What, you might ask, are “Noodle Wars?” Sound silly, right? Nevertheless, a good question.
“Noodle Wars” are simply full contact sparring matches using common pool noodles.
These inexpensive, prolific, Styrofoam toys with the hollow center make it fun and safe to indulge in full contact fighting without having to worry about pulling a punch or strike to avoid injury to an opponent or oneself, quite the opposite from normal sparring when punches and strikes have to be pulled to avoid injury.
With a variety of colors to choose from as a weapon, combatants can slash, whack and stab their opposition with a sense of freedom and safety that full contact fighting does not allow. A fighter might wish to wear a light set of goggles and/or a mouthpiece for protection but the Brothers Ligtvoet choose to fight with no protection. And, boy, do they ever slash and whack each other!
The beauty of it all is that Noodle Wars allow combatants to practice strategies, tactics, timing, footwork, movement, etc. with full power and without concern for hurting an opponent or being hurt in return. It is a great way to learn.
So … grab yourself a pool noodle or two and start having fun while learning at the same time!