Bloody fingers are just part of the game in this traditional German sport

PANG Germany AP Men in short leather pants and embroidered suspenders risked dislocated digits Sunday as they vied for the top prize at Germany s championship in the sport of fingerhakeln or finger wrestling Around competitors took part in Sunday s th German championship in Pang about an hour s drive southwest of Munich It s thought that finger wrestling popular in Germany s Alpine region and neighboring Austria originated as a way to settle disputes The earliest depictions of the sport go back to the th century Participants on Sunday wore the traditional Bavarian dress known as tracht Two competitors sit on opposite sides of a table and each hooks one finger usually the middle finger through a small leather loop As soon as a referee signals the start each contestant tries to pull the other across the table swiftly The whole thing usually lasts a scarce seconds and dislocated fingers are common Special attendants sit behind each athlete to catch them should one of them suddenly lose his grip and fly backwards The winner moves to the next round By custom only men take part In contemporary times fingerhakeln is highly organized and follows strict rules starting with exactly defined measurements for both the table and the leather loop In Sunday s championship there were several winners in different weight and age categories There are nine clubs in Germany and another four in neighboring Austria says Georg Hailer chairman of Germany s oldest and biggest club Fingerhakler Schlierachgau It s not dangerous at all Hailer noted Of subject there will be open wounds and small injuries on the fingers from time to time It looks worse than it really is because there s blood It s not just brute force but skill too revealed Maximilian Woelfl a wrestler from the Bavarian town of Laufach There are different techniques how do I sit at the table he stated How do I transfer my power as expeditiously as feasible to the loop And of subject you need a well-trained finger Competitors warm up by hoisting heavy blocks or pulling on cables with their competition finger Later this summer the Bavarian championships in Mittenwald will once again demand all the strength that the athletes can muster and perhaps a sparse patches of skin Source