Tom's Bar Bend Video Clip

[Bill Piche]

Just added a new video clip of Tom's bar bend. Due to technical difficulties we couldn't include the full bend yet (conversion problems of video format).  Just go to the Gallery and it is under Grip Videos.

[Guest woody36]

    Joy to watch the Master at play,i was surprised

 to see that you dont use padding on your leg Tom.

   I read an article on Stan Pleskun where he advises

the use of pads to stop the formation of bloodclots

in the leg when hes bending bigger steel.

   great video please keep them coming.

     

    Woody.

[Tom Black]

    There is a mid-sized washcloth on my left leg and 2 regular hand cloths (12”x12”) tucked in my right leg.  I should have mentioned that, I like to put them under my pants leg so that that the cloth doesn’t fall off during the bend.  I actually think I could do it without the washcloths because I barely had anything on my right leg and it left no bruise.  I was surprised that there was no bruise, on my right leg maybe I didn’t push down so much as twisted the bar around my leg, even I can’t tell watching the video.  I did the 30" bar last month with no washclothes on my hands or leg, but this piece was much shorter.

Where did you find that article?   I’ve never seen that suggestion in print, but he did recommend the same thing when I talked to him.

      There are many more videos coming, unless Wannagrip went with only the best.  I think it would be cool to do the 2-club juggling and sledgehammer lever stunt on video.  I’ll have to work on that, it’s hard to practice!

[Bill Piche]

I'm going to put them all up...hey you gotta keep the guys & gals coming back for more to the site right?

[Guest woody36]

Tom,

        The article was in the march 96 edition of

surprise surprise Muscle and Fitness,occasionally

Joe Weider comes up trumps and puts something in

worth reading about.

  If your wandering why i was reading this mag

   the answer is simple,we here in England do not

 have the selection of mags that are available in the

  good old USofA. That is until our saviour  Steve

Gardener gave us Musclemob.

  Tom nice to see my hero in action,glad youre playing

 it safe.

    all the best, Woody.

[Tom Black]

    Even more surprising, I own a copy of that M&F issue.  After I read your post I remembered Stan saying there was an article about his act in M&F.  I searched the web for his name and found the index of that issue.  I bought the magazine sporadically in those days (March 96), and I think I bought this issue because of this article and the Mark Henry Article.   I was thrilled to see the picture showing his horseshoe bending technique.  Stan described the technique too me, but the picture is easier to understand.  You still have to be real strong to make his technique work.  Stan looks like he is bending a 5/8"x 3-foot hot-rolled bar in the article, using the exact same technique I used for my 1/2"x24", right down to the final crush between his legs (this part is on my video, but was too big to download).  I was glad to see that I wasn't "cheating" when I bent the bar in this manner.  When the steel is so thick any way you can bend it is good.

    On Stan's list of best feats is bending a 60-penny into an "S" shape.  I may be able to do this, I've done it with the Ironmind white 2-years ago and I've advanced since then.  It will be fun trying to duplicate Stan's feat, it's good to have a goal.

[Guest woody36]

 Tom,

        I cant imagine bending a nail into an S  you would

have to start the bend  roughly 1 1/2 inches in from

the ends,now thats bending.

  Tom the picture of him breaking the chain i presume

 those are welded links,do you think you may have

  a go at this type of chain.

 ps.

     speaking of Mark Henry he looks like he could bend

a few bars himself.

      try get some pictures when you do bend the nail

 all the best Woody.

[Tom Black]

    I think your math is a little off on the "S" bend.  The 6" nail is divided into 2" pieces.  The method is:

    Bend the nail two inches off the head end (or point, doesn't matter).  Flip the nail over and bend 2" off the other end, but bend opposite the direction of the first.  I did this on the Ironmind white and the bends are at exactly the 2" part.   I can bend a 60-penny way off center, so I have a shot at this, I just haven't tried recently.  Don't expect to see this on video, I may have to puke after doing this, I know it will be hard!

    Wow, welded links-that's tough.  The hard part is that more than one link will stretch, thus a lot of steel is being displaced.  The links look small to me, but I believe the 800-pound rating given in the article.