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"I can remember when the first pulsars were discovered. I was able to go and sit down and listen to graduate students talking about what their theories, to explain what pulsars really were."
- Vernor Vinge

Nullboxing Bubble  
  The 'ring' used for a sport played out in free fall; essentially kickboxing in space.  

I'm cheating a little bit here; I can't get a copy of Streetlethal, so I'm going to substitute a quote from a later book, Firedance, on the same subject by the same author. If you have a good quote from Streetlethal, I'd appreciate it if you added it in the comments below.

The bubble was twelve meters across, and there was a second tunnel leading into it, from the far side, painted red. Aubrey's side was painted blue. There were two robot cornermen, one blue and one red. Nipples extruded from the walls of these corners, through which the trainers could send a variety of fluids...

Aubrey gripped for one of the handholds and found it. He torqued his body powerfully, and hammered Thu against the wall. The wall was too soft to do any damage, or even drive the wind from Thu's lungs, but as he rebounded, Aubrey bent back and caught him in the ribs with an elbow.

**quote not available**
Technovelgy from Streetlethal, by Steven Barnes.
Published by Not known in 1983
Additional resources -

Nullboxing reminds me of the exact same idea in Samuel R. Delany's Babel 17; the wrestling also served an additional purpose beyond entertainment.

Thanks to an anonymous reader who suggested this item.

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Additional resources:
  More Ideas and Technology from Streetlethal
  More Ideas and Technology by Steven Barnes
  Tech news articles related to Streetlethal
  Tech news articles related to works by Steven Barnes

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