Is play fighting acceptable?

[geriv33]

I'm a mum of four boys, together me and my partner have 6. Our boys have always been up for a bit of rough and tumble but never to the extent that any are hurt or injured. It has been put to us that by someone in some sort of authority that we should not entertain this behaviour and if the boys decide that they want to be flash, the hulk ect. We should tell them to calm down and sit them on the couch. Just looking see other parents opinions on the matter, sure it's gonna be of mixed opinion but honestly welcome, everyone parents differently.

we should not entertain this behaviour and if the boys decide that they want to be flash, the hulk ect. We should tell them to calm down and sit them on the couch

How ridiculous. Why would you want to suppress your sons' creativity like that! As long as all participants involved are happy and not hurting anyone, it's fine.

Alpha male, isn't it.
Top dog
Finding their place in the hierarchy,

It's something you see all over the animal kingdom. We may have come out of the trees but not moved too far away really.

I have 8 ds's. They played rough and tumble their entire childhood. Still amazingly close - oldest 27,youngest 4...
Still mess about too!!

We’ve always lets our two DSs play fight.

Today, first time ever, one ended up with a nose bleed and the other a (minor) black eye .

Will be reigning the rough & tumble in a bit I think.

Schools don't like it because of liability issues, so need to say they've discouraged it. Out of school, however, I think it's generally a good thing. Much research has been done on risky play and it's been fairly universally established as a good thing.

In my experience play fighting does generally lead to tears.

It's a lesson in consent IMO.
My boys are allowed to wrestle etc. But the rule is if someone says stop, you stop. No questions.
If they don't stick to that, then that's no longer playing & they're in trouble.

Rough and tumble play is good for children, I think. I check in with 'Is everyone still having fun?' or 'Does anyone need a break?' every so often so if it's spilled over into real fighting, there's an out. Also, no actual hitting or kicking. They just seem to roll around and pretend.

There's a difference between risky play and play fighting. I don't like my kids play fighting as invariably one gets hurt. I do like them to be boisterous and use energy but in a better way...get outside and play tag, hide and seek etc. If they are playing Hulk, Marvel etc it's not just mindless fighting but an imaginative game with its own limits and boundaries. Which aren't to mindlessly hurt each other.

I've always done the same as @GroggyLegs in that as soon as one of them says stop then they are to stop.