Whenever we hear the words, Arm Wrestling, the first thought that arguably comes to mind is that whoever is the biggest guy will win. However, this is far from the truth. There is more than what we think the sport of arm wrestling holds. It is a prominent sport that has been slowly rising in the ranks among other world sports. It is one of the most technical and complex sports that requires years of training and learning.
Arm wrestling is a sport in which two opponents face off against each other with their elbows bent and placed on a table. The competitors then attempt to force the opponent’s hand down to the tabletop to achieve victory. To be successful in this sport, you need a combination of multiple techniques, strength, and, most importantly, perfect positioning.
Arm Wrestling Debut
The arm wrestling sport may have existed in any number of ancient or medieval cultures. But there is no record of it up until now. However, the most popular claim is that the sport was played in ancient Greece or ancient Egypt. As per sources, the history of arm wrestling is based only on written and picture evidence. In the early years, the sport was known as wrist turning, arm twisting, twisting wrists, and wrist wrestling. It was introduced to showcase the strongest person between two or more people.
Later, in the early to mid-20th century, Indian hand wrestling among Boy Scouts and other American youth became famous. In the 1950s, organized arm wrestling events came into the picture. The first-ever arm wrestling organization was the World’s Wristwrestling Championship, Inc. (WWC). They conducted the first-ever championship in Hermann Sons Hall, the second-largest auditorium in Petaluma, California, in 1962.
However, in 1977, the World Armwrestling Federation (WAF) was founded. John Miazdzyk hosted the first-ever event in Wetaskiwin, Alberta, Canada, in 1979. People now consider WAF to be the main arm wrestling championship in the world.
Previous Champions
Since the introduction of WAF, there have been multiple arm wrestling champions. Let’s take a look at the previous champions, who were also known as the greatest arm wrestlers of all time.
John Brzenk
John Brzenk, known as ‘The Legend,’ has 24 World Championship titles. From 1997 to 2007, he won 11 consecutive titles, dominating the Arnold Classic Arm-Wrestling Challenge. He is one of the most famous arm wrestlers and the only one to etch his name in the Guinness Book of World Records, where he was recognized as the greatest arm wrestler in history.
Travis Bagent
Widely known as The Entertainer, Travis Bagent has 25 national arm wrestling titles under his name and 13 World Arm Wrestling titles. With over 30 years of experience, he is known for his specific style of arm wrestling. It emphasizes aggressiveness, power, and entertainment.
Alexey Voyevoda
In the 2013 and 2014 World Armwrestling Championship, Alexey Voyevoda took home the prize. Alexey was an Olympic bobsledder who, after his retirement, turned to arm wrestling and quickly won the hearts of the crowd. Furthermore, he has also won the Zloty Tur 2004 Cup and was featured in the documentary “Pulling John.” He later retired from the sport in 2017.
Devon Larratt
The powerful competitor, Devon Larratt, is a left- and right-arm World Arm Wrestling League heavyweight champion. Larratt has won numerous world championship titles across multiple weight classes. He developed new training methods and techniques to push the boundaries of the sport higher.
Arm Wrestling Styles & Moves
When it comes to arm wrestling, many different moves and styles are used. Learning each of these moves is a great way to take down your opponent. The three main arm wrestling styles are side pressure, back pressure, and upwards pressure.
Side pressure relies on upper torso strength, pushing the forearm down to pin the opponent. It is mainly employed by beginners to try and pin the opponent.
Back pressure, on the other hand, focuses on the strength of the lats, which are employed to raise the elbow angle of the opponent. This will help to reduce the force they can exert and block their leverage.
Upwards pressure is flexing the elbow with contraction of the biceps. The goal is to bring down the elbow angle of the opponent, giving us leverage and blocking the force they can employ.
The moves utilized in arm wrestling competitions are as follows:
Hook
One of the common techniques used in arm wrestling is that it demands a lot of wrist and forearm muscle strength. The technique involved creating a hook with the arm, keeping the elbow closer to the body, and relying on the shoulder and back muscles for strength.
Top roll
Top roll is an outside style of arm wrestling where a participant pulls the opponent closer. The pressure will be applied through the fingers, demanding more strength from the hand and forearm.
Press
The press is an inside style of arm wrestling that focuses on strength from the tricep and shoulder. Moreover, it requires the player to give free movement of the torso so they can position themselves where their shoulder is behind their hand so that they can better employ tricep strength.
Upcoming competitions
The World Arm Wrestling Championship is ready to take on another year of tough face-offs and battles among champions. The upcoming year will see competitions that will feature the player’s endurance, strategy, technique, and power.
On March 1–2, the North America Armwrestling & Para-Armwrestling Championship will take place in Mexico, which is organized by NAAF Mexico, AF.
ANOCA, Ghana AF, will host the All Africa Games Armwrestling competition from March 14 to 16.
In April, the Asian Armwrestling Championship and Asian Pre-Armwrestling Championship will be held by the AAF (The country is yet to be announced)
From May 2 to May 12, the European Armwrestling Championship, European Para-Armwrestling Championship, and European Deaf-Armwrestling Championship are set to be organized in Slovakia.
On July 6 and 7, the XI South America Armwrestling and Championship will be held in Peru
The biggest event of the year, which will happen between August 15th and 25th, will witness the World Armwrestling Championship, World Pre-Armwrestling Championship, and World Deaf-Armwrestling Championship. The WAF Moldova AF team will oversee the games in Moldova.
The African Armwrestling Championship is the final competition, which AFA Ghana AF will host in Ghana in August.
