2019 Michigan Steel Bending and Breaking Championship: Don Cummings Report

[Donc101]

The idea for this competition goes back to the Bay State Bending Bash held in Boston last year. The comp was so much fun. We had a great group of benders. After the comp, Kevin planned to do another one this year. I was going to attend for sure. Kevin ended up not being able to do the comp again this year. It was not long after I found out that the Bay State Bash was not going to happen this year, that I said well let’s just throw one here in Michigan. This was the first time I have ever promoted a competition.

 I wanted the competition to be a true test of overall bending ability, testing all of the main bending styles and testing bending strength, power and endurance. Thus, this comp contested 9 bending styles (Double Overhand, Reverse, Double Underhand, Long Bar, Spike, Horseshoe, Wrench, Unbraced Snapping and Braced Snapping) in 6 events.  I was excited to see Carl write: “This was also a very unique competition as it tested most styles of bending and turned out to be an absolute marathon and test of will and pain tolerance.” That makes me very happy and makes me think I accomplished my goal with the competition. 

 We had 10 competitors, including people making the trip from New York (Anton and Tom), Pennsylvania (Carl), West Virginia (John) and Canada (Andrew). John Mouser is a mountain of a man from West Virginia who competes in strongman, stone lifting and sumo wrestling. He drove through the night to make the competition in the morning.  I was able to talk Andrew Dube into competing when he arrived to make the competition “international”.  It didn’t take much effort to get him to bend. He did a great job. I’m glad he was able to participate.

 We had a mix of experienced and less experienced benders. Two new guys, Amir and Chris. They both are into martial arts and started bending to help with that. They are strong, determined and mentally tough. I predict bright futures from them both.

 We had the more experienced benders go first with each event. That way we could show and teach the newer guys how to do everything. It was a great atmosphere of encouraging, rooting for and helping each other. We all pushed each other to do better than we normally would. Lots of PRs happened.

 Double Overhand: We had a 1-minute time limit in IMP. I did a fast Bastard in 6 seconds. The next step was a Duke. These Dukes are tough, and I probably would not have gotten one in IMP in one minute. Thus, I passed my second attempt. Carl and Anton both did fast bends too that were impressive.

 Reverse: I did a grade 8 from DHWOG. These are the hardest grade 8s I have ever bent. They rate at 204 kg.  It is basically like bending a red nail but you add the springiness of the bolt making it more difficult.

 Double Underhand: I was very happy with my performance here. I have never done a Bastard DU in IMP. I did one to 15 degrees to finish second to Carl. Carl is one of the best ever DU. He smoked the Bastard to 33 degrees. Elite DU bend.

 Long Bar: The hardest bar was a 3/4” x 40” bar. This was a tough batch of steel, making this a tough bend.  We bent these head to head with Carl, Tom, Anton and I all trying this same bar at once. I was able to bend the bar in 50 seconds. Tom is a real strong Long Bar bender. He was ahead of Carl for most of the time period.  When Carl figured out he was behind, he kicked it into overdrive. Carl put 120% into the bar to finish the bar right before time expired and take second in this event. He almost passed out from the effort.  Tom needed a bit more in the sweep to be able to crush it. His overall effort on the long bar was outstanding.  Anton put max effort into it also. You could see the intensity on his face.  He wobbled the bar to take fourth in this event. Dube bent the 44” bar like it was a noodle. He should have went for the 40” one.  Darrin had never bent ¾” stock but went for the 48” bar and was able to get movement!  It was fun to coach the other guys through the techniques. They all bent hard and many people set PRs in this event. 

 Spike Bend: This batch of spikes ended up being easier than some batches I have bent. It was all about speed bending to place in this event.

 Medley: This event was thought up after a couple cocktails one night. This was the first time a steel bending medley has ever been contested. It was the highlight of the contest and very brutal. This event left many people winded and sweating. The highlight of many Grip contests is the medley. Fast paced and people cheering each other on. I thought, why not do a steel bending one. I picked 4 classic feats. Wrench bending, horseshoe bending, nail unbraced snapping and braced snapping. 20-minute time limit. Besides testing classic feats of strength and endurance, I thought this would simulate the attributes a performing strongman needs to do feat after feat with no rest. To add to the excitement, I decided to have this head to head with 3 heats. The first 3 in the standings, then the next 3 and then the next 3. It was Andrew, Carl and I in the first heat. Then, Anton, Tom and Darrin in the second. Last heat was John, Amir and Chris.  I think this was my best performance of the day. I finished with the most points and was the only person to finish faster than 20 minutes. I was also the only one to bend the 10” wrench. I finished all bends and snaps in 9 minutes and 43 seconds.  It was fun to watch everyone else and help coach people.

 The final standings were: 1: Don Cummings, 2: Carl Donati and 3: Andrew Dube.  We had the trophies my father-in-law made, using the 10” wrenches I bent. We also had great prizes from some sponsors. Camp Verde Rope and Gear provided a great package of training tools, Diesel Crew provided a bending DVD (I gave to Chris because I thought he could benefit the most from it) and Josh Henze made the great bending figures and Finnish ball type training tool for prizes.

 Some cool feats were done. I missed seeing it, but I saw in a picture where Darrin is doing middle finger pullups. Crazy!

 Afterwards we had beers and the food I cooked up. I smoked multiple pork shoulders for 13 hours over hickory and made cheesy potatoes and coleslaw. We also smoked cigars. Tom and Anton had this delicious Blackberry moonshine.

 My daughters had a great time playing with Andrew Dube’s son. They were like best friends by the end of the day.

 I am very grateful that Amir’s girlfriend, Kelly, took over 1,000 photos. I was blown away by the quality of her images. She has talent. Very thankful for having these photos.

 It was truly a great day for me and everything I wanted the comp to be. Thanks to all of the guys who traveled to be here. It was fun pushing each other and making each other better.

 We will do one for sure next year. Too damn much fun not to!

[Horrido]

Great write up, Don. Thanks for these insights!

[Buccos1]

Thanks for the props Don!  One word to describe your medley performance: incredible.  Maybe unbelievable?  ... unless you were there to see it.  All-around super strong performance!  Hope we are able to do it again.  Great comp and write-up.

[Donc101]

4 hours ago, Horrido said:

Great write up, Don. Thanks for these insights!

 

34 minutes ago, Buccos1 said:

Thanks for the props Don!  One word to describe your medley performance: incredible.  Maybe unbelievable?  ... unless you were there to see it.  All-around super strong performance!  Hope we are able to do it again.  Great comp and write-up.

Thanks guys!