Pillow fighting is moving out of the bedroom and into the boxing ring. The Pillow Fight Championship, or PFC, plans to hold its first live, pay-to-watch event in Florida on January 29.
枕头大战正在走出卧室，走进拳击场。枕头大战锦标赛计划于1月29日在佛罗里达州举办第一届付费观看的现场直播赛事。

Steve Williams had the idea of turning a children's game into a professional fighting sport. The head of PFC said professional pillow fighting will have the excitement of hand-to-hand fighting without the violence of mixed martial arts, or MMA, and boxing. He said it is not a joke.
史蒂夫·威廉姆斯产生了这种将儿童游戏变成职业格斗运动的想法。这位枕头大战锦标赛的负责人表示，专业的枕头大战具有肉搏的刺激，却又没有综合格斗和拳击的暴力。他说这可不是个玩笑。

"It's not something where you sit there and laugh and feathers are flying," Williams told Reuters. "It's serious. It's hardcore swinging with specialized pillows."
威廉姆斯对路透社表示：“这可不是让你坐在那看羽毛满天飞、然后捧腹大笑的玩闹。这是正儿八经的比赛。它的核心是挥动特制枕头对打。”

The three-round fights will be available to view on sports streaming station FITE.
这些三回合的比赛将可以在体育流媒体网站FITE上观看。

The male and female athletes in January's event come mostly from MMA and boxing. But Williams said the athletes are not going to get injured.
参加一月份比赛的这些男女运动员主要来自于综合格斗和拳击行业。但是威廉姆斯表示，这些运动员不会受伤。

"The fighters don't like to get hurt, and there's a lot of people who don't want to see the blood. They want to see good competition, they just don't want to see the violence."
“运动员不想受伤，很多观众也不希望看到流血场面，他们希望看到精彩的比赛，不希望看到暴力。”

Since many people grew up pillow fighting with friends or relatives, Williams hopes the new sport will be relatable and can grow a large audience, including children.
由于很多人是在跟亲朋好友的枕头大战中长大的，因此威廉姆斯希望这项新运动能够引起人们的共鸣，并吸引包括儿童在内的大量观众。

"You can call it an alternative sport, but we think it's going to have mainstream appeal," he said.
他说：“你可以称它为一项另类运动，但是我们认为它将会具有主流吸引力。”

"Think about how they mixed country music with rap music and brought these diverse audiences together. That's what we're doing, and we hope it brings in a different kind of viewer."
“想想人们如何将乡村音乐和说唱音乐融合到一起，并将这些完全不同的观众聚到一起。这就是我们正在做的事情，我们希望它能带来不一样的观众。”

I'm Dan Novak.
我是丹·诺瓦克。(51VOA.COM原创翻译，请勿转载，违者必究！)

Pillow fighting is moving out of the bedroom and into the boxing ring. The Pillow Fight Championship, or PFC, plans to hold its first live, pay-to-watch event in Florida on January 29.

Steve Williams had the idea of turning a children's game into a professional fighting sport. The head of PFC said professional pillow fighting will have the excitement of hand-to-hand fighting without the violence of mixed martial arts, or MMA, and boxing. He said it is not a joke.

Fighters from Professional Pillow Fight Championship compete, in Delray Beach, Florida, U.S., October 23, 2021. Picture taken October 23, 2021. Owen Phillips/Professional Pillow Fight Championship/Handout via REUTERS

"It's not something where you sit there and laugh and feathers are flying," Williams told Reuters. "It's serious. It's hardcore swinging with specialized pillows."

The three-round fights will be available to view on sports streaming station FITE.

The male and female athletes in January's event come mostly from MMA and boxing. But Williams said the athletes are not going to get injured.

"The fighters don't like to get hurt, and there's a lot of people who don't want to see the blood. They want to see good competition, they just don't want to see the violence."

Since many people grew up pillow fighting with friends or relatives, Williams hopes the new sport will be relatable and can grow a large audience, including children.

"You can call it an alternative sport, but we think it's going to have mainstream appeal," he said.

"Think about how they mixed country music with rap music and brought these diverse audiences together. That's what we're doing, and we hope it brings in a different kind of viewer."

I'm Dan Novak.

Reuters reported this story. Dan Novak adapted it for VOA Learning English. --------Hai Do was the editor.

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Words in This Story

pillow — n. a bag filled with soft material that is used as a cushion usually for the head of a person who is lying down

ring — n. an area that is used for shows and contests and is usually surrounded by ropes or a fence

feather — n. any one of the light growths that make up the outer covering of the body of a bird

hardcore — adj. very active and enthusiastic

alternative — adj. not usual or traditional

mainstream — adj. the thoughts, beliefs, and choices that are accepted by the largest number of people

diverse — adj. made up of people or things that are different from each other