Armwrestling

[RobeOfTheMagi]

Hello nice people from the good part of the internet,

is anyone else here a fan of armwrestling or maybe an active puller? I've just started training in a club a few weeks ago. I've always been mesmerised by this niche sport.
Currently I'm one of the weakest guys in my club but everyone is very friendly, willing to show me how to hook and how to top roll (I'm more of a hooker though ). At least my bouldering background gives me a decent foundation and I don't mind losing to strong guys.

To my mind it's really unfortunate that this sport is so unpopular in Germany.

Cheers,
Robe

[endo]

Interesting topic @RobeOfTheMagi Didn't know there is an actual sport, is it like this?

(ouch)

Only know this from internal family competitions, like my father against me and my brothers, and now me against my sons.

[Giles]

I was at a beer festival in Singapore representing a local beer brand (Oakleaf, which went bust and remerged as Fallen Acorn, which also went bust). There was an arm wresting contect about 40 meters from our booth. I heard the guys arm snap, and have never really been into watching it since....

I've never been into participating, because I'm as weak as shit....

[goosehd]

@Giles …says the man who wrestles tuna and giant trevally

[RobeOfTheMagi]

@endo The film is actually loosely based on a real tournament called "Over the Top" (toprolling is a key technique in armwrestling, where you try to attack the opponent's fingers). The winner of the real tournament, John Berzenk, is actually starring in the film - he won a truck!.

If you'd like to dive a little deeper into the genuine field of armresling, I highly recommend the rather old documentary "Pulling John":

@Giles The unfortunate arm break is actually way more uncommon in a more professional setting of armwrestling than one might think. It can happen, but it really rarely happens knock on wood.
It is mostly very unexperienced armwrestlers who get into the so called "arm break position". A position where your hand and shoulder is no longer aligned and all the torque goes to parts of the arm where there should not be much torque.

If a beginner (like me) takes part in a tournament he'll probably be sorted into the amateurs group where the refs pay diligent attention to the pullers not getting into that position or even stop the match in some cases.

I think a cruciate rupture for a handballer is much more common than an arm break for an armwrestler. However, elbow pain especially for beginners is very real.

[T4920]

Like Giles, I've seen too many videos of arms straight up snapping to want to watch/participate in this. It may be rare, but I've been scarred for life!

Speaking of niché sports/events, I get so much enjoyment from clips of competitive Rock, Paper, Scissors on YouTube. The commentary is absolutely wild, how they're selling every 'throw' as a highly tactical decision...

[FlavourFade]

@RobeOfTheMagi sounds fun!! Didn't know that there's a real sports behind this until I saw a short clip of devon laratt armwrestling a way bigger guy to pieces after he was making fun of laratt all the time before the match

[RobeOfTheMagi]

Yeah, if it wasn't like that you could just compare how much everyone curls or benches; however there is much more to armwrestling than that. I can probably beat a few guys in armwrestling that bench way more than I(I cannot bench shit ;)). But as soon as someone has equal technique, it's all about strength and tendons as well as wrist strength.

[aksu]

@Giles
My friend broke her hand while armwrestling for fun back in the day. That kind of injury is probably much more rare for serious wrestlers

[RobeOfTheMagi]

Hey guys,
I enjoyed training last night and I was totally wiped out by my team mates as usual. I need to become able to finde some pleasure in getting pulled all over the table

[RobeOfTheMagi]

Hello

I'd just like to keep this thread alive :). Has anyone started armwrestling? I still enjoy this niche sport very much and it teaches me humility. I'm still not winning anything but my top roll is getting stronger and the pain is not as severe as it was durning the first couple of months.

By the end of Mai we'll have a small tournament for newcomers. In German armwrestling you're a newcomer for the first two years of training in a club. I'm really looking forward to that tournament and to pull a few guys of my weight. I'm the only small dude in a club of only 100+ kg arm wrestlers ...

[RobeOfTheMagi]

When a rock climber meets an arm wrestler:

(I thoroughly enjoy both sports)