Ron Klemba in the Hartford Courant

[James]

I received a call from a Hartford Courant reporter the other night. For those in CT and Mass that don't know, the paper will be doing a feature on Ron Klemba slated to come out next week.

Don't worry Ron. I said nice things

[Scott Latella]

James. Can I get a copy?

[Josh Shotgun Stark]

Hey Scott, check out www.ctnow.com daily to see when the article is coming out. Brian LaPila aka Superman is also going to be in the article. I guess from what we were told the article is about local competitors and what they do in their sport fields. That is what I was told.

[Josh Shotgun Stark]

The article is there. Check it out, read it.

[Kurt Howgate]

Leaving Nothing To Chance
Ex-drug Dealer Turned Therapist Ron Klemba Trains Physically And Mentally For A Top Arm Wrestling Prize In South Africa.

November 6, 2004
By GREGORY SEAY, Courant Staff Writer


George Iszakouits of Canada denied him in Ottawa last year. Will "Crazy George" do it to him again later this month in South Africa?

Every day, Portland's Ron Klemba thinks about the final head-to-head bout at the 2003 World Armwrestling Championship with Iszakouits that he lost, forcing him to settle for a silver medal. Klemba simply can't get it out of his mind.

Now he's doing everything physically and mentally possible as he prepares for what may well be a rematch with his friend and mentor at the 2004 world meet, the 26th such event, Nov. 20-27 in Durban, South Africa, where he's hoping to strike gold.

"I'm gonna win," Klemba said. "I'm not one to step up to the plate without being well prepared."

Klemba, a psychotherapist counseling juveniles and adults with drug addictions, is among those on Team USA favored to win his 75-80 kilogram (165-176 pounds) weight class.

With his foot-long ponytail, big eyeglasses and squat but muscular build, the 47-year-old grandfather looks nothing remotely like a champion arm-wrestler. That, training mates say, is usually his opponents' first - and worst - mistake.

"He has a really good shot this year," said James Retarides of Seymour, considered one of the world's best arm-wrestlers and one of Klemba's training mates. "He's definitely the fastest arm-wrestler in the state."

This time, Klemba is leaving nothing to chance. He has qualified to compete right- and left-handed against male competitors of all weights and ages in the "open class." He will also challenge in the "masters division" for competitors 40 years and older.

"Ron is very dedicated," said Cindy Looney of Milford, who also is training with Klemba as she heads to South Africa for her first world match in the women's super-heavyweight bracket (176 pounds and up). "He's been training like an animal."

He works out relentlessly at least three days a week in the basement - space Klemba affectionately calls the "Dungeon of Doom" - of his small cottage next to Great Hill Pond in Portland.

Pulling on a garage-door spring linked to wall hooks, or a bike inner tube looped around the edge of a wrestling table maximizes flexibility of his wrist and elbow joints and tendons to quicken the offensive moves and countermeasures he uses to subdue opponents. His signature move is the "top roll," which involves negating opponents' hand control by severely bending their wrists backward.

For strength, Klemba performs dozens of pull-ups from grab bars anchored to beams in the basement ceiling. An 80-pound barbell locked into a curl and held motionless for as long as possible boosts endurance for matches that last beyond one minute - practically an eternity in arm-wrestling.

Klemba has competed in a dozen local, state and national contests this year - four leading up to South Africa - mainly as a way to "feel as many hands as I can. Everybody's hand is so different," he said.

His diet is protein - beef, chicken, fish - and vegetables. No bread, potatoes or other carbohydrates. Klemba says he doesn't use bodybuilding supplements other than vitamins.

Mental preparation climaxes once he is facing his opponent.

"He's got no business on my table. That's my attitude," Klemba says.

Upstairs, his living room glints with the testament to his prowess since taking up the sport in earnest in 1999, turning pro two years later. More than 100 plaques, medals and trophies neatly line two walls and the hardwood floor - one a 5-foot team trophy won at the unified national tourney in Indiana in August, which qualified him to go to South Africa.

"I've given some of them away to my grandkids," Klemba grins. "They come over and ask, `Gimpy, can we have this one?' I've got way too many."

Klemba, whose nickname is "Apple," is a popular member of a small but growing Connecticut fraternity - and sorority - of arm-wrestlers. They train together and sometimes battle each other at state and regional meets. Friends and family in Portland, Middletown and East Hampton recently held a fund-raiser to help with his more than $2,500 out-of-pocket cost to travel to Durban.

Klemba, along with the blossoming crop of younger arm-wrestlers, including Retarides, 27, and Looney, 33, is sparking a revival of a sport mired for years in blue-collar stereotypes, enthusiasts say.

The stigma is that participants are "all truck drivers guzzling beer and arm-wrestling in bars," said Retarides, a free-lance writer and soft-drink marketer who has competed the last six years as a pro.

Dave Devoto, of California, who promoted and refereed arm-wrestling competitions that for years were a staple on ABC's "Wide World of Sports," said interest from ESPN and Fox Sports in televising arm-wrestling nationally is drawing competitors from diverse backgrounds, including more women and youths. Potential sponsors, from makers of sports drinks to fitness gear, also are taking notice, Devoto said.

"Everybody's arm-wrestled," said Devoto, who many consider the sport's American "godfather." "Everybody thinks they are pulling good. But then somebody comes along and says, `I'm the best.'"

"It isn't just strength," he said. "It's a game of leverage."

Klemba says he was always competitive growing up in East Hampton, and had the physical strength to back it up. But he turned both attributes into negatives - using and dealing dope.

At 31, Klemba was a passenger in the car his best friend was driving when it crashed. His friend was killed and Klemba's back was broken. Surgery to correct his compressed spine left him 3 inches shorter, 5 feet 8, and with a resolve to turn his life around.

"It was a life-altering event," said Klemba, whose other hobby is his two Harley motorcycles, one with a sidecar. He cleaned up his act, got his degree and went to work as therapist.

Today, arm-wrestling is his therapy, he says.

"It allows me to remain connected to my past. I was always competitive and aggressive in certain ways."

Klemba is philosophical about his sport. Indeed, his previous losses to "Crazy George," he says, hold the key to winning this time around.

"The lessons you learn from losing are much more valuable than winning," he says. "When you go up against the best and lose, you learn something. So when you go up again and win, it's very self-gratifying."

[James]

"James Retarides of Seymour, considered one of the world's best arm-wrestlers and one of Klemba's training mates."

Well, I found one inaccuracy.

Yikes

Other than that I thought it was a good article. Congrats Ron.

[Josh Shotgun Stark]

;D

[Steven Lareau]

That was fun to read. Go Ron Klemba!! ;D

[Mike West]

Always good to see armwrestlers getting some postive coverage in the news
Best of luck to you Ron, George is beatable, I watched Craig Tullier beat him @ SOS, George stopped him in the straps ( like he does everyone ) then Craig pinned him from there, and YOU can do the same Or just blast him from to 'Go', makes it much easier
Good luck to everyone going, wish I was going with you.

Mike West

[Bill Cheetham]

Good Luck, Ron. Get it done.

Great practice today, and a great ride there & back.

[Bill Cox]

Nice article Ron. Best of Luck to you, Cindy,Andy, Jan and Valerie and all the members of team USA.

[Ron Klemba]

Thanks everyone for your undying support.
Check out WFSB 3 out of Hartford on Sunday night Nov 14th 11:15 sportscenter
More exposure for the sport

[Christopher Myers]

Ron,
Congrats !!!
Christopher Myers

[Dan Fortuna]

Ditto to all the above your the man Ron!