Arm wrestling is a sport in which two opponents, positioned opposite each other and each with an elbow on a stable surface, grasp the other’s hand and attempt to push the opponent’s arm down to the surface. Competitive arm wrestling may be performed in either a standing or sitting position, and players may participate in both right- and left-handed contests. Played both casually and competitively, arm wrestling, also known as wristwrestling or arm sports, has roots that began in antiquity and continue today.

Current knowledge of the history of arm wrestling is based on written and pictorial evidentiary sources, and arm wrestling may have existed in any number of ancient or medieval cultures that did not record it. The most popular claims claim that it was practiced in ancient Egypt or ancient Greece.

Modern-day practices and depictions of arm wrestling have been widely practiced during the Edo-period of Japan

depicted in art from as early as the 1700s, and recorded in writing as early as the eighth century in the Kojiki. 

Illustrations unambiguously demonstrate this was the same as modern arm wrestling. It is likely that the modern popularity of arm wrestling comes from the Japanese treatment of the sport.

In 1952, journalist Bill Soberanes organized the first recorded arm-wrestling competition at Gilardi’s Saloon in Petaluma, Calif. As the contest grew in popularity, the tournaments were hosted on even bigger platforms and auditoriums of Petaluma. It was later renamed as the World Wristwrestling Championship because of its immense publicity and public demand. The championship was also telecasted on televised on the ABC's Wide World of Sports in 1969 and became an annual event on the program for the next 16 years. In the later years, the World Armsport Federation (WAF) was founded with the United States, Canada, Brazil, and India as the first four members. It's the universally recognized global governing body of professional arm wrestling, which comprises of 80 member countries.