I had the privilege of sitting down with two of the scenes constant fixtures and personal inspirations of mine Shaun Chispa and Calvin Santos. With this interview we delve into how they got started, their aspirations, and the captivating dynamics of this grassroots movement. Through picking these two’s brains I gained a deeper understanding of the passion and intense dedication required to excel in this gruesome and sometimes misunderstood table sport. “Over The Top” anyone?
Through the lens of these two fine gents, we unravel the intricacies of the sport, confirm my suspicions on how painful and hard it is to get to their level and shed light on the training regimens, techniques, and mental conditioning that fuel their unending pursuits of striving to destroy one goal and on to the next.
Join me as we unveil the whispers of untold stories behind the scenes, exploring wins small and huge, challenges, and the unfaltering camaraderie that characterize the arm wrestling community. From street side setups near tricycle and jeepyney stands in Manila to championship super matches with cash prizes and bragging rights to boot.
The only thing that matters on the table is who’s hand touches the pad, their performance? The greatest equalizer to class or status.
We navigate through the rich organic growth of a sport that brings together athletes from all walks of life, driven by a shared love for the extreme mental gymnastics and bordering wildly unreasonable levels of grip the table demands of them.
Carlos: Hi guys it is an honor to share the same space as you two. For people not in the know let’s start off by introducing ourselves.
Calvin: I’m Calvin or as people call me “Captain”, I’m the leader of the Manila Pullers and I’m currently the main organizer of Armwrestling Philippines, for anyone interested in Arm Wrestling, you guys can check out the Facebook groups “ Armwrestling Philippines Manila Pullers ” and “Arm Nation” and “Arm Zone” on YouTube. Hit me or Shaun up if you guys want proper training and get into the sport as it’s very important to get the fundamentals correct.
Shaun: I’m Shaun of Arm Nation, I’m a competitor and sometimes help out with events, but mostly I compete and I leave the organizing to the people who know how to run their job best.
Carlos: How’d you guys get into Arm Wrestling and what got you hooked?
Calvin: In the past there wasn’t an organized sport of Arm Wrestling in the Philippines but originally we had the folk version of it that symbolizes national identity and pride “Bunong Braso”. What got me into it was my dad who likes his drink, whenever he would get drunk with his friends they would play around with it for fun. Through adolescence, I challenged classmates and friends to armwrestling as a way to past time. As I got older I discovered that we had professional international players like Mark Ben and a world league. From being known as the strongest in my area It was as if I was a rat thrown into a lion’s den. It was that motivation that drove me to be known throughout the whole Philippines and have the long term goal of competing internationally. I’ve focused on organizing competitions to grow the sport from Manila and got as far as getting invited across the islands and introduce people to the sport. Since It’ll be a problem if there would be no outlet for the athletes and their hunger for competition, It would be a shame if everyone just trained and no one actually did the leg work to have an outlet for all of it.
Shaun: Before Arm WrestlingI’ve already gotten into different sports, I started with Muay Thai then Kickboxing and got into bodybuilding. There was a bodybuilding show that had an armwrestling booth in the morning while the bodybuilders were tanning up. Since it was the offseason and I was there to help out a client I tried it out. I won a few rounds and enjoyed it and saw that I had the potential for it and I fell in love with it. That was what made me quit bodybuilding, I thought to myself in this one I don’t even have to diet *laughs*.
Carlos: So how does an armwrestlings training regimen look like?
Calvin: So honestly, being family oriented with lots of responsibilities I don’t have time to go to the gym. I really don’t pick up weights at all. I focus all of my efforts on table training, through table training I don’t gain much muscle but even so it did help with my physique. I study technique, movement, positioning and the logic of the game and where you can generate the most power. When it comes to competition it depends on how many weeks out or if its a rushed prep. At the very least I’d take 3 weeks to prepare and 1 week for a total rest to heal up joints and tendons
Shaun: It helped a lot that I’ve been through a lot of sports and I’ve honed in on my own training philosophy. On my channel I promote a powerbuilding style. So on one hand you have Calvin that’s hyper specific, I put more emphasis on building up the musculature and foundation needed for armwrestling. There’s no right or wrong way to train for AW, so I combine a lot of stuff from 4×4, to testing 1 rep maxes and stuff like that. Since i also work with a lot of clients, I periodize my training.
Calvin: See, Shaun and I are wholly different but everyone is welcome, everyone can get strong. As an athlete and influencer we’re encouraging everyone to come and join. AW is not dangerous, all sports have injury risks but as long as you can mitigate it with proper guidance and slowly get your tendons stronger you can do it.
Carlos: Leverages, physics, bodyweight, moment arm, proprioception the intensity of things one has to keep track of is insane. What is the most memorable moments of your Armwrestling experience so far?
Calvin: My 2nd or maybe 3rd professional tournament, the essence of this sport is the competition. The fact that you have an opponent and setting goals to beat someone else. I have someone in my sights that I want to beat, but sadly he’s taking a break. My goal and motivation to continue this path of organizing and training is from that moment. It’s hard to both be a player and organizer, you can’t focus on the mindset for both so I’m choosing to prioritize organizing for now. I haven’t reached my peak yet so I’m not in a hurry.
Shaun: Winning the first Armwrestling Legacy Hammer and eliminating every athlete from the board. Calvin and Manila Pullers sponsored an event so the trophy is this big hammer and in our division it was an elimination type of thing and you have to finish and power through everyone. Even if in the future I lose the hammer to someone else I’d still be proud to be the first one ever to hold it.
Calvin: Shauns name has made PH Armwrestling history from that one *laughs*
Carlos: What are the key techniques, fundamentals and core things one must have in an armwrestling match?
Calvin: First would be competitiveness and the attitude of staying hungry at all times. You wouldn’t want to compete just for “experience”. The hype is what makes the game great. If you get into armwrestling you must set goals right away and just keep upgrading and chipping away at it. The key to victory is the eagerness to WIN.
Shaun: Since Calvin tackled the mental aspect of it I’ll make mine about the technical side of the match. Stick to the basics. The three core movements of AW is pronation, rising and cupping. Getting these 3 things stronger is the key to getting good at AW.
Calvin: The match starts as soon as you grip the other persons hand, the setup.
Carlos: How do you maintain strength throughout the year and conditioning for it?
Shaun: I plan weeks to months in advance. Plan everything carefully. I’m so serious with armwrestling. Each match I prepare for wholeheartedly. A lot of people don’t think much of it as a sport but for me armwrestling is truly IT.
Carlos: How heavy does a role mental preparation and as Calvin said goal setting play going into matches?
Calvin: Being short on time and don’t really train in the gym, I do a lot of mental conditioning. Competing with myself prepares me to compete with other people. However hard you train if you’re not ready mentally it won’t do. For conditioning the most important part is proper sleep, with food I really like beef, so Pares Mami *Laughs* So I sleep well, hydrate well and eat decently. On game day, I turn on and get ready for battle.
Shaun: This is a good question as a lot of people are getting into the sport. I’d say it’s peaking in popularity with a lot of newbies coming into it now that are already strong from their previous sports. A lot of people are strong and us being the experienced athletes are forced to have that goal of not being caught up with. Our batchmates are all at the same level and everyone catches up with each other so constantly tracking goals keeps us on our feet.
Carlos: Common misconceptions with Armwrestling and things that deter people from seeing it as a legitimate sport and the practitioners as actual athletes? Things you’d like to address and say?
Shaun: Number one would be if they hear armwrestling they automatically get turned off because it’s dangerous with thoughts of arms breaking. As Calvin said, other sports are more dangerous even having people die from it. In armwrestling no one actually gets fatally hurt.
Calvin: I actually put light into this in a positive way. People that get weirded out of me doing weird movements in the gym, I slowly pique their curiosity and eventually get them to try it out. It can actually be a bonding event amongst peers, we sometimes get recruits and they pass it on and do it with their friends. Curiousity becomes a goal. The disadvantage becomes a positive. Through doing this I eventually built a table and from my small group of armwrestlers, I’ve recruited tricycle drivers, bums, reformed addicts, and now they’re teaching other people, growing the sport and refereeing.
Carlos: In my sport of Strongman, grip is an important thing carrying around awkward objects or holding onto things. In Armwrestling how does grip play into it?
Calvin: Grip is super important to us. Armwrestling starts from the tip of the fingers, to the wrist, to the forearm and into the whole body. If you’re weak from the start of the chain, your grip, you lose position. If the stick is longer it’s easier to break. The shorter it is the more power you can produce. Grip is key to gain an advantageous position on the table.
Shaun: I have one of the weakest grip in armwrestling. I rely on strap matches to save me from this *Laughs* I get an advantage from straps.
Carlos: I’ve heard of money games and gambling in Armwrestling what’s up with that?
Calvin: Gambling is deeply rooted in Filipino culture, we even bet on spiders fighting on barbeque sticks *laughs* There are underground circuits with loose rules depending on where it’s held. If you go to the Cordillera region for example they cross pulses and have the other hand in the back. Armwrestling Philippines is not part of this but there are groups all over the country that do indeed place money down with armwrestling as the medium for gambling.
Shaun: In these things, some people finance up to almost a million pesos for each match. 50k wouldn’t even cover small intermission commercial matches.
Carlos: Lastly how do you see the future of armwrestling developing as a sport? What lies in the future or your own personal ideal scenario for it?
Shaun: I would like to see it as big as bodybuilding. From any alley street or corner they know what bodybuilding is. I’d like that to be the case for armwrestling as well. Considered as a legitimate sport by the masses.
Calvin: I don’t have any expectations but in two to four years time hopefully we can bring a group of players outside of the country. Right now setting up tournaments is like recruiting people into the fold, just molding the clay and setting the pieces up on the chess board. The absolute biggest goal is Filipinos competing internationally.
This goes to show that across the board from something as popular as Olympic Weightliftiing to the Armwrestling niche, Human tenacity, dedication and unwavering perseverance stands tall in the order of qualities needed to succeed in any endeavour.
I don’t know about you but I know what I’ll be doing for the off-season!
For those seeking out a new challenge to try and get into this limit shattering Herculean endeavour send these two Titans of the table a message and you’ll be on your way!
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