Jump to content

Rich Williams


Hubgeezer

Recommended Posts

Hey!!!

Despite what may have been written on this or other threads, Strossen asked Rich TODAY what he was participating in at the Fit Expo, and he said, RT, Silver Bullet, and Axle...

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yeah Chris, more incumbent on hand size in thick bar. It helps to be able to hook grip that stuff.

Being able to hook grip the Axle is definitely a help. IF the rules state you can hook grip. Which they usually don't when it comes to standardized grip tests with the Axle.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest Squat More

I was referring to king of the hill in the AXLE. :rolleyes


Man some of you guys are touchier and more catty than a 16 year old high school girl with bipolar disorder on her period, seriously. Always nit picking, always complaining, getting your dandruff up over the slightest little comment. Now I am reminded why I took months off from strength forums.

Edited by Squat More
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Sorry about that, yes I knew the comment was not from you but obviously I removed the wrong bits in order to shorten the post.

King of the hill of what? He has a motherload to prove if he wants to claim the title as the king of pinch and there little to suggest that he is the 'king of crush'. The latter title, I am sure most agree, goes to Nathan Holle. That leaves us with the same old thickbar lifting, the only grip event strongmen almost always are good at.



In the end who cares who else recognizes it in their grip org or blog or website as the record, Rich will be king of the hill and will be recognized as the Iron Mind record holder, and since it's their axle it is all that will matter.

Hey Mikael, the way you did that quote you made it seem like I would be calling Rich king of the hill. Not me. I am not convinced that ANYONE would travel 3000 miles to participate in one event of a 5 event contest. And, if they did, and won their one event, I would not call them King of anything. Grippers, Rolling Thunder, Hub, etc. I understand that some of the attraction of this event is that it is 5 individual and independent activities. But most of us want to see someone like Burke against someone like Rich on more than just one specialty...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Exactly, with a device like the Euro pinch there is nowhere to hide if your hands are huge but not really that exceptionally strong.

The biggest complaint I have with the so called main stage contests is that there is no "pinch" test involved. We finally are getting all these monsters together but its the same old tests each time -there are some other components of grip I would enjoy seeing - such as levering and pinch.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I was referring to king of the hill in the AXLE. :rolleyes

Man some of you guys are touchier and more catty than a 16 year old high school girl with bipolar disorder on her period, seriously. Always nit picking, always complaining, getting your dandruff up over the slightest little comment. Now I am reminded why I took months off from strength forums.

What is that saying, the Pot calling the Kettle Black?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

In two weeks and a day, the IronMind Record Breakers grip contest will be held in Northern California (Santa Clara) at the second Fit Expo being held up there. Last year, the first year, was good, but other than Adam Glass in all events, Odd Haugen in two events (Rolling Thunder and A Axle), and Clay Edgin in the Silver Bullet, there were not any Super Stars of the Grip World competing.

This time around, there is Mike Burke traveling from Colorado, Alexey Tyukalov from Russia (How much is the Air Fare for that???), Clay Edgin I believe for the complete contest (what has that been, 8 years?), and Rich Williams. Here was the announcement concerning Rich Williams a while back on the IronMind News:

http://www.ironmind.com/ironmind/opencms/Articles/2013/May/IronMind_Record_Breakers_Welcomes_Rich_Williams.html

I think that Rich Williams' stepping up and traveling 3000 miles to compete in a contest with virtually no prize money, just for the sake of the game, is one of the Coolest Moments to date in the Grip World. My hat goes off to him, and I look forward to seeing it all first hand.

Who is signed up for what at this point?

No idea what Clay has been up too really the last couple years but he was a pretty serious grip guy for a while back then and darn strong. Burke is a monster and Rich is a 400# mountain of a man - big numbers should certainly fall. Somehow we have to get these monsters hands on a two hand pinch setup to see what they can do with one.

Clay has some vids up on his YouTube. He is STRONG as an ox. He will be a force.

As far as I know, except for a few things here and there (crushed to dust challenge, Silver Bullet in San Jose last year), Clay Edgin has not been in a grip contest since the one he produced in New Mexico in 2005 (Brian Shaw's first grip contest). No doubt in my mind that Clay is WAY stronger than he was in the peak of his "grip years". Plus, he is not the kind of guy who just "shows up" without being prepared. So, yes, I agree with you Rick. That will be interesting. Plus, about 18 months ago I sold him the slickest old style IronMind Hub I had ever touched. It wouldn't surprise me if he has quietly been working away at all kinds of things. No, he is not going to pull 500 on the Axle, but overall, he could be the Man.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Rich will WIN the Axle!

Game over on that one folks!

Calm down! Don't take it personal! I can make a prediction just like anyone else

here!

If wagers were allowed I would even take bets on this one! :)

The Axle is in Rich's pocket!!! ;)

Okay! Ready Go! :D

Fire Away!!! :D

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The biggest complaint I have with the so called main stage contests is that there is no "pinch" test involved. We finally are getting all these monsters together but its the same old tests each time -there are some other components of grip I would enjoy seeing - such as levering and pinch.

I couldn't agree more Chris. And BTW, a hub is not a test of pinch despite what RJS likes to say. I wish everyone all the best with this event and hats off to Odd for putting it together but RT, Axle, Anvil, and holding a gripper 3/4" from shut are all events that play to the strength of a particular type of hand. I don't care for the trend that well publicized "world records" are catering to a particular group of athletes. There are a lot of strong grips out there that are completely shut out in this type of contest.

Edited by Wade Gillingham
  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Are the there defined rules for the axle? What constitutes a lockout? Is hitching, supporting allowed?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Rich will WIN the Axle!

Game over on that one folks!

Calm down! Don't take it personal! I can make a prediction just like anyone else

here!

If wagers were allowed I would even take bets on this one! :)

The Axle is in Rich's pocket!!! ;)

Okay! Ready Go! :D

Fire Away!!! :D

Burke is gonna smash his own record on the axle. nuff said.

...fire underway. :rolleyes

Love it Tommy!!! :D

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The biggest complaint I have with the so called main stage contests is that there is no "pinch" test involved. We finally are getting all these monsters together but its the same old tests each time -there are some other components of grip I would enjoy seeing - such as levering and pinch.

I couldn't agree more Chris. And BTW, a hub is not a test of pinch despite what RJS likes to say. I wish everyone all the best with this event and hats off to Odd for putting it together but RT, Axle, Anvil, and holding a gripper 3/4" from shut are all events that play to the strength of a particular type of hand. I don't care for the trend that well publicized "world records" are catering to a particular group of athletes. There are a lot of strong grips out there that are completely shut out in this type of contest.

I spent years keeping in contact with Haugen when his interest in Grip was at best anemic. When he first was fishing around for ideas for an "Expo" style contest, I gave my input. He has his ideas about things now, and is going to do what he wants to do. That being said, I think his contests are much more in alignment with the sport of grip than the MM in Ohio, which is something exclusive and targeted for an audience. Just as WSM is "made for television", MM is "made for the Arnold". It has made steady improvements each year to be more in line with the sport, but it is still all about the Arnold. And, as I said before, ANYONE can enter these expos. No qualifications, invitations, only requirement is Chutzpah. Definitely no one is being shut out.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If I were an Oddsmaker, I wouldn't want to make the "Line" for a Williams-Burke Axle Battle. Talk about a risky business...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Like many I remember when Edgin first "crashed" the grip scene - he made some impact. I've followed some of his training logs over the years when he's been concentrating on other things (Strongman etc), and I'm pleased to see him competing in grip again.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Like many I remember when Edgin first "crashed" the grip scene - he made some impact. I've followed some of his training logs over the years when he's been concentrating on other things (Strongman etc), and I'm pleased to see him competing in grip again.

Couldn't have said it better myself. Clay is a class act! He went out of his way to help me on bending and several other smaller issues over the years.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The biggest complaint I have with the so called main stage contests is that there is no "pinch" test involved. We finally are getting all these monsters together but its the same old tests each time -there are some other components of grip I would enjoy seeing - such as levering and pinch.

I couldn't agree more Chris. And BTW, a hub is not a test of pinch despite what RJS likes to say. I wish everyone all the best with this event and hats off to Odd for putting it together but RT, Axle, Anvil, and holding a gripper 3/4" from shut are all events that play to the strength of a particular type of hand. I don't care for the trend that well publicized "world records" are catering to a particular group of athletes. There are a lot of strong grips out there that are completely shut out in this type of contest.

I spent years keeping in contact with Haugen when his interest in Grip was at best anemic. When he first was fishing around for ideas for an "Expo" style contest, I gave my input. He has his ideas about things now, and is going to do what he wants to do. That being said, I think his contests are much more in alignment with the sport of grip than the MM in Ohio, which is something exclusive and targeted for an audience. Just as WSM is "made for television", MM is "made for the Arnold". It has made steady improvements each year to be more in line with the sport, but it is still all about the Arnold. And, as I said before, ANYONE can enter these expos. No qualifications, invitations, only requirement is Chutzpah. Definitely no one is being shut out.

Mike I think you missed my point: if the future of grip is expo's and the world record list that IronMind is establishing on their equipment and publicizing through their print and internet/social media channels then there should be a real pinch event because a hub is not a pinch event and there should be a real crush event because a static hold at 3/4" is not a real crush event. As for MM vs. Odd's contests there really is no comparison necessary. They are different contests just like WSM is different than the Arnold Strongman. I like what Odd has done with the Vice Grip Viking contest - it's fairly well balanced. Hopefully he (and RJS) can get this record breaker format contest ironed out so the top crush and pinch guys can chase world records in their specialties.

Wade

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Wade - I would actually say the silver bullet is a decent test of crush strength (my times seemed to reflect that).

Looking forward to seeing the results of this one.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The Silver Bullet is a hold for time - which to me would indicate a strength endurance event more so than a pure "strength" event. Its a good test but not targeted at a one rep max strength event.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Very true yes. I meant more in testing crush rather than strength or endurance.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The biggest complaint I have with the so called main stage contests is that there is no "pinch" test involved. We finally are getting all these monsters together but its the same old tests each time -there are some other components of grip I would enjoy seeing - such as levering and pinch.

I couldn't agree more Chris. And BTW, a hub is not a test of pinch despite what RJS likes to say. I wish everyone all the best with this event and hats off to Odd for putting it together but RT, Axle, Anvil, and holding a gripper 3/4" from shut are all events that play to the strength of a particular type of hand. I don't care for the trend that well publicized "world records" are catering to a particular group of athletes. There are a lot of strong grips out there that are completely shut out in this type of contest.

Wade -

Why isn't the Hub a test of pinch?

Also, I think this is an extremely democratic grip contest: open registration with standard, widely-available and well- established equipment, etc.

On the CoC Silver Bullet, it's a perfect gripper event whether you think your hands are too big, too small or just the right size for grippers, so that, too, opens the door for more people.

What is bad about this contest, though, is that there's nowhere to hide—the strongest of the strong will be there, nobody has an advantage in terms of being familiar with the events, etc., so it's not the type of contest everyone would want to compete in.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Very true yes. I meant more in testing crush rather than strength or endurance.

The Silver Bullet is a hold for time - which to me would indicate a strength endurance event more so than a pure "strength" event. Its a good test but not targeted at a one rep max strength event.

Yes about the endurance factor if the time gets stretched out too far, but this can be managed by going to a tougher gripper.

Some of the vital things about the CoC Silver Bullet are that it neutralizes hand size, provides an easy way to precisely scale performances, is visually appealing and it's nice and simple.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yes about the endurance factor if the time gets stretched out too far, but this can be managed by going to a tougher gripper.

Some of the vital things about the CoC Silver Bullet are that it neutralizes hand size, provides an easy way to precisely scale performances, is visually appealing and it's nice and simple.

What's the diameter of the Silver Bullet? 3/4" ?

Add that to the thickness of the two handles (3/4" each) and you've got 2 1/4". Seems to me that someone with bigger hands would still have an advantage there.

Close-the-Gap strap seems like a better candidate for evening the playing field (for small and large hands) while having all of the other advantages you've listed. Any reason you aren't selling them anymore? Or am I just having trouble finding them on your site?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yes about the endurance factor if the time gets stretched out too far, but this can be managed by going to a tougher gripper.

Some of the vital things about the CoC Silver Bullet are that it neutralizes hand size, provides an easy way to precisely scale performances, is visually appealing and it's nice and simple.

What's the diameter of the Silver Bullet? 3/4" ?

Add that to the thickness of the two handles (3/4" each) and you've got 2 1/4". Seems to me that someone with bigger hands would still have an advantage there.

Close-the-Gap strap seems like a better candidate for evening the playing field (for small and large hands) while having all of the other advantages you've listed. Any reason you aren't selling them anymore? Or am I just having trouble finding them on your site?

Interesting that you mention Close-the-Gap Straps. I have done a whopping 3 attempts of "training" for the Fit Expo's Silver Bullet by looping a 5 lb. plate with the straps, and then holding the wider of the two straps with a CoC Number 3. Three times in a month. I was happy with the "device" (but not my performance). The wider strap appeared to be roughly the same width as a silver bullet.

I was the judge for the first Silver Bullet competition. Some notable strongmen scored a "zero" on it (Haugen, Urbank). I think it's a reasonable test of crushing grip strength. The winners on it are going to tend to be the big crushers. Some changes were made to the rules after the first competition that will prevent someone like Mark Felix from holding the world record again.

I doubt if "toughest gripper closed" is EVER going to be a "main stage event". Unless you can wire the handles so that when they touch, a 100 decibel alarm goes off in the hall and a beautiful naked woman pops out of a cake, the impact to an audience is dull. There was a scene in the movie Strongman where Stanless Steel was talking to a very flamboyant and colorful agent, and the guy practically shouted at him "Stanley, you can bend a penny in Madison Square Garden and nobody is going to give @#$%^&!!" Bending a penny, closing a gripper, not audience events.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

One of the problems with most strength sports is that to a spectator - the whole affair is pretty repetitive and therefore pretty boring to watch. Generally speaking the more movement involved the better people like watching it. A gripper close isn't too exciting if you are 3' away and at 30' you are basically watching grass grow so to speak. Take away the big disk that falls on the Silver Bullet and you are back to "nothing happening here" to an audience. The crowd for the most part doesn't know about any of the things we discuss so often - is this fun to watch - or not is pretty much what's going through their mind. Oh sure they appreciate it at some level but at an Expo - there's a lot of things going on for them to choose from - a guy squeezing a gripper or a half naked lady handing out free stuff - guess where most guys are headed for?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Unfortunately, your content contains terms that we do not allow. Please edit your content to remove the highlighted words below.
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy policies.