Do Right Handed Arm Wrestlers Ever Compete Against Left Handed People?

25 September 2022

Just like many other combat sports, arm wrestlers generally need to play in different divisions depending on whether they are left or right-handed. It is known that most humans are right-handed meaning that arm wrestling competitions will be filled with right-handed wrestlers.

For that reason, right-handed arm wrestlers are more common, and such divisions are considered to be more prestigious due to the large number of available wrestlers.

This might be the general rule in some competitions, however, there might be cases where there are no limitations towards the use of the dominant arm, does this mean that right-handed arm wrestlers ever compete against left-handed people? Let’s find out whether this is true or just a regular misconception.

Do Right-Handed Arm Wrestlers Ever Compete Against Left-Handed People?

Arm wrestling is a sport that counts with two main divisions, each one of these is based on whether the wrestler is a right or left-handed individual. These things matter as it manages to keep competitions fair and leveled to the point that the strength difference does not become a notable issue.

The only problem though is the fact that right-handed divisions are more common and prestigious than the great majority of left-handed divisions, and sometimes, a lot of potential wrestlers are wasted.

Right-handed arm wrestlers have opportunities to compete against left-handed people. Yes, right-handed wrestlers can compete under these conditions in certain competitions or informal meetings, however, depending on the individual, the match might be a little bit unfair, but surprisingly, that does not seem to matter much as there arm wrestlers who have developed good popularity for their great usage of both arms.

Has Somebody Won Both Right and Left Handed Divisions at the Same Time?

Even though this could be considered an impossible feat, there is someone who managed to be the first man ever to hold the title of world champion in both divisions of arm wrestling.

He competed against every arm wrestler who stood in his way, and little mattered that he is left-handed as he managed to beat every right-handed arm wrestler. This proves that sometimes right-handed individuals should compete against their opposites, in order to see how much strength difference there is between the dominant arm and the less used one.

How are Professional Arm Wrestling Divisions Separated?

Professional right and left-handed arm wrestling matches tend to be separated by day, sometimes, right-handed division matches are played on Saturdays and then the next day focuses on the other division.

Remember that these divisions are made to ensure that all matches are fair and competitive enough to be considered professional, otherwise, in most matches, there would be a huge strength gap between wrestlers who happen to have a different dominant arm.

If these divisions were not separated, then there would be a huge conflict and unfair matches due to the fact that right-hand arm wrestlers are far more common than left-handed wrestlers, so these divisions help a lot to keep the sport competitive, notorious and popular even in fair conditions.