I can remember as a
child there were certain times when having a pillow fight was
necessary. It was usually a time when you were supposed to be in bed
and sleeping. This had to happen when friends were sleeping over.
When you are young, wide awake in bed, and bored, things such as
pillow fighting can occur. It is a difficult thing for a child to do
and not laugh. Once the laughter starts, the swings of the pillow
become erratic and things can get broken. This can be followed by
the sound of a parent yelling about what is going on in there. This
is when a parent will head to the bedroom causing young pillow
pugilists to jump in bed, close their eyes and put on their best
acting performance of a sleeping child. A parent entering the room
wanting to know what happened and how something got broken can cause
these same children to have amnesia when forced awake from their
sleep acting. These children will have no idea how anything got
broken. The acting performance always fails, but it is a
time-honored tradition among generations of children. Not that I
know.
It seems that the
Japanese have seen the time-honored pillow fight as something that
can be done as part of serious competition. They have pillow
fighting teams and national championships. I'm sure the American
version would include jumping into bed, pretending to be asleep and
having amnesia on how something got broken.
Below are excerpts from
the story with my valuable insights in italics.
The Japanese may be known
for their neatness, particularly when it comes to making their bed in
the morning, but all social norms went out the window on Saturday
during qualifying for the All-Japan Pillow Fighting
Championships in Shizuoka Prefecture.
In the small fishing town
of Ito, 150 kilometers south of Tokyo, teams gathered from across the
region to compete in the event
This is a serious
departure from the intensity of battle by a people who brought the
world individuals with awe-inspiring fighting skills like ninjas and
samurai warriors. I wonder if the pillow fights involve some type of
training. Is it possible to get a certain colored feather on your
pillow for a ranking as you progress in training? I'm sure there
could be a variety of pillow fighting moves involved with this type
of competition. You must know where to hit your opponent, how to hit
your opponent and resist the temptation to laugh when feathers from
your pillow go on the face of your opponent. It would be great if
they had a specially designated uniform for pillow fighters. Could
this mean a new type of action movie will soon be upon us?
Started by a group of high
school children in Shizuoka, the game is based on the age-old ritual
of pillow fighting when away from the supervision of teachers and
parents at a sleep-over or on a school trip.
The game starts with all
five players 'sleeping' under duvets on futons before the whistle
goes and they leap to their feet and reach for a pillow.
This is a sport that is
very realistic. I'm sure at this age, I would struggle to imitate
sleeping if I got good and comfortable with a futon or duvet. My
sleep would probably be very real. If I got my pillow just the way I
wanted it, I'd struggle to get up. Alarm clocks don't affect me, I'm
sure a whistle wouldn't impact my rest either. I do wonder if people
are given just any pillow to fight with or if they have to use a
pillow that meets certain requirements in weight as well as contents
and more. If they don't have such requirements, I guess there is
nothing stopping someone from having a pillow filled with a frozen
pork roast or croquet balls. Maybe this will be the case if they
create an extreme pillow fighting version of the game.
A mix between dodgeball
and chess, the aim is to protect each team's 'King' from being hit by
pillows whilst trying to hit the opposition's 'King' during
two-minute sets. One player on each team can also use a duvet as a
shield.
Saturday's regional
tournament contained 16 teams vying for the qualification for the
national competition, which has 64 entrants and is held in February.
If parents go up in the
middle of the night to their children's room after hearing them make
the noise pillow fighting, the children can now say they are training
for a pillow fighting championship. The need for faking sleep and
having amnesia is no longer necessary. I'm sure that hitting someone
with a pillow and avoiding being hit take some skills. You do think
it being Japan, they would include some martial arts with it to make
things interesting. Some roundhouse kicks, blocks, punches, as well
as amazing takedowns with a pillow, would be great. I think if this
sport includes martial arts it could inspire movies like the Karate
Pillow Kid or Pillow Ninja Warrior and others.
Team 'BlancWhite' who
contained nine-year-old Soda Wamanobe – the secondest youngest
competitor -- won the tournament.
As their prize, the team
received an array of local produce as well as the all-important
qualification for next year's nationwide tournament.
.
I'm sure a
nine-year-old has probably the advantage of being a smaller object to
hit with a pillow and some great signature moves. There could be the
threats to tell mom move as well as the hit me and I'm telling how
you skipped school move. Maybe those would be signature moves of an
American pillow fighter from my family. If this were the United
States the winning team would enjoy the produce and the invitation to
the next year's tournament, but they would wonder where is their
trophy. I could see kids showing off their pillow-fighting trophy to
friends and family. During my childhood pillow-fighting career, I
could have gotten a trophy for fake sleeping and amnesia, but that's
another championship.
Here is a link to the
story.
https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/general/all-japan-pillow-fighting-championships-behind-scenes-dodgeball-chess-a8929996.html
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