Question: How is the "no fighting on holy ground" rule enforced? I really can't see a guy like the Kurgan, who seems to have no sense of honor to speak of, following the rule willfully, unless there was some severe punishment for breaking the rule.
Answer: The "No Fighting on Holy Ground" is considered a sacred rule. Like being quiet in church, a funeral or any religious service. If any immortal would break this rule he was not be honorable and not subject to any of the other rules. Like fighting one on one and using hired thugs to capture an immortal holding him down to take his head.
Question: In the director's cut (which seems to be the most widely available version these days), what's the deal with all the backflips in the opening fight? The editing is very awkward. Fasil goes from running, to doing backflips, then back to running, then back to doing backflips several times, seemingly between shots, during a short section of the fight. Is it just bad editing? Or is the movie trying to suggest that it's a different person doing the flips? Or... what? It's so confusingly edited.
Answer: The Director, Russell Mulcahy, started his career making music videos. He was known for using fast cuts and tracking shots.
Answer: I always felt the idea was given he was trying to move very rapidly whilst also being silent. In a garage with those shoes on your footsteps are very loud. Perhaps he was trying to confuse MacLeod as to where he was.
I'm not asking why he's doing backflips. I'm asking why the editing is so confusing, since he goes from doing backflips, to running somewhere completely else, then back to backflips at the first location between edits. (Look up the clip "The Highlander (1986) 1080p : Underground parking Fight Scene. Epic!" on YouTube and pay attention around 4:20.) He also loses his sword whenever we see him doing backflips, even though he's carrying it when he's running. The editing makes absolutely no sense.
Answer: What the punishment is isn't shown in this movie, but since even the Kurgan follows it, it must be high. In Highlander 3 we see that fighting on holy ground at least destroys the weapons they are fighting with (although only Macleod's for some reason), it's possible the ultimate penalty is given when an immortal kills another immortal on holy ground. A good guess is the penalty is death.
lionhead