The dimly lit farm shed in the south end of London, Ont., pulsates with pairs of men huffing and grunting while clasping hands, their ripped biceps bulging.
In this recent training session, there are a dozen or so members of the London Armwrestling Club, where they get together twice a week to practise and prepare for their next arm tussle.
“If you go over half a minute, it’s war,” said coach George Iszakouits, who’s known as Crazy George. At 73, he’s by far the biggest legend on the farm.
“People think it’s muscle. It’s not. It’s ligament and tendons. It takes a lifetime to get there.”
He’s crazy. He’ll go against people that are two or three times the size and beat them fairly easily.– Mike Mende, 39, London Armwrestling Club member
At just 5-foot-7, Iszakouits is usually an active participant in these training sessions, taking on opponents at tables and offering tips to competitors while their faces turn beet red.
And yes, there are a couple of women here. They’re just not as loud.
The team is currently training for the Be Strong Armwrestling Tournament in Brantford, Ont., on Saturday.
“I’m an old man. I’m over the hill,” a modest Iszakouits chuckled. He might be one of the older competitors on the circuit, but he’s certainly still one of the most successful, and maintains arm-wrestling isn’t just about strength. It’s also about strategy and knowledge.
“It looks easy, but it’s not. It’s a lot of work,” he said.
WATCH | Arm-wrestling coach George Iszakouits, 73, and Mike Mende, 39, in a battle of the biceps:
Arm wrestling coach George Iszakouits takes on club member Mike Mende at a recent practice ahead of an Ontario-wide competition.
More than 5 decades competing
Iszakouits, who was born in Romania, has been arm-wrestling competitively since 1968. He has dozens of championships to his name, winning his first world title in Costa Rica from the World Armwrestling Federation in 1983.
Iszakouits is also the current Canadian title-holder in the 75-kilogram weight class, having competed against much younger men in July 2022.
“He’s crazy. He’ll go against people that are two or three times the size and beat them fairly easily,” said Mike Mende, who has been wrestling with the club for nearly seven years and has a massive right bicep.
“It’s a lot of fun,” said Mende, 39. “It’s much better than working out. It’s like an adrenalin dump, and gets the stress out and stuff like that.”
“He used to go up there and slap himself,” co-coach Rick Baarbè, 64, said of his longtime competitor Iszakouits, in explaining his friend’s nickname Crazy. “He acted like a dog one time. I had to bring him up with a leash.”
Like Iszakouits, Baarbè has a long list of titles, and continues to compete and hold his own against younger competitors.
Josh Rodrigues is among some of the younger London Armwrestling Club members.
“I’ve been doing it for about two years and I just fell in love with it,” said Rodrigues, 33, who is married and has four children. “It’s fun to compete and be competitive, and do something outside of work and family.”
London Morning6:44The first rule of London Arm Wrestling Club is: talk about Arm Wrestling Club
London Morning went out to a training session with the London Arm Wrestling Club and met coaches Richard Baarbe and George Isakowitz as well as club members Mike Mende and Josh Rodriguez