Every martial art shares two characteristics. First, the obvious. They are all based on some form of fighting. Second, they feature rituals unique to each. From boxing to fencing, from karate to MMA and many others, they are as much distinguished by the ceremonies around them as their forms.
That's just as true of the sport that's been called "the miniature golf of martial arts", thumb wrestling, in which each match starts with an official declaration of combat: "1, 2, 3, 4. I declare a thumb war!"
In the following excerpt from U.S Patent 4,998,724, inventor Richard B. Hartman describes how such a combat would take place:
In its simplest form, the game of thumb wrestling has been enjoyed by children and adults for generations. The basic game is played by interlocking the hands of two opponents in such a way that the index, middle, ring and pinky fingers of one player are firmly curled around the corresponding fingers of the opposing player's hand. This leaves each player's thumb unencumbered and creates a naturally stable playing surface comprised of the top edges of the opponents' interlocked index fingers upon which each player attempts to use his or her thumb to trap and hold down the opposing player's thumb for a previously agreed-upon count.
Technically, the brutal combat that follows could happen anywhere. Which might be fine if your unsanctioned thumb war is taking place at a school playground or on the street. But what if you want to elevate the sport to the next level? That's where Hartman's innovative vision really comes into play by adding something more to the state of the martial art, as described in the patent's abstract:
Improved apparatus for playing a game of thumb wrestling includes a stabilizing handle which employs forces generated by firmly interlocking fingers of players' hands to stabilize and anchor a game ring surface. Game ring surface includes holes through which the thumbs of opponents are inserted upwardly, and a solid wrestling region upon which one thumb can forcibly pin another thumb, thereby giving the realistic impression of a pin in wrestling.
Figure 1 from U.S. Patent 4,998,724 illustrates Hartman's vision of a thumb wresting mat apparatus:
The best part about this invention is that it has been successfully brought to market! You can buy your own thumb wresting ring at Amazon! And as you're about to see in the following video, that apparatus featured prominently at the 2019's World Thumb Wrestling Championships:
After a hiatus of several years, the 13th World Thumb Wrestling Championships will be held on 5 August 2023 in "an as yet unconfirmed location" in Norwich, Norfolk in the United Kingdom. If you're looking to take your thumb wrestling skills to the next level, it's time to get your game on!
From the Inventions in Everything Archives
We've assembled this short list of unusual sports-related patents, and of course, the edition of IIE where we previously featured another of Richard Hartman's novel patents:
Labels: sports, technology
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