Tag: Vasiliy Kuznetsov

VIDEO: Zaur Paizulaev vs. Levan Saginashvili, Who is the new king of ARM? (ENG SUB)

Vasiliy Kuznetsov interviews Zaur Paizulaev. The third tournament of AMC League will take place in Grozny in December.

Кто новый король АРМа? Заур Пайзулаев против Левана Сагинашвили


Source: ironrating

0:00
I remember taking a selfie with Levan Saginashvili after TOP-8!
0:06
It was a historical moment and the first champion of TOP-8 in heavyweight!
0:11
And I was the first who took a selfie with the person who
0:14
as I believe, is strong enough to beat Levan Saginashvili,
0:19
with Zaur Paizulaev!
0:20
Right after the duel between Levan Saginashvili and Davon Larratt
0:23
I said that Zaur Paizulaev was one the main contenders
0:27
for the title duel with the Georgian Hulk.
0:30
But those times Zaur had one problem – nobody knew him and, therefore,
0:34
Levan wasn’t really interested in a fight with him.
0:38
But it turned out there’s the city Grozny
0:41
where you can become famous all over the world just in a day!
0:46
So, Zaur Paizulaev came to Grozny and made two important announcements
0:51
in the second tournament of AMC League.
0:57
The first announcement:
0:59
Levan, Vitaly could stop your pull at the start,
1:04
but he couldn’t stop mine!
1:17
The second announcement:
1:18
Even Dmitry Silaev, who as fast as a flash,
1:21
wasn’t ready to compete against my right arm.
1:30
How’s it feel?
1:32
Great!
1:35
want to say hello to haters who motivate
1:39
me by saying that I’m not able to beat anyone!
1:47
The whole world is now admiring Zaur’s strength
1:51
and wondering whether he will be able to move
1:54
the current king of armwrestling Levan Saginashvili from the throne.
1:58
This task has a very simple solution!
2:01
The third tournament of AMC League will take place in Grozny in December.
2:06
There’s 16 thousand dollars at stake,
2:09
and Zaur Paizulaev longing to upset his haters once again!
2:17
Who knows, perhaps, today not only the history of this tournament was created,
2:24
but also the future king of the world armwrestling!
2:28
Well, we can ask Tsvetan Gashevsky how hospitable Grozny is
2:33
or watch it in the next episode of Iron Rating
2:46
That’s all for today! See you!

Oleg Sakovich

VIDEO: Oleg Sakovich’s attempt to break Denis Cyplenkov’s strict curl record

In 2015 Denis Cyplenkov set a New World Record of Strict Biceps Curl, See ► VIDEOS: Denis Cyplenkov 113 kg Strict Curl, NEW WORLD RECORD at WORLD RAW POWERLIFTING 2015

Now Oleg Sakovich tries to brake Cyplenkov’s record, but Oleg is much smaller, his bodyweight is only 82kg… As you may figure it out, we are talking about Glossbrenner Coefficient and Wilks Coefficient… 🙂

If you pay much attention to the video, you will also notice Vitaly Laletin on stage at 1:49 and passing by at 14:10… The video is very well made and it has English subtitles, scroll down to watch it. 

Press release from Vasiliy Kuznetsov sent to the XSportNews.com facebook page: 

” 132 kilos for 6 reps, this is how much can curl with his biceps Kirill Sarychev, who holds an all-time bench press record of 335 kg. And the two-time Olympic bobsleigh champion Alexey Voevoda used to curl from the table 100 kg dumbbell with one hand. The American YouTube star, Kali Muscle, can curl enormous 142 kg for 12 repetitions. What can we say, everybody love biceps curls. But these very curls are so different, that one may ask a question: who is the strongest guy here?
Let’s make it clear!
Add to this a lot of YouTube videos where famous and not-so-famous athletes curl monstrous weights using their own very specific technique and claim their achievements to be world records. Shortly speaking – a total disorder!
This is the very disorder we’d like to deal with. Maybe we won’t work it out, but we’ll try. It is for this purpose that we started to shoot our project “The strongest biceps: fake or true”. In each episode, we will deal with any of the famous records trying to understand whether it is as difficult as they try to convince us. But the main purpose of the project is different – to tell about unique athletes who actually work wonders, but every so often unknown to anyone.
So how to make it real?
In the first episode we proved that the record of the American bodybuilder Brad Castleberry of 180 kilos for 5 reps, which many consider to be a fake, can be repeated even with the real weight if one will use curious technique of the American. And it is Nizami Tagiev, a humble powerlifter from Moscow who did it.
In the second episode we visited Siberian Power Show sports festival, where the famous Russian athlete Oleg Sakovich performed at the classical biceps curl tournament. But he got such a warm welcome from Siberian guys that he almost dropped out from the tournament, and… And thanks to the highly competitive atmosphere Oleg was able to beat his previous record for 13 kg and work a little miracle! Which one? You’d better watch the episode.

2nd episode
The deeper we get into this, the more involved it becomes. This is just a beginning, for we have at least 3 new episodes ahead. And who knows if anybody of American lovers of cheating would like to show their real strength and perform a classical curl against the wall? The same Brad Castleberry for example? Time will tell.
This is not our first international project. In 2016 we released two episodes of “American Arm wrestling”. In 2013 “Lesukov vs Cutler” became very popular. And every time we shot something brand new, something nobody shot before at those days. Same thing today.”

Этот малыш МОНСТР! “The Strongest Biceps: fake or true” WITH ENG SUBS


Source: ironrating

Denis Cyplenkov before the fight with Devon Larratt

VIDEO: Denis Cyplenkov before the fight with Devon Larratt 2017, English Subtitles

Denis Cyplenkov before the fight with Devon Larratt │ Collage made by XSportNews using images from the video
Denis Cyplenkov before the fight with Devon Larratt │ Collage made by XSportNews using images from the video

Many thanks to Vasiliy Kuznetsov for making great armwrestling videos and for sending this one to XSportNews. This new video (18 August 2017) about Denis Cyplenkov is also special because Vasiliy made English subtitles, which should load automatically. I posted the transcript from youtube first, scroll down to watch the video.

0:00 Everyone knows that Denis Сyplenkov is extremely strong!
0:03 He is rather Hulk than a human…
0:10 But… All his victories are in the past,
0:14 and today Devon Larratt with pure weight of 100 kg claims
0:18 he can beat Denis in the arm fight
0:23 Cuz I’m pretty sure… I’m pretty sure it’s me.
0:26 “Denis has lost weight and he can hardly compete with this Canadian guy” –
0:30 our subscribers agreed to Larratt in social media.
0:34 Is everything that bad?
0:36 And Сyplenkov is not as strong as he used to be?
0:40 We went to Noginsk to find it out.
0:45 Seems like I’m just in time
0:47 What did the champion reply on our questions?
0:51 Let’s watch in this episode of the ‘In Focus of the Iron Rating’ now.
1:00 The advertisement
1:24 We have a tradition,
1:27 my friends bring kettlebells to my gym.
1:30 We prefer rusty and old ones.
1:35 This kettlebell was brought by Konstantin Konstantinov.
1:38 He made this signature.
1:40 There are stamps with letters in our gym –
1:42 our guests come and fill the inscriptions by themselves with kettlebells.
1:44 This kettlebell was presented by Alexey Lovchev,
1:48 but we had to pay almost 6 rub (0.099 $) for it.
1:53 And this one is from Mikhail Koklyaev.
1:57 We are in the gym “100 poods”,
1:59 where Denis Cyplenkov trains.
2:01 We have many questions to Denis,
2:04 but let’s start with the most important –
2:05 how will he reply to the Larratt’s challenge.
2:08 Larratt said that we have been waiting so long for this match
2:10 and he is right.
2:12 I’ve never fought Larratt,
2:14 so I’m looking forward to this fight.
2:17 Denis, you speak about it in a very good-hearted way.
2:20 Sounds lame.
2:21 We know that you can be tougher.
2:24 You ask me:
2:25 do I prepare for the armfight against Devon Larratt?
2:28 Yes, I do.
2:30 The only thing I don’t understand is
2:32 why do you think that you will win, Larratt?
2:41 Now you are talking!
2:43 Larratt will not be so self-confident now.
2:45 Although, Denis, you really look thinner than used to be.
2:48 So, what happened to you, Denis?
2:50 To be honest, in May, I had a tournament on Powertlon (power triathlon)
2:55 and then I suddenly got to the hospital.
3:00 Now I have a three-month rehabilitation.
3:02 In August, I will take tests
3:04 and consult a doctor about my condition.
3:07 These are not good news…
3:10 Let us remind you that in May Denis&Co took the 2nd place
3:13 on the Powertlon tournament
3:16 and lost only to the team of Alexey Lovchev.
3:19 But finally that tournament turned out badly to Denis.
3:22 Yeah, I had some exercises on the lower part of the body,
3:26 I did deadlift with huge weight.
3:29 That also had an influence on my current state.
3:33 Yet I still do my workouts
3:37 and control my body weight within 130-133kg.
3:45 I can’t exceed this weight due to some pills.
3:50 Those pills remove water from my body.
3:55 I hope I’m going to be ok.
4:00 Denis, it’s gonna be alright, trust us!
4:03 And if you have already started your training
4:05 we can’t help but testing you!
4:09 But how to test your strength?
4:14 And we have remembered about Dmitry Golovinskiy
4:16 and his posts about the proper way to do biceps.
4:19 According to his last video he easily managed
4:23 to do 10 reps with 60kg.
4:24 Well, Denis is ready to make the most reps of 70kg…
4:30 We are recording our answer to
4:32 Dmitry Golovinskiy to make him train even harder.
4:36 And try to beat Denis’s record.
4:40 By the way, set of max reps was
4:43 that very thing that helped Denis to beat the Record of CT Fletcher…
4:46 Yes, It was like growing strength by increasing
4:48 the number of reps.
4:51 But we’ll tell you about the number of reps and preparations
4:57 to that record at the end of this episode.
5:06 Is it that handle that helped you to win John Brzenk?
5:09 Yeah, I always use it in my trainings.
5:15 All of my handles are in the different gym,
5:19 here we have only this one.
5:23 But it’s ok.
5:29 You can do many different moves with this handle.
5:34 I have better handle in my other gym,
5:37 this one is almost broken.
5:38 Seems like here are too many armwrestlers.
5:51 If we mention Jonh
5:53 we also have to mention the armfight between Jonh and Denis,
5:56 that was held in Vegas in 2009.
5:59 That time Denis lost with the score 5-1
6:03 and he understood that the result would be bad
6:07 in the very first round.
6:08 I understood I was going to lose in the very first round.
6:11 You see, armfight is a system,
6:13 where the final result can be predicted by the result of the first round.
6:17 Especially when you see that your opponent has better endurance.
6:25 When you realize that you are already exhausted
6:29 while your opponent is still fresh.
6:33 But that was one of my first armfights,
6:36 I wasn’t experienced enough.
6:40 Even preparations for armfight are different.
6:48 For the real Champions, defeat is the best motivation to work harder.
6:53 Interesting which fights had an influence on Denis’s trainings and style?
6:58 When I first met Richard Lupkes I was so impressed with his hook.
7:06 When we got into the hook I thought I got him,
7:10 because everyone said I had one of the strongest hook.
7:16 But reality was different.
7:18 When we pulled it was on his side and I thought like “It’s a trap”.
7:33 At that moment I found out that I should better start
7:38 with the wrist set on the toproll move,
7:40 in order to avoid troubles with such strong athletes like Richard.
7:46 And I think I have never seen stronger hook…
7:49 Well maybe Dave Chaffee has equal one.
7:52 Yeah, we all remember your last fight with Chaffee.
7:55 You made us feel really nervous.
8:04 Denis, can you please make top 3 most uncomfortable opponents for you?
8:10 Hm, I think Michael Todd is the most uncomfortable opponent,
8:14 second is Andrey Pushkar.
8:17 But Pushkar is easier to fight with,
8:19 the only thing you have to do is to stop his start.
8:22 And the third one,
8:26 I guess, is Richard Lupkes with his attack,
8:31 he is even more difficult than Chaffee.
8:32 They have very similar styles,
8:34 but Chaffee is not so confident like Lupkes.
8:39 When you fight with Lupkes with a hook
8:41 He pushes like Hulk.
8:45 He has much better control on his angles.
8:49 I had to win every inch.
8:52 What place can take Devon Larratt in our list,
8:56 if he is successful enough to take any place at all?
9:23 The hand in this exercise can be slightly twisted.
9:44 When did you pull last time?
9:47 Like over the top, when you felt exhausted.
9:50 Hm … I have not sparred with anyone for a long time.
9:54 A long time ago
9:59 How long? 3 month, 6 month?
10:01 More, I guess one year.
10:05 Last time Denis pulled in July 2016.
10:11 That time he won Michael Monster Todd
10:14 with the score 4-2 on the Vendetta All Stars show.
10:19 I always said,
10:20 even before our armfight,
10:22 that he was the most dangerous opponent
10:24 with his strange move.
10:27 He pulls you like a rope,
10:31 he does it with his body weight.
10:33 And I think that is very painful move but he doesn’t care.
10:37 Maybe he has had so many injuries
10:41 so he doesn’t feel pain now.
10:43 He managed to hold my strongest attacks,
10:46 maybe he takes painkillers, I don’t know.
10:59 Only few people knew that this year, in January,
11:02 a friendly armfight between Denis and Dmitry Trubin could have happened.
11:06 But it hadn’t.
11:08 At first there was no table in the place,
11:10 then there wasn’t Dmitry Trubin,
11:12 finally Denis was exhausted.
11:14 We had a total mess.
11:18 First we didn’t have a table.
11:22 Then, when table appeared we started to pull.
11:26 When Dima came we decided to refuse to pull
11:29 and arranged meeting on the next day.
11:31 Simply to have a cup of coffee.
11:32 There was no sense to pull.
11:36 Yet still we are glad that armfight wasn’t held.
11:41 Today Dmitry Trubin is more impressive.
11:46 But Denis has warned us
11:48 us that everybody have to be careful with their bodyweight in armwrestling.
11:53 I came on the Nemiroff 2010 with the pure weight 144kg.
11:57 And that was my mistake, I got tired in a second.
12:01 After that I came on all the competitions with the weight up to 140.
12:08 Everyone said I was in a bad shape.
12:11 I can gain even more that 140kg,
12:17 but then, after one week of rest,
12:20 only with some cardio and rubber,
12:29 I lose some weight and feel good in the contest.
12:33 As for me, these rules are perfect.
12:38 So, we have known what conclusions had Denis made of his defeats.
12:43 We also found out why he has lost weight
12:45 and finally what he thinks about armfight with Larratt.
12:49 Well, if I’m ready we can make this decision in the middle of August.
12:55 But first we have to talk with Igor Mazurenko.
13:02 But these are not all of the questions we have to ask.
13:05 We still want to know why our character never unbends his arms,
13:10 why he does bench press no more…
13:12 And the main question –
13:14 how many reps can he do with 70kg?
13:18 For Denis this may be a warm up,
13:20 but for us, more mortals, this is a dream-weight.
13:28 Lets ask our character whether he is agree with Evgeni Shishov,
13:33 who claimed in the 105 episode of Iron Rating
13:36 that armwrestling was about power, or not.
13:39 I think if you are a professional athlete
13:41 you can prepare for a competitions with just one exercise.
13:44 I’m not talking about those athletes who don’t even know how to pull.
13:48 If you are good in your angles you can train without opponent.
13:56 But if pure strength is so important let’s find out how much of it Denis has.
14:46 13… I’m done.
14:49 When I did 113kg, I did 100kg on 8 reps.
14:52 I had one power training,
14:54 and on another one I tried to do this weight (100kg) up to 10 reps.
14:59 I wanted to increase power by increasing number of reps.
15:05 Watching your biceps curls we can’t help asking:
15:10 Denis, was there a time when you could unbend your arms?
15:17 Honestly, as far as I remember what my dumbbell coach said…
15:29 I could never unbend them.
15:32 I remember when I was at the competitions in dumbbell
15:35 and the coach said “unbend”,
15:38 but I did not succeed
15:40 and attempts were not counted for me.
15:42 This situation was even at middle school.
15:48 Even in 2005, in Kursk, on the bench press competitions
15:52 I could unbend them more.
15:55 But then, arms unbend better than now.
15:58 Indeed, Denis’s way to do bench press is very specific.
16:03 Yet still his results are very impressive.
16:06 For example, on his bench press competition against Alexey Lovchev
16:10 Denis managed to do 140kg on 16 reps.
16:14 But even Denis agrees that wasn’t a proper press.
16:18 I’m laughing on the videos where I do bench press.
16:23 That’s why I don’t take part on a bench press tournaments.
16:27 I’m confused with my technique.
16:28 Try to unbend your arms.
16:35 But we have gone from the main subject of our discussion –
16:39 armfight between Denis and Devon.
16:42 And here is the main question:
16:45 Denis, how do you think this armfight will pass?
16:49 I will try to attack like a hell while he will try to hold me like a boa.
16:56 I think he is going to exhaust me
17:01 and beat like he did with Pushkar.
17:05 I suppose our match is going to go approximately same way,
17:10 so I’m going to prepare for this.
17:16 If Denis can properly estimate his opponent
17:22 he will be able to prepare for this armfight.
17:26 We hope this armfight is going to happen this year.
17:30 After this conversation with Denis I realized that we,
17:36 I mean all of armwrestling fans,
17:38 had a nice chance to see armfight between Denis and Devon this November.
17:47 I’m really looking forward for that, I’m training hard.
17:51 I already have a training schedule.
17:56 Have you already choose a place at your countryhouse,
17:59 where you will put a cup with the signature “I beat Larratt”?
18:04 Cup? It’s going to be a monument.
18:08 So, we have finished, bye.
18:10 If you enjoyed this video, and we know you did,
18:14 please like it and share with your buddies in your gym.
18:20 Stay tuned.

{WITH ENG SUBS} ALL ACCESS: Denis Cyplenkov before the fight with Devon Larratt


Source: ironrating

Dmitry Trubin, Andrey Pushkar, Michael Todd Devon Larratt, Denis Cyplenkov

VIDEO: Dmitry Trubin, Michael Todd, Devon Larratt, Denis Cyplenkov, Vitaly Laletin, Sasho Andreev, Khadzimurat Zoloev

Dmitry Trubin, Andrey Pushkar, Michael Todd Devon Larratt, Denis Cyplenkov
Dmitry Trubin, Andrey Pushkar, Michael Todd Devon Larratt, Denis Cyplenkov

Many thanks to Vasiliy Kuznetsov for making great armwrestling videos and for sending this one to XSportNews. This video is special because Vasiliy made English subtitles, which should load automatically. I posted the transcript from youtube first, scroll down to watch the video.

0:00 What kind of miracle is Devon Larratt looking for,
0:02 challenging Denis Cyplenkov?
0:05 In my opinion, Cyplenkov is now the strongest in the world.
0:08 I think that Devon has no chance
0:13 What is the secret of the strength of the Bulgarian phenomenon Sacho Andreev?
0:17 I have seen his fights
0:20 and I have a feeling that he knows neither the pain nor the fear.
0:23 And what happened to Dmitry “Optimus Prime” Trubin
0:27 He became bigger.
0:30 And much bigger
0:32 There are so many important issues in the world of arm wrestling,
0:36 and today we are trying to find the answers to all of them.
0:40 That’s why, according to the old good tradition,
0:43 we will go to the club of LETI (Saint-Petersburg Electrotechnical University “LETI”),
0:46 where Dzambolat Tsoriev usually trains
0:47 Why do you train shoulders? Do you want to go men’s physique?
0:49 What does it mean, “Why?”, Vasiliy?
0:51 One must be not only with thick arms, but with thick shoulders also!
0:57 But in order to make this episode truly objective,
1:00 we’ll ask a couple of difficult questions our overseas comrades
1:06 Специально для “Железного рейтинга”
1:10 Люблю вас, ребята!
1:16 Advertising information
2:13 Our subscribers ask, how are you doing?
2:15 Everything is cool,
2:17 how are they?
2:20 They’ll see you and then will be all right!
2:23 Really?
2:26 Then you should come here more often. Let them all be OK.
2:30 Here, in LETI, atmosphere is always friendly, but working.
2:34 Everyone does his own thing.
2:38 Everyone is training his main victorious weapon …
3:01 OK, now Dzambolat will warm up a bit and we will start shooting our newscast,
3:07 because when he’s calm, he is very silent.
3:11 And after warm-up, he can speak on any topic.
3:16 Am I right, Dzambolat?
3:17 You bet!
3:19 I told you. I know him well.
3:21 If Dzambolat is ready for talk about anything,
3:25 let’s start our newcast!
3:28 In the 5th place
3:32 we’ll talk about the Siberian truck driver Vitaly Laletin,
3:37 who is currently preparing for the upcoming World Cup in Hungary in September.
3:42 As the “Iron Rating” understood,
3:44 Vitaly prepares in a regular regime:
3:47 he alternates gym’s trainings with outdoor trainings.
3:55 It is ready
3:56 As we know, more often Vitaliy trains in the out-of-doors
4:01 or at the wheel of his truck,
4:02 the more stronger he becomes.
4:04 So, in Hungary, he is able to become 6 times world champion…
4:09 Or maybe not?
4:11 Do you watch his last fight with Sergey Bogoslovov?
4:15 Do you watch this fight?
4:17 Bogoslovo is 90-kg athlete, but he managed to do such things,
4:20 which other heavy-weight athletes didn’t.
4:24 Dzambolat is right,
4:25 Laletin’s talent and trainings, which were enough to impress the world of armwrestling yesterday,
4:30 just couldn’t be enough for today…
4:33 He is able to surprise us.
4:35 And we have seen it at the last Nemiroff championship.
4:38 But if we are talking about world’s top of armwrestling
4:43 in the heavyweight category,
4:44 he must work hard.
4:46 Whether he wants it or not, thinks so or not,
4:49 it does not matter.
4:51 He will have to do it!
4:52 I don’t speak about gaining muscle mass, big biceps etc.
4:57 But he need to increase the strength in the angles.
5:03 For fans of armwrestling this is not enough
5:05 to see Vitaly’s victories just at championships of Europe and world.
5:07 We want fights against
5:08 Michael Todd, Dave Chaffee, Andrey Pushkar
5:12 and Denis Cyplenkov.
5:14 But Vitaly should become stronger and stronger for this.
5:17 And during the process of this necessary upgrade,
5:20 Vitaliy could take a pattern by the hero of our next footage.
5:27 In the 4th plaсe of our rating…
5:31 We try to investigate, what happened to Dmitry Trubin?
5:36 I remember, when Toddzilla saw
5:38 how Dmitry competed at Zloty Tur, he exclaimed:
5:52 It’s interesting, what would say Todd about
5:55 actual shape of Trubin?
5:57 Recently I have seen him at “Iron Rating channel”
6:00 and yes, he is much bigger than before.
6:04 And he became much more bigger.
6:06 Dzambolat is right.
6:08 Weigh scales under Russian Optimus Prime
6:09 shows magnific 138 kg (304 lbs)
6:14 But it seems that Dmitry has not just become much bigger…
6:17 It seems that the Optimus Prime,
6:20 whom we all knew before,
6:21 was made some secret re-flash.
6:25 Hello, my dear friends.
6:27 This video I make special for “Iron Rating channel”.
6:29 Now I prepare to compete
6:32 at Cup of Asia and Worlds championship.
6:35 I train very hard. One of my goal is to gain weight.
6:38 I do basic exercises
6:40 and specific armwrestling exercises.
6:42 I want to make a perfect shape
6:45 Hope, you’ll see the new-look of Optimus Prime,
6:52 cause I’m going to gain weight to 145 kg (319 lbs),
6:56 to dry 5 kg (11 lbs) water weight
6:59 and show 140 kg (308 lbs) at the stage.
7:03 It is time to go to the next level at my competitive career.
7:09 It’s scary to imagine
7:10 what this advanced Autobot, weighing 140 kg,
7:14 is capable of.
7:17 I won’t be wrong
7:19 if I say that everyone discusses Dmitry Trubin now.
7:21 He ignores his haters.
7:28 If he lost, he is like
7:30 “OK, I should go further, train hard.
7:32 I will improve and win next time.”
7:36 He’s cool as a cucumber, keeps his eyes on the prize and does his stuff.
7:40 The most interesting thing here is
7:42 that due to the latest events in WAL,
7:45 there appear many champions,
7:48 who strive for victory and stand in the way of Dmitry!
7:51 And that’s what we discuss next.
7:57 In the 3th place…
8:00 we decided to tell you about Michael “Monster” Todd.
8:03 Recently, his wife Rebecca,
8:06 made a post in her account,
8:07 where he calls out Andrey Pushkar,
8:11 the athlete who owns the championship belt of PAL
8:15 in the heavyweight category.
8:17 But isn’it too ambitious?
8:21 I don’t think that.
8:24 He uses a specific technique
8:27 and will be a strong opponent for anyone else.
8:30 I don’t want to offend Denis Cyplenkov,
8:33 Andrey Pushkar or Dmitry Trubin.
8:38 But Todd will be a strong opponent for any of them.
8:42 He has never been an easy rival.
8:45 But is Todd really so tough?
8:48 Frankly speaking,
8:51 his recent victory in WAL finals left a lot of questions,
8:54 because he was on the brink of defeat in each duel.
8:58 Yes, I was surprised about it, too.
9:00 He fought everyone in the same way,
9:03 but no one tried to fight with him in a different one.
9:05 I have never fought with him,
9:07 so I can’t be sure for 100%.
9:09 I suppose, it is quite hard even to change the fighting style with him.
9:14 He has very specific technique.
9:16 Maybe, I didn’t see everything,
9:18 but I didn’t notice even a try to make it differ.
9:23 He (Todd) did everything he want
9:27 and pressed everyone to achieve the victory.
9:33 But Denis Cyplenkov and Dmitry Trubin showed everyone
9:38 how to deal with Monster.
9:41 The best technique against Todd is to grasp the triceps!
9:46 But Larrat is going to assure us,
9:48 that we underestimate Monster.
9:51 Yes, Michael Todd is the best of all we have to offer.
9:56 You know… Michael Todd is incredibly, incredibly difficult to beat.
10:03 King’s move arm wrestling is advanced arm wrestling, OK?
10:06 You either accept it or get beat by it, OK?
10:11 Michael Todd stops the match, he comes to you with a lot of different angles.
10:19 It is hard to dispute with Devon Larratt,
10:21 but we’re thinking that it is not everything so optimistic in this story…
10:26 Let’s imagine Todd with his technique
10:28 in Russia with our judges and rules.
10:33 Dzambolat, what do you think about Todd’s possible results?
10:36 He won’t get even at top-10.
10:39 Because of very specific style of fighting.
10:42 And we have the same point of view.
10:43 For example, let’s remember
10:45 how Todd competed at the Zloty Tur in Poland.
10:47 But besides all our speaking,
10:52 all of our experts said
10:54 that The Monster would be the winner at the fight with Andrey Pushkar.
10:58 Pushkar can “stick in”.
11:00 He is powerful and he is good at start.
11:06 But Todd showed, that there were a lot of strong sportsmen,
11:11 who were kept down by him
11:13 and then pulled out from almost an unrealistic position.
11:22 I think Andrey is strong.
11:24 Andrey Pushkar is the best blaster in the world,
11:28 I don’t think will be many people who argue that.
11:31 But… Has Andrey’s game progressed enough
11:35 that he can drill Michael every time and if the match does stop,
11:40 can he make adjustments to carry on to the finish, those are big questions.
11:45 And I’m gonna say… Michael Todd for the win.
11:49 However, all we know how ends the fights,
11:53 which Pushkar is predicted to be defeated.
11:56 Such fight is a challenge.
11:58 I bet on Dmitry Trubin when he had a match with Pushkar,
12:03 but Pushkar was prepared so good,
12:05 that Dmitry, despite all his trainings, could not do anything.
12:10 Definitely we can say only one thing:
12:12 it will be really exciting fight.
12:16 But no less than fight “Todd vs Pushkar”,
12:20 we want to see another armfight “Pushkar vs Dmitry Trubin”
12:24 and we want totest Vitaliy Laletin’s abilitities on Monster.
12:28 But our experts assured us
12:31 that there is not only heavyweight arm wrestling.
12:35 They offered a new hero –
12:37 the Bulgarian child prodigy Sasho Andreev…
12:40 But we’ll talk about him a little bit later.
12:42 Now let’s go back to the gym in LETI
12:48 and learn a few secrets of a champion’s training.
12:51 This is probably the most common exercise in arm wrestling.
12:55 All of arm wrestlers perform it.
12:58 So there is no secret.
13:00 This is the exercise on the biceps, but only closer to the fight.
13:04 This is a valued position, in a manner of speaking.
13:27 Most athletes perform this exercise with dumbbells
13:30 or with some other weights.
13:34 Honestly speaking, I’m just too lazy to invent something else –
13:37 it’s much more convenient to do it through the block.
13:50 Are the feelings different?
13:53 No, they are the same.
13:56 Most likely, I do this exercise at the table
13:59 because it was always my first in training.
14:07 And you understand it…
14:08 Yes, I understand this exercise.
14:12 First of all, fingers work when we fight.
14:15 They do not “break” our brush.
14:18 And when we fight at the table, our fingers are weaken firstly.
14:24 If fingers are tightly compressed, then the brush can not be broken.
14:27 But when your fingers are squeezed, you can break everything.
14:30 And in this exercise, the main emphasis is
14:33 on fingers and grip training.
14:35 So does the movement start with the fingertips?
14:36 Yes, most directly.
14:44 Guys from LETI does not invent something you.
14:48 And their trainings are the same as a year or two years ago.
14:56 You can not get a spoon out of your hands.
14:58 What?
14:58 Spoon, I say, you can not get it out of your hands.
15:01 Although … Sometimes there is some new adaptation in their basement.
15:07 Vitaly and I were just discussing
15:09 that the main feature of this exercise is that the pressure goes through the index fingers.
15:13 It depends on how you take the handle here.
15:15 You can turn the handle under the little finger.
15:19 I just tried to do it.
15:20 I remember these exercises from the time
15:24 when I just started to train and it was a long time ago.
15:59 What do you feel?
16:00 Feelings … I feel giddy …
16:04 It’s all right, only I feel giddy.
16:12 This is a useful and very good exercise.
16:14 Do you advise it for all arm wrestlers?
16:16 Yes. And I will do this exercise.
16:19 How effective and useful is this new exercise, the next start will show.
16:25 And we return to the finalists of our rating.
16:30 In the 2nd place …
16:34 we will tell you about the highly anticipated fight in light heavyweight.
16:39 This is the time for, I would say, is a significant fight
16:43 between two powerful “hookers” –
16:45 Khadzhimurat Zoloyev and
16:47 the crazier Sacho Andreev from Bulgaria.
16:53 Khadzhimurat Zoloev does not need a presentation.
16:56 This Ossetian arm wrestler has long been
16:58 in the topof the strongest middleweights of the planet
17:01 and he is one of the main offenders of heavyweights.
17:05 But in his hobby to win big guys,
17:08 now he has a serious competitor –
17:11 the Bulgarian athlete Sasho Andreev.
17:14 But why is he unique?
17:16 I have seen recently how he fights …
17:18 There is the impression that Sacho knows neither pain nor fear.
17:21 Devon Larratt described this guy at his Facebook .
17:25 by just one word – “killer”
17:28 Sacho Andreev truly break into world of arm wrestling in 2014,
17:32 when he was 18 years old and
17:34 he won the youth championship of the world at first,
17:37 and then he picked to pieces the adult categories.
17:41 In 2014 I saw him either at the World Championships,
17:44 or at the European Championships.
17:45 He is very strong by nature. Genetically gifted guy.
17:48 When I fight with hook, I feel pain everytime here and there.
17:52 And Sacho looks like he has no pain threshold,
17:57 or he has very strong naturally ligaments.
18:00 It seems to me that he did not even train his ligaments to become so strong.
18:05 What else can we tell about him?
18:08 In addition to being young and strong, he loves motorcycles!
18:11 Information about Sacho on the Internet is not enough.
18:13 But we know the main thing about him:
18:15 Sacho, without hesitation for the titles of rivals and the difference in weight,
18:20 confidently defeats the strongest arm wrestlers of the planet.
18:23 Eugene Prudnik was able to force his style to Sasho,
18:27 “knocked out” his brush and took a good position.
18:32 However, all of this did not help him to bring the match to a victorious result.
18:37 Sacho endured all, usually does, and quietly defeated Eugene.
18:44 And I’m not afraid of this word,
18:46 Eugene is one of the strongest hooker of the planet.
18:51 At the same championship,
18:53 where Sacho defeated Prudnik,
18:54 Khadzhimurat Zoloev competed too.
18:56 Hadzhimurat fought at that European Championship
18:59 in the weight category of 85 kilograms.
19:01 He did not meet with Sacho for fight.
19:03 Now is the moment, when this fight will be interesting to see.
19:08 Do I need to tell who would I bet on?
19:10 And what will be the result of this fight?
19:15 With all due respect to Hadzhimurat…
19:19 Sacho stops at nothing recently…
19:22 Probably, if there is a draw,
19:26 it will be a strong-willed draw from Khadzhimurat.
19:30 Still, I prefer Sacho Andreev.
19:34 But speaking of the Bulgarian phenomenom,
19:36 we want to hope that his irrepressible desire to win,
19:41 considering his very dangerous competition style,
19:43 will not lead to serious injury.
19:46 Especially regarding to his love
19:48 to fight with heavyweights
19:50 I am bad as analyst,
19:52 but I think he will come up to some level
19:57 and then it will play a cruel joke with him.
19:59 He should stay in his weight category.
20:01 Most likely this is the weight category from 80 to 90 kg.
20:03 And he must fight at this category and doesn’t go anywhere.
20:06 Although, he can once a year, just for fun,
20:08 compete in overall category.
20:10 But he does not need to change the category every year,
20:12 as he does now.
20:13 It can play a cruel joke with him.
20:17 My words are confirmed by a large number of athletes with similar stories.
20:21 We came to the first place,
20:25 which Devon Larratt and Denis Сyplenkov
20:26 confidently divided between each other.
20:29 A possible armfight between them is discussed on both sides of the ocean.
20:34 First of all, I can say that it will be interesting.
20:37 If this happens, it will be the event of the year.
20:42 Despite Larratt’s recent victory in the WAL League final,
20:46 most experts are confident
20:48 that if Denis is in good shape, he will win.
20:53 I do not know what condition Denis is in now.
20:55 I saw only Devon and he weighed 100 kilograms.
20:59 And if Denis is in good physical shape, then,
21:04 I think, Devon has no chance.
21:06 In my opinion, Сyplenkov has no equal in fight.
21:11 He can get tired, his hands can burst with lactic acid …
21:14 But in his optimal form, he is now the strongest in the world.
21:20 It is hardly possible today to find the man stronger than Denis Cyplenkov.
21:26 Just think about his record in a pure biceps curl
21:29 with 113 kilograms.
21:31 But on the other hand, endurance and technique are
21:34 on the side of Larratt.
21:35 If Larratt is now in good shape, Denis will have problems.
21:39 Denis should prepare seriously for this fight.
21:43 And do not let Larratt do a toproll.
21:48 Here appears an interesting question,
21:51 what is more important in the arm —
21:53 technique or strength?
21:55 Only strength.
21:56 If you train correctly and do exercises
22:00 which help to improve the quality of the fight,
22:03 then only the strength will secure a victory.
22:04 Because technique depends on only your strength.
22:07 But in this case,
22:08 we are confident of the victory of the Russian arm wrestler.
22:12 Although it’s a bit tricky, and makes us to worry about Denis.
22:18 Unlike Larratt, he rarely competes
22:22 and it can play a cruel joke with him.
22:26 For example, when Denis fought against Michael Todd,
22:28 it was noticeable
22:29 that excessive excitement almost deprived Denis of victory.
22:32 You mean that Denis needs to warm up
22:35 before this fight a weaker opponent.
22:37 But who then? Of course, it sounds like a good idea.
22:42 But who?
22:47 I just do not see whom to fight him. Pushkar?
22:53 But fighting with Andrew is a difficult task.
22:56 I would even say that this is even a more difficult task.
22:59 If I were his coach and knew his strengths…
23:03 For me, the athlete’s degree of preparation is his strengths.
23:07 Numbers, not self-awareness.
23:13 And if I knew that he was in his optimal shape,
23:18 I could say that he should immediately agree to a fight against Larratt.
23:20 Everything is clear with Denis.
23:24 But what can the Canadian arm wrestler put against the Russian Hulk?
23:28 Still, Devon Larratt weighs 100 kilograms
23:30 against Denis Tsyplenkov’s 140 kilograms
23:32 and it does not look very intimidating.
23:35 I’ll say it again, I’m already huge, OK.
23:38 I am 230 pounds (104 kg) of pure arm wrestler, OK?
23:46 So, I mean, I was 235 when I pulled Pushkar.
23:50 I don’t know if I have to be much heavier, I just have to be healthfully.
23:53 And my right arm right now is 100% healthfully.
23:59 Surgery was like 4 years ago, I went through the whole process of rebuilding.
24:04 My right arm is as strong as it ever been. So…
24:09 So, I’m ready. I’m ready.
24:11 I’m ready to pull, I’m ready to win.
24:15 I am ready to reclaim my spot in the open world of arm wrestling
24:23 I see that Devon is extremely interested.
24:26 He really turns on the heat.
24:28 And he gets a great deal of pleasure from it.
24:30 And he is obsessed with himself.
24:32 It’s cool when the man is confident in himself so much!
24:37 Because there is a saying
24:39 “miracles happen where they are believed the most”
24:42 As we see, Larratt is very serious
24:45 and 200% confident in his abilities.
24:48 Now it remains to understand
24:49 how our Denis is ready for this fight.
24:52 So, I don’t know exactly, how Denis is doing whether his health.
24:57 I don’t know how ready he is but when he…
25:02 Denis, when you get your stuff, let’s do it!
25:06 Let’s do this.
25:09 Let’s have this match that we both been waiting for about 6 years.
25:13 Let’s figure out. Let’s figure out, who the stronger arm wrestler is.
25:21 Cause I’m pretty sure… I’m pretty sure it’s me.
25:27 As you can see,
25:29 there are a lot of excellent fights in the nearest future,
25:31 some of which can take place very soon,
25:35 at the World Championships WAF in September in Hungary
25:38 and the international tournament Zloty Tur in November in Poland.
25:42 By the way, maybe,
25:43 we will watch the show “Vendetta All Stars” as part of the Zloty tur.
25:47 And on that intriguing note we are finishing our newscast.
25:51 Do not forget to share this video with your friends!
25:55 And we say goodbye to you! See you next time!

{WITH ENG SUBS} Этих поединков ждут больше, чем бой МакГрегора! #105 ЖЕЛЕЗНЫЙ РЕЙТИНГ

Source: ironrating

View more articles about , , , , , , , , , , , , 

Dzambolat Tsoriev, Todd Hutchings, Dave Chaffee, John Brzenk, Andrey Sharkoff, Marcio Barboza

VIDEO: American Armwrestling Part 2: Village Armwrestling, by IronRating

After a very long time of waiting (~4 months) the part 2 of American Armwrestling by Iron Rating is finally ready. Just in case you missed the first part, you can watch it here ► VIDEO: The King of American Armwrestling, Part 1

Деревенский армрестлинг American Armwrestling, Part 2

Source: ironrating

Dzambolat Tsoriev, Todd Hutchings, Dave Chaffee, John Brzenk, Andrey Sharkoff, Marcio Barboza │ Collage made by XSportNews using images from the video
Dzambolat Tsoriev, Todd Hutchings, Dave Chaffee, John Brzenk, Andrey Sharkoff, Marcio Barboza │ Collage made by XSportNews using images from the video
Todd Hutchings, American Armwrestling, Part 1

VIDEO: The King of American Armwrestling, Part 1

Another great video from IronRating with English subtitles for the Russian parts, and Russian subtitles for the English parts.  together with  traveled to meet great american armwrestlers.

From 4:45 – starts the part about .

From 12:20 – they talk with Vazgen Soghoyan about , PAL and WAL.

From 18:27 – starts the part about .

From 26:43 – starts the part about with saying: I like him (Todd Hutchings)… And John Brzenk is my favorite. 🙂

From 28:42 – reveals the secret of his phenomenal strength… Which is not actually a secret because John told the same thing many times before 🙂 .

From 37:50 – starts the part about .

Я новый король арма! #American Armwrestling, Part 1 [Google Translate: I am the new king of Armagh! #American Armwrestling, Part 1]

Source: ironrating

Todd Hutchings, American Armwrestling, Part 1 │ Capture by XSportNews from the video
Todd Hutchings, American Armwrestling, Part 1 │ Capture by XSportNews from the video
Dmitry Trubin, Winner of 2016 Arnold Classic Armwrestling Challenge (ACAC), John Brzenk, Andrey Sharkoff, Dave Chaffee

VIDEO: What the hell happened to Dmitry Trubin?

, , , , , ,  and many others are in this video, with scenes from , .

Что, черт побери, случилось с Дмитрием Трубиным? #53 ЖЕЛЕЗНЫЕ НОВОСТИ [Google Translate: What the hell happened with Dmitry Trubin?]

Source: ironrating

Click to view all articles about # # #, # #, #, #, #, #, #, #, #, #, #, #, #

Dmitry Trubin, Winner of 2016 Arnold Classic Armwrestling Challenge (ACAC), John Brzenk, Andrey Sharkoff, Marcio Barboza left arm injury, Dave Chaffee │ Collage by XSportNews using images from the video
Dmitry Trubin, Winner of 2016 Arnold Classic Armwrestling Challenge (ACAC), John Brzenk, Andrey Sharkoff, Marcio Barboza left arm injury, Dave Chaffee │ Collage by XSportNews using images from the video
Todd Hutchings, Dzambolat Tsoriev, Dave Chaffee, Vasiliy Kuznetsov

PHOTOS: Todd Hutchings, Dzambolat Tsoriev, Dave Chaffee, Vasiliy Kuznetsov

As many armwrestlers already know by now, Vasiliy Kuznetsov is the man behind the Iron Rating youtube channel, he is making great videos about armwrestling and other strength sports.

If you scroll down, you can also watch a video with Vasiliy Kuznetsov shooting a gun / pistol, when he was at “ToddZilla” Todd Hutchings’ home.

Dzambolat Tsoriev vs. "ToddZilla" Todd Hutchings, Vasiliy Kuznetsov, March 2016 │ Photo Source: Vasiliy Kuznetsov
Dzambolat Tsoriev vs. “ToddZilla” Todd Hutchings, Vasiliy Kuznetsov, March 2016 │ Photo Source: Vasiliy Kuznetsov

vaso_1972 (Vasiliy Kuznetsov) – Google Translate: ” all that for which we love arm wrestling was that evening in abundance! And the passion and excitement, and the war till the last drop of blood … ??? Now you have to realize what you have seen in the picture, and so, that would keep the atmosphere! Will be working! ???  # zheleznyyreyting #ironrating # armwrestling @ fitrx.ru “

Dzambolat Tsoriev vs. "ToddZilla" Todd Hutchings, March 2016 │ Photo Source: Vasiliy Kuznetsov
Dzambolat Tsoriev vs. “ToddZilla” Todd Hutchings, March 2016 │ Photo Source: “Iron rating” – We are watching the champions!

“Iron rating” – Google Translate: ” If you say that it was a great trip is to say nothing! It was incredibly cool! Todd embodies all that is best in Armwrestling! “

Dzambolat Tsoriev, Dave Chaffee, Vasiliy Kuznetsov, March 2016 │ Photo Source: "Iron rating" - We are watching the champions!
Dzambolat Tsoriev, Dave Chaffee, Vasiliy Kuznetsov, March 2016 │ Photo Source: “Iron rating” – We are watching the champions!

“Iron rating” – Google Translate: ” This guy works in prison, he trains every day and picks up a very large weight! Today, the “Iron rating” was a guest at Dave Chafee. “

vaso_1972 (Vasiliy Kuznetsov) – Google Translate: ” Wild Wild West! ?? Toddzilla was not only a first-class arm wrestlers, but also a lover of weapons! Here we comprehend the foundations of American law with a revolver in his hand ??? #ironrating # armwrestling “

│ Photo Source: "Iron rating" - We are watching the champions!
Dave Chaffee weight training for armwrestling in the gym │ Photo Source: “Iron rating” – We are watching the champions!
Dave Chaffee vs. Dzambolat Tsoriev, left hand armwrestling training │ Photo Source: "Iron rating" - We are watching the champions!
Dave Chaffee vs. Dzambolat Tsoriev, left hand armwrestling training │ Photo Source: “Iron rating” – We are watching the champions!
Dave Chaffee and Dzambolat Tsoriev eating │ Photo Source: "Iron rating" - We are watching the champions!
Dave Chaffee and Dzambolat Tsoriev eating │ Photo Source: “Iron rating” – We are watching the champions!

“Iron rating” – Google Translate: ” Dave trains in the hall with his cousin. A lot of work with iron. But there is no table in the room, the table stands at the Chafee home, though American heavyweight sparring especially not with someone … In general each of our hero is its own unique training system. Here for example, John categorically does not work with iron and rocking ToddZilla area is no longer the bathroom many of you. But regardless of the use of exercises and techniques, each of our heroes of a true champion. “

Click to view all articles about #

Click to view all articles about #

Click to view all articles about #

Todd Hutchings, Dzambolat Tsoriev, Dave Chaffee, Vasiliy Kuznetsov
Todd Hutchings, Dzambolat Tsoriev, Dave Chaffee, Vasiliy Kuznetsov
Dzambolat Tsoriev vs. Todd Hutchings, 2016 Video Interview

VIDEO: “ToddZilla” Todd Hutchings with Dzambolat Tsoriev about Andrey Pushkar

 talks in a very funny way with , about his experience at the ,  when he faced .

в гостях у ТОДДЗИЛЫ! Кто есть кто в американском армрестлинге! [Google Translate: visiting TODDZILY! Who’s Who in American armwrestling!]

Source: ironrating

Click to view all articles about #

Dzambolat Tsoriev vs. Todd Hutchings, 2016 Video Interview
Dzambolat Tsoriev vs. Todd Hutchings, 2016 Video Interview

CAUTION: AMIRANZ ARMSPORT ACADEMY! OR “TOURNAMENTS-MIRAGES”

One week ago I posted the article Andrey Sharkov, Willy Deneumostier and others at International Armwrestling Championships, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia │ 8-11 Dec. 2012 with some pictures, but because of the Russian language it was very hard to understand what was all about, online translators are not very good.

Now Andrey Sharkoff gave me a message with the article in English language on Armpower.NET. Many thanks to Andrey for the English version of his article !

I know it is long story, but I believe all the armwrestlers should read it, because they need to find out what happens in our small armwrestling community, how some people take advantage of others:

 

CAUTION: AMIRANZ ARMSPORT ACADEMY! OR “TOURNAMENTS-MIRAGES”

My soul has yearned to write this article, so I decided to share with you my unexpected experience of “sports tourism”. Sit back, it is going to be a long story.

It all started great: after a five-year absence from international armwrestling competitions I unexpectedly put up a good fight at the World Championships 2012 in Brazil, having taken the 5th place in the heavyweight category (24 competitors participated in the tournament). Between 2001 and 2006 I achieved many successes at world championships, and even at the World Cup in 2003 I managed to win an award. What I want to say is that armwrestling is like a drug, if you’ve tried it once, it’s very hard to give it up. I didn’t stop completely, I coached athletes and organized competitions, but deep down I wanted to fight. Having received a new impetus to training, to work and an air of self-confidence, with fanatical zeal, I started looking for the next tournament to take part in. And then something interesting appeared on the horizon: while surfing the net I came across an advertisement of the International Armwrestling Championships Malaysia 2012, which were to be held on 8-11 December in Kuala Lumpur, the capital of Malaysia. In addition to that two days prior to the tournament, from 6 to 7 December, there was to take place a technical seminar for referees. On the official website it was stated that all the events were held under the auspices of the WAF (World Armwrestling Federation), which was confirmed by certificates issued by the International Federation of Armwrestling and photographs showing the management of Amiranz Armsport Academy (AAA) with the WAF’s General Secretary – Willy Denemoster of Belgian origin. All these indicated that AAA was the official representative of WAF in Malaysia. It seemed very encouraging, but then I remembered lots of negative comments about the tournaments in Malaysia. In fact, digging in the archives of “Iron World”, I found an article authored by Vasily Kuznetsov (http://www.ironworld.ru/news/16314/), according to which  in 2007 Malaysia was to hold a tournament «Malaysia Open» with a prize fund of about 100 thousand dollars, but the competition was cancelled 8 days before its scheduled opening. This incident provoked negative comments worldwide. Having learned the worrying information, I immediately addressed a question to the organizers of the new tournament. I managed to contact the Vice-President of Amiranz Armsport Academy – Ayu Emelda Othman. In correspondence with her, I was told that the AAA was a new armwrestling federation of Malaysia and it should not be identified with the previous tournament. I was assured that a new tournament would be held at a high level.

So I made up my mind – I decided to go. A few factors influenced my decision. First of all, I’ve never been in Malaysia, I love travelling, plus I wanted to compete in a big tournament very much. Of course the prize also played a role: 1st place – $ 1500, 2nd place – 1200 $, 3rd place – $ 800. And since I also write for the magazine “Iron World”, I immediately thought that I would find some interesting materials for an article.

Travelling only on your own is boring, so I began to get together a team of the best armwrestlers. Denis Tsyplenkov was the first person I called. Dan said he had just got back from the U.S., the flight was very long and he didn’t like it. Besides, he was to begin his preparation for A1 – a Russian Open tournament. Also Andrey Pushkar and Sergey Tokarev refused to go explaining that they had a heavy workload. In fact, I think the guys were not interested in the prize, as most of it covered only the cost of air travel. It’s understandable, of course. Personally, I wasn’t disappointed, because it meant that I could gain more for myself. “His greed was his undoing” – you’ll say, and you’d be right, but we’ll get to that later on …. It turned out that the guys had made the right choice.
Before I bought the tickets for myself and a friend who decided to go there with me to participate in the referee seminar, we had officially been registered as participants of the competition on the website. But seven days prior to departure, I contacted the vice president of Amiranz Armsport Academy – Ayu Emelda Othman again to make sure that the event would take place and the value of the prizes hadn’t changed. The answer was positive. Although I sent messages to various representatives of AAA, whose addresses were indicated on the official website, only Ayu Emelda Othman would answer. Since we couldn’t wait any longer, we bought the tickets. We trusted the organizers and were certain that they would meet us at the airport and take to the hotel. I could see the pictures of the cup and the tournament paraphernalia with logos on the Internet, so deep down I was almost convinced that everything was going to be alright. I was more worried if our flight would take place as planned on December 4, since Kiev and Moscow were covered with snow.

And then came the day – December 4. Having miraculously travelled by train through snow-covered roads of Kiev to the airport “Borispol” and knowing that flights were not cancelled, we boarded the plane. I was already sitting in the cabin and going to switch off the phone before the take-off, when my wife called to tell me shocking news… No, she wasn’t leaving me for another man (just kidding). My wife told me that a few minutes before, the organizers announced on the official website of the Federation that the tournament was cancelled and postponed for two months – it was to be held on 23-24 February. You should have seen my face at that moment. Knowing that no one would reimburse the expenses incurred – we had paid for the plane tickets and booked the hotel, I tried to calm down , in the belief that it was a misunderstanding and everything would turn out well and I would fight in a few days. At heart I cherished the hope that the organizers would meet us at the airport in Kuala Lumpur and explain what had happened. But I was wrong. No one awaited us at the airport.

And there we were – two tourists with their bags on their shoulders in a totally unfamiliar city without knowing a word in Malay. We checked in at the hotel and continued to investigate the cause of the incident, hoping that it was just a dream. But the organizers vanished without trace. Fortunately, thanks to the Internet, my Facebook friends and the fact that armwrestling had fans all over the world I managed to contact and meet with Zil Fadli. He was the president of the armwrestling federation of Kuala Lumpur, a great guy, who was not involved in the organization of the tournament, but tried his best to help us. Malaysian sportsmen finally told me that the tournament wouldn’t take place, and many of them were confident about it from the start, as the head of the Amiranz Armsport Academy was a businessman Amir Ahmad. Neither was he involved in armwrestling, nor had he ever fought or trained a single athlete. He was, of course, interested in making money. He’s like a “parasite” who only wants to gain money at the organizers and athletes’ expense! The scheme is simple – they announce a tournament with some prize and entry fees, which, in theory, should cover the cost of the prize. At the same time they  are selling the package “flight + hotel”, and of course, expect sponsorship money. But, while getting involved in organizing such a big event, people need to understand that they are taking responsibility and must provide athletes with a guarantee. They have to be aware of the fact that athletes have been preparing for the competition for several months, have spent a lot of energy, time and money. And then Amir Ahmad said the official reason for postponing the competition was that too few athletes declared participation in the tournament. It was 4 days before the tournament. I think it is a crime against the athletes. And how come these people can hide behind the logo of WAF? They’ve just disappeared without a word of apology. They disappeared again just to come up with another interesting idea, taking advantage of people’s love for armwrestling. I haven’t lost money, nor a medal. The worst thing that they took from me was an armwrestling feast, of which I had dreamt for a few months.

But I was a bit lucky – my dream came true eventually, though not completely. I struggled in a tournament in Malaysia thanks to Zilu. He gathered all the athletes, who also came to Malaysia and were out of work – these were armwrestlers from Egypt, Pakistan, Australia, Singapore, Indonesia and Thailand. On December 9 he took us to Malacca, a place situated 120 km from the capital, where the National championship was held. It was a lucky coincidence. I won the championship, but the nasty aftertaste remained. Of course, special thanks to the President of the Federation of Kuala Lumpur, Zil Fadli, as he tried to smooth over our bad impressions. Of course, the people were friendly, hospitable and the city of Kuala Lumpur was very beautiful. But the Amiranz Armsport Academy left us with negative feelings. Malaysia became a member of the World Armwrestling Federation only in March 2012 and a few months later they made such a bad mistake. I think WAF should take the most radical measures, e.g. deprive them of the right to host armwrestling tournaments, or at least – fine them, and at best – make efforts to ensure that athletes avoid tournaments organized by Amir Ahmad. I will inform the new president of WAF – Hadzhitodorov Assen about this situation and I will expect an official response from him.

Amiranz Armsport Academy announced that the International Armwrestling Championships in Malaysia are postponed till February. I want to warn all the armwrestling fans: I am sure that this is deception and yet another lie. Be careful, learn from others’ mistakes.

Author: Andrey Sharkov

Source: Armpower.NET