Pencil fighting

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Pencil fighting (also known as Woods or Pencil Break) is a 2-player children's game in which players attempt to break each other's pencils. The game was once popular with elementary and middle school students in the 1970s and 80s, but has slipped into obscurity due to its controversy.

To play the game, each player needs a pencil. On each turn, one player holds their pencil by the ends, horizontally, and the other player swings their pencil down in an attempt to break it. The players alternate until one of the pencils is broken; the player with the unbroken pencil wins.

Contents 1 Basic rules 2 Variations 3 Controversy 4 References 5 External links

[edit] Basic rules

• Standard "#2" ("HB") pencils must be used.
• Pencils must be of a certain minimum length (4 inches or more), usually as close to "unsharpened" as possible.
• The person holding the pencil must keep their hands a minimum distance apart. (Making the breakable area shorter not only makes the target smaller and harder to hit, but increases the difficulty of breaking the pencil, due to the extra support). They must also make every effort to hold the pencil in place as the other pencil hits it. A simple overhand grip is usually used.
• A partial break does not count (although it virtually ensures the next attempt will break the pencil).
• No "bracing" (bending a pencil outward to increase strength).
• No "hacking" (chopping of a pencil with the attacker's hand, usually a tactic of frustration).
• Pencil swings must hit the center of the other player's pencil.

[edit] Variations

• Instead of the breaker holding the pencil and swinging like an ax, the top of the pencil is held in place, while the bottom end is pressed towards the other pencil. The top of the pencil is released, causing the tension in the pencil to be released as it flies down and hits the other pencil.
• If the attacker misses the holder's pencil during a break attempt, the holder receives a special free hit called "The Super." A player executes The Super by holding the pencil with an index finger braced along the length of the pencil, with the tip of the finger being even with one end of the pencil. The player then swings down and hits the other player's pencil as hard as possible, with the braced index finger providing extra force. Usually, execution of The Super almost always results in a break.

[edit] Controversy

Due to the potential for injuries, especially when a pencil misses its target and hits the other player's hands, some schools have specific rules banning pencil fighting.^[1] Other schools have banned the game based on claims that pencil fighting is vandalism of school property when the pencils used in the fight are from the classroom supply, not to mention a waste of good pencils.

Pencil fighting has been played in schools since at least 1975. However, with the advent of mechanical pencils and outright bans of the game by school administration, the game has receded into the obscure fringes of classroom games. However, recent footage surfacing on the Web has indicated that there is still at least some remaining interest in the game.^[2]

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• The World Championship of Illegal Pencil Fighting – Parody film that shows several pencil fighting matches and includes illustrations of the various fighting techniques