them said too the other girl, why don’t you meet me after the game.

The other girl just turned and walked off