Top 5 Incredible Facts About Arm Wrestling
Most of us are familiar with the good old sport of arm wrestling. For the uninitiated, arm wrestling is a sport with two players, in which each player places one arm on a surface, with their elbows bent and touching the surface, while gripping the other hand. The goal is to pin the other’s arm onto the surface, with the winner’s arm over the loser’s arm.
Requiring great technique and skill, here are some interesting facts about professional arm wrestling you might not know!
1) Arm wrestlers have amazing reaction times!
Michael Phelps took 730ms to leave the starting block in the 2012 Olympics. Usain Bolt took 146ms to react to the starting gun in 2009’s 100-meter race. However, an arm wrestler’s reaction to the referee’s starting whistle is actually an incredible 123ms!
2) Arm wrestling matches can be over in a flash!
In sports, timing is everything. Each second is crucial and it’s down to snap judgment and lightning reflexes. For example, the fastest 100m race lasted 9.58 seconds, while the fastest finishing blow in a kickboxing match was delivered in 1.8 seconds. The fastest winning pin in an arm wrestling match blows everything out of the water with a stunning record time of under 1 second!
3) Organised “arm wrestling” began in a saloon in 1952.
The first organised competition was staged by a journalist, Bill Soberanes, in 1952 at Gilardi’s Saloon in Petaluma, California. Over the next ten years, it became bigger and bigger. In 1962, the tournament moved to a large auditorium in Petaluma and renamed it the ‘World Wrist wrestling Championship.’
4) Magnus Samuelsson is a champion arm wrestler and 14-time World’s Strongest Man finals contender.
Magnus has been given the nickname “The King of the Stones” because he has the world’s strongest arms. The average male has a grip strength of 108 lbs while the average male arm wrestler’s is a whopping 203 lbs. Professional muscle man Magnus Samuelsson (above) has a grip strength of 365 lb. That’s even stronger than the bite of a Rottweiler!
5) Pro arm wrestler Matthias Schlitte has one super-sized arm
Mattias’ arm is the result of a genetic bone disorder in his right arm. While it’s officially a ‘disorder’, it seems more like a gift, as he’s dominating arm wrestling competitions due to it. His slight frame allows him to compete in a lower weight class, where his larger arm is a huge advantage.
Bringing it all together
Arm wrestling is a game unlike any other, because of the unpredictability and excitement that could happen in any match. In arm wrestling, one can expect to witness the proverbial David beating Goliath drama, where skill takes over brawn. Professional arm wrestling is nothing like your friendly campus or bar jostle-professional arm wrestlers are dedicated, disciplined and devoted to the sport.
Bangalore based sports and entertainment company, Bulldog Armwrestling, is all set to promote and develop arm wrestling in India!
Read About Top Arm Wrestlers in India
