Mysore :

Arm Wrestling, though not new to the globe, is definitely new to the city as very few people know about it.

Mysore, which has produced a lot of sports persons in various sports like body-building, athletics and cricket, with some of them reaching international-level, has also produced arm wrestlers.

Syed Faizan and Robinson Samuel from city are among those who have taken up arm wrestling.

The 23-year-old Faizan, a body-builder who took up body-building for fitness participated in the Mysore Shree Arm Wrestling Men’s Championship organised by Karnataka Arm Wrestling Federation, Mysore, held for the first time in city recently and won the title.

Son of Syed Abdul Khader, Proprietor of Biriyani Paradise on Sayyaji Rao road, Faizan, a B.Com graduate from MES College in city took up body-building at the age of 18 and is being coached by Mansoor, himself a body-builder who has won ‘Mr. Mysore’ title numerous times.

Faizan, speaking to Star of Mysore, recalled that his parents were hesitant to send him to gym in the beginning, but later agreed and allowed him to pursue body-building.

Apart from being a body-builder and an arm wrestler, Faizan is also an actor, who has acted in an African movie as a fighter and a model for many brands.

Faizan said that one has to work hard honestly and without taking short cuts to achieve in the sport.

Mansoor, coach of Faizan, said that arm wrestling has been around since the days humans figured out that they had arms and added that the sport became more popular in 1950s and 1960s when contests took place all across the United States and today, arm wrestling competitions are held around the world for men, women and kids in various weight categories.

Mansoor said that various factors play an important part in one’s success in arm wrestling. Technique and overall arm strength are the two important contributing factors to win an arm wrestling match. Other factors such as length of the arm, muscle and arm mass, hand grip, wrist endurance and flexibility, reaction time, etc. can add to the advantages of one arm wrestler over another.

Faizan said that his aim is to win ‘Mr. Mysore’ and ‘Mr. Dasara’ titles and also to win a medal for the State.

Robinson Samuel, 25, a final year M.Sc (Medical Biochemistry) student at JSS Medical College in city, is the son of Krupanand Samuel, a retd. Employee of District Tuberculosis Centre in city and Esther Celestian, a senior Lab Technician at Mysore Medical College and Research Institute (MMC&RI) in city.

Robinson won the second place in the Mysore Shree Arm Wrestling Men’s Championship held in city recently.

He said that initially he was into arm wrestling with his friends and took it seriously drawing inspiration from his elder brother Calvin Cornelius, a body-builder.

Robinson said that his parents were surprised when he expressed his desire to take up arm wrestling as a sport and supported him in all ways.

He says that he would exercise at home with the equipments he had made by himself for the training and added that he also goes to a gym just to keep himself fit. Robinson said that there are many different moves in arm wrestling such as Hook, Toproll, i Press etc. and added that arm wrestling is really a leverage sport. These moves all create different types of leverages, helping you to beat your opponent.

He said that because different moves work for different individuals, it is important to figure out which move provides the best leverage advantage to get the best chance of winning.

Apart from arm wrestling, Robinson has a music band in Chennai which plays Gosple music and soft rock.

Robinson said that his aim was to win titles but to be a full time Biochemist.

source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> Feature Articles / by S. Kenneth Shishir  / December 02nd, 2013