For real. My initial reaction was "NEEEEEERDS!" but then this is some probably likely painful shit here.

Form over function, buddy.

As a kid, I did the even nerdier kiddie version of this called boffer fighting at organized events. Weapons are PVC piping covered in foam.

The step up from what I did is the different SCA divisions, which is more like this in that the weapons aren't padded and you need armor, and this is exactly the reason why I stopped doing it eventually. Every weapon being just differently shaped clubs encouraged people to do dumb shit like making a sword that's weighted tip-heavy like an axe. You go into a fight expecting one thing and then get almost knocked out (for real) by some douche who's masquerading his "poleaxe" as a long sword for the explicit purpose of faking you out.

And if you're wondering why someone would do it at all past the age of like 15...

Nobody parties like these people. NOBODY.

There were guys in my dorm in undergrad did the thing with foam covered PVC pipes. They were all literally "That Guy" and did it on the quad in front of the dorm.

"Here comes Andre to pull down a Pole!"