If you've never heard of the Pillow Fight League before, or been witness to one of their action-packed, incredibly entertaining events - here's what to expect. Professional pillow fighting is a hybrid fight sport for female fighters only - who wants to watch dudes pillow fight? - that combines the big personalities and high flying moves of professional wrestling, with the aggression and energy of mixed martial arts! Fights take place on League-approved professional MMA mats laid on the floor (the women do not fight in a ring), with a male "Buffer" on all four sides to protect the fighters and keep them on the mats. You won't believe how close to the action PFL fans are! And Yes, of course there are Rules - this isn't two women just standing and swinging pillows, this is the Evolution of pillow fighting!
Look, to understand the Pillow Fight League, you have to put aside whatever you're thinking (and the ladies of the PFL already know what you're probably thinking...) and try to accept and understand that the PFL is...not what you're thinking. It's completely legitimate, for one. There is an accident insurance policy for the women, event insurance, a stringent tryout process, a League Constitution, fighter contracts, referees, judges and much, much more. Thus, there are no fitness models, strippers or actresses in the League, because the PFL is not a joke, it's a unique sports league - the only one of its kind in the world. Inside the PFL are sales managers of IT firms (Olivia Neutron-Bomb), landscape architects (Shady Godiva), marketing coordinators (Champain), career counselors (Charley Davidson) - all women from Toronto that share the same character traits - like Commitment. They practice at the PFL's own private gym with various fight trainers three nights a week. Confidence - contrary to popular belief, what the fighters look like is NOT part of the League's tryout criteria. The PFL is far more interested in a woman's belief in herself. Her confident fighting spirit. Her ability to take a shot and keep moving forward - what the ladies call "The Eye Of The Tiger." There are no wallflowers in the PFL, that's for sure. And you want to talk Entertainment? You won't believe how hard the fighters work to come up with entertaining ways to use the pillows in a match! And wait'll you see how much fun they have trash-talking each other before, during and after their fights...everything they do, every move they make, every word they say, is for the entertainment of their fans. Don't you wish more sports did that? Helllooo, Toronto Maple Leafs?
The women of the PFL deserve an incredible amount of credit, for they have accomplished the impossible - they've taken female pillow fighting and flipped it on its head. Subverted it. Let themselves become EMPOWERED by it, and made it their own. Then they serve it back to their audience (60% men, 40% women) and force them to accept it on THEIR TERMS. And the audience LOVES IT, for they see what others do not - that female professional pillow fighting, as mandated by the Rules Of The Pillow Fight League, is Fun. It promotes Fitness and Competition. And Entertainment? Just come and see an event! The ladies of the PFL have something special they'd like to show you...
