Many people had a childhood that included playing the game Rock, Paper, Scissors. It is a hand game played between two individuals. Each player will form one of three different shapes and show it with their outstretched hand. A rock is a closed fist, paper is a flat hand and scissors are shown with the index finger and middle finger extended forming a V shape. The game only has two possible results. A win for one player or a draw.
China
This game appears to have originated in China approximately two thousand years ago. It was part of many different Chinese hand games. There is not much documentation to show how this happened. It became more clear in the 17th century. There are surviving texts from this time that show it migrated into Japan. This game and others then started to become popular throughout the world.
Japanese Versions
History is filled with a wide variety of hand games involving a series of hand gestures. Some of them even involved chants. Many of them are referred to in Japanese as sansukumi-ken. One is called mushi-ken. The hand gestures involve a snake, frog, and slug. The thumb was the frog, this beats the slug. The slug is shown by the pinkie finger and beats the snake. The snake is shown by the index finger and beats the frog. The Chinese version of this game involves a centipede instead of a slug.
Around The World
The popularity of Rock, Paper, Scissors increased around the world and is documented to have become a common game between the 1920s and 1950s. One of the oldest documented references of the game outside Japan occurred in 1927 in France. At this time, the game was referred to as chi-fou-mi. In 1924, the British version of the game was called zhot. There is an edition of Compton’s Pictured Encyclopedia from 1933 that explains the game as something played by people in Japan. In this edition, the rules of how it is to be played are described. Many people believe the game became so popular around the world because it was simple to comprehend and fun to play. It also became an enjoyable way to resolve disputes between two people.
Winning
Certain things can be done to improve the chances of winning. It has been proven that men are more likely than women to start with rock. Women are more likely to start with scissors. An effective way to win is to not give people a chance to think. Quickly challenge someone to the game and then start pumping a fist. This often gets people to start the game with their natural tendency. Odds improve if someone wants to make it the best out of three or even five. When a person wins, there is a good chance they will choose the next one in the sequence. If they lose by throwing paper, it is highly likely the next time they will throw scissors and so on.
Today, Rock, Paper, Scissors has turned into a competitive sport. There are a number of different organizations that have been formed in various countries for it. The World RPS Society created formalized rules to be used for international Rock, Paper, Scissors competition. In Toronto from 2003 to 2009 the Rock, Paper, Scissors Championships were held. At one point, the championships were televised on Fox Sports Net.
