In ancient times men carried swords and every man was wary of a stranger.

The handshake came to be a gesture that was meant to show that the man had no sword in his hand, thus he meant no threat.

That is why men shake hands. It is a gesture that says "I have no sword in my hand." It is a gesture that declares "I am no threat."

That is also why women did not shake hands, because women did not normally carry swords.

Today if a woman shakes hands with a man when introduced, this is a gesture that tells him that she competes on his level, but she is saying that she is no threat to him. She wants to be seen as an equal, not as a woman for conquest.

So women, if you meet a man and you are interested in him as a mate, you probably should not shake hands with him, rather you should smile or offer your hand with the backside up for him to touch or even kiss. (Old fashioned I know, but sometimes it works like magic and your new friend becomes a prince if he kisses your hand.)

Today, if you introduce two alpha males who are in any way competitive with each other they will almost always shake hands in a sort of truce.

If they do not like each other to start with and intend to fight or compete with each other in a serious manner, chances are they will not shake hands, but they will glare at each other, holding a serious gaze, meant as a challenge. Or one man might offer a hand to shake and the other one does not offer his. This means a challenge or an expression unfriendliness.


Does anyone study body language or have any more tips or meanings to contribute?

JB

cool post, love the back of the hand touch or kiss...that would certainly go a long way in my book!!

Very interesting!!! Have you heard of hand signals for the blind???

Games:

In the case of a hand shake before or after a game competition, it is a gesture of friendliness that states "Its a friendly game." Or: "You played well and I am still your friend."

JB

Yes, feel free to kiss me

Hand shake and swords

ok good opportunity to clear something

For years there has been debate why British drive on the wrong side of the road? Where in actual fact it is the right side of the road
Many years ago Romans invaded Britain and made roads and roads were used by horsemen
By riding the way we do in Britain you were ready to shake hands with the upcoming rider if he was a friend or to draw your sword if he was a foe. And the tradition lingered till today
Just thought as we were discussing arms (no pun intended) and limbs

The fake shake:

I was in a pool tournament once and my competition was a female who was a real jerk. She offered her hand shake before the game started and she squeezed very hard almost injuring my hand, all the while she was smiling.

I got the message. She wanted to crush me. I ignored the pain in my hand and became very determined to ruthlessly beat her at the pool game.

I did beat her. After the game, for show, she offered her hand to shake with me again and I refused to shake with her. The spectators watching on her team took this as poor sportsmanship and actually had the nerve to report me as a poor sport.

My husband questioned me about why I did not shake her hand after the game and I told him that she almost broke my hand on the first hand shake and I wasn't about to shake with her again.

He asked me why I did not report her to the officials. I said "Winning the game was enough of a payback for me." And besides, I had no real proof of what she had done, it would have been my word against hers.

JB

I had one man shake my hand once. Before that I don't ever remember a man doing that. It was surprising to me, to say the least. I was like....whoa.

We are still friends, I enjoy his company, his friendship.

I didn't know that. That is very interesting too.

Thanks!

I need to show you a technique of how to shake hand and smile crushing the bones of the opponent
That is the first thing you learn playing squash a raquet game which needs all the fingers working correctly. (You hardly ever see a handshake during a squash game)
may come handy (ha ha) next time

interesting...maybe that is why women can't be trusted...since they don't shake, it is much easier for them to stick that dagger into the heart

After that incident, my husband showed me a two handed shake with a knuckle to the back of the opponents hand that was very painful.

I am not a violent person, so I would never use anything like that unless it was in self defense. Not for revenge. (Unless I was really angry LOL )

JB

We shake it every where my dad thought me the three shakes I am sure yours did too.

Maybe you should insist on a body search. LOL

That's a BIT harsh...wouldn't you say????
NOT all women are alike!!!!! and to make such a statement is a bit naive....right

Knowledge is power whether use it or not

WOW great Idea!!

It is customary Americans stick the middle finger as the rude gesture
In England the rude gesture is displayed similar to the V sign except the other way round
so instead of middle finger you get the V sign with your fingers towards you.

The Story for this goes back to the war between the French and English in 15th century

The Archers would normally provide the cover for the soldiers on foot to advance so archers are of great importance and there were thousands of them

In one of the battles French under the cover of darkness captured what they thought was the brigade of the British archers and cut the fingers of all those soldiers.

In the morning British were informed of this and lined up all the archers at the bottom of the hill all showing the V sign to the enemy meaning "F**k Off We still have our archers and we will wipe you out" and they did
the symbol has continued to remain till today
Whatever you do do not tell a waitress Two coffee showing that sign you will be thrown out of the joint
I warned all potential visitors

More things to study:
"gimme 5", "hi5", and "knucks".

As MAN , I never offer my hand to a lady.....If she offers it ...i will shake it.....but a gentleman never obliges a lady to touch ..... by offering a hand