The basic rule of the martial sport of judo is “give up to win”. The warrior who obeys this rule is the one who controls the fight. The illusion of one’s submission is a trick to make one’s opponent oblivious of the real threat. In this situation the opponent is fragile and can be struck down quite easily.

This basic rule of judo can be applied to armwrestling. In a situation where one opponent is much weaker than the other, it is up to him to make a choice: fight or give up the hand. According to a poll amongst armwrestlers, the opinion varies 3:1. Most think that a fighter cannot show weakness. Is that really so? What conduct should be deemed appropriate?

Fight. Someone once wrote that you don’t need a two quintal weight, if all you can lift is one.

In my opinion, that is faulty reasoning. When you go to bench press a weight, it’s all up to you – how much are you ready to press, what is your condition and technique. In this situation you already know those things, because during training you have already had a taste of the maximum weight. It’s quite another thing when you have Cyplenkov on one side, and Pushkar on the other. It’s no secret that currently Denis is a level above Andrey. But the fight itself is up to both of them. Sometimes a large part is played by old injuries, mental state and physical readiness. It may well happen that the weakest opponent will take better stance at the beginning of the fight, will capitalize on the first few seconds to find his rival’s weak spot. It’s all interconnected. It’s enough to recall Cyplenkov vs. Chaffee, when Dave steamrolled over Denis and pulled him. I’m sure this came as a surprise for Denis, who met Chaffee before and took him easily. This couldn’t have been without impact on both opponents. While Dave peaked suddenly, Denis surely experienced a low.

No fight. Why waste your resources on a fight, when you are certain of your opponent’s domination, but you know you can go on to fight another one? This is the reasoning of the weaker wrestlers, who give up the hand. What’s interesting is that it works! Some call it “unsporting”, others say it’s a strategy. Both sides have the right to think so. The sporting reputation and the priorities of a fighter can be judged by their conduct at the table.

The armwrestler who never gives up, always pushes ahead and tries to put on a great fight, to show his inner “self”, values his reputation, showing the audience what they want to see. This aspect enriches armwrestling. Imagine that the Belarussian "БАТЭ" football club decided not to stand up to “Bavaria” Munich, because they are on completely different levels.

Imagine the Belarussians leaving the goals without defence, because there’s no point in defending against stronger opponent. Because it’s better to lose without any damage and go on playing in the inferior league. What would "БАТЭ" fans have to say about that? I doubt that they would be very happy. But the Belarussian team put on a great defence, and made the impossible possible - they won 3:1. The same can happen in armwrestling. Or not…

The armwrestler goes into a fight thinking who to win with, and whom to lose with. The audience won’t always be happy with his decision, but it’s not them he fights for. Let a fighter give up the hand and antagonize the audience, but conserve strength and get a lower place on the podium. This has a negative influence on the show aspect of the sport, which many people think necessary. But how can you blame anyone for fighting for themselves, and not others? Where is the source of the problem? Is cold tactics wrong? I think this will be a forever unsolved case, because there will never be a united front in this matter.

Artur Grigorian © Game