Bow to Royalty
Just facts
Demos don't necessarily mean fake. I'm not about to believe that whole thing was choreographed especially since I've done them b4 with my Sensei and that fucker was letting me have it. Only thing I can say is you don't go all out to hurt anyone in demonstrations. Being a kohai you have to try your best when facing a higher rank and them in turn not trying to rip your head off. Strikes, holds and throws still hurt even if you aren't going all out.
I see your point with everything else you said.
I guess fake fight isn't the right term, but it's not a real fight. I wouldn't be surprised if there was some discussion pre-demo of how things were gonna go (not scripted, but getting on the same page). And there's a pre-determined winner. No way that student would be disrespectful enough to win that fight in that environment, even if he had the opportunity.