Learn the sport
Arm wrestling looks like a brute-strength contest for about three seconds. After that it is leverage, angle and technique. A smaller athlete with better technique wins often, and that is exactly why this sport can be learned.
The three base techniques
Top roll
The top roll is the technique that depends least on raw strength. The goal is not to push the opponent's hand: it is to open it.
At "Go", you apply back pressure to their hand while twisting your wrist and forearm toward their fingers, moving from a neutral palm to a position facing away from you. What you want is to open their hand and bend their wrist backwards into a *deadwrist* position, from which they cannot generate force. If you also walk your fingers higher into their hand, you gain leverage while they lose theirs.
It is the technique for athletes with strong hands and wrists, and for those who think before they pull.
Hook
The hook is an "inside" move. It relies on wrist flexion, supination and bicep strength.
You cup your hand and pull the opponent's wrist inward and back, aiming to break their wrist position. Where the top roll attacks the hand by opening it, the hook traps and curls it. It is a closer, more strength-driven game, usually decided by who holds the position longer.
Press
The press is the purest power move of the three. You use it when you are confident you have superior upper-body power, especially chest and triceps, driving your body weight over the opponent's arm to take it to the pad.
It is not a rescue technique: without the power behind it, the press leaves you exposed.
The rules
The starting position
A match begins with the referee's grip:
- Elbows on the pads
- Hands clasped palm to palm
- Thumb knuckles visible
- Shoulders square to the table and the starting position balanced
The referee adjusts the grip until neither competitor holds an advantage before the start. Nothing begins until the referee says "Go".
Fouls
- False start: starting before the referee gives the go. The first is a warning; the second and third are fouls.
- Elbow off the pad: the elbow must stay on the pad. Lifting it is a foul.
- Running foul: the athlete's own elbow slips off the pad but returns instantly. The match continues, but if that athlete pins their opponent they do not get the win: the round restarts with one foul against them. If they lose the round, the loss stands and no restart is needed.
- Intentional slip: a slip the referee judges to be intentional is a foul.
- Two fouls typically mean disqualification.
Slips and straps
When hands come apart on their own before a pin is recorded, it is nobody's foul: it is a slip. The round restarts with straps, wrapped around each competitor's wrist and hand, so it does not happen again.
Official categories
Competition follows WAF weight classes and age divisions, and every category awards separate medals for the right and the left hand. See the ranking page for the full list.
How to start training
- Find a club or training spot nearby. Nobody learns technique alone in front of a mirror.
- Learn the starting position and the rules first. An athlete who does not know the fouls loses matches they had already won.
- Train hand, wrist and forearm. That is where most matches are decided.
- Train both hands. You compete with both, and they are two medals.
- Enter a regional qualifier. Nothing substitutes for table experience.