Armwrestling

Question
QUESTION: Hi,

     I was hoping that you could answer a question on arm wrestling, as there is no category for that in sports.

     My question is:  You have 2 people arm wrestle... Person A will almost always get an advantage from the start. However, Person B will then bend their wrist back in a sort of "defensive position" When Person B does this, Person A can no longer advance any further.Person B  on 2 occasions did manage to get a pretty sizeable advantage of their own , while in this "defensive position". However,  When both people are trying , nobody ever wins.

    Who do you think is the better armwrestler, and who do you think is the stronger of the 2... Person A or Person B? Thanks, Joe

ANSWER: Hi there, thanks for asking.

As far as which is better, you clearly want to go with the stronger guy. The defensive guy is usually weaker, but he is smart to not go down the way he does. There is a winner in the end, because that stronger guy will eventually make the wrist buckle.

In your pro arm wrestling leagues, there is like a TKO moment where you can't stay down like that for too long. So the stronger arm is the best.

Have a great day!

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Hello,

    Thank you for answering my question. However, I was probably leaving out a few things that I forgot. Person B, although almost always gets into that defensive position..... he (or she) has stated to Person A that he (or she)lets Person A get Person B into that position, as they feel as if it accomplishes 2 things: it prevents Person A from winning, and it gives Person B the best chance to win themselves... even though nobody ever wins when they are both trying. Person B also tried armwrestling  Person A without getting into that defensive position on several occasions, and the result was pretty much a stalemate... with each person getting slight advantages. I also left out that, when I say that nobody ever wins... it is usually because their grips will slip. Also, Person A actually did win a few times, but it was only because Person B quit trying because he (or she) said that it was pointless to go on, since nobody was going to win anyways... so I figured that that really didn't count.

  So,out of all that info., plus the previous info. that I gave you, do you still think Person A is the better armwrestler? and, who is likely the stronger of the 2?

  Thank you for your time.... Joe M.

Answer
I do believe the same. The reason is because in the pro-arm wrestling leagues....you have rules to abide by. Due to this, if you're in a dominant position for a long time and a man is simply bending his wrist to not go down, the ref will call it.

It's sort of like a TKO in MMA. The man or woman may not be totally out yet, but the ref sees that the fight should not go on and calls it even if the person is moving and ready to get up and fight still.

So in arm wrestling, it's the same thing. If the stronger arm gets a guy down to where he has all the leverage, he has won the match-up because leverage is on his side and he won't budge. All the other person is doing is avoiding losing, but technically they are in that TKO position.

Now if it comes down to where you're up in the middle, that's another story because you're both not going anywhere. In the pro leagues, there are time limits. So whomever is closer to the take down would win.

In arm wrestling, the stronger arm is the most effective. Being defensive is okay too, but you have to progress from it. If you stay in the same spot for minutes, you have lost.

Now if someone starts with a bent wrist to avoid being taken down at all, it probably won't work. Leverage allows the other to get them leverage wise. So, you never start with a bent wrist. IT only happens once you get down.

This is the best I can describe it from the professional aspect of arm wrestling. But outside of this, and your random arm wrestling match during a high school class, the defensive guy will never lose. So you want to be that guy. In competition however, that guy loses.