Swingin’ It

Looking for the intensity of boxing and UFC but without the violence, blood, or bodily injuries? Then perhaps the Pillow Fight Championships are more your speed. Yes, professional pillow fighting is now a thing. Steve Williams, a serial entrepreneur, has put in some serious cash to make pillow fights the real deal.

"There’s just something so cathartic about getting hit in the head with a pillow,” he tells Jordan Blumetti over at The Guardian. It's a laughable statement but also pretty intriguing. How do you take something we all did as kids and morph it into a professional competition? The competitors hurl 2lb bags around for three 90-second rounds. The intensity is so high that most of the athletes cannot compete past that point. The winner is done by scoring, wherein whoever landed the most hits to their opponent's head is the victor.

The pillows – which make a crinkling sound like a dry diaper when held still and crack like a horsewhip when connecting with a cheekbone – are queen-sized, stuffed with foam and encased in nylon sailcloth. Fighters are matched up according to relative size and experience levels by what’s called a “matchmaker” in the universe of combat sports.

“There’s hardcore aggression with pillow fighting, but nobody gets hurt. A lot of people don’t want to see the blood and violence any more.”

The Guardian

As silly as all of this sounds, it seems like a lot of fun to see people 'fight' but also nobody getting hurt. Will the PFC become a legit thing that has people paying to watch matches? I couldn't imagine going that far. However, all forms of entertainment have value to someone. It's just a matter of it Williams has landed on something where enough people see that value.