Thats the problem with armwrestlers nowadays.

[Ty Kissner]

After careful deliberation I have come to a very accurate conclusion about todays arm-wrestlers...........

See, Back in the day, an arm-wrestler was more than just somebody who wore nutrition supplement sponsored muscle shirts & were hoped up on every kinda supplement possible wanting to go from the bottom of the ladder to the top of the mountain..In the day, an arm-wrestler was a counselor & friend. He was a beer drinking expert. A blue collared balls to the wall work your ass off kinda guy. Someone who would pay the price and their due for success, Just a general all-around hustler. But the problem with all us cats today, is that we got no patience. No sense of history. And then, with a straight face, got the nerve to want to be somebody great in this sport. Want somebody to respect us. But it takes respect to get respect. Understand? See, I'm not that old yet. But, Lord willing, I'd be spared the sight of seeing everything that we worked in for arm-wrestling flushed down the drain by people who don't know no better or care.

[Kevin Harris]

All you are discribing is a good old bar room armwrestle that was you buddy. you set around and drank beer togther. Told each other what was going on in your life and pulled a few times, Arm wrestling has grown to the point that I agree alot of the fun is gone. You cant just pull a feel time and go to a tournament and win, you have to be in the gym and on the table as much as you can, And if you win then you have a price on your head and you have to train even harder to win the next time. I havent won Nationals sence 2000 and to be honest I dont deserve to win right now, you have gues like Chris, Cory, Brian, Micheal, the list goes on and on that are willing to put hours and hours of training and tape watching to get to the top. To me there is 2 types of armwrestle, the local never leave your state to armwrestle, that only trains for a couple weeks before a tournament and then there is the armwrestle that spends hours in the gym and on the table each week and travels everywhere to take on the best. Talking about respect. If you want respect you have to put in the time and money by traveling all over to get it. The bar room armwreslte is how most of us got strated but how many of us want to keep it in the bar and how many of us want to compete at Nationals and Worlds, lets not forget the Anrold. The friendship we all have will always be there but the amount of time you have to put in training is what has changed and changed everyones attitude.

[Ty Kissner]

I'm just saying Kevin...todays up and comers dont have the same level of respect that guys from the late 80's and early 90's have towards each other(me included)......U see it everyday on this board.......

the whole training all the time, traveling and tape watching i believe was covered by the statment "A blue collared balls to the wall work your ass off kinda guy. Someone who would pay the price and their due for success, ". What Im saying is many young guns have this attitude and cockiness that guys like Brzenk, Goodridge, Engin, Bath, Randall, Crazy George, Hicks and many older pullers never possessed.....Almost like what they accomplished don't matter....

[Jeramie Towle]

I agee with what both of you have said, but you have to remember like everyone else life can get in the way of your dreams no matter how hard you work towards it.

[Josh Shotgun Stark]

For the most part I agree. Alot of newer guys do not have the same "love" or "passion" that was around the sport when I started. Some up & coming pullers use their mouths like we used to use our arms. I have always tried to tell the newer class of pullers that respect is earned, & is not given because you beat "Joe Blow" once or twice. Talk the talk when you have walked the walk. Kevin said it perfectly by stating one gains respect by traveling outside of their state to gain as much experience as they can. James Retarides said it awile back, then it has now made it to page 4...but here is the just of what he said...

James Retarides
Board VIP
*******
Re: Pray for peas
« Reply #812 on Apr 25, 2007, 10:15am »

Sure thing guys. I will always love armwrestling but I have seen the sport change so drastically since I started and have seen my interests change along with the sport... as well as a lack of the all-for-one and one-for-all sentiment we used to share among the guys with whom I used to train have fed into this cynicism I now feel for the organized sport.

The camaraderie is gone and my feelings for the sport and interest in its athletes have waned considerably.

[Brandy Stark]

I don't really think your assesment is truly fair or accurate. First of all "back in the day" outlets like the Northeast Board did not exist, there was no forum for people to talk about arm wrestling, likes and dislikes, who is better than who and why, no real way for anyone to voice thier opinion about the sport and people in it....how do you know the people you mentioned if given the chance in thier younger years wouldn't have been on here smack talking just like the younger pullers on here today, you really only got to see and chat with other pullers at tournaments, and I have met a lot of the people in person that others deem disrespectful or cocky on the board and they are anything but that way at tournaments. I think a monitor and key board gives people bigger kahunas than they would have in person, but most of it is all in fun (most of it)! Any type of sport that people take seriously and train for brings out thier competitive nature and I don't really think anyone needs to start writing the book of etiquette for armwrestling. Compared to most sports, armwrestling is pretty mild with a couple bad apples here and there, but as in life there are a number of different personalities in this sport and no one can expect everyone to adhere to thier personal expectations of how to conduct yourself, all you can do is is consistently convey the person you want to be percieved as and not worry about what everyone else is doing....JMO

[Robert Bishop]

i agree with Brandy on this one

[Brandon Dye]

this has already been brought up before in mr. retarides post... but i do agree with kevin... i myself am pretty new to the sport and a younger puller but isee alot of the cockiness and disrespect, i think it has alot to do with how people today are brought up. i know people like my father were never like that and he didnt raise me to be like that, i enjoy the sport, the competition and training to become a better puller than i am now, but in no way will i run you catch me running my mouth, or disrespecting other pullers, and its sad to say that alot of young pullers are dissrespectful and give a bad name to the new / younger generation in the sport... anyway just my two cents on this...

[ericmyler]

Whether your statement is true or not who knows? But part of it sounds just like what Cedric the Entertainer said in the movie "Barbershop". Without the insertions of armwrestler of course.

[Kevin Harris]

Like Bam Bam said this has already been talked but what alot of people dont thing about is with the level of competition raising, so is the everyones attitude,we are starting to see mor money matches and more tournament with money but most of the time it is just table attitude, Off the table the respect is still there, I personally dont know one armwrestler that has never got upset at the table but I also dont know armwrestle I wouldnt travel across the country to help

[Ty Kissner]

brandystark said:

I don't really think your assesment is truly fair or accurate. First of all "back in the day" outlets like the Northeast Board did not exist, there was no forum for people to talk about arm wrestling, likes and dislikes, who is better than who and why, no real way for anyone to voice thier opinion about the sport and people in it....how do you know the people you mentioned if given the chance in thier younger years wouldn't have been on here smack talking just like the younger pullers on here today, you really only got to see and chat with other pullers at tournaments, and I have met a lot of the people in person that others deem disrespectful or cocky on the board and they are anything but that way at tournaments. I think a monitor and key board gives people bigger kahunas than they would have in person, but most of it is all in fun (most of it)! Any type of sport that people take seriously and train for brings out thier competitive nature and I don't really think anyone needs to start writing the book of etiquette for armwrestling. Compared to most sports, armwrestling is pretty mild with a couple bad apples here and there, but as in life there are a number of different personalities in this sport and no one can expect everyone to adhere to thier personal expectations of how to conduct yourself, all you can do is is consistently convey the person you want to be percieved as and not worry about what everyone else is doing....JMO

I was just assessing todays arm-wrestlers, not trying to right an etiquette book..like i said i was one of those cocky young guns when i was 20 years old but after having my pride and ego demolished by veteran guys like Greg Boyes, Earl wilson, Mike Gould and Devon Larratt I was served a little piece of humble pie and I can tell you this I have never met men that conducted themselves in such a way as those men I mentioned above.....Now that im 24 I can say that i have matured to the point were I do hold a large amount of respect for older veteran pullers with list of accomplishments...

[Chris Kaufman]

Not disagreeing with anything you said, but it always seems that the older generations will always think the younger generations are punks. Think about when you graduated high school, from that point on kids in high school were high school punks. When I graduated college they were college punks. It's like that episode of the Simpsons when they try to take away the old folks' drivers licenses.

[Max Maxwell]

speaking as a guy with just one year under my belt i think who you train with and who mentors you can have a great deal to do with your outlook on this sport. I am part of team dungon and train with Ron klemba and Tim Bresnan and although i have won a more than fair share of my matches I have a great deal of respect for this sports history and competetors. I also remain always humble and ready to learn rather than cocky.

[Max Moore]

i dont condone the brash cocky attitude and general unfriendliness of some pullers i have encountered, but it is they who are making themselves look that way not i. if that is the way they want to paint our sport and its competitors then fine. im gnna paint them my way.

i think younger people have gotten so concerned with winning and how they think it makes them look if they lose that they miss what i feel armwerstling is about; friendship, competition, comrodary(im sure thats spelled wrong!), learning, respect, etc.. and most of all fun. the fun is being a part of something, not just winning. alot of guys are only having fun if they are winning. thats wrong. i know this because not long ago i was one of those guys. i would feel sh$tty if i couldnt win because then it wasnt fun. armwrestling has already helped teach me that anyhting worth having doesnt come easy.

do i think how these individuals act hurts armwrestling? no i dont.
armwrestling is more than just a few spoiled loudmouth cocky knowitalls.

i guess my stand on this is "to each his own."

i may not agree with how someone is acting but it is themselves they are portraying, not armwrestling.

[Max Maxwell]

well put max must be the name