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Draft:Short Steel Bending

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


Short steel bending, also known as short bending or nail bending, is a feat of hand and wrist strength.[1] It differs from braced bending, in which the object, typically 8 to 12 inches (20 to 30 cm) long, is braced against part of the body, usually the thigh, which acts as a fulcrum. Short bending is done away from the body, with all the power generated through the hands.[2] Most short bends are of a nail, bolt or bar 5 to 7 inches (13 to 18 cm) long.[3]

History

[edit]

Bending steel bars and nails has long been part of most professional strongmen's repertoire.[3] The Texas strongman Thomas "Stout" Jackson could bend twenty-penny nails at the age of fifteen,[4] and the police chief and strongman Joe Peters bent a 6+1⁄2-inch (17 cm) spike in half as part of his exhibition.[5] The strength historian David Willoughby recorded Vansart bending a wrought-iron spike 7 inches (18 cm) long into a U shape, and J. C. Tolson bending four 60-penny nails together.[6] A 60-penny nail is 6 inches (15 cm) long,[6] and bending one has been described as "the entrance into the performing strongman world".[1]

Because a 60-penny nail was defined only by its dimensions, not by the chemistry or mechanical properties of its steel, there was no standard level of difficulty for bending one.[7] In 1993 the equipment company IronMind introduced its Bag of Nails, calling the bending of a 60-penny nail "a classic feat of strength".[7] In 1995 John Brookfield became the first person certified on its Red Nail, and nobody else was added to the roster until Gavin Holle in 2003.[8] Brookfield bent at waist level with his hands touching and the ends pushed downward; Holle held the nail at chest height with his hands out at the ends.[9] According to the grip writer David Horne, the rules for unbraced bending were written down by Pat Povilaitis and Horne in 2003 and later by Eric Milfeld, after which bending was featured at many contests.[3] In 2005 Iron Game History called Povilaitis "the reigning king of the nail-benders".[10]

Technique

[edit]

There are three main styles: double overhand, double underhand and reverse.[1] The strongest benders tend to prefer double overhand, which gives the best leverage and relies least on the wrists.[1] In the reverse style the bar is held vertically with the hands in an alternating grip.[11] IronMind's 2004 rules recognised three methods, with the hands at waist or chest level bending the nail downward, or at head or chest level bending it upward; other variations were acceptable if only the hands touched the nail.[12] Its current rules allow any unbraced method with the hands roughly between waist and collarbone height.[13]

The ends of the bar are wrapped to protect the hands,[1] and rules differ on what is allowed. IronMind requires its own pads,[13] Fat Bastard Barbell Co. allows leather, Cordura, Kevlar, towels and socks,[11] and Gods of Grip allows double wrapping.[14] IronMind and Gods of Grip both count a bend as complete when the ends are no more than 2 inches (5.1 cm) apart.[13][14]

Equipment and certification

[edit]

Several companies make steel specifically for bending and keep their own certification lists or leaderboards.[3]

  • IronMind sells the Red Nail, a 7-inch (18 cm) piece of 5⁄16-inch (7.9 mm) round steel bar.[9] Its rules require an unbraced bend completed within two minutes.[13] IronMind added the larger Gold Nail in 2011, and its roster still asks who will be the first to certify on it.[15] In February 2022 IronMind suspended certifications while it reviewed whether current practices were "consistent with the original spirit of the challenge",[16] and in March 2023 it certified London Schuirmann on the Red Nail.[17]
  • Fat Bastard Barbell Co. keeps certification lists for its own bar stock, most of it 5⁄16 inch (7.9 mm) round or square, as well as thicker bars and bolts. Its entry title is for a 7-inch (18 cm) cold-rolled bar, with higher titles for shorter or thicker bars, and it keeps separate lists for the reverse and double-underhand styles.[18]
  • Gods of Grip, a British company founded in 2018,[19] rates steel on a scale of one to seven stars[20] and certifies bends of its 5-, 5.5- and 7-star bars.[14]
  • The Short Steel Bending Company, started in January 2021 by Matt Armiger,[21] sells a 12-level progression of bars rated from 190 to 1,110 pounds (86 to 503 kg)[21] and keeps public leaderboards.[22]

One seller rates bars by the Krahling method, named after Mike Krahling, who devised it. It measures the force needed to kink a bar to 30 degrees and, the seller notes, says nothing about the sweep or crush stages of the bend.[23]

Contests and records

[edit]

Steel-bending contests have included the Steel Slayer Showdown (2009), the Beast in the East (2011 and 2012) and the Michigan Steel Bending and Breaking Championships (from 2019).[24] Writing about the Mighty Mitts grip contest at the Arnold Sports Festival, Terry Todd noted that in a hall with as many as 10,000 spectators the bending of a spike "would be virtually invisible to most of the audience".[25] In 2020 the performer Steve Stevens bent 25 steel nails in half in 60 seconds at Blackpool Pleasure Beach, beating the previous record of 11.[26]

[edit]

The 2013 documentary Bending Steel, shown at the Tribeca Film Festival, follows the aspiring strongman Chris Schoeck, whose storage-locker gym is piled with "mangled horseshoes and 60-penny nails".[27] The film includes a gathering of a club called the Steel Nuts.[28]

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Christopher, Logan (4 November 2015). "Feats of Strength: How to Bend a Nail in Half". Breaking Muscle. Archived from the original on 3 December 2024. Retrieved 3 June 2026.
  2. ↑ Christopher, Logan (20 November 2015). "Feats of Strength: How to Bend a Spike (or Screwdriver)". Breaking Muscle. Archived from the original on 15 June 2026. Retrieved 17 June 2026.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Horne, David. "Bending Short Steel Bars, Bolts and Nails". David Horne's World of Grip. Archived from the original on 20 January 2022. Retrieved 28 May 2026.
  4. ↑ Beckwith, Kimberly Ayn (January 1994). "Thomas Jefferson "Stout" Jackson: Texas Strongman" (PDF). Iron Game History. 3 (2): 8–15. Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 March 2025. Retrieved 9 July 2026.
  5. ↑ Thomas, Al (April 1992). "Where Are They Now? Police Chief Joe Peters: Lawman as Strongman" (PDF). Iron Game History. 2 (2): 18–19. Archived from the original (PDF) on 6 February 2025. Retrieved 12 July 2026.
  6. 1 2 Willoughby, David P. (1970). The Super-Athletes. South Brunswick, NJ: A. S. Barnes. pp. 222–225. ISBN 0-498-06651-7.
  7. 1 2 Strossen, Randall J. (22 February 2022). "Nailing Things Down". IronMind. Archived from the original on 10 November 2025. Retrieved 24 June 2026.
  8. ↑ "IronMind Red Nail Roster". IronMind. Archived from the original on 11 April 2026. Retrieved 2 August 2026.
  9. 1 2 Brookfield, John (March 2004). "The Slaying of Goliath: Bending a Red Nail" (PDF). MILO. Vol. 11, no. 4. pp. 44–46. Archived from the original (PDF) on 31 May 2026.
  10. ↑ Todd, Terry (December 2005). "The Quest for the Quarter Master" (PDF). Iron Game History. 9 (2): 29. Archived from the original (PDF) on 7 August 2024. Retrieved 19 July 2026. The article spells the name "Povalaitis".
  11. 1 2 "Rules". Fat Bastard Barbell Co. Archived from the original on 12 June 2026. Retrieved 14 June 2026.
  12. ↑ "The IronMind Red Nail Rules". IronMind. 25 March 2004. Archived from the original on 7 July 2022. Retrieved 6 August 2026.
  13. 1 2 3 4 "IronMind Red Nail and Gold Nail: Rules for Bending & Certification". IronMind. Archived from the original on 13 February 2026. Retrieved 30 May 2026.
  14. 1 2 3 "Steel Bending Certification Rules". Gods of Grip. Archived from the original on 22 August 2026. Retrieved 25 August 2026.
  15. ↑ "IronMind Gold Nail Roster". IronMind. Archived from the original on 11 April 2026. Retrieved 11 August 2026.
  16. ↑ Strossen, Randall J. (21 February 2022). "Moratorium on IronMind Red/Gold Nail Certifications". IronMind. Archived from the original on 10 November 2025. Retrieved 26 June 2026.
  17. ↑ Strossen, Randall J. (31 March 2023). "London Schuirmann Certifies on the IronMind Red Nail". IronMind. Archived from the original on 15 January 2026. Retrieved 27 June 2026.
  18. ↑ "Bending Certs DO". Fat Bastard Barbell Co. Archived from the original on 12 June 2026. Retrieved 15 June 2026.
  19. ↑ "About Us". Gods of Grip. Archived from the original on 22 August 2026. Retrieved 24 August 2026.
  20. ↑ "Steel Difficulty Ratings". Gods of Grip. Archived from the original on 7 September 2025. Retrieved 8 September 2026.
  21. 1 2 "About". The Short Steel Bending Company. Archived from the original on 12 May 2026. Retrieved 22 May 2026.
  22. ↑ "Leaderboards". The Short Steel Bending Company. Archived from the original on 16 June 2026. Retrieved 18 June 2026.
  23. ↑ "Steel Ratings". Eat Chalk Get Big. Archived from the original on 31 May 2026. Retrieved 2 June 2026.
  24. ↑ Horne, David. "Past Bar Bending Contests". David Horne's World of Grip. Archived from the original on 14 April 2026. Retrieved 21 July 2026.
  25. ↑ Todd, Terry (June 2010). "Mighty Mitts: The Contest" (PDF). Iron Game History. 11 (2): 31–32. Archived from the original (PDF) on 6 February 2025. Retrieved 30 July 2026.
  26. ↑ Holmes, Wes (29 October 2020). "Blackpool Pleasure Beach strongman smashes world record for bending steel nails". Blackpool Gazette. Archived from the original on 14 June 2022. Retrieved 13 September 2026.
  27. ↑ THR Staff (20 April 2013). "Bending Steel: Tribeca Review". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on 18 January 2022. Retrieved 4 September 2026.
  28. ↑ Trav S.D. (22 April 2013). "'Bending Steel' an unexpectedly moving documentary". amNewYork. Archived from the original on 11 December 2025. Retrieved 16 September 2026.
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