This small town has been the world capital of foot wrestling for 50 years: ‘People don’t realize how much skill it really takes’

Talk about a “leg” of power.

If Brazil is ground zero for jiujitsu, then Ashbourne, Derbyshire is the mecca for leg wrestling – every year, competitors flock to the small UK town to see who will reign supreme in this unusual sport.

“I’m currently a six-time world champion and I plan to make it seven today,” Lisa Shenton, a 14-year veteran of the sport whose wrestling name is Twinkletoes, told The Independent ahead of this year’s competition .

The Ashbourne resident ended up defending the women’s division title once again, winning a leg-shaped trophy, the BBC reported.

Shenton was one of 28 toe throwers who competed in this test of phalangeal strength, which takes place on an eight-foot stage aptly named the “toedium.”

Over 200 spectators gathered to watch the final tournament.

For those unfamiliar with the sport, toe wrestling sees competitors link appendages to see who can pin their opponent’s flip – like a toe fight.

“It’s exactly like arm wrestling, but you compete on top and have two upright boards,” said Ben Woodroffe, 35, the reigning champion of the men’s division, who is known around the circuit as “Toe-tal Destruction.” explained before.

“The referee says ‘fingers off’ and you start your battle. You want to push your opponent’s leg into the board,” the numbers duelist said.

Competitors start with their right foot and once one of the wrestlers has scored a point, they switch and go for it with their left. This process can reportedly take up to two hours and is complicated by slippage during the match (which the supervisors try to smooth out with tape).

Finger wrestling is said to have been invented in Wetton, Derbyshire in 1974 by a group of drunken revelers.

Mastering the wild shape of walking shoes is said to take a lot of dedication and training.

“I train with ankle weights, [do] stretches and toes I wrestle with my partner, Ruth, as much as possible during the year,” said Shenton, who suffered a drinking binge 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 this sport – it takes more strength and core muscles than people realise,” she said.

Meanwhile, Woodroffe, who first competed in the youth leagues at age 14 before joining the men’s competition four years later, struggles every day, he said.

6 ft. 5 inches. The Phenom also exercises with a toe stretcher, which lifts the ligaments and thus keeps the pigs from going to market, so to speak. He also removed his body hair to increase the amount of friction on stage and even surgically removed both of his large toenails because they were pushing into his skin.

During his last championship bout, Woodroffe broke his big toe at a scary angle while fighting 17-time world champion Alan “Nasty” Nash, who has come out of retirement several times to face his rival.

Despite the injury, prospect Toe Frazier emerged victorious.

“Toes can be broken and it’s common to get blisters and sore knees, but the glory is worth it,” the champion told the BBC.

While finger wrestling has international appeal—the sport has enjoyed sponsorships from Ben & Jerry’s in the past, and fans traveled from countries ranging from India to Japan to Canada to watch this latest bout—the pastime has yet to achieve widespread fame.

Attempts to introduce foot wrestling to the Olympics in 1998 proved fruitless, although fans hope it will get a second chance.

“This sport has what it takes to be in the Olympics,” said Woodroffe, who recently traveled to Paris to promote his passion.

“We need to recruit enough people from different countries to get foot wrestling the worldwide recognition it deserves,” he said.

“I have no doubt that finger wrestling has a chance if you do breakdancing.”