Falkirk champion on a mission to put arm wrestling on the map

James Stewart, aged 33, launched his training centre at Lone Wolf High Performance club in Falkirk two months ago, in a bid to give people a taste of competitive arm wrestling.

Once only associated with burly men in pubs, the sport’s popularity has grown in scale and size, with this year’s world championships, taking place in India in October, expected to welcome more than 2000 of the world’s top arm-wrestling athletes.

Although Scotland and the UK aren’t quite at that level of popularity yet, the sport has began to develop a larger following across the country.

James said: “Back when arm wrestling started in Scotland, there were around two or three guys who focussed on it. I think David Scott was one of the first, and only one or two places you could train.

"Now there are more, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Paisley, Falkirk, and I think another has just started in Inverness.”

The sport caters for competitors of all shapes and sizes, and in arm wrestling, that’s not just a figure of speech. From lighter weight classes all the way up to the super heavyweights, where six foot six inch James currently competes at around 160 kilograms.

A current UK champion, James has two major competitions in his sights: UK Armgods in Coventry this Saturday, and the King of the North in Edinburgh later this year. However, juggling training, competing and life as a dad of two young children meant his calendar was becoming seriously hectic, and it was that pressure that became a catalyst for launching the arm wrestling club.

James, who lives nearby in Graham’s Road said: “I started the club just after I defended my UK title belt, partially because I was having to get two trains to Paisley, and the travelling back was a huge effort."

Lone Wolf gym owner Craig Millar has backed James’ project by opening his doors to the strongman and other eager arm-wrestlers, who pay no more than a standard gym membership.

Switching sports around eight years ago, James swapped the mirror-obsessed world of bodybuilding for the performance-driven demands of arm wrestling, and never looked back. Where bodybuilding rewarded tans and symmetry, arm wrestling rewarded performance and results. Less fake tan, more forearm.

He said: “Not only has the sport given me an opportunity, it’s also taken me around the world, I travelled to Canada and defeated the second best arm wrestler in the country, I’ve made hundreds of friends. You see them at every competition, you meet their families, banter on social media, most of them are family men.”

As for James himself, the plan is straightforward, keep improving, collect a few more titles and build the next generation of arm wrestlers.

He said: "I want to be the best athlete I can be and help others do the same. I'll keep improving on myself and my arm wrestling, and hopefully win a few more titles along the way."

For more info on how to watch James compete in the Armgod competition visit the Lone Wolf Performance Facebook page.