Two ex-powerlifters journey into the arm wrestling world. Follow us along as we go in-depth into the science of arm wrestling technique, training, and competition. Let's get stronger together.
Sometimes you just need to get stronger… but if the strength is within 10% then the moves matter. In that case sometimes the best way to beat a move is with that move… this might be a “same thing only harder” situation… if you don’t feel comfortable switching moves to a hook then you will have to do the same thing as your opponent. Float your finger, rise as high as possible and try to control his riser knuckle with your fingers… but all this will only matter id you are within a certain amount of your opponent’s strength…
Ansolutely great review. Thanks. One Question: What could Leonidas have done better besides maybe transitioning into a press by himself in the right time? Or was this the only option ?
There were a lot of lanes for Leonidas to win with, but I don’t think there was anyway to coach him to a victory in this match… he just needs the experience to know what he’s feeling and how to react. If there was anything Leo could have done it might have been taking more fouls to get more restarts… I think Leo still had a lot of pulls in him with a 30-90 second break… John on the other hand appears to be gassed out after the 4th pull… if Leo didn’t try to hang on so hard in round two, and took a foul once John transitioned to the hook he may have been able to turn it around in round three if it was the 5th pull of the match… but that’s completely just speculation. I think John was just too technically advanced for Leo to beat him on this day. I would probably pick Leo in a rematch though… -Tiny
@@tablemonkeys5262 Thanks a lot for your reply. I agree John outsmarted him, just too much experience. But very interesting thoughts from you regarding Leos possibilitie. I agree on your analysis here too. Imho one can see experience in the mastery of transitions and switching styles well timed, which John showed perfectly (he's the perfect storm). Of course for this you first need versatility which Leo yet has to develop, but if he keeps going, he is able to do a lot of damage in coming years...
Maybe there needs to be a distinction between King's Move, Open Arm Toproll and Desperation Move. The last one is where the shoulder is below the table and the elbow is locked at max extension. Btw. Why hasn't Crazy George been invited to East vs West? Is he not a legend?
@@tablemonkeys5262 True, but it was allowed for a while as you can see from the John vs Michael Todd match. That I believe is the move people were in outrage over, because it require you to break someone's arm, or press the weight of their whole body weight to beat them. I am glad that that move has been deemed a foul. I also don't think George went under the table with his move.
Going under the table is fine, unless you are neutral or losing position. Once you are on your side you can go under the table. George doesn’t go under the table until he is on his side. The variation on the rule has more to do with the refs calling it. It was ignored in other leagues for a long time. EvW has been very strict about it, and we agree with that.
Ongarbaev vs Irakli and vs MMT were really beautiful matches imo. Sad to hear about his injury, hopefully he can recover back to top form. Your breakdowns are great and easy to follow even for an ape like me.
Lovin' it. You could make a 30m analysis of that match and I would watch. I've been waiting for someone more knowledgeable than me to make this video 🎉
Kevin here, i was in Leonidas corner. I gota say pretty good summary over all. Going into the match we were pretty certain that we can beat john in major vectors like rising and pronation. But we underestimated the way john could still use that shoulder to block and hold on. And also his stamina. We were prepared to bleed john out after opening his hand but it was scary when i was the other way around. Cudos to john for pulling that of. Later on he admited that he never thought he had to go that place and he didnt even know if he still had it in. But the crowd pushed him over his limit. If this match wouldve take place in Istanbul it probably wouldve ended differently. But it didnt so hats of to the goat.
@@kvnneo oh man, can't wait for the next video about it on his channel. hopefully devon isn't too hard on leo and he can learn a lot from that match, but good luck anyway.
Are you Leo's coach? I heard Leo say he needed to get a stronger back, and I thought, look at John. He surely doesn't have a stronger back than Leo. What John definitely does seem to have, is stronger transition strength, because he wasn't giving ground during his transitions. Leo seemed not to be able to transition without letting off pressure.
10:12 this is very interesting and I came up to this conclusion watching Devon versus taras ivakin. Ermes versus levan also looked similar when he tried to go directly to "the answer" the press and lost. Making your opponent have to fight thru the hill of technique before switching is very important or leaves "voids" that they can fill easily.
@EvolutionaryE no he lost everything and was put there, when he tried to go straight there he lost when he tried to fight and ended up there he stopped the match. Again fight the top of the hill and see where it lands not start at the bottom and hope for the top
@@EvolutionaryE Had John went for the flop or hook initially he would've lost his hand. The same goes for Devon versus taras. He went for the toproll and secured his pronator for his side pressure win in round 1. All other rounds he went directly for the defensive hook and lost his hand and couldn't press.
@@GTIngold rushing for the bottom of the hill gives your opponent the ability to run down the hill and your chances of stopping that momentum a lot harder. If you've got a hard stop like crazy george it doesn't matter as much as it does for him to drop quick enough to get to his spot. Same goes for Michael, but he's got a different stop than George does IMO.
@@rileyneufeld7001 you are assuming ermes could stop levan at each point on the hill. It is a unique matchup and a VERY unique arm wrestler that can actually utilize many different techniques effectively enough to slow them down. If you try something they can overwhelm, you get flash pinned when you try it, and lose the ability to try anything else that round. Nobody walks into a match planning on trying 7 different moves.
I have a hard time watching that match I start crying being so happy for John. I'm going to argue that isn't a kings move though. My personal belief is you need to be on your bicep for it to be an official kings. And the reason I say that is because in MMT's case it's more a bone lock. In this case John is using pronation and tendons to keep him up. In a kings move you can use bicep if you have enough of it if not bone lock. John was keeping his elbow inside his body where typical kings movers have it far away. In other words John was using his concrete elbow not bicep/bone. I'm no hater on the kings. I like watching MMT, Leo, Brandon, Tiny ect. Just my opinion.
A lot of people think that’s the only difference… but we believe there is a lot more to it… at least we find thinking of it this way allows us to learn, teach, and decode the moves better…
Thanks for all the information! I've learned so much from you guys that I've been able to apply to practice. Probably you two and Bob brown have taught me the most.
Toddzilla’s Move is either a variation of a Hook&Drag or Hook&Drive or Sweep depending on his opponent. He is actually very balanced between back pressure and side pressure, and seems to adjust depending on his opponent. With Prudnik most recently he knew he needed to focus more on BP, and needed up doing a toproll… as for the Hand I believe Todzilla prioritizes his Pronation above all else. -Tiny
Know this is old, but good video! Are you trying to keep your shoulder kind of in line with your hips or is that a wrong way to look at it- like when you were talking about hip into the table as you adjust positions, is the other one moving out at all to stay with the shoulder. Also, would be curious as to armwrestling exercises a newbie should make sure they do- there’s a lot of info out there and seems difficult to do them all…like rising type stuff seemed important. Also, kings move at the bottom of the triangle?!?!
Dear tablemonkeys Iam new to the sport of armwrestling, iam only 16 and i really like the sport but whats really confusing me is backpressure and drag. Can you please explain and demonstrate them. Thank you
@@tablemonkeys5262 I thought you meant blitzkrieg, since you're going a new direction quickly without them noticing (like the French didn't notice German army)
I totally get the concept and know how to regrip but i find it's hard to execute in a real match a lot of the time, unless im a lot stronger than the other person. Best way i can describe the feeling is a pressure on my hand and fingers wich makes its feel next to impossible to regrip without losing any position you have.
Maybe the reason is you have to get stronger in the pressures needed to regrip. Supination, rising and kickback while applying backpressure and sidepressure. The main thing is rising to me, if you don't have the high ground is going to be close to impossible to regrip.
@@timano181 my rise is definetly one of my weaker points. Especially on my right and ive honestly never trained supination. Shit my supination is probably weaker than my rise. Thanks for the advice
I get what you're saying so I'll give my opinion. In a match regripping is pretty much just for whoever has more hand/top control after go (as long as they both pull technically sound nobody makes a mistake or falls for a trick). And then yeah you can or should only take those regrips in the good opportunites for them after you control the top
And yes get stronger in the areas the other dude was telling you. Hand control is all about finger containment, back pressure, supination, pronation, and wrist (not just flexion and rise but also holding up from the rotation force). I also really believe in maximizing your thumb size and the strength and size of the muscle that lifts your pointer finger up when you are neutral in a hammer curl position. Out of straps rise and supination through fingers quickly, catch fingers if you get the top and you can but let go if it's just not feasible to pin them without taking damage to your own wrist. In straps supinate in the setup while loading backpressure and center and roll on the go ideally if you can but you might need to stop and work if you don't initially have all the pieces
These kata/athlete-mindset drills and explanations are so critical - thank you guys for producing these! Me and my small group are implementing asap 💪🏼💯
There is no honor when you knowingly and intentionally cheat in the setup to the point where your opponent has no chance. You can't call yourself a better or stronger armwrestler. I hate when people, like you guys, try and condone cheating in the setup. Fight for your setup, obviously, but when you go beyond that to intentionally try and take everything away from your opponent its no longer a valid match because you're not armwrestling the other person...youre armwrestling a percent lower than 100% of that person. Sure, a match may never be able to get to 50/50 but if you have any honor on the table, you'll want to see truly who the better armwrestler is and youre not getting that when you cheat like Auden and Devon do.
