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Grip History From The Past


mightyjoe

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I wanted to say "Happy Fathers Day" to my godfather Richard Sorin!!! I also wanted to take a little bit

of time to share some back ground and history of Richard Sorin's appearance and introduction to Dr.Terry

Todd from the Stark Museum in 1993.

I first heard of Richard Sorin in 1989 and had my first contact with him in 1990-91. It was then

that we started writing each other and I still have every single letter and envelopes that Richard ever sent me!

It was Richard that gave me my first real taste in Grip! Back then I was keenly interested in oldtime strongman

articles (grip related) from any source I could get it and Richard sent me tons of articles and pictures that to me are priceless!

In my thinking I can't help but think I played an important role in where Grip is today! I remember before many people

knew about Richard Sorin and his fierce grip when I told Dr. Terry Todd about this guy from South Carolina that had hands of steel and could close a COC #3 gripper, pinch lift a 100 lb. anvil, and many more feats that are simply amazing! I sent Dr. Terry Todd some pics of Richard performing some of these feats and we discussed Richard's abilities over the phone several times. The next month as the September 1993 (Vol. 3, No.1) of iron Game History was going to press Richard stopped by the Stark Center for a visit and met Dr. Todd for the first time. The rest I guess you could say is "History"! These 2 meeting each other and eventually becoming very close friends lead to the Mighty Mitts Contest that we have today! I can't help but wonder where Grip would be or how it would be different if I wouldn't have introduced these 2 amazing individuals?

It's also worth noting that in that September 1993 issue of IGH is where I told Dr. Todd about the gripper that Warren Tetting made and that he only made 4 of these grippers and he gave me one of them. These 4 grippers later became known as the Phantom 4 grippers. Richard is the one that attached this name to these 4 ultra rare grippers that some say don't exist. They exist all right and there's proof right there in the Stark Museum because that same year I donated my Phantom 4 gripper to the Stark Museum. This gripper has been residing in the Stark Museum for 2 decades now!

Here's a pic of where she rests in the museum: http://www.gripboard.com/index.php?app=galleryℑ=10608 The Phantom 4 gripper is the gripper to the far right! here's another pic with the Phantom 4 gripper displayed along with Terry Todd's famous 1964 Iron Man gripper and another Iron Man gripper of a lesser strength. Terry's gripper is top right:

http://www.gripboard.com/index.php?app=galleryℑ=10609

I didn't mean to make this post this long but being it's Fathers Day and Richard is a living icon for Grip today I thought I

would share my story of Grip in its infancy stages at that time. The Grip guys during this time frame of which I speak were

David Horne, John Brookfield, Richard Sorin, and a few others. Compared to today there were very few players back then involved in Grip strength feats and training.

There's MUCH MORE I could share but simply don't have the time right now!

Thanks for reading my post and I hope this information has been helpful/enlightening!

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It's about Joe, Richard, Dr. Todd, and everybody who was active in creating the sport of grip.

...An answer obvious to anyone who read the original post.

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It's about Joe, Richard, Dr. Todd, and everybody who was active in creating the sport of grip.

...An answer obvious to anyone who read the original post.

Thanks Yori!

Exactly what I was going to say but I see where Chris got confused and it's no problem!

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Just an FYI in this thread...

Members here are not judges of other people's posts and the content of them. The mod team will take swift action especially if the perception of the posts is to do nothing but create ill will. That's not what these forums are about.

Thanks everyone for your understanding.

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If my article is viewed as me attracting attention to myself then I would ask the whole thing be removed and I'll redo the story in some way that doesn't highlight or draw attention to myself.

Is this fair to those that see my post this way? I have no problem with starting over!

I really don't get it guys! I try my best to share things with everyone and it seems every time it's viewed

in a way I did not intend.

I have nothing against Mac and I admire and respect the guys intellect. With this being said I can only

assume he (Mac) interpreted it as drawing attention to myself.

Not my intention guys!

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