A recent male adolescent game has made headlines and thus requires that we put the game within some historical context so you parents out there can know how to better discourage your sons, nephews, husbands – and, yes – fathers from participating in a painful game that puts many future lives in jeopardy. The game typically involves young males forcefully punching or tapping one another in the groin area in hopes of causing severe pain. After in-depth review our crack team of researchers here at The History Bluff has concluded that it was Englishman T.E. Lawrence, known as Lawrence of Arabia, who is responsible for bringing this game to where it is today.

Lawrence of Arabia (left) and Leonard Woolley take a break from the excruciating pain brought on by the boyish game they learned from the Ottomans.

It was Lawrence’s knowledge of the Ottoman Empire that gave him the chance to work with Arab irregular troops extensively during WWI. While the classic 1962 movie ‘Lawrence of Arabia’ focuses solely on Lawrence’s work during the war, his life before the war is what is most enlightening to us. At the age of twenty-one in 1909, Lawrence ventured into Ottoman Syria where he was first introduced to the painful art of groin punching. He roomed with several young men and the game became a way to pass time and form a common bond with one another. The game is said to have been started by a Sultan of the Ottoman Empire – Mehmed II – in 1460.

During WWI Lawrence learned that this game was much more than just the Ottoman’s pastime. As a leader for the Arab irregular troops who were revolting against the Ottomans, Lawrence was captured and punched mercilessly for hours on end. When he was released, the abuse had consumed him. He finished his duties to his country honorably and returned home – bringing with him the beatings that he had gone through. During his years of service and afterward, he is confirmed to have groin punched Prince Faisal of Syria, British Archaeologist Leonard Woolley, American journalist Lowell Thomas, General Gouraud of France, and General John Pershing of the United States. His peers considered him to be the champion of the game.

As a piece of unrelated biographical information, T.E. Lawrence never fathered children.