Let’s look at what you know, and what you think you know.
Even if I don’t know you personally, which is highly likely, I still have a fairly good idea of what you know about a specific topic I introduce in a moment. That will probably reveal a lot about what you know more broadly.
• For the last 22 years, I have participated in tug of war.
Without reading any further than the end of this sentence, take a moment or two and think about what that looks like, the tug of war part, not me.
Depending on many variables, ranging from your level of general knowledge to where you grew up and live to what types of employers you have had, you likely have a pre-formed picture of what tug of war is. I excluded putting an image related to tug of war atop this blog post, to avoid influencing whatever that pre-formed picture is.
Considering that I’ve participated in it so long, you can probably appreciate that I’ve spoken of it with many hundreds of people. From those conversations, I believe i have an accurate picture of what most people in many countries know to be “tug of war”, a term well-known in many parts of the globe. From those experiences I believe that virtually everyone who speaks English “knows” what tug of war is, and that more than 95% of them are incorrect. Thus, it is highly probable you are incorrect too. Let me tell you some more about this very narrow topic:
• I’ve competed internationally against teams from as far away as the Netherlands, South Korea, Latvia, Malaysia, and South Africa, to name a few.
• One of my team mates has a Ph.D., used to work in medical research, and is currently a professor in exercise sciences.
• The last (outdoor) World Championships of Tug of War were in the United States. The ones before that were in Switzerland and the Netherlands respectively. The next ones are in Sweden. They run every two years.
• I sometimes drop roughly 25 pounds, and other team mates drop weight too, in order for us to meet the weight requirements to compete in two different divisions, each which has a maximum weight under which a team of eight competitors must weigh to qualify. This is very common in our sport.
• In an average tournament, it is common to pull against several opposing teams for a combined number of more than 20 pulls within a few hours.
• Pulls, or “ends” as we call them, go until one team loses. Thus, an end can take 10 seconds or a few minutes, although the latter feels like it is much longer.
• Tug of war has been an international sport for decades, and there are over 50 national associations within the international governing body, the Tug of War International Federation (TWIF). I am part of the Canadian Tug of War Association (CATOWA); yes, that’s a thing.
Now consider for another moment what you now know tug of war to be. Do those facts fit what your first image of the activity was? In all likelihood it has changed and yet it may still be incorrect, to some extent at least. A better word to use than “know”, for what you picture on this topic and many others, might be “believe”.
My knowledge and experience in this narrow topic allowed me to learn a lot about it. Tug of war is an ancient sport but one which faded from wide public knowledge and interest over the last century and a half, during which many high profile and well-known sports emerged. The tug of war tradition has two sets of historical roots; one is in agricultural communities, the other in military or paramilitary organizations.
If you come from a rural area where there is or once was a regularly competitive tug of war club, or you were once a soldier or police officer and your organization had a team, you may have a more accurate picture of the sport than most people. Even then, most tug of war teams come from a fairly small regional section of their countries. For example, most U.S. teams are from Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Iowa, and most Canadian teams from southwestern Ontario or rural Nova Scotia, right now at least.
The vast majority of people, and probably you, pictured a picnic activity that is over in about 30 seconds, maybe with a mud pit in the middle or with children only. Is that what you initially pictured? If so, that’s understandable for some of the reasons I already provided. What you imagined or pictured or thought of constituted what you believed and, at this moment, that may be changing if only somewhat.
Even some people who have competed in a well-organized tug of war tournament, or several, may not have a full grasp of the topic. Tug of war tournaments have taken place annually for well over two centuries at a fair in Windsor, Nova Scotia. Police officers from the Marion County Sheriff’s Office in Oakala, Florida used to compete in tug of war in the World Police and Fire Games. Nevertheless, neither group have competed against each other or even heard of each other or competed in TWIF sanctioned events. So, their knowledge of the topic of tug of war may go well beyond children’s games and picnics yet still fall short of the full scoop. In fairness and contrast, when teams of children or picnic goers pull against another team on a rope, even for just a minute or less, that too is tug of war in the same way that a few kids playing shinny on a frozen pond are still playing hockey.
Some people’s initial picture of tug of war is a lot less complimentary than others. Some people initially know tug of war to be done in only a few areas, quickly, once in a blue moon, and by oversized dummies. That’s why I included the second bullet point above, about my team mate being a professor, to contradict a few stereotypes and challenge yours if you had those.
If you never again think about tug of war, fair enough. But here’s the point of my providing you a crash course on a little known sport: is tug of war the only topic about which you know a lot less than you think? Is it the only topic about which your beliefs are based on incomplete or absent information?
Tug of war enthusiasts often see the reactions from people when they learn, usually in casual conversation, that we participate in tug of war. Sometimes the reaction is confusion or questions, which are great either way. Sometimes it is laughter, presumably at the thought of grown adults playing at a kid’s game. When people laugh at us being in tug of war, we often laugh too, but at them not with them.
The next time you go to make a decision, whether a purchase or voting or expressing a poorly-informed opinion, you may want to consider that. LOL?
