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Steel Bending Contest History


Donc101

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I began researching prior steel bending contests when I started planning the Michigan Steel Bending and Breaking Championship that will take place in Michigan in May of 2019.  I wanted to see what had been done before and how everything was contested.  The information was spread all over the place.  I decided to make a document that compiled the information that I found.  This information was mainly obtained from the Gripboard, David Horne’s website and Facebook.  This document is a compilation of the information I found, including results, photos, information from the promotor and contest reports from participants.  I mainly just copied the information I found directly into this document and formatted all the information.  If anyone has information, photos or contests that should be added, please forward me the information.  I will update this document as it needs to be updated.  I hope that this document serves to be a good source of information on bending contests.

 

Here is the document:

 

 

 

Steel Bending Contest History Book May of 2022 Version.pdf

Edited by Donc101
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Free e-book here people...

thank you Don

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You missed a bunch. Almost every comp when I started had bending as an event. I ran unbraced bending as an event in all of my early AZ Cactus Grip contests and Braced as well in at least 1 of those. I remember bending at the early BBB contests and I won the Steel Bending comp at Don Larkins in Michigan at MGC one year. I remember because the biggest trophy on my shelf is for that one as well as the $500 prize for winning it.  Bending did not start falling out of favor as a regular contest event until like 2010 or 2011 from what I remember

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Crazy amount of work man. Thank you. Very impressive.  Glad this history will be preserved.

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24 minutes ago, acorn said:

You missed a bunch. Almost every comp when I started had bending as an event. I ran unbraced bending as an event in all of my early AZ Cactus Grip contests and Braced as well in at least 1 of those. I remember bending at the early BBB contests and I won the Steel Bending comp at Don Larkins in Michigan at MGC one year. I remember because the biggest trophy on my shelf is for that one as well as the $500 prize for winning it.  Bending did not start falling out of favor as a regular contest event until like 2010 or 2011 from what I remember

Are there any other bending only contests you are aware of? That is the focus. If you have results, photos, etc of other bending contests or events in grip contests email them to me at don@morse-law.com and I will include it. Thanks.

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Wow, this is great! 

Thank you very much for putting in all the effort to compile this. I've read much of this at different times and in different places. But to have it all together in one spot is very cool man...Bravo!!

 

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Thanks for this, Don.  Brings back some good memories. To echo what Aaron said, I hosted several contests with bending including, one or two of which might have been online contests. Might be tricky for me to find them, but I'll have a look.

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3 hours ago, richcottrell said:

Free e-book here people...

thank you Don

 

2 hours ago, anwnate said:

Crazy amount of work man. Thank you. Very impressive.  Glad this history will be preserved.

 

1 hour ago, Frank Pizzo said:

Wow, this is great! 

Thank you very much for putting in all the effort to compile this. I've read much of this at different times and in different places. But to have it all together in one spot is very cool man...Bravo!!

 

 

1 hour ago, EricMilfeld said:

Thanks for this, Don.  Brings back some good memories. To echo what Aaron said, I hosted several contests with bending including, one or two of which might have been online contests. Might be tricky for me to find them, but I'll have a look.

Thanks for checking it out guys. It was fun to put together and read about all these contests.

 

Eric, your contest looked like it was a heck of a time! Sounds like you all had a good time afterwards too.  If you find any other info send it over and I will add it.

 

Frank, are you still in Michigan? Still bending? You should come by my contest next year. It’s going to be a blast.

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1 minute ago, acromegaman said:

There were 2 different South Jersey bending comps @Donc101

Do you have a link to results for the other one?

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On 2/26/2018 at 5:12 PM, anwnate said:

Bending (60d's/2min)

1.  Delmar Carter  10xDU, 1xDO  = 41

2.  Carl Donati Jr.  9xDU = 36

3.  Aaron Corcorran  8xRS  = 32

4.  Adam "The Wrist Breaker"  Juncker 10xDO = 30 

4.  Frank Deluca  10xDO = 30

6.  Anton Torrella  8xDO = 24

7.  John McCarter  4xDO = 12

 

 

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Awesome job on this Don!  It was really cool seeing some of the info from the WSM comps.  I’ve heard some things about the bending back then and have wondered about it for years but never had any information until now.

In your research, do you know how many bending-only comps there have been?  A competition that contested multiple styles and all-around bending ability. 

I know I have the individual results from the Beast in the East 2 packed up somewhere... just haven’t had the time to go digging around.  Hopefully I can locate it for this.  Again, great work!

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19 minutes ago, Buccos1 said:

Awesome job on this Don!  It was really cool seeing some of the info from the WSM comps.  I’ve heard some things about the bending back then and have wondered about it for years but never had any information until now.

In your research, do you know how many bending-only comps there have been?  A competition that contested multiple styles and all-around bending ability. 

I know I have the individual results from the Beast in the East 2 packed up somewhere... just haven’t had the time to go digging around.  Hopefully I can locate it for this.  Again, great work!

Thanks Carl! All of the bending only contests I found are in the document. I had trouble finding beast in the east info. I would love more info on those contests. I think most of that info was on the battlefield and that’s why I could not find it. 

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I never was part of the benders battlefield, but it is a pity that info disappeared into the ether...

thanks again Don for putting this together...

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Here’s the first one:

 

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12 hours ago, Buccos1 said:

Awesome job on this Don!  It was really cool seeing some of the info from the WSM comps.  I’ve heard some things about the bending back then and have wondered about it for years but never had any information until now.

In your research, do you know how many bending-only comps there have been?  A competition that contested multiple styles and all-around bending ability. 

I know I have the individual results from the Beast in the East 2 packed up somewhere... just haven’t had the time to go digging around.  Hopefully I can locate it for this.  Again, great work!

These are the contests I found that were just bending, tested all-around bending strength and ability and contested at least 4 different bending styles:

1.    2018 Bay State Bending Bash

2.    2012 Beast In The East

3.    2011 Beast In The East

4.    2009 Steel Slayer Showdown

5.    2007 UK Champion of Steel

6.    2007 British Nail/ Bar Bending/ Breaking Champs

 

The UK Champion of Steel in 2007 had the most events contested, with 8 different bending events in one contest!

 

Out of these comprehensive all-around bending competitions, the Steel Slayer Showdown had the most competitors with 11.

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Here’s another:

 

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This may be the last one:

 

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Found another memorable one:

 

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You can scroll down on this page to where Chris posted the reverse bends from Gripmas 2007. 

 

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22 hours ago, richcottrell said:

I never was part of the benders battlefield, but it is a pity that info disappeared into the ether...

thanks again Don for putting this together...

It was really tragic ... so much lost with it.  :angry:  In around 2012 (I think), I got a new printer and started printing some data from the site (mostly the first few years of my log and the old ranking lists).  But, I am fairly certain that I printed out the results from the Beast in the East 2.  I’ve moved twice since then and believe (hope) it's boxed up somewhere.  Just need to find some dedicated time to look for it.

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On 11/1/2018 at 8:29 PM, Donc101 said:

Frank, are you still in Michigan? Still bending? You should come by my contest next year. It’s going to be a blast.

I am still in Michigan, though I don't bend anymore.  If I pick it back up between now and then I'd certainly consider competing for fun.  Thanks for the invite Don. 

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Great work, Don! This is really really cool! 

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