Finger wrestling

It is an old alpine athletic sport mainly to be found in Bavaria and Austria.

Two players sit opposite each other and try to pull the opponent over to their side of the table with their fingers. The opponent can be beaten through physical strength, overcoming the pain of stretching their fingers and the right tactics. As a rule, they hook the middle finger inside a leather strap; others simply hook the middle fingers around one another without a strap. Two catchers sit behind both wrestlers. Also present are a referee, a chairman and two assessors.
It is alleged that disputes used to be settled in this way in the Alps in former times. Finger wrestling in its current form is in fact an organised sport. Leather straps (approx. 10cm long and 6 to 8 mm wide), a table (79 cm high, 74 cm wide and 109 cm long), stools (40 by 40 cm, 48 cm high) and space between the centre line and the sidelines (32 cm) are standardised. Bavarian, Austrian, German and Alpine championships are fought every year in different weight and age classes.