[ WP ] It 's time for the 12 days of Christmas fight club . As usual , the Ten Lords a-Leaping are the favorites , but this year has a surprising underdog .

Christmas Fight Club. A noble tradition, a contest of strength and agility. Teams to represent each of the Twelve Days of Christmas, as listed in the popular song, fought each other in hand-to-hand combat, with the winners walking away with a staggering holiday hamper^1. 
 
 Of the teams, the Ten Lords A-Leaping were the usual winners, though not every time. They always put on a good show and a good showing, though - they'd never done worse than fourth place, and many teams had yet to beat them. The Eight Maids a-Milking were also favoured, as they tended to be brutal and slippery, stocky lasses who could carry barrels. On the other hand, the Seven Swans A-Swimming were never well-liked, as they tended to be dirty fighters and elitist snobs, and the poor Partridge had to be chased down from rooftops every year. 
 
 There was never any certainty over the winner each year, but as a matter of fact not one of the spectators nor contestants could have predicted this year's winner: 
 
 The Five Golden Rings. 
 
 Ordinarily, the Rings were a laughingstock - momma's boys born with silver spoons and jelly legs. They were often too afraid to actually fight, surrendering at the first sign of danger, but as they entered the ring against their traditional fight against the Swans, everybody could tell there was something different. 
 
 They'd replaced their leader. Last year they had been lead by Herbert Shaw, as knock-kneed a nancy as you could think of. No longer was the pale imitation of a man heading them - instead a new lad, slightly older than the others, with a strong face, deep eyes and dark hair. Under this man's tutelage - the others called him Sir Awn - the Rings learned to ignore pain, and to use it to their own ends. 
 
 Their first match was a slaughter - and only the referee ( dressed as the tree ) stopped anyone from going to hospital. 
 
 They won the rest of the tournament handily, and as they stepped up to receive their prizes, the referee had to ask... 
 
 `` How did you do it? What makes you so great, so powerful that you can turn these ordinary snivelling weaklings into hard, cold monsters of combat?'' 
 
 To this, Sir Awn simply brandished his hand, and the ring upon it - as did the others in his team. He spoke, with intonations that made hair stand on end and sense shrivel into terror: 
 
 `` One ring to rule them all. 
 
 One ring to find them. 
 
 One ring to bring them all, 
 
 And in the winter bind them. 
 
 In the field of combat, 
 
 As the snowfall lies.'' 
 
 ^1 The traditional victor's trophy was an entire roast oxen, but as those became more expensive and less socially acceptable, the hamper was introduced.
