J.T. Straussner Posted June 19, 2012 Share Posted June 19, 2012 i just watched a vid of Gazza bending a 5/16"x7" stainless bar, barehanded a couple days ago... it was crazy! he completed the entire bend to about 1.5 inches, all barehanded, all the way. he took numerous measurements throughout the vid, and also put a magnet to the bar before and after the bend. the bend took roughly 7 minutes total from first hit, to final measurement. this is the first video i have ever seen of a Gazza bend folks, and it was real. anyone who knows me personally can tell you that im one of the first guys to look for a flaw (or a part where it was possibly faked) when i watch a feat on video. and with that said, there was NONE, absolutely NO fakery in this bend! i think the first time i heard of a "Gazza" bend, i couldnt believe it either.. i was picturing some guy just grabbing a bar barehanded, and smashing it with the quickness.. but reality struck when i watched that vid of him bending the stainless bar barehanded.. this guy was in TOTAL agony man.. (he stopped bending prolly ten times due to obvious pain) but he kept going back and pushed through like a boss! i was thinking to myself "this guy is IN-SANE! how can he make himself even put his hands back on the bar after that last hit?!" i came to the conclusion that your are gonna have to be a TWISTED individual to want a bend THAT bad, that you would force yourself to withstand that kind of pain! (compliment to Gazza btw) i have heard about bigger bends he has done as well. but i dont even need to see a vid of these bends. after watching that last one, i believe he is legit. also, there may very well be someone (or even MANY) out there with "better" or "stronger" genetics. but his ability to push through agonizing pain, may go unmatched. The biggest bends I did in competition were 7x5/16 G8, 5.5"x5/16 Triangle G5, and 6"x5/16 FBBC Square. Had the threads snap off on a 6 3/8" x 5/16 G8 as well in competition when trying one of the "n" or "u" ones for the first time. Those were more brittle than the triangle's I normally bent down to 6" at that point. It's been a few years since I've had the bending bug though. - Aaron DAYUUM! wow read this on another fourm "So you've obviously never heard of Gary "Gazza" Hunt, the man who bent 5/16" x 7" stainless bare handed, covered in lube to under 2", or the same type of bar wrapped in thin suede kinked with one piece in his mouth, hanging 100lbs from a head harness while pinching a 50# blob in the free hand, or the 3/8" x 6" Stainless Huge King of All Shiny Bastards he bent for the FBBC cert lists as well as bending a 5/16" grade 8 bolt in loose iron mind wraps reverse style and finished overhand while his wrist was broken and still in a cast" Is this real life? Any videos of these bends? ive also heard (numerous times) that he bent reds, and bastards barehanded. i believe this. in the thread below, they talk about Gary Hunt. it says in this thread, that he bent a railroad spike... crazy! http://www.gripboard...=35121&hl=gazza Yes, there are videos of these bends, but they're so mind boggling that nobody believes that they're real. I think most people would rather pass them off as fake than accept the fact that they themselves are nowhere close to "elite" or "upper level" status, I like to embrace the possibility that the human potential is a lot more than double overhanding a Big G8 Bolt in monster wraps. I guess too many people worry about who's cheating than pusing their own limits. This in not a personal stab at anyone whatsoever, just an assessment I made long ago. prolly the only reason many people have doubt, is due to not having access to any of his vids. thats all. but on a side note: its hard to watch one of Gazza's vids and think its a fake... Actually buddy, the majority of the "non-believers" I'm referring to (again no one in particular) have seen his videos and still refuse to believe that he was bending at that level. But I do think that more people should see his videos. well, lol, i guess i stand corrected. so there is a whole slew of people who think he's fake or something?.. cuz ive only ever seen or heard positive stuff about Gazza. Justin, i re-read this post i made.. and i sounded like a prick.. lol, sorry brotha Tommy, ....Dude you didn't sound like a prick at all. I just didn't want you to think I was getting edgy or anything. No apology necessary broski. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hellfire Posted June 19, 2012 Share Posted June 19, 2012 Gary's bends were/are epic. Nothing going on now can compete. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J.T. Straussner Posted June 19, 2012 Share Posted June 19, 2012 Enjoy..... http://youtu.be/E-EbpRMJZb8 http://youtu.be/jqygLDwn3A8 Enjoy..... [media=]http://youtu.be/jqygLDwn3A8 http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3Dbp4TcuXTOgk&h=aAQHfzSmT 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J.T. Straussner Posted June 19, 2012 Share Posted June 19, 2012 (edited) [media=]http://youtu.be/bp4TcuXTOgk Sorry for the order fellashttp://youtu.be/bp4TcuXTOgk Edited June 19, 2012 by J.T. Straussner 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yummy Posted June 19, 2012 Author Share Posted June 19, 2012 Christmas came early Thanks so much for posting them J.T. I saved them all lol. Guess post this one also since its from the same person figure its safe here and guys on gripboard never really gave him heat like other boards did http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2yPkNfQuuQ8&feature=player_embedded Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chez Posted June 19, 2012 Share Posted June 19, 2012 That is f'ing awesome. One crazy SOB. Pure motivation right there. Love it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J.T. Straussner Posted June 19, 2012 Share Posted June 19, 2012 Christmas came early Thanks so much for posting them J.T. I saved them all lol. Guess post this one also since its from the same person figure its safe here and guys on gripboard never really gave him heat like other boards did [media=]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2yPkNfQuuQ8&feature=player_embedded No problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John McCarter Posted June 19, 2012 Share Posted June 19, 2012 I'm so glad I was finally able to see what Gazza's bending is like. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bwwm Posted June 19, 2012 Share Posted June 19, 2012 I love the fact that he curses the steel with an American accent. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Justin Matney Posted June 20, 2012 Share Posted June 20, 2012 Enjoy..... Enjoy..... [media=]http://youtu.be/jqygLDwn3A8 Jesus Christ, that's intense. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
naturalstrength Posted June 20, 2012 Share Posted June 20, 2012 Gary has bent alot harder stuff than that. Strict reverse and DU 7"x10mm drillrod. Got pretty close to the 7" shiny moab, that's 7"x7/16 stainless. Bent the 5.5" KOASB in ironmind pads during a medley where he bent some other stuff to. Bent a 6" shiny bastard barehanded and got a good kink in a 5.5" shiny bastard barehanded. Also bent an Edgin barehanded. Unfortunately Gary always removed his videos, and the ones that resurfaced was always the ones from 07, or the ones from late 10-11 But the years inbetween were the ones that were really freaky. Considering the few number of participents in steel bending, it is statistically extremely unlikely that Gary would be the the upper limit of human potential. There should be many people with better genetic potential for steel bending, or at least many who have the same genetic potential, but are bigger and thus able to bend bigger steel. I wonder what the upper limit for human potential must be then. 6" MOASB double overhand? Big G8 barehanded? Who knows? Personally I hate to speculate, instead I'd just go for the bends that I know for sure are real. Aaron's bends are something that we know beyond all doubt were not faked. I would have to disagree with this statement David. Yes, there are cases of people who may have better genetics, etc than Gary, but unless the work, effort, conditioning, and MOST importantly the mental drive and determination are there, it's not going to happen. I think that Gary had the "perfect storm" of abilities, strength, technique, etc that comes around once in a million. Let's face it guys, steel bending is an obscure, fringe sport that although we all hope and wish will grow more mainstream, it most likely won't. In today's strength culture, discipline, hard work ethic, and perseverance are all obscure philosophies in the modern mentality. These are attributes that make great steel benders, and I personally believe that Gary was that "one" who possessed and embarrassed this philosophy. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cannon Posted June 20, 2012 Share Posted June 20, 2012 I'm so glad I was finally able to see what Gazza's bending is like. These were even more shocking as he was releasing them. I like his earlier vids before the "Punisher" stuff, but the videos are amazing. His was a special kind of intensity. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David_wigren Posted June 20, 2012 Share Posted June 20, 2012 I would have to disagree with this statement David. Yes, there are cases of people who may have better genetics, etc than Gary, but unless the work, effort, conditioning, and MOST importantly the mental drive and determination are there, it's not going to happen. I think that Gary had the "perfect storm" of abilities, strength, technique, etc that comes around once in a million. Let's face it guys, steel bending is an obscure, fringe sport that although we all hope and wish will grow more mainstream, it most likely won't. In today's strength culture, discipline, hard work ethic, and perseverance are all obscure philosophies in the modern mentality. These are attributes that make great steel benders, and I personally believe that Gary was that "one" who possessed and embarrassed this philosophy. Maybe... To bad it was never confirmed by a reliable source. At least not to my knowledge. To my knowledge, the hardest bend that was confirmed was a huge shiny DO in singles. At the end of Gazza's career I asked for him to confirm his strength and thus eliminate all those who doubt him. Sadly he wouldn't, even though the perfect opportunity was given. The reasons behind his decline could be many, but I know what is the most likely reason why he declined. And from that moment I have personally never credited him of any bend higher than a 6" shiny DO in single leathers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yummy Posted June 21, 2012 Author Share Posted June 21, 2012 I would have to disagree with this statement David. Yes, there are cases of people who may have better genetics, etc than Gary, but unless the work, effort, conditioning, and MOST importantly the mental drive and determination are there, it's not going to happen. I think that Gary had the "perfect storm" of abilities, strength, technique, etc that comes around once in a million. Let's face it guys, steel bending is an obscure, fringe sport that although we all hope and wish will grow more mainstream, it most likely won't. In today's strength culture, discipline, hard work ethic, and perseverance are all obscure philosophies in the modern mentality. These are attributes that make great steel benders, and I personally believe that Gary was that "one" who possessed and embarrassed this philosophy. Maybe... To bad it was never confirmed by a reliable source. At least not to my knowledge. To my knowledge, the hardest bend that was confirmed was a huge shiny DO in singles. At the end of Gazza's career I asked for him to confirm his strength and thus eliminate all those who doubt him. Sadly he wouldn't, even though the perfect opportunity was given. The reasons behind his decline could be many, but I know what is the most likely reason why he declined. And from that moment I have personally never credited him of any bend higher than a 6" shiny DO in single leathers. he did some elite bends in front of david horne, I consider him a reliable source Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hannes Kainz Posted June 21, 2012 Share Posted June 21, 2012 Gary is a badass bender! I have never seen a vid about him, just heard about that. After watching this 3 vids , iam a little shocked: I was always thinking iam a strong bender, but Gary is unmachable! My next goals : RED barehand; 4,5 ss bastard; 6 5/16 crs square FBBC sounds like childsplay infront of his bends. Iam not sure if anyone can duplicate Garys bends in the future?? 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David_wigren Posted June 21, 2012 Share Posted June 21, 2012 he did some elite bends in front of david horne, I consider him a reliable source Did he? At what time? Do you know what was bent? Was it back in 2002? Was the stock between a 6" UK nail and up to some HRS stock? I thought Horne and Gary were not the best of buddies between 2007 and up until about last year? Did they even meet during this time? It's very important since that is the only time of when his bends were of any true worth. Hannes you should try the barehand certs at benders battlefield. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jad Posted June 21, 2012 Share Posted June 21, 2012 For the historians, right after BBB2 (and I mean within a day or two) where 4-5 Magnificent Bastards were bent (this was an elite bend at the time), Gazza started posting crazy bends and it just went up and up from there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hannes Kainz Posted June 21, 2012 Share Posted June 21, 2012 David: barehand stuff from BB is on my list, also a few DR bends in BB wraps. I got a few bars from MK. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Isaiah Posted June 21, 2012 Share Posted June 21, 2012 This is some insane bending. The stainless barehanded has to be the craziest bend I've ever seen. That looked so painful. Especially the part where he hit it reversed in the beginning. Ouch! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Isaiah Posted June 21, 2012 Share Posted June 21, 2012 he did some elite bends in front of david horne, I consider him a reliable source Did he? At what time? Do you know what was bent? Was it back in 2002? Was the stock between a 6" UK nail and up to some HRS stock? I thought Horne and Gary were not the best of buddies between 2007 and up until about last year? Did they even meet during this time? It's very important since that is the only time of when his bends were of any true worth. Hannes you should try the barehand certs at benders battlefield. heres my thoughts: why would anyone go to such great lengths to fake bends?.. why? and if it is fake, (which i dont believe it is) how was he able to find bars (to alledgedly switch out during the video) that were exact in length, color, and diameter, but were easier to bend than the "real" bar?.. how?? after watching him bend a shinny bastard (barehanded) , i feel certain he could bend a 4.5 shinny in doubles. I agree with this. I understand a certain level of skepticism with world class feats, but is that to say that because there was not someone there to witness the feat, besides an operator and camera, that the feat did not happen? Or that the person cannot be credited with the feat? Or that because a person cannot reproduce a feat when asked that they in effect were never able to accomplish the feat at all? I am interested to hear your reasoning for his inability to produce a feat at your prompting though Dave. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cemery Posted June 21, 2012 Share Posted June 21, 2012 he did some elite bends in front of david horne, I consider him a reliable source Did he? At what time? Do you know what was bent? Was it back in 2002? Was the stock between a 6" UK nail and up to some HRS stock? I thought Horne and Gary were not the best of buddies between 2007 and up until about last year? Did they even meet during this time? It's very important since that is the only time of when his bends were of any true worth. Hannes you should try the barehand certs at benders battlefield. heres my thoughts: why would anyone go to such great lengths to fake bends?.. why? and if it is fake, (which i dont believe it is) how was he able to find bars (to alledgedly switch out during the video) that were exact in length, color, and diameter, but were easier to bend than the "real" bar?.. how?? after watching him bend a shinny bastard (barehanded) , i feel certain he could bend a 4.5 shinny in doubles. edit: a 4" shinny in doubles.. I thought it was a 4" shiny in small, wore-out single leathers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David_wigren Posted June 21, 2012 Share Posted June 21, 2012 Yes he bent a 4" shiny in small leather wraps. Later he bent the 3.5" shiny and the 3" shiny in small leathers that he would fold in half, similar to what some people use as crushpads today. I don't care to speculate about why someone would fake anything, but surely people must agree that there are many out there willing to fake almost anything for many particular reasons. I don't know if Gazza faked any of his bends, all i know is that none of the wacky bends like a 3"x8mm 303 stainless in minimal wraps were never confirmed by a reliable source. And I know that as soon as a realistic opportunity came for him to be able to prove it beyond all doubt through a reliable source, he cowered away and asked for none of us to ever mention him again. I find that suspicious, and because of that I personally demand more proof than some shady looking videos that could easily have been faked by anyone with a little motivation to do so. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J.T. Straussner Posted June 22, 2012 Share Posted June 22, 2012 I would have to disagree with this statement David. Yes, there are cases of people who may have better genetics, etc than Gary, but unless the work, effort, conditioning, and MOST importantly the mental drive and determination are there, it's not going to happen. I think that Gary had the "perfect storm" of abilities, strength, technique, etc that comes around once in a million. Let's face it guys, steel bending is an obscure, fringe sport that although we all hope and wish will grow more mainstream, it most likely won't. In today's strength culture, discipline, hard work ethic, and perseverance are all obscure philosophies in the modern mentality. These are attributes that make great steel benders, and I personally believe that Gary was that "one" who possessed and embarrassed this philosophy. Maybe... To bad it was never confirmed by a reliable source. At least not to my knowledge. To my knowledge, the hardest bend that was confirmed was a huge shiny DO in singles. At the end of Gazza's career I asked for him to confirm his strength and thus eliminate all those who doubt him. Sadly he wouldn't, even though the perfect opportunity was given. The reasons behind his decline could be many, but I know what is the most likely reason why he declined. And from that moment I have personally never credited him of any bend higher than a 6" shiny DO in single leathers. David you're arguably the best shoe bender in the world, your videos are legit and they are sick. But if someone asked you to reproduce a world class shoe bend and you had your own reasons not to, would it make sense for others not to credit you with the bend? Just a diplomatic question my friend, you very well might know something I don't. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David_wigren Posted June 22, 2012 Share Posted June 22, 2012 David you're arguably the best shoe bender in the world, your videos are legit and they are sick. But if someone asked you to reproduce a world class shoe bend and you had your own reasons not to, would it make sense for others not to credit you with the bend? Just a diplomatic question my friend, you very well might know something I don't. I'm not the best horseshoe bender any longer. I've recently been passed by Jason Bergmann, well as soon as he makes it official by certing on the SSP#4 or the AB6 that is. But to answer your question. If it was just some random guy that called me fake or whatever, I wouldn't bother. But if key figures of grip and bending over the past 5-6 years had openly and behind my back questioned me. I would make the effort. I might refuse to do one particular venue yes, but surely over a timespan of almost 6 years there should've have been some opportunity for myself to proove where I am. Personally few people have seen me bend, and even fewer that are knowlegble and "reliable" have seen me in person. At three times have I bent in front of people that have prior knowlegble of steel bending. Latest time was last year with gripboard member "Griparn" I reversed one of his red nails in singles with wraps fairly close together, and bent a couple of his shoes. I also bent an SSP000 with no leg padding, which I had brought myself, so it could've been tampered with. However I let him keep the SSP000 so if he or anyone would've wanted to cross check it with a different bent SSP000 it could easily be arranged. So my upper limit of SSP000 with no leg pad to SSP#4 is fairly reliable. Might not be 100% satisfying, but I haven't seen many people question me yet. Probably because my bends are not really that extreme. But if I start barehand bending Edgins reversing 10mm drillrods etc I would expect people to demand more proof from me than a few videos and maybe one or two individuals that have seen me bend in person when I bent much weaker steel. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Isaiah Posted June 22, 2012 Share Posted June 22, 2012 These are valid points. So Dave what do you think motivated Gary to deny your request? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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