I guess I’ve been spending too much time watching the Olympics. I almost missed the crowning of new world champions in another sport. Pillow fighting.
Yes, pillow fighting is now a thing. There is even a professional group promoting the sport, and last week, they crowned their first champions.
The pillows used are pretty much your standard pillow. Probably pretty similar to what you use every night. But there is a difference in the pillow case. Instead of a nice soft piece of cotton, this pillow case is a rip proof nylon with handles. So you can get a good grip and swing it at your opponent.
Near as I can figure, professional pillow fighting started in Toronto several years ago, but never really caught on. It was sort of a fun thing started by a burlesque group and became a semi-pro sport. But it never really caught on and soon folded.
Now a league has formed in Florida. They bill pillow fighting as the original combat sport, but it’s a bit more serious than you might remember from sleep overs and slumber parties as a kid. These are professional pillow fighters and they seem to take their sport pretty seriously. In fact, it’s even being considered for the Olympics.
It’s the type of sport pretty much anyone can get involved in. Men, women, children… anyone who can swing a pillow. And the league says it appeals to people who like combat sports, but aren’t really in to the blood and injuries involved in most combat sports.
It almost sounds like fun. Until you get smacked in the face with a pillow, I suppose.
So congratulations to the new men’s and women’s world champions who were crowned recently. It probably took a great deal of practice and dedication to get to that level. Even in a sport most of us probably think we know how to do.
Just not in the living room. You might knock over a lamp.
