Thumb war
{{short description|Simulated fighting game using the thumbs}}
{{For|the Star Wars parody short film|Thumb Wars}}
File:Two people engaged in a thumb war.jpg
A thumb war or thumb fight, also known as thumb wrestling, is a game played by two players in which the thumbs are used to simulate fighting.{{cite journal |first1=Hans |last1=Dieleman |first2=Don |last2=Huisingh |year=2006 |title=The Potentials of Games in Learning and Teaching About Sustainable Development |journal=Journal of Cleaner Production |issn=0959-6526 |pages=18 |url=http://www.saganet.nl/file.php/5/resources/downloads/2005/Article%20Games%20and%20Sustainable%20Development.pdf}} The objective of the game is to "pin" the opponent's thumb, often to a count of four.{{cite news |last=Villalon |first=Oscar |date=8 December 2003 |title=1, 2, 3, 4, I declare a thumb war |work=San Francisco Chronicle |url=http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2003/12/08/DDG3Q3HFVQ1.DTL |accessdate=2009-10-19}}{{cite news |last=Villalon |first=Oscar |date=3 December 2006 |title=THE SEMI-SWEET SCIENCE One, two, three, five. I declare ... |work=San Francisco Chronicle |url=http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/12/03/LVG0LMM9O81.DTL |accessdate=2009-10-19}} The San Francisco Chronicle called the game "the miniature golf of martial sports."
Gameplay
The players face each other and each holds out their left hand or right hand in a "thumbs up",{{cite news |last=Beard |first=Polly |date=27 June 2009 |title=Games to play in your tent on rainy days |work=The Times |url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/travel/outdoors/article6568325.ece?print=yes&randnum=1151003209000 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110629110430/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/travel/outdoors/article6568325.ece?print=yes&randnum=1151003209000 |url-status=dead |archive-date=June 29, 2011 |accessdate=2009-10-19}} and they link hands such that each player's fingers curl around the other player's fingers. Players may not use any of the fingers except the thumb to pin down their opponent's thumb. Gameplay has several tactics such as "playing possum", aiming for the knuckle rather than the nail for a pin, going for a quick strike, and waiting for one's opponent to tire.{{cite news |last=Orr |first=Elizabeth |date=22 November 2006 |title=THUMBS UP! |work=Columbus Dispatch |url=http://www.columbusdispatch.com/live/contentbe/dispatch/2006/11/22/20061122-E10-00.html |accessdate=2009-10-19}} Variations include making the thumbs "bow", "kiss", or both before warring, and to war with both hands at once; or sneak attacks, which involve using your pointer finger to take over the opponent.{{cite book |last=Collard |first=Mark |year=2005 |title=No props: great games with no equipment |publisher=Project Adventure, Inc. |isbn=0-934387-05-2 |pages=218 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=v13L6hFPIgYC&pg=PA42}} Players may also engage in the Rabbit Hole maneuver, or ducking their thumb down into their own palm, to escape imminent defeat. These additions are optional and do not need to be included into the rules of play.
The game is typically initiated with both the players uttering the rhyme "One, two, three, four, I declare a thumb war", passing their thumbs over each other in time with this rhyme.{{cite book |last1=Gunter |first1=Veronika Alice |last2=Meyer |first2=Clay |year=2005 |title=The Ultimate Indoor Games Book: The 200 Best Boredom Busters Ever! |publisher=Lark Books |isbn=1-57990-625-7 |pages=128 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xQKlgR1BbMgC&pg=PA36}} The rhyme is sometimes extended with “Five, six, seven, eight, who do we appreciate?” or "Five, six, seven, eight, try to keep your thumb straight." or "Five, six, seven, eight. Open up your thumb gate."{{cite book |last=Haslam |first=Nick |year=2004 |title=Relational models theory: a contemporary overview |publisher=Routledge |isbn=0-8058-5356-1 |pages=374 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ba5Qg3TvsAoC&pg=PA107}} A regional variation in Boston is "five, six, seven, eight, open up the war gates." Another American variation is "five, six, seven, eight, you are good, but I am great." In South America, the starting song is "ésta es la pulseada china", as in France, "un, deux, trois, bras de fer chinois" ("this is the Chinese arm wrestling"), with the same thumb dance as in English. In New Zealand, the rhyme goes, "Pea-knuckle, pea-knuckle, one, two, three. I declare a war on thee."
There is an official Ladies and Mens World Thumb Wrestling Championships{{cite web |title=World Thumb Wrestling Championships 2023 - Thumb War |url=https://www.thumbwrestling.co.uk/ |access-date=2023-01-11 |language=en-US}} which is contested by thumb wrestlers from across the globe annually. There are official match-play rules,{{cite web |date=2009-07-06 |title=Thumb Wrestling Rules - World Thumb Wrestling Championships 2023 |url=https://www.thumbwrestling.co.uk/thumb-wrestling-rules |access-date=2023-01-11 |language=en-US}} and bouts are contested inside a hand-crafted wooden thumb wrestling ring in a best-of-three-round format. Previous winners have come from United States of America, Ireland, Poland and the UK. Current 4 time Mens World Thumb Wrestling Champion Paul 'Under the Thumb' Browse is still undefeated and has won the 2016{{Citation |title=World Thumb Wrestling Championships {{!}} Tesco Mobile |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ykuAwRu78e4 |language=en |access-date=2023-01-11}} 2017{{cite news |title=Thumbs wrestle for world title |language=en-GB |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-england-suffolk-40856476 |access-date=2023-01-11}} 2018{{Citation |title=Victorious reigning champion husband and wife are officially the two best thumb wrestlers |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w5tHZ6NumRA |language=en |access-date=2023-01-11}} and the 2019{{cite news |date=2019-07-27 |title=Family wins World Thumb Wrestling Championships |language=en-GB |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-suffolk-49138977 |access-date=2023-01-11}} World Thumb Wrestling Championships. His mother-in-law Janet 'Nanny-Thumb' Coleman is the current Ladies World Thumb Wrestling Champion.{{Cite news |title=Bog snorkelling and thumb wrestling: Weird world championships in the UK - CBBC Newsround |language=en-GB |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/49125910 |access-date=2023-01-11}} The World Championships were cancelled in 2020, 2021 and 2022 due to ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, however a 2023 Championship{{cite web |date=2016-05-09 |title=Enter World Thumb Wrestling Championships - World Thumb Wrestling Championships 2023 |url=https://www.thumbwrestling.co.uk/enter-world-thumb-wrestling-championships |access-date=2023-01-11 |language=en-US}} took place in Norwich in Norfolk, UK. The World Thumb Wrestling Championships superseded the British Thumb Wrestling Championships which was first held in Lowestoft, Suffolk, in 2010.{{cite web |title=Drayman crowned British thumb-wrestling champion |website=www.telegraph.co.uk |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/picturegalleries/howaboutthat/7933064/Drayman-crowned-British-thumb-wrestling-champion.html |access-date=2023-01-11}} Famous people to have competed in the World Thumb Wrestling Championships are Rory McGrath and Will Mellor as part of their show Rory and Will: Champions of the World.{{cite web |title=My5 |website=www.channel5.com |url=https://www.channel5.com/show/rory-and-will-champions-of-the-world |access-date=2023-01-11}}
Competitive matches of thumb wrestling have also been held on Long Island,{{cite news |last=Ketcham |first=Diane |date=29 November 1987 |title=LONG ISLAND JOURNAL |work=New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1987/11/29/nyregion/long-island-journal-464387.html |accessdate=2009-10-20}} and the 826 Valencia Foundation holds an annual thumb-wrestling competition, which has been won three times by San Francisco Chronicle book editor Oscar Villalon.{{cite news |last=Mankiewicz |first=Josh |date=26 March 2007 |title=A real thumbs up for helping kids write well |work=NBC News |url=http://www.nbcnews.com/id/17759209 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140227100435/http://www.nbcnews.com/id/17759209/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=February 27, 2014 |accessdate=2009-10-20}} There is no leaning nor tilting when thumb wrestling.
History
Norman Mailer was passionate about thumb wrestling.{{cite magazine |date=16 July 1973 |title=A Letter From The Publisher |magazine=TIME |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,907545,00.html |accessdate=2009-10-20 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081214071024/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,907545,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=December 14, 2008}} Author and humorist Paul Davidson claims that his grandfather Bernard Davidson invented the thumb war in the 1940s.{{cite web |date=18 May 2007 |title=Who Invented The Game Thumb War |work=Words for my enjoyment |url=http://www.pauldavidson.net/2007/05/18/who-invented-the-game-thumb-war/ |accessdate=2009-10-20}} American copywriter Julian Koenig claimed to have invented thumb wrestling in 1936 as a boy at Camp Greylock.{{cite web |date=June 9, 2009 |title=This American Life: Origin Story |url=http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/383/Origin-Story }} In 2011, Rory Van Bellis founded and is the current Head of the World Thumb Wrestling Championships.{{cite web |last=Baum |first=Julie |date=2017-11-24 |title=Rory Van Bellis: The head of World Thumb Wrestling, who have recently had their 9th championship {{!}} Talk Radio Europe |url=https://www.talkradioeurope.com/rvanbellis/ |access-date=2023-01-11 |language=en-GB}}
File:Thumb Wrestling (5625414817).jpg
A thumb wrestling ring is a toy used for thumb wrestling.{{cite news |last=Tweney |first=Dylan |date=30 September 2009 |title=Pocket Players: 13 Great Portable Games |work=Wired.com |url=https://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2009/09/pocket-games/2/ |accessdate=2009-10-20}} The players insert their thumbs in opposite sides and proceed with the thumb war.
Notable thumb wars
While campaigning for the 2019 Australian federal election, Opposition Leader Bill Shorten was challenged to a thumb war live on Darwin's Hot 100 radio station on the Danii & Jake Show.{{cite web | url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-04-18/bill-shorten-is-challenged-to-a-thumb-war/11030516 | title=Bill Shorten is challenged to a thumb war | website=Australian Broadcasting Corporation | date=18 April 2019 }}
See also
References
{{Reflist}}
Further reading
- {{cite book |last=Villalon |first=Oscar |year=2006 |title=The Way Of The Thumb |publisher=826 Valencia |url=http://826valencia.org/store/products/the-way-of-the-thumb/ |location=San Francisco |isbn=0-9790073-1-3}}
- {{cite book |last1=Mayer |first1=Andy |last2=Becker |first2=James |others=Illustrated by Carl Muller |date=January 9, 1983 |title=The Official Book of Thumb Wrestling |publisher=Workman Publishing Company |isbn=0-89480-363-8}}
External links
- [http://www.thumbwrestling.co.uk/ UK Thumb Wrestling Championships]
- [https://en.dusoyun.com/2playergames/thumb-war Flash Version]
- [https://www.ndwathumbs.com ndwathumbs.com]
{{Hand games}}