How to train?
One of the most experienced armwrestlers in the world, during 2012 European Championship, compared the sport to ballet. He was talking about the vast amount of techniques at disposal and the many ways that a bout can be resolved. We want to begin this article with a couple of quotes from Igor Akhmedshin – a seasoned coach, for many years a member of Russian armwrestling organizations and a trainer of many champions. Igor is also a creator of the famous, international Golden Bear tournament, which was the milestone for armwrestling in Russia during the 90’s. Igor Akhmedishin’s son, bearing his father’s name, is at a beginning of a great career, we had the pleasure of seeing him start in the aforementioned 2012 European Championship, and also on last year’s NEMIROFF WORLD CUP.
We spoke to Akhmeshin again on the Moscow A-1 tournament. It was there, watching the bouts, when he told us of the beginnings of the sport. He especially mentioned John Brzenk’s first start in Russia. Weighing under 100 kilograms, Brzenk defeated enormous Russian arwrestlers, many of them European and world champions. “To us at the audience it was astounding at the time!” – recalls Akhmedshin.
At the same tournament we had the chance to observe a seminar of sorts, given by the Archmaster Alexey Voevoda himself. A huge line was waiting to get at the table, people drinking up the Master’s words. Alexey Voevoda is the „Next Generation” of the sport. He had people to learn from, that’s why he has such a vast spectrum of techniques. Two hours wasn’t enough to demonstrate them all. It’s also worth to mention the psychological aspect of the sport. Voevoda spoke at length about what it takes to “feel like the winner”.
The characters
Our sport is pushed forward by people like John Brzenk and Voevoda. They constantly keep coming up with new ideas for training, technique and tactics. We can observe the fruits of their labor at events like Ukraine’s FitMax Challenge Lion Cup 2012, NEMIROFF in Poland, and many others.
How to train? How to fight? There is not much written about the subject. Here on the pages of KiF we aim to shed more light on the subject. We can say one thing for sure – there is no one way to do it.
Among the best are those who are well-rounded, as well as those who win most of their fights by hook, overarm or side pressure. Some win by speed of attack, some struggle for a long time.
A model well-rounded wrestler is the Bulgar Cvetan Gashevski, the hook master is Rustam Babayev, the overarm specialist is Arsen “Shrek” Liliev. Americans win by hook or side pressure.
What really „works”?
There is no one way to win a fight, no ideal training method. Not every human body can adapt to every technique. There’s also the “weakest link” – we need to be certain that our muscles will allow us to safely execute the given technique.
We will now attempt to describe basic ideas and techniques for the beginner.
Some theory
First of all – remember that “technique” is not just the arm position and going on “Ready – go!”. It’s you position by the table, your leg setting, and then the arm movement. All armwrestling techniques can be divided into phases:
Positioning:
Stance - the leg position depending on left or right – armed bout
Starting position – the grip before “Ready – go!”
Phases:
Attack – the movement of arm and body after starting command to the 45 degree angle
Defense – stopping the opponent’s arm
Counter – attacking the arm of the opponent
Capitalizing from upper hand – what you do until you hear “STOP”
Of course, no amount of reading will ever replace a demonstration, working with a coach or sparring with a partner. We encourage you to follow the materials and tutorials on our website.
Recently we had another chance to discuss the topic – how to train.
John Brzenk has always had trouble with answering questions about training. During the Bulgarian tournament he told us: - “People keep asking me, how do I train. And I tell them the same thing as for the last 25 years. And they still don’t believe me!”. John has always pressed the matter of regeneration. Ukrainian Andrey Pushkar also doesn’t have any “miracle cure” for great performance and training. He always says it’s best to train 3 times a week. He also suggests one good sparring a week.
Juniors and the „Utah boys”
To do what Pushkar recommends, you need a partner in your club. In case of the Ukrainian wrestler this is troublesome. Out of a hundred people training the sport, European champions and top contestants in the country, not one is old and experienced enough to be a fit partner for Andrey. John Brzenk and Todd Hutchings revealed that recently they have been training in the company of what they called “Utah boys” – a group of armwrestler friends. There’s nothing like a group of equals to work out with.
How does it look in Poland ?
Recently, in the Zloty Tur Club in Gdynia, Joanna Damińska organized a weekend seminar for people interested in armwrestling. A few people showed up, and none of them left disappointed after a few hours at the table. We could also witness Marlena Wawrzyniak and Igor Mazurenko in training session, to celebrate Marlena joining FitMax Team. Marlena is our most experienced member, with excellent experience from other sports she did. The training took place after Marlena got back from World Championship in Brazil, where she won a silver medal. “It’s always the hardest to judge yourself!” – a hard truth, not only in bodybuilding disciplines, but also in martial sports. Even a champion needs someone to point out their weaknesses and ways to overcome them. That short seminar with Igor sure gave Marlena some food for thought. Shortly thereafter she won silver again on NEMIROFF WORLD CUP 2012. Even more, on the 2nd day of the tournament she became a first Polish woman to win the World Cup.
For the lone wolf
For those who have no option to train with equals, the only thing left is analyzing and reflection. There is so much equipment available right now, and so many exercises imitating the movement of the fight, at an affordable cost. There are training machines, tapes and expanders with various grips. Turning your basement into a training center will of course cost money, but it’s a long-term investment. It’s also worth it to visit an already existing facility and observe how others train. And of course – analyze your own fights, in order to adapt the training to your needs.
Imagination and mind
Every fight sport requires the ability to feel the movement. We won’t bore you with definitions, but take our word for it – visualization is no hoax! I really works. Just close your eyes and picture a movement in any given fight. Feel your muscles move, again and again. Memorize the movement. Analyze the potential obstacles and ways to overcome them. And then it’s off to sparring or training!
Then there’s the psychological aspect. Attitude towards both training and fighting has been mentioned many times by both American and Russian professionals. There is a noticeable degradation of psychological knowledge in current media. Charlatans who present themselves as authorities, and gossip journalists outdo themselves, speaking of psychological issues of teams and individuals. It’s hard to give any real advice on the matter. A few years ago, one of the professional teams hired a psychologist. What followed was one suicidal attempt and many other disturbing signals …
Social network portals often carry inspirational pictures with captions like “Think like a winner”. It’s not hard to see that this is just for show. So what can be done, really? In our opinion it’s important to seek support with friends, tell people close to us what’s on our minds. Share the load.
Let us make a detour into another fight sport. An old and experienced coach, upon hearing that the team board was planning to hire a psychologist for the team, told the board: “It’s you that need a psychologist!”. In this man’s view, a good coach is always also a psychologist.
Do we have this kind of people in armwrestling?
In our opinion – we do! There are many experienced coaches, who love this sport and are great with young people.
PeSzy