CNN  —  For an instantly recognizable contest that has settled untold scores it is, ironically, hard to get a firm grip on the origins of arm wrestling. As host of the World Armwrestling Federation’s (WAF) inaugural World Championship in 1979, the Canadian city of Wetaskiwin could claim to be the birthplace of the formal, global sport, yet descriptions of rivals locked in battles of the biceps stretch back much further. Versions of arm wrestling had already taken root across Japan, Spain and