Is there a right way or a wrong way to shake hands? We will stay out of this debate. But, we will admit there certainly is a wide variety of handshaking styles.

In Western culture, a strong, firm handshake is the most common. In business, the professional handshake consists of one to two pumps, with a firm, hard grip.  It generally indicates a strong, positive, successful, and determined individual. In a variation of this, the “military” handshake is quite similar, adding a vice grip-like squeeze to display the strength of the individual. Outside of business, a handshake with the ladies is usually quite light and almost dainty. With that said a businesswoman may well pride herself in a strong, firm shake of the hand. Other handshake variations include the “wild pump”, with fast and excessive shaking of hands. And, let’s not forget the wimpy or fishy shake. Not all cultures prefer a firm handshake. For example, in Asian culture, a light handshake is the norm.

Clubs and societies have historically had their “secret” handshakes consisting of any number of twists and moves in contact with open or closed hands, elbow, or forearm contacts. When it comes to secret handshakes, kids are very creative.

Modern Hand Shakes? More recent times have brought newer forms of handshakes, or ways of greeting. They include high fives, low fives, and the fairly recent “fist bumps”. With the advent of the COVID-19 Coronavirus in early 2020, the “elbow bump” was substituted for handshakes or other forms of greeting to minimize physical contact and the spread of the disease.