v.
To
participate in boffing
i.e. simulated melee combat with mostly-safe padded weapons usually constructed with PVC piping and foam, bound and decorated with various Duct Tapes; often used in LARPing to decide the outcomes of battles.
The word was developed as an
Onomatopoeia for the sound usually made when the aforementioned padded weapons strike
one another or a person (BOFF!).
In lieu of this, these padded weapons used are commonly called "Boffing Weapons".
One example of boffing combat is to follow "
black knight" rules--a reference made from Monty Python's
King Arthur and the Quest for the Holy Grail--in that, if you are struck in the arm, you are to pretend you have lost that arm; if you are struck in the leg, you are to pretend you have lost that leg; if you are struck in the crotch, waist, torso, neck, or head, you are to decalre yourself 'dead'; if you are struck on an arm or leg that has been lost, it is assumed that the weapon 'would have' passed through the limb that wasn't there and struck the next part concurrently in its path--usually the torso or another limb, resulting in 'death' or another 'amputation'.
Remember, folks, Boffing is just a game.
