How Did You Get Started??

[Tim Lewis]

Just curious how this stacks up. How did you first find out
about our sport as a real competitive sport with tournaments, etc.

My belief is that family introduction, legacy pullers will win by a pretty large margin.

I think friends would be next, followed by on own third and mass media last...but I'm curious to see if my theory is right.

Please vote for one and feel free to share insight on how you started if you wish.

Me personally, I found it on my own through internet searches and always being "pretty good" was very curious and got hooked since.

[Gary Roberts]

I was at a fair and heard them announce the tournament on the main stage of the concert area..

thats not an option

just walking by...

[Shane Vasquez]

in early 06 i watched the nationals and seen some guy running his mouth.I was amazed to see this guy crush everyone and even talk to the camera while doing it...I thought to myself,I know how to armwrestle and I'm pretty sure i can beat that guy.
So my next step was on the internet looking for the next tournament
Seen Indiana State and went looking for that same guy...He wasnt their so i was not to worried about anyone else that i seen.
Won my first match easy and said to myself where is this travis guy?Next match i was crushed in less than a second? I was lost after that..I could not figure out how that guy beat me.
Been hooked ever since...
Good topic Tim

[A L L E N F I S H E R]

Someone told me about an arm wrestling tournament at Magic Mountain in California in 1979. I didn't know it, but it a qualifying National compitition that was promoted by the National Arm Wrestling Association. I took 5th place that day. I think my weight was 152 lb.
The rest is history....

Allen Fisher
World Champ

www.armwrestlingworldwide.com

[kyledarby]

A friend from work took me to a practice at Gary Alves with Brandon Dye and Sam Hattabaugh and I've been pulling ever since.

[Dustin Morgan]

I was that guy that you always run into at a bar that "has never lost" lol. And out of the people I usually arm wrestled, that was true. I thought to myself, I know there's tournaments out there, I gotta go give it a shot.....I think I was better when I was "that guy" than I am now lol. I did place 3rd lefty at my first ever tourny which was NEAC II.

[Leonard Harkless]

They did a promotional tournament for the up coming Sylvester Stallone movie.................No not Over the Top.
1978 Paradise Alley.
Got 2nd, turned 18 a month later. ;D

[Bob Paradis]

Growing up in Bristol, I always knew there were tournaments and such. Everyone knew Moe Baker, then later George Givens, then a little later, Josh Stark made a few appearances in the local paper. Somehow, through the grapevine, I had also heard the name of Ron Ermini before I actually met him. Up until the time I turned 46, I never had an interest in tournaments. At 46, I wanted to see how strong I really was. Finding out that I wasn't strong enough to compete is what got me started...addicted really. I love the idea that I am reaching some level of competence in a strength sport at my age.

[Justin Mynatt]

Every Year for about the last 30 Years A Small Town in Frontenac KS. has had a local Tournament during there Homecoming Festival. My First Experience with Arm Wrestling was there when I was 13 Years Old and I placed 2nd. From that Year on I won 1st. for the next 17 Years except a few years I missed going and Got 2nd. in 1 or 2 of them.

Anyway what's interesting is in 1998 I saw a Flier for the Bonner Springs Kansas State Championship and I really thought I would win it or have a good chance beings I had won all those years in Frontenac and I beat anybody that challenged me locally or at work. Well that Tournament is where I found out I didn't know as much as I thought I did about Arm Wrestling.

I beat the 1st. guy that was obviously an amateur and then I drew Pat Beare and he handed me my you know what . I placed 3rd. in that Tournament and didn't Arm Wrestle again until 2007 in Kansas City at the Unified Nationals. I won 1 match and then 2 and out. That is when I discovered ARM TV and started to really get into it and the rest is History.

[Josh Handeland]

In 2006 I was armwrestling everybody in school and typed in arm wrestling on Wikipedia... read on there that there were tournaments. Couldn't find any in Minnesota though and I didn't want to drive by myself all the way to Missouri/Nebraska/South Dakota. I still wanted to compete. In 2007 I found this board and Harold Ryden helped me find a few pullers in MN, who knew about a couple local tourneys. I went 0-2 right handed but 3-2 left handed at my first [local] tournament (I'm right handed though) in July 2008. I rarely lost an armwrestling match but I lost a few times at school and armwrestling friends, and I read this board for 7 months before I ever competed, so I didn't expect to whoop ass at my first tournament. I love armwrestling.

[Anthony Dall'Antonia]

Cool topic here..
I would always arm wrestle growing up and usually won, at school I would beat my friends, etc.. The only guy that would beat me was my older brother. So one day in 2002 my bro was working and met this man Bernie Lemay that was an arm wrestler so we thought lets try him out. We drove to his place to pull him and got CRUSHED! We were kind of shocked/amazed and wanted to learn from him. Next thing you know we are practicing every week and have been ever since.

Funny story too..
So after meeting Bernie we looked on the internet to buy a table and came across this guy Dave Hicks. We drove to his house to buy a table off him and got spanked by him as well while buying his table. We told him that we had this friend that could beat him.. (Bernie Lemay) so we told Dave about Bernie & he laughed telling us that Bernie is his buddy & they have trained together for years. After that we all started training together.

[Johnny Edwards]

I seen it on ESPN an was like well that was the shiznit an decided to see what I could find on the internet an somehow found Garys website an also armwrestling.com I think they were linked together at the time so joined Garys website an this was 05 I believe an then found this board somehow not sure if I remember how but I seen Todd Hutchings on here an was thats the tomato head I seen on ESPN so I messaged him an went to his house thinking I was going to crush him cause I hadn't ever lost at school an well ended up popping my right arm but got hooked an he introduced me to Kevin Hicklin an me an Kevin Hicklin an Erick Sczap would train every sunday down in Rock Hill an eventually after a couple practices Kevin introduced us to Chad an the team an I been going ever since then.

[Pete & Tim]

Nov 24, 2009 19:26:59 GMT -5 Dustin Morgan said:

I did place 3rd lefty at my first ever tourny which was NEAC II.

I remember that event. I did not know that it was your first event ever. Very cool.

[jonathanvazquez]

Always pulled in High School. Was really good. Googled it one day and there happened to be a tournament like 20 min from my house. It was the "Tournament of champions". held @ Boomtown casino. I went two and out.Found out I was not really good. I was completely turned off. Some how I was contacted by John Shaw over a year later. Been practicing ever since.

[John Wilson]

I saw my first armwrestling tournament at the mall in Petersburg, VA somewhere around 1986. Back then it was only right handed and every one of the guys looked like a fiddler crab. They had softballs in their right bicep and their left arm looked normal.

About two years later I was old enough to drive and discovered a bar called Joe's Place there in Petersburg. It was a very unique place. The front was a bar / popular hangout and in the back was a gym. Inside the bar was an armwrestling table that was a permanent fixture. Friday and Saturday nights the places was absolutely jammed and the armwrestling table would be so packed you couldn't see it. You had to shoulder your way through the crowd to get your chance on the table. You stayed on the table until you lost or gave up your spot.

So, I had this crazy idea that everybody in the world armwrestled.

I entered my first event, the Virginia Classic, in I believe 1988 or 1989. My first ever match was Leslie Whims. He knew I was a rookie kid and politely spanked me. Then I lost my second match, too. This wasn't turning out the way I expected it to. All of a sudden it occurred to me that competitive armwrestling was a whole new world and one that I was not prepared for. I pulled a novice event there several months later and got second place in the 0-150 class.

I left for the Navy not long after and that ended my competiive armwrestling career for about eight years.