Play fighting

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In humans, play fighting (sometimes called roughhousing) is an activity in which two or more people act as though they are in combat, but without actually meaning to harm their partners, nor dealing sufficient bodily harm to make the game unenjoyable. The players may or may not choose to involve actual physical contact.

Unauthorized physical contact of this nature, if severe enough, could be considered assault.

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Generally, play fighting games are highly sporadic and last only as long as interest and time allow. It is also worth noting that the older the participants, the more likely that physical touch is involved. Typically, this behavior stops almost completely during middle age.^{[citation needed]}

Humans seem to engage in this activity merely for amusement, as it is generally not serious enough to provide usable combat training. When play fighting is used for that specific purpose, it may be called sparring.^{[citation needed]}

The highest amount of play fighting occurs in young male children. Probably due to cultural reasons, females seem to be discouraged from engaging in this activity, although it does happen. Teenaged males also often employ a version of play fighting; however, this is generally more serious and involves greater risk, having transformed from a harmless game into a method of proving superiority (attempting to show alpha male status). There have been many documented cases of young men accidentally killed whilst play fighting, generally by their partners but sometimes by environmental accidents.^{[citation needed]}

Young couples have been known to engage in a sort of intimate, almost sexual type of play fighting, where grapples and punches are replaced by tickling and soft touches. This is distinguished from regular lovemaking by one of the partners playfully trying to avoid, avert, or escape what his or her partner is doing to them, though it could be a prelude to actual sexual activity.^{[citation needed]}

Similar behavior is visible in other animals, notably cats and dogs.