Empowering women through arm wrestling

I have never seen the Sylvester Stallone arm-wrestling movie "Over the Top," and I don't plan to. But I did go to see SuperCLAW 2014 — "The National Championship of Lady Arm Wrestlers" — in Washington recently and describing that as "over the top" seems like an understatement.

Washington's representative at the competition, Maida Ives, didn't quite reach the top, but she more than did herself and the hometown contingent proud, advancing to the semifinals out of a field of 16. As for what got Ives into arm-wrestling shape, give some credit to topsoil — her training regimen essentially consists of the chores she performs every day as a farmer.

Arm wrestling, as practiced by the two dozen or so chapters of the Collective of Lady Arm Wrestlers (CLAW), is a means to several ends. Ives told me she was attracted to CLAW because of its mission of "empowering women through theater, philanthropy and arm wrestling."

There is certainly a strong, and highly entertaining, theatrical component to CLAW events, which usually occur two to four times a year. Each wrestler adopts a persona, complete with an elaborate costume, stage mannerisms and an entourage.

The events are essentially fund-raisers, with all proceeds going to local charities. In addition to purchasing tickets, spectators are encouraged to bet on the bouts (part of the entourage's job is to cajole the crowd into making these bets), and packages of donated goods and services are auctioned off. By the end of SuperCLAW 2014, held at Atlas Performing Arts Center in Washington, it was announced that over $7,000 had been raised for Miriam's Kitchen, which works to alleviate the plight of the city's homeless.

Ives competed in her usual guise of "Jackie O'Nasty," a nod to the "Kennedy pride" she feels as a Massachusetts native. She said that in earlier years, when she worked as a math teacher in Brooklyn, she enjoyed the way the character allowed her to get a little wild; now, as a farmer near Leesburg, Virginia, Ives also appreciates the opportunity to "put on a nice outfit."

But make no mistake, the women at SuperCLAW were in it to win it, and Ives would never have made it out of the first round without some serious strength. She possesses a solid frame and power built up from an athletic background — including playing on her high school football team — but in preparation for SuperCLAW, her workouts had less to do with cross-training than crop-planting (plus, of course, a lot of arm wrestling, including against any man willing to take her on).

Ives was living in New York in 2008 when a friend mentioned "this crazy thing her mom did in Charlottesville (Virginia)." What the mom had done was to compete, as "The Crone," in the very first CLAW organization, and the friend was inspired to set up an affiliate in Upstate New York. Ives participated in several Hudson Valley BRAWL (Broads Regional Arm Wrestling League) events, winning one, but eventually decided that she wanted to switch careers and get into farming, ultimately finding work in Virginia.

At Potomac Vegetable Farms in Purcellville, Virginia, last month, I watched her climb atop a truck loaded with bales of hay and toss about 50 to the ground, so they could be used for mulching. Another farmer estimated that each bale weighed about 35 pounds, but that some of the hay would be wet and thus weigh much more.

Ives also planted garlic that October afternoon, moving along a row and pushing the bulbs into the dirt, then covering them with soil. Such work is good for strengthening the hands and simply building up endurance, both of which she says have helped her in arm wrestling. Ives mentioned other chores, such as lifting crates of produce and pounding stakes for tomatoes, that sounded, if not like a barrel of laughs, at least like activities that could lead to a barrel chest.

Of course, not everyone who wants to get into arm wrestling, or simply build up strength, can drop everything and make like Old MacDonald. Ives told me that gymgoers could mimic stacking crates by doing dead lifts and isolated biceps curls.

Another member of the District of Columbia chapter (called D/CLAW) did employ an extensive gym regimen while preparing for a previous event. Susan Whitney is one of the founders of D/CLAW; she told me that, while house-bound during 2010's snowy winter, she read about the Charlottesville group in a Washington Post article and immediately went to the group's Facebook page, seeking like-minded people from the District.

Whitney said she has always surprised people by how strong she is for her size (5-feet-2, 120 pounds), and after training "a lot" for D/CLAW's first event, in June 2010, she got all the way to the final. But in later events, she found herself being eliminated increasingly early, and became so discouraged that she stopped competing altogether.

After some prodding by her husband, though, Whitney researched arm wrestling-specific workouts, which noted the importance of pulling an opponent's hand toward her. She began simulating the action with pulley weights at the gym and practicing different grips.

She put less focus on her biceps and more on her entire upper body, doing push-ups and pull-ups as well as working her triceps and forearms. She also heeded advice to "max out" — doing eight reps of the most weight she could manage — and to work on being "quick off the grab" (i.e., the start of a bout).

It all paid off at a December 2013 event. Competing as the "Silent Killer," a beret-topped mime, Whitney took the whole thing, leaving foes "really, really, really surprised — did not expect me to win."

An ankle injury sustained while running took Whitney out of this month's action and opened the door for Ives to represent D/CLAW. Jackie O'Nasty, clad in pillbox hat and sunglasses, took out fightin' Irishwoman "Erin Go Bra" in the first round, winning twice with her weaker left arm (contestants alternated arms in best-of-three bouts; the initial side was chosen by coin flip).

Ives then beat "Steel Magnolia" ("a Southern belle on the rampage") before running into a buzzsaw, almost literally, in Maine's Lumbersmack Sally, who revved a real chainsaw (with its chain and teeth removed) on her way to the stage. The final was a when-Helga-met-Sally affair, with the imposing, Viking-helmeted "Helga Hammerfist" taking the SuperCLAW 2014 title back with her to Minneapolis.

After the event was over, Ives told me she was delighted that she "got as far" as she did. Her day had begun at 6 a.m., when she awoke to haul produce to a Leesburg farmer's market. Now, close to midnight, she said, "I'm just really happy. This is very, very different from life on the farm."

In truth, SuperCLAW 2014 was very, very different from most things, but in a good way, as "Jackie O'Nasty" could attest. "To show your physical strength, to express a character within yourself, and then building a community around an event like this is really nice."