Talk about a “feet” of strength.
If Brazil is ground zero for jiujitsu, then Ashbourne, Derbyshire is the mecca for toe wrestling — every year, competitors flock to the tiny U.K. town to see who’ll reign supreme in the unusual sport.
“I’m currently the six-time world champion and I plan on making that seven today,” Lisa Shenton, a 14-year-veteran of the sport whose wrestling name is “Twinkletoes,” told The Independent ahead of this year’s contest.
The Ashbourne resident ended up once again defending the female division title, earning a foot-shaped trophy, the BBC reported.
Shenton was one of 28 toe tusslers who competed in this test of phalangeal fortitude, which takes place on an eight-foot stage fittingly dubbed the “toedium.”
Over 200 spectators gathered to watch the recent tournament.
For those unfamiliar with the sport, toe wrestling sees competitors interlock appendages to see who can pin their opponent’s flipper — like a thumb war for the feet.
“It’s exactly like arm-wrestling, however you compete on the toe-dium and you’ve got two upright planks,” said Ben Woodroffe, 35, the current male division champion who’s known on the circuit as “Toe-tal Destruction,” previously explained.
“The referee says ‘toes away’ and you start your battle. You want to push your opponent’s foot onto the plank,” the digit duelist said.
Contestants start with their right foot and once one of the wrestlers has scored a point, they switch and go at it with their left. This process can reportedly take up to two hours and is complicated by slippage during the bout (which overseers try to mitigate with tape).
Toe wrestling is said to have been invented in Wetton, Derbyshire in 1974 by a group of drunken revelers.
Mastering the ferocious form of footsie is said to require a great deal of dedication and training.
“I train with weights on my ankle, [do] stretches and toe wrestle with my partner, Ruth, as much as possible over the year,” said Shenton, who stumbled upon the pursuit while drinking in 2008 and is one of the few women to compete in the sport.
“Most people don’t realize how much skill is actually required in the sport — there is way more strength and core muscle required than people understand,” she said.
Meanwhile, Woodroffe, who first competed in the junior leagues at 14 before joining the men’s competition four years later, wrestles every day, he said.
The 6 ft. 5 in. phenom also exercises with a toe stretcher, which limbers the ligaments and thereby prevents the piggies from going to market, so to speak. He also removed his body hair to increase the amount of friction on the stage and even surgically removed both of his big toenails because they were pushing into his skin.
During this latest championship match, Woodroffe broke his thumb toe at a grisly angle while wrestling 17-time world champion Alan “Nasty” Nash, who has come out of retirement multiple times to face his rival.
Despite the injury, the would-be Toe Frazier emerged victorious.
“Toes can break and it’s common to suffer blisters and sore knees but the glory is worth it,” the champ told the BBC
While toe wrestling has international appeal — the sport has enjoyed sponsorships from the likes of Ben & Jerry’s in the past, and fans traveled from countries ranging from India to Japan and Canada to see this latest kumite — the pastime has yet to achieve widespread fame
Attempts to enter toe wrestling into the Olympics in 1998 proved fruitless, although adherents hope it will earn a second chance.
“This sport has what it takes to be in the Olympics,” declared Woodroffe, who recently went to Paris to promote his passion.
“We need to recruit enough people from different countries to get toe wrestling the worldwide recognition it deserves,” he said.
“I have no doubt that toe wrestling stands a chance if breakdancing does.”
