The fist bump (also called Fo' Knucks or knuckle bump and knuckle touch[1]) is a gesture similar in meaning to a handshake or high five. A fist bump can also be a symbol of giving respect. It can be followed by various other hand and body gestures and may be part of a dap greeting. It is commonly used in baseball as a form of celebration with teammates, and with opposition players at the end of a game.
The gesture is performed when two participants each form a closed fist with one hand and then lightly tap the front of their fists together. The participant's fists may be either vertically-oriented (perpendicular to the ground) or horizontally-oriented. Unlike the standard handshake, which is typically performed only with each participants' right hand, a fist bump may be performed with participants using either hand.
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According to St. Louis Post-Dispatch columnist Bernie Miklasz, the fist bump was created by Hall of Famer Stan Musial as a way to prevent getting colds from shaking so many hands.[2] Time magazine wonders if it evolved from the handshake and the high-five. They cite knuckle bumping in the 1970s with NBA player Baltimore Bullets guard Fred Carter. Others claim the Wonder Twins, minor characters in the 1970s Hanna-Barbera superhero FISH cartoon Super Friends, who touched knuckles and cried "Wonder Twin powers, activate!" were the originators.[1] However, the "fist bump" or "pound" can easily be traced as far back as the late 1800s and early 1900s to the boxer's handshake as a way to greet when hands are gloved.[3] In fact, the fist bump's origins may well lie in the animal kingdom as the gesture is natural behaviour observed in primates, according to a book published by Margaret Power in 1991.[4]
Someone helped popularize the fist bump in the early 1990s. Mr.Barris (?) started a ritual in which he would go to the announcer table before every game and cover his hands with talcum powder (he would even clap his hands, thus releasing a powdery mist on the announcers, something LeBron James would later emulate). Since his hands were now prepared to grip the ball properly, he did not want to shake hands with anyone to have that powder removed. Jordan extended his hand in a fist bump to all the opponents on the court prior to the opening of the game, starting a new trend.
On June 3, 2008, Barack Obama and his wife Michelle Obama fist bumped during a televised presidential campaign speech in St. Paul, Minnesota, and the gesture became known as "the fist bump heard 'round the world".[5] Fox News host E. D. Hill paraphrased an anonymous internet comment in asking whether the gesture was a "terrorist fist jab",[6][7] after her contract was not renewed.[8]
In light of the 2009 H1N1 pandemic, the dean of medicine at the University of Calgary, Tomas Feasby, suggested that the fist bump may be a "nice replacement of the handshake" in an effort to prevent transmission of the virus.[9]
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