Arm Wrestling

Tipperary Arm Wrestling Knockgraffon were thrilled with the public reception to their first event at the Dualla show this year. In conjunction with Northern Ireland Armwrestling & Northern Ireland Grip, the event saw hundreds of visitors to our stall trying grip strength challenges, trying out the sport of Arm wrestling with professionals, and participating in kids challenges with prizes. We were also delighted to host Irish world-rated arm wrestler and former Olympian Adrian O’Dwyer (Leviathan Training, Kilkenny), who refereed and instructed across the event. Many thanks to all involved, especially the organising committee, for a fantastic first showing at the Dualla Show – we look forward to returning next year!

Winner of the Grip Competition is Rory O’Sulliavan, Clonoulty at the Dualla Show.

Arm Wrestling Super Matches

Each club in Ireland are putting forward Arm Wrestlers to compete in 1 on 1 super matches. These will be best of 5 or 7 rounds (3 or 4 Pins to win). PAA UK & Ireland rule set.  These can be Pro V Pro, Novice V Novice or even Novice V Pro in various bodyweight classes.
 
The headline match will run at around 2pm on the day. The other matches we will put on at different intervals throughout the day so that spectators will have a good chance of catching a super match in action.
 
There will be opportunities for everyone throughout the day to try arm wrestling with our Professionals.

Adrian O'Dwyer

Special guest at Dualla Show will be the one and only Adrian O’Dwyer, a former Olympian who competed at the 2004 Athens Olympics in the men’s high jump. He qualified with a jump of 2.30 M on the 24th June 2004 in Algeria breaking the Irish record at the time. A record that still stands after 20 years which shows you the caliber of the man. Adrian made Irish history again in Malaysia 2023 when he became the first World and European Champion in Arm Wrestling from Ireland. He works tirelessly promoting arm wrestling in Ireland and coaches his team at his gym in Kilkenny @leviathan_training. He is always on hand for advice on anything for anyone, so that more champions may rise from Ireland. Adrian will also be attempting a World Record on the Handshake handle. This is one of the most unforgiving handles that Northern Ireland Grip will be bringing to the stand. So much so only a few experienced people will be allowed to attempt the World Record on the day. Be sure not to miss the opportunity next Sunday to get on the arm wrestling table with him. He will be hard to miss on the stand even though he pulls in the -105kg class.

Arm Wrestling for Kids!

Also in attendance will be Grace and Ruby Hamilton who help demonstrate how arm wrestling is not just a sport for adults! Grace won the first Primary School arm wrestling competition ever held in Ireland or the UK (Boys and Girls p7), while Ruby has various world grip records for females 10 and under.

Grip Handles and Items from Around the World

Stanley Hamilton from Armagh will be in attendance to coach in the various grip disciplines. Fresh from a silver medal win at the UK Grip Finals at which he broke a long standing world record, Stanley took up Arm Wrestling at 40 and is Ireland’s first medal winner (silver) at the World Championships in France 2022 and has since broken over a dozen world records on various handles.

Stanley and his team will be bringing some world famous handles for everyone to try such as the infamous Holle Thomas Inch Dumbbell (78kg), the 50lb York blob (plus bigger blobs), the Ironmind rolling thunder and Hub, a selection of David Horne handles namely the Handshake, Fencepost, Goldbar, the Gods of Grip Dynamite stick and our new creation The Hamilton Hex.

All of these handles have World leaderboards ranked by your bodyweight and age. The Dumbbell and Blob are World recognised grip feats.

If you lift 1 of these you are in the World ELITE grip level. Will we see anyone lift them?

All handles are FREE to try.

Grip #1: Unliftable Holle Thomas Inch Dumbbell

This 2 3/8″ (6.03 cm) in diameter dumbbell is the most famous of its kind around the World.Named after Thomas Inch he was the only person to be able to lift the “Inch” dumbbell in over a century.
 
50 Years after his death in 2002 Mark Henry completed the challenge to lift and clean the Dumbbell from floor to overhead. Only 13 people in history have now completed this feat.
 
The Challenge will be to lift this to your knee height. If you do you will be amongst the very few in the World that have achieved this grip feat. You will need incredible thumb and hand strength.

Grip #2: Handshake Handle

The notorious Handshake handle was designed and made by World grip legend David Horne. This handle is gripped like a normal handshake but in a vertical position. The lift must be controlled up to a 10 Inch height and controlled back down again. A high pain threshold/tolerance is required for this lift. Marko Pyykönen from Heimala in Finland currently holds the WR at 126.2Kg at under 105kg Bodyweight. It is also the WR for all the bodyweights above that as well (-120kg and 120kg+).
 

Grip #3: 50LB Blob

This is a half Vintage York roundhead dumbbell that you attempt to lift with 1 hand. It sounds easy but its used in countless grip competitions around the world for a reason. That reason being that it’s incredibly difficult. On the plus side if you do lift this Blob it is a world renowned grip feat and you join an elite few around the world that have lifted it. 

Grip #4: Hamilton Hex

It’s 8 inches of solid aluminium. It has 6 sides to suit different hand sizes. It will not rust so every handle will be fairly equal. It’s a straight forward 8 inch lift (the same size as the handle, so it’s easy to measure).

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