Tug of war (also known as tug o' war, tug war, rope war, rope pulling, or tuggingwar) is a sport that pits two teams against each other in a test of strength: teams pull on opposite ends of a rope, with the goal being to bring the rope a certain distance in one direction against the force of the opposing team's pull

Most Tug of War matches are completed in a best of three format, and the objective is to beat the competition and win the match by winning at least two of the three pulls in the match. Within each pull, the objective is to win by pulling the opposition and the opposition’s 4m marker towards the centre so that the mark passes the centre line, resulting in a win. It is not possible to tie a Tug of War match.

Each Tug of War team consists of 8 members, all of whom cooperate to pull the rope. Despite looking like quite a simple sport, there is some technicality to it, with team members utilising a rhythm to help pull the rope in an effective way. This is done with the help of a ‘driver’, who is not a member of the team but is in effect like a coach and they give orders of when to pull and when to rest from the sidelines.

The rope is the most important piece of equipment and this should be approximately 11 cm in circumference and should be at least 33.5m long with plain, whipped ends. Other pieces of equipment that participants may use include specialist boots, back, elbow and knee supports as well as belts to support the back.

In Tug of War, there is no scoring as such like you may see in other team games such as American Football or Soccer. However, because teams are pitted against each other usually in a best of three match, there is a form of scoring, in that the winner of the match must win two out the three pulls to win the match.

The origins of tug of war are not clearly known, though they must be very old. It may have originally been a ritual or religious contest:

There is no specific time and place in history to define the origin of the game of Tug of War. The contest of pulling on the rope originates from ancient ceremonies and rituals. Evidence is found in countries like Egypt, India, Myanmar, New Guinea... The origin of the game in India has strong archaeological roots going back at least to the 12th Century AD in the area what is today the State of Orissa on the east coast. The famous Sun Temple of Konark has a stone relief on the west wing of the structure clearly showing the game of Tug of War in progress.