Chicken fight, also known as shoulder wars, is an informal game, often played in a lake or swimming pool, characterized by one team member sitting on the shoulders of his or her teammate or riding piggy-back. The object of the game is knock down or separate an opposing team through a team effort. The person on top is considered to be the "attacker" while the person below is considered to be the "vehicle". The person below may not use arms or hands and must rely on momentum to attack by running into the other team. The person on his/her shoulders is the "attacker" and may use any means possible of separating the other team or knocking them to the ground. If a team is separated or knocked down in any way, they are required to resign from the game and the last team to remain together is considered the winner. It is not uncommon for this game to be banned in many swimming pools due to safety concerns.
A similar Japanese game called "kibasen" (literally "cavalry fight") is commonly played as part of school sports day events. It is a field event rather than a swimming event. In it, a team of four competitors work together, with three carrying the fourth, who wears a hachimaki. The team is defeated if they are knocked over or, more commonly, if their bandanna is removed by an opponent.
Famous quotes containing the words chicken and/or fight:
“‘Yesterday I saw God. What did he look like? Well, in the
afternoon I climbed up a ladder—he as a cheap cabin in the
country, like Monroe, NY the chicken farms in the wood. He was a lonely old man with a white beard.”
—Allen Ginsberg (b. 1926)
“Each reaching and aspiration is an instinct with which all nature consists and cöoperates, and therefore it is not in vain. But alas! each relaxing and desperation is an instinct too. To be active, well, happy, implies courage. To be ready to fight in a duel or a battle implies desperation, or that you hold your life cheap.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)