If you’re looking to test your strength in the ancient sport of arm wrestling, there’s an app for that. Armbet, launched in March 2020, just as the pandemic began, is “the Tinder of arm wrestling,” says user Mikhail Anoshka.
And he would know: The New York Post got hip to Anoshka’s popular underground arm wrestling operation that he runs in front of his family’s Brighton Beach, Brooklyn, home. He built the arm wrestling table with the help of some family members when New York City gyms closed during the pandemic, and now anyone can come by and test their strength.
He had a lot of takers, all via word of mouth — and the app, which was the brainchild of North America’s top-ranked arm wrestler, Devon Larratt. He tells The Post Armbet now has 20,000 global users, and saw an explosion of growth as the pandemic dragged on. One reason: unlike other ways to stay in shape, arm wrestling doesn’t require any equipment.
“It’s super accessible,” Larratt says. “As long as you have an arm and a hand, you’re good to go for arm wrestling.”
The more than four decade old New York Arm Wrestling Association President’s Jack Arias told the paper the sport “has become more popular than ever.” And while you’re not supposed to talk about Fight Club, no such edict is in place with arm wresting: Social media is also fueling the spread.
Laratt says, “The world is being taught to shy away from people, that people are dangerous … arm-wrestling teaches you that together, we get stronger.”
But if you want to try your hand at Anoshka’s place, even in this day of social distancing, hand-washing is a must: “I usually take the soap out, and we wash hands from [the] garden hose,” he explains.