Cardboard Fighting League Not Just for Cut-Ups

(June 11) -- Sports fans all over the world will focus on the World Cup this weekend, but a few hundred folks in Seattle are going to be focused on a slightly less popular sport: cardboard tube fighting.

Not familiar with the sport? You're not alone. The sport has only been in existence since 2007 and, so far, is only played by a few loyal adherents in cities like Seattle, Washington, San Francisco and Philadelphia.

But while cardboard tube fighting lacks the international attention given to sports like soccer, baseball and basketball, its smaller fan base is no less passionate.

Ravin Pierre, one of the co-founders of the Cardboard Tube Fighting League, the governing body of this spanking-new sport, believes the appeal is in part because the rules are simple: Two players face off against each other swinging those cardboard tubes usually used for Christmas wrapping paper.

Generally, a contest ends when one of the player's tubes bends at least 45 degrees. In some cases, the event goes on until one cardboard tube is decimated.

Or maybe it's because the equipment can be as simple or elaborate as players choose. Pierre says some fighters create elaborate armor out of cardboard while others only rely on their cardboard tube and their ingenuity.

In addition, Pierre says a player's size or strength isn't necessarily an advantage.

"Generally, the big winners are children," Pierre said. "I've thought about why and I think it's because their wrists aren't too resistant."

The kids have done so well that Pierre is changing the rules slightly. Usually, players are placed in four divisions: Kids; full armor; no armor (or naked); and melee, where everyone fights at once until only one tube is standing.
"The kids usually win, so now I separate them into their own category so there is also an adult winner," Pierre said.

In addition, as part of its duties as the regulating body of cardboard tube fighting, the league seeks to ensure fairness by supplying all the tubes so that nothing can be reinforced by less scrupulous athletes.

"We get all the tubes from one place, a business called Paper Mart in Los Angeles that charges 30 cents a tube," Pierre said. "We tried to contact them to let them know we only used their tubes, but they didn't understand the concept and ignored us. Oh well, we still use them. They're the cheapest."

The next big event takes place in Seattle on Sunday as part of a Flag Day event to benefit The World Is Fun, a Seattle nonprofit that aims to get people in their 20s and 30s interested in charities.

And what better way to get them interested in helping their fellow citizens than by whipping each other in mortal cardboard tube combat?

The World Is Fun spokeswoman Amy Faulkner thinks it's just the ticket to getting young adults involved.

"We figure this is a better way to get them to volunteer than a boring wine tasting," Faulkner said, adding that the organization has also promoted volunteerism through pet look-alike contests and a charity where people donated money to the Seattle guy with the best beard or mustache.

According to FlashNews, Faulkner says cardboard tubes "kind of resemble a flag pole," so it makes perfect sense that they'd be used to celebrate the stars and stripes.

Robert Easley created the sport of cardboard tube fighting in the spring of 2007 in Seattle before moving to San Francisco to start a new chapter.

Easley left Pierre in charge, and he not only arranged tournaments in Seattle, but also took the sport to Philadelphia and Washington, D.C.

"I went to visit friends in those cities and they begged me to do tournaments there," Pierre said.

"We did one on the National Mall and I got the best review of my life there. A guy came up and said, 'Hey, thank you so much. This is a great stress reliever.' He gave me his card and it turned out he worked for Blackwater, the company that trains the military. I thought, 'Whoa.' "

Pierre might actually need to enlist that man's help soon. It turns out that the Cardboard Tube Fighting League doesn't have a monopoly on the sport.

"We didn't know this, but there is a rival league in Scotland called 'Box Wars,' " Pierre said. "They're more hard core and into body slamming. I didn't know who they were, but they declared war on us. They're not very family-friendly -- and we are."

Despite the threat of war, Pierre believes cardboard tube fighting is the sport of the future, and it's hard to argue with him.

New chapters are opening up in the U.S. as well as Australia and Japan. In fact, Pierre is planning a trip to Moscow later this summer to organize a tournament there.

"I was invited by a group of artists who, every year, create a city out of cardboard called 'Cardboardia,' " he said. "It only lasts a week, but it's perfect for this."