Post by Cristian Anghelache on Dec 16, 2010 8:35:36 GMT 2
The Beginnings of Armwrestling
" The popular sport of armwrestling is mainly dominated by the U.S. If we are to trace back the beginnings of the sport, we need to examine ancient Egypt where the supposedly first painting that depicted armwrestling was discovered in a tomb that dated all the way back to 2,000 B.C.
Today, modern armwrestling is basically based on a Native American game. Its roots go way back when the game is often referred to as "Indian Wrestling". Surprisingly in 1952, a saloon called Gilardi in Petaluma California was the place where it all began and the first official matches took place. This new organized sport was founded by a young journalist named Bill Soberanes where, in 1962, he formed an alliance with Dave Devoto and together they formed the World Wristwrestling Championships, Inc. Eventually this became one of the popular highlights in the annual Petaluma celebrations as the event took place in one of Petaluma's largest auditoriums. It was a bug success, and it spawned new, exciting things that took the sport to where it is right now. A good example was when Dave Devoto entered into a partnership with the influential American Broadcasting Corporation in 1969 which orchestrated a strong 16-year relationship between the World Wristwrestling Championships and that of ABC. Here, arm wrestling evolved into the exciting sport that it is today.
What really helped in giving the arm wrestling sport its much needed coverage to conquer the world is back in 1968 when the famous cartoonist Charles Schultz did about 11 comic strips where the character Snoopy was on his way to Petaluma to win the World Wristwrestling championship. This paved way for international recognition because the comic strip is translated in so many languages and productively distributed all around the world. But sadly, he was taken out in the final strip because his character contradicted arm wrestling rules and tactics that participants must lock thumbs with each other. And Snoopy had no thumb. It was such an unfortunate reality.
The sport evolved globally when a number of countries founded the World Armsport Federation, of W.A.F. The U.S. along with Canada, Brazil and India were its first members and they held the very first ever world championships in Switzerland. "
" The popular sport of armwrestling is mainly dominated by the U.S. If we are to trace back the beginnings of the sport, we need to examine ancient Egypt where the supposedly first painting that depicted armwrestling was discovered in a tomb that dated all the way back to 2,000 B.C.
Today, modern armwrestling is basically based on a Native American game. Its roots go way back when the game is often referred to as "Indian Wrestling". Surprisingly in 1952, a saloon called Gilardi in Petaluma California was the place where it all began and the first official matches took place. This new organized sport was founded by a young journalist named Bill Soberanes where, in 1962, he formed an alliance with Dave Devoto and together they formed the World Wristwrestling Championships, Inc. Eventually this became one of the popular highlights in the annual Petaluma celebrations as the event took place in one of Petaluma's largest auditoriums. It was a bug success, and it spawned new, exciting things that took the sport to where it is right now. A good example was when Dave Devoto entered into a partnership with the influential American Broadcasting Corporation in 1969 which orchestrated a strong 16-year relationship between the World Wristwrestling Championships and that of ABC. Here, arm wrestling evolved into the exciting sport that it is today.
What really helped in giving the arm wrestling sport its much needed coverage to conquer the world is back in 1968 when the famous cartoonist Charles Schultz did about 11 comic strips where the character Snoopy was on his way to Petaluma to win the World Wristwrestling championship. This paved way for international recognition because the comic strip is translated in so many languages and productively distributed all around the world. But sadly, he was taken out in the final strip because his character contradicted arm wrestling rules and tactics that participants must lock thumbs with each other. And Snoopy had no thumb. It was such an unfortunate reality.
The sport evolved globally when a number of countries founded the World Armsport Federation, of W.A.F. The U.S. along with Canada, Brazil and India were its first members and they held the very first ever world championships in Switzerland. "
