Bar bending explained

Bar bending or iron bending is a display of physical strength derived from early circus strongman performers, which was used in a sporting context in strength competitions such as the World's Strongest Man.[1] It requires the strongmen to grip long iron rods from their edges, use their arm and grip strength, and bend until the two ends come closer to each other.[2]

Early influence to strongman competitions

From eighteenth century through the age of vaudeville strongmen of nineteenth century[3] until around mid twentieth century, traditional strongmen like Thomas Topham, Louis 'Apollon' Uni, Warren Lincoln Travis, Hermann Görner,[4] Joe 'Mighty Atom' Greenstein,[5] Zishe Breitbart, Arthur Saxon, John B. Gagnon and Joe Rollino[6] experimented with different techniques and variations on how to bend the iron in the most impressive ways.[2]

When bar bending was featured at the inaugural World's Strongest Man competition in 1977, with Lou Ferrigno winning the event while Franco Columbu emerging second, it became a fan favourite event.[7] Its popularity led bar bending to be continued for six more years until 1983.[8] One of the most notorious moments of strongman occurred during 1981 World's Strongest Man competition when Bill Kazmaier and Geoff Capes injured themselves[9] while attempting to bend the final iron bar of the event to declare the event winner.[10] Grip strength specialists like Richard Sorin, John Brookfield, David Horne and Greg Matonick continued to experiment with more variations and along with strength advocates like Randall J. Strossen diversified the gamut of bar bending.[11] [3] In 2013, Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson established a new Guinness World Record by bending 4 × iron rods (each with a inch (1.6 cm) diameter) in only 30 seconds.[12]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: How I Learned to Bend Steel . thedailybeast.com . 2023-07-09 . 2015-08-09 . 2023-07-09 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230709130403/https://www.thedailybeast.com/how-i-learned-to-bend-steel?ref=scroll . live .
  2. News: Bending Steel (2013). A documentary by Dave Carroll and Ryan Scafuro. Tribeca Film Festival. Chris Schoeck. 20 April 2013.
  3. Web site: BENDING SHORT STEEL BARS, BOLTS AND NAILS by David Horne. 9 July 2023. www.davidhorne-gripmaster.com. 3 October 2006. 20 January 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20220120194136/https://davidhorne-gripmaster.com/bending.html. live.
  4. Goerner the Mighty, Edgar Mueller, Vulcan Publishing, Leeds, 1951
  5. New York Media, LLC. New York Magazine. Mighty Joe Old. 3 June 1974. 68. 0028-7369.
  6. News: At a Mighty 104, Gone While Still Going Strong . . January 11, 2010 . 2010-01-12 . Manny . Fernandez . Michael S. . Schmidt . 2019-04-25 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190425191516/https://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/12/nyregion/12ironman.html . live .
  7. Web site: 1977 World's Strongest Man. 8 July 2023. Strongman Archives. 17 May 1977. 3 December 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20221203031900/https://strongmanarchives.com/viewContest.php?id=1. live.
  8. Web site: 1983 World's Strongest Man. 8 July 2023. Strongman Archives. 19 May 1983. 9 July 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20230709130403/https://strongmanarchives.com/viewContest.php?id=7. live.
  9. Web site: Twelve of the WORST Strongman Injuries - 12:51 Bar bending . Big Loz Official . 19 January 2021 . 31 January 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210131145454/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BsZMI59OY1I . live .
  10. Web site: 1981 World's Strongest Man. 8 July 2023. Strongman Archives. 10 May 1981. 9 July 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20230709131958/https://strongmanarchives.com/viewContest.php?id=5. live.
  11. Web site: 2005 World Steel Bending Championships. 9 July 2023. Randall J. Strossen for IronMind Enterprises, Inc.. 18 June 2004. 9 July 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20230709133437/https://ironmind.com/news/2005-World-Steel-Bending-Championships. live.
  12. Web site: Hafthor Julius Bjornsson sets World Record bending cast iron . YouTube . 21 October 2022 . 22 October 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20221022090352/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pN6JDwldD2E . live .

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