A group of men sit at two tables pushed together in the middle of Fishlips in downtown Bakersfield. They are dining on fish and chips, sipping on beer, and talking in baritones through the classic rock coming from the sound system.
The Allen Fisher Arm Wrestling Training Camp is currently on lunch break.
The group breaks from the meal, and as the other bar patrons look on, Fisher takes his students through different techniques and exercises to strengthen them for the art of grip grappling.
“If your opponent is strong one way, you take him another. Pull him toward you, hook him at an angle, find his weakness, and pull take him in that direction. You have to be strong on all angles.”
One at a time, he has the students lock up grips with him at one of the custom arm wrestling tables, and he demonstrates the feeling of different muscles as he puts pressure in different directions. The tables are a little less than chest high, have pads for the elbow and a hand grip for the non-wrestling hand.
Allen Fisher arm wrestles in the 155-176 weight class. He is tall, lean and mustachioed. He looks solidly muscled under his polo shirt, and his arms resemble oak tree limbs. Fisher lives in San Diego, holds 25 world titles, is 53 years old and has been arm wrestling for over two decades. He is considered one of the best arm wrestlers in the world.
“Every transition has a weakness,” he says. “You guys have a lot of strength, endurance, but there is a weakness there somewhere.”
Fisher shows the students and onlookers that there is much more to arm wrestling than merely trying to slam someone’s hand to the tabletop. Not to say that slamming someone’s hand to the table isn’t the goal, just that there is a lot in between that stage and the initial grip up.
There is a lot more to the sport than just muscle men trying to go “over the top” on one another. There are entire tiers of strategy that competitors must train ceaselessly to perfect. They strain against their bodies to strengthen any weakness, physical or technical.
“Strength, technique, brains, hearts and guts,” is what Bobby Joe Sheets says is needed in a good arm wrestler. He sips at the bar and segues as he gestures at the students. “This camp is a prelude to the Ryan Sheets Memorial South Valley Arm Wrestling Championship.”
Ryan Sheets was a graduate of North High School, and had attended Cal State-Bakersfield before he passed away from complications due to a wrestling injury.
Another one of the organizers, local businessman Brian Banducci, recounted the story about how the tournament was hatched out of the chance meeting with Richard Toland at Matias’ Basque CafÇ. They started talking about arm wrestling and reminiscing about the matches that Billy Joe Sheets used to have in the ’80s. “We contacted Billy Joe about using Ryan’s name. Ryan was just a great athlete and a great guy.”
Banducci says they knew that wrestling programs at the schools and colleges were always under-funded, and so organized the tournament as “a way to promote and fund wrestling; get together and give something back to the high school and college communities.”
Among the characters in Fishlips either watching or participating in the training camp, Richard Toland is there with his son Jake, age 13. He encourages Jake to try out the exercises that Fisher is teaching, and boasts that he was Valley champion in the 2001 tournament.
He also helps with the instruction by expanding on what Fisher has just taught student Nathan Brawell, a 28-year-old ex-Marine, while Fisher moves on to another student. Commenting on how Brawell seems to rely on his natural size, Toland tells him, “If you don’t think you need to work out, you’re in the wrong sport.” Toland is emphasizing the need to specifically train certain muscles for arm wrestling.
Chiming in on the advice is San Diego filmmaker Gary Roberts from Arm TV, an online hub for arm wrestling videos.
Roberts travels around the country filming arm wrestling to post videos on his Web site and promote the sport. “Never be one-dimensional when it comes to arm wrestling,” says Roberts. “You want to train at all different angles.” Roberts is sponsoring $500 for the event.
Roberts used to be a wedding video-grapher until he came across an arm wrestling tournament, and he happened to film it. After posting the video on a personal Web site and receiving a lot of positive feedback, he decided to focus his efforts and talents on the sport. “I believe that is the premier underground sport on the planet.”
He believes the sport has yet to take off because “the right person hasn’t come along with the right vision.” There is also a lot of training and dedication needed for a sport with very little monetary payback, “Most of the guys doing it are in it for the love.”
The Fifth Annual Ryan Sheets Memorial South Valley Arm Wrestling Championships will take place at noon on May 12 at the Veteran’s Hall at 400 W. Norris Road. Tickets and entry forms are available at Latham Sheets, 323-2539, and the Law Offices of Young and Nichols, 861-7911.
Each weigh class will award $300 prize for first place, and trophies to first through third place. The winners from each weight class will also be able to compete in a single-elimination match for a 6-foot trophy.