"Water warfare" redirects here. For armed conflict over water resources, see water war. For the WiiWare

WiiWare

WiiWare is a service that allows Wii users to download games and applications specifically designed and developed for the Wii video game console made by Nintendo. These games and applications can only be purchased and downloaded from the Wii Shop Channel under the WiiWare section...

 game, see Water Warfare (video game)

Water Warfare (video game)

Water Warfare is a first-person shooter video game by Hudson Soft for WiiWare. It is the second game in the genre to be released by Hudson Soft for WiiWare ....

.

A water fight is a type of mock combat

Mock combat

Mock combat involves the execution of combative actions without intent to harm. Participants can engage in such sparring for ritual, training, recreational or performance reasons...

 using various water-dispensing devices to soak opponents. Everything from buckets to balloons to water guns and even cupped hands cradling water can be applied in a water fight. There are many different levels of game play used by those engaging in water fights, from quick, casual fights to long, objective-oriented-style water warfare campaigns, and tournament-style games. In most but not all cases, the common objective is to soak (spray with water) one's opponents while trying to remain dry.

History

It is unknown precisely when humans first began splashing their friends with water. Water play is exhibited by other animals such as monkeys or even elephants opting to spray themselves and others in an attempt to cool off during hot

Hot

Hot or HOT may refer to:*Geographical Places and People:**Hot District, a district of Chiang Mai province, Thailand**Hot, Hot a sub-district of Hot District, Thailand**Hot, Albania, a municipality in the Malësi e Madhe District, Albania...

ter months.

Splashing others with water has likely been around since humans first discovered that a cupped-hand can be used to cradle water within. As mankind learned to use various natural objects, then tools, the ability to carry and pour/dispense water upon others became more possible. One still used ploy is to simply fill a wide-mouthed object (i.e. a bucket or pot) with water such that one can heave a wave of water towards another using one's arms. Though accuracy and range of this type of water attack is minimal, at close range, it is quite possible to significantly soak another. This form of basic water combat is still employed today, particularly in Thailand during the Songkran festival.

There is little doubt humans have been splashing each other with water for a long time, particularly during hot days, as it seems to be a virtually instinctive act. Small infants and little children all enjoy splashing about in shallow wading pools

Swimming pool

A swimming pool, swimming bath, wading pool, or simply a pool, is a container filled with water intended for swimming or water-based recreation. There are many standard sizes; the largest is the Olympic-size swimming pool...

 or in the bathtub

Bathtub

A bath , bathtub , or tub is a large container for holding water in which a person may bathe . Most modern bathtubs are made of acrylic or fiberglass, but alternatives are available in enamel over steel or cast iron, and occasionally waterproof finished wood...

. Adolescents and adults often play pranks involving carefully positioned buckets of water atop doors or water balloons. However, these acts do not quite fall into the realm of the modern water fight definition, but do explain aspects of its origin.

Modern water fights are derived in many respects from actual military warfare. However, unlike actual combat, water fights are meant to either cool down during a hot day or to safely simulate some aspects of combat without the danger of inflicting serious injuries.

The primary objective, as noted earlier, is most typically to soak an opponent or opposing team without getting soaked, oneself. In less organized or casual cases, often the main objective is to cool down during a hot, summer day. There are still aspects of competitiveness present even in the most disorganized 'Soak-Fest'.

Unlike other mock competitive warfare games like Laser Tag or Paintball

Paintball

Paintball is a sport in which players compete, in teams or individually, to eliminate opponents by tagging them with capsules containing water soluble dye and gelatin shell outside propelled from a device called a paintball marker . Paintballs have a non-toxic, biodegradable, water soluble...

, determining whether a water attack is successful is still the topic of some debate, particularly for attempts at creating an organized game as opposed to a simple free-for-all (See Game Types below).

Wet Monday

Water fights are traditionally part of Easter Monday

Easter Monday

Easter Monday is the day after Easter Sunday and is celebrated as a holiday in some largely Christian cultures, especially Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox cultures...

 celebration ( often referred to as 'Wet Monday' in some Roman Catholic

Roman Catholic Church

The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...

 countries, most notably Poland

Poland

Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...

 (known as 'Śmigus-Dyngus' or 'Lany poniedziałek' , Slovakia

Slovakia

The Slovak Republic is a landlocked state in Central Europe. It has a population of over five million and an area of about . Slovakia is bordered by the Czech Republic and Austria to the west, Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east and Hungary to the south...

('Šibačka/Polievačka') and Czech Republic

Czech Republic

The Czech Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Poland to the northeast, Slovakia to the east, Austria to the south, and Germany to the west and northwest....

 ('velikonoční pondělí' or 'pomlázka'). Traditionally, early in the morning boys awake girls by pouring a bucket of water on their head, however most recently it has changed to an all-out "water war" between the girls (who were traditionally the only accepted target, but nowadays attack the boys as fiercely as the boys used to attack them) and the boys (usually children in pre-school or early school age). It is also not uncommon for randomly selected pedestrians to be soaked with water by the children. Most common "weapons" are water guns, water balloons and buckets full of water.

Water Wars

There are a number of different methods used by various groups as means to judge which side has won or lost.

Methods of scoring

There are a variety of methods used to score water warfare games. Common methods are noted below:

Relative wetness

This is a rather subjective means usually done by eye. Water fight participants simple do rough approximations regarding the amount of their clothing has been soaked through versus how much dry surfaces remain. In the event all participants appear to be fully covered with water, sometimes participants opt to wring their clothing as further means to show how wet or dry they are. Winners are often declared upon consensus by the group;

More precise methods of determining the amount of relative wetness are also available. This usually amounts to a measurement of the size of a single or multiple spots of water on an individual's clothing or equipment as predetermined before a battle. This method of scoring, while obviously maleable is most often noted in its most popular form, the "fist sized splash" rule. In this way, a participant who has a "fist sized" splash of water on his/her clothing is "out" for a period of time specified earlier in the game. Variants on this method include using this as a "kill" which dictates a "respawn" either instantaneously or after a set period of time.

Direct-stream/balloon-hit

This method of judging a hit relies on the agreement and honesty between players as to what constitutes a direct vs. glancing water stream hit. Some groups employ the rule that a 'fist-sized' area should be dampened on an opponents clothing to be counted as a hit while others are more liberal, allowing almost any level of water contact (apart from simply mist) as counting as a hit. Depending on the type of game being played, a hit would count either as a point or may result in a player being temporarily eliminated from gameplay.

Tag-based system

This method of scoring relies on some form of tag (either water soluble or colour changing when wet) to determine whether a hit or elimination is successful. This is a more objective means of determining points or soaks compared to the methods listed above. However, many argue that use of a tag is not necessarily accurate as tags tend to be small, only on one or two areas on a player's body, and can be much more easily covered/protected unfairly during a water fight, making it virtually impossible to score.

Water-collection device system

Some would ultimately prefer a device that could record or report the amount of water actually received by a player during a water fight. However, the problem is that this type of device is hard to find and few are willing to wear them. Presently, there is only one known company distributing such a device. Soaking level as recorded by such a device would arguably be the most objective and suitable method of scoring for a water war fight, but as this type of additional piece of equipment is hard to find, costs more (than simply estimating wetness), and is not particularly accepted by most water warriors, this means of scoring remains used by relatively few.

Dissolving Necklace

Another method of recording hits is to place a necklace (with a water-soluble pill or medicine on it) around the players necks. When that person's necklace has fully dissolved, he is 'dead'.

Popular game types

There are many popular game types for team-based and non-team-based games. Common ones are summarized below:
A small team with a base

a small team is consisted of 1-3 players in a team. and you do not speak or make any conversation with the other team at any time.first of all you need to get you and your team members to come up with a base. if your playing in a big space such as if you are on holiday and you have a field to play on then a large covered base will be the best solution, as you opponents will not be able to find you.in your base there should be all your things such as spare water guns and back-up water bombs. it needs to be easy to grab so you can easily grab your items when you go into battle. there are many tactics of winning a water fight like:were a plastic bag, try and find the other teams base with out them knowing so you can intrude of it, get a friend or family member to be the person who fills up all of your water bombs and water guns while you play so you do not have to stand around for a long time filling them up and there is a large risk of getting hit by your opponent that way.these are just a few things that you could use for your water fight so good luck and I hope you win.

One-hit kills

This is one of the most basic forms of organized water fights. Drawing upon paintball rules, the idea is that a single water stream hit counts as an elimination from the game. Games are played until there is only one person or one team remaining on the playing field. However, unlike paintball, there are some debates regarding how best to determine whether a hit has occurred (See: Methods of Scoring above).

One-hit lives

Variation on OHK, but instead of player elimination, a point is awarded for a soak, but the soaked player continues to play shortly after.

Capture the flag

This is where you try to stay dry while soaking your opponents with water. The objective is to stay dry and get into enemy territory and to find the enemy flag. The first team to bring the enemy's flag back to their own territory wins.

Soaker tag

This game works like the game of tag

Tag (game)

Tag is a playground game played worldwide that involves one or more players chasing other players in an attempt to tag or touch them, usually with their fingers. There are many variations...

, but using soakers and stream hits to determine who is 'It'.

Water guns

The original water gun

Water gun

A water gun is a type of toy designed to shoot water. Similar to water balloons, the primary purpose of the toy is to soak another person in a game such as water warfare....

s were made of metal and fashioned after actual firearm

Firearm

A firearm is a weapon that launches one, or many, projectile at high velocity through confined burning of a propellant. This subsonic burning process is technically known as deflagration, as opposed to supersonic combustion known as a detonation. In older firearms, the propellant was typically...

s. These early pistols did not dispense much water, but would likely be used to taunt or terrify others. Modern water weapons are much more capable of delivering larger volumes of water over greater distances.

Hoses and sprinklers

Common water dispensing devices, but are considered unfair or for refilling use only in most organized games due to the 'unlimited' nature of their water supply.

Water balloons

Small rubber balloons similar to party balloons, though usually much smaller, that can be used to dispense relatively large amounts of water to a target. Coming in a wide range of varieties, including multicolored and grenade color, water balloons are filled with water, tied and dispensed to a target (usually by hand- see water balloon launchers below). When a balloon reaches a target, the balloon usually breaks, resulting in the water covering the target. Water balloons are useful in several ways that soakers cannot be used. First, they have a wide blast radius, so if multiple targets are fairly close together, all or most can be soaked with only a single balloon. Also, this allows them for use when a target is behind a barrier, because a balloon does not have to directly hit a target to soak them, like a stream of water from a soaker. Secondly, balloons can dispense a larger amount of water to a target faster than most common soakers, and a user doesn't need a bulky, hard plastic soaker to soak a target. Disadvantages of water balloons are that less water can be carried by one person without a bag, and soakage range is dependent on the thrower's arm (except for launchers). Also, water balloons take longer to fill up and tie than soakers, and are rather fragile (they can often break when being transported, resulting in a wet user, not a wet target). Also, if playing with teams, one team may, for example, get a fort and the other may get access to water balloons.

Controversy

Water fights in Iran

Iran

Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...

 during the summer, when temperatures often reach 40 degrees Celsius, have led to arrests and been attacked by authorities as "corrupt", "shameful", "abnormal" behavior in disobedience of Islam

Islam

Islam . The most common are and .   : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...

ic principles.

External links

• Extrawater
• iSoaker.com
• Super Soaker Central
• WaterWarfare.com