via The Telegraph: A popular activity at sleepover parties worldwide, there’s so much more to pillow fighting. But are you man enough to brandish a feather-filled weapon?

The pillow fight has never been seen as the most masculine of pursuits. The preserve of the sleepover party flick and TV commercials for feminine products, the pillow fight is seen as the comfy denouement to a girly night in. After all, Bruce Lee starred in Enter The Dragon, not Enter The Boudoir.

But don’t merely dismiss a bout of cushion play as something exclusively for teenage girls; it can be a fun, harmless way of letting go of some inner angst without needing to slice through a pile of 2×4 with your fist. It will also get your heart rate jumping and will likely end in laughter.

Like all the best sports, pillow fighting can take place virtually anywhere; the only requirement is that you need two comfy weapons. An impromptu game always works best, initiating a fight with an unexpected thwack around your partner’s bonce should always prompt a reaction. A fight that evolves naturally is always more entertaining than the pre-planned, plus you should have equal parity with the props if it’s in your room. (Just watch out for wobbly lamps and other breakables.)

To get the full experience, set up some ground rules: such as “no smothering” (too dangerous), “no holding” (of opponent’s pillow) and “no cushions” (they often have deceptively sharp corners). You can work out a point-scoring system, too: such as one point for every yelp. Or two points every time your partner hits the mattress.

You could also invent some signature moves. Try the two-handed “whack hammer”, where you bring down your quarry with an over-the-head strike. Or you might prefer a rain of repeated hits to the dome, that we have christened “The Big Sleep”. Preposterous stage names are a must too… “Feather Face”, “The Foam Ranger” or possibly “Mattress Man”?

If you start to build up a passion for pillow fighting you might want to take on new rivals. International Pillow Fight Day, staged in London’s Trafalgar Square each April, is a fun-filled, fancy dress-style “game of foams”, designed to raise money for women’s charities – and it attracts thousands of pillow-wielding enthusiasts every year. Let the feathers fly!

Watch a video of this year’s International Pillow Fight Day event in London below:

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