Warsaw resident Eddie Stapleton is passionate about physical fitness. Given the opportunity, Stapleton would love to talk to you about the benefits of having good physical conditioning as opposed to brute strength. And also given the opportunity, he can display his physical strength by ripping a brand new deck of cards in half or by bending a metal rod or a frying pan. “When they see it, a lot of people think its a trick,” Stapleton said about bend frying pans or tearing phone books in half. “It’s power. I’ll show them the item, then the way I hold my hands and do it again.” The son of a Special Forces soldier, Stapleton has always been in shape, citing the distribution of gravel in the family’s driveway as a child as a great workout. After competing in martial arts for a majority of his life, Stapleton was introduced to arm wrestling 11 years ago. He took such a liking to it that it became a huge part of his life and came to its crescendo with a national championship on June 25 in Buffalo, N.Y. And when he took a liking to it, his family also jumped on board, as his son Storm Stapleton, 15, and wife Tammy Stapleton are also national champions. Storm won the Right (handed) 60 (kilogram) Junior championship last August in Billings, Montana at the 13th annual United States Armwrestling Foundation National Championsip, and his mom also won the Left 70 Ladies Masters championship in the same tournament. So with Eddie winning his national title just under two weeks ago, the Stapleton home now houses three national champions. “We’re pretty good at what we do,” Eddie said. In fact, the Stapletons have a case full of trophies, but those aren’t the only awards in the home. “Half the basement is full of boxes with trophies in them,” Tammy said. In fact, with so many trophies already filling the house, the Stapletons limit the tournaments they get into, focusing on just national and world championships at this point. “We may hit a state tournament every once in a while,” Eddie said. “But there’s really not reason to. I’ve won a national, so now it’s time to move on to bigger and better things.” At the same tournament in which Storm and Tammy won titles, Eddie placed second in Left 90, meaning he too had qualified for world competition by finishing in the top two. The three then took part in the 2011 World Championships in Mesquite, Nev. in early December. At that competition, all three placed seventh, with Storm competing in Junior Left 60, Tammy in Master Ladies Left 70 and Eddie in Master Mens Left 90. During the trips to tournaments, the Stapletons aren’t only competing, but are also taking in a family vacation. “We’ll pick a tournament, then take in the sights while we’re there,” Storm said. And when the Stapletons enter a competition, they don’t necessarily fit the arm-wrestling stereotype. When one envisions an arm wrestling champion, he or she may expect to see a short, stocky guy with no neck, but that isn’t the case with Eddie. Instead, Eddie’s 6-foot-2, 190-pound appears well-built, but not one that can lift 250-pound Atlas balls and bench press over 300 pounds. “As I’ve been getting older, I’ve actually been getting stronger,” Eddie said. “Not long ago, I bench pressed 300 pounds, and I’d never done anything like that.” According to Eddie, the secret to his success has been good genetics, but also exercises that have strengthened his tendons and ligaments. When doing arm exercises for three hours, Eddie says he’ll do 100 reps with 35-pound dumbbells for three sets. This doesn’t only strengthen the bicep muscle, but also the tendons and ligaments in his forearms. “These are like steel cables,” Stapleton said about his forearm tendons. That strength hasn’t only made Eddie a champion arm wrestler, or puller as they’re called in the arm-wrestling circles, but has also enabled him to destroy many of Tammy’s phone books. On top of getting into arm wrestling, Eddie has also gotten involved into Strongman competitions, but not the ones you can see on ESPN2. He’s into Oldtime Strongman competitions, which includes the bending of steel and tearing phonebooks in half. Eddie says the Oldtime Strongman competitions involve more physcial fitness than the guys seen in current Strongman contests. “You can’t be one-dimensional,” Eddie said. “Your health will suffer.” “A guy may be able to lift the corner of house, but he can’t bend over to tie his shoes,” he added. While he has homemade Atlas balls and tractor tires in his backyard, for Eddie, it’s lighter weight with more repetitions that have more benefits. The strategy has paid off for him, but he does give some credit to his inherited genes. “I do think genetics play a role in it,” he said. “My dad was in the Special Forces and I’ve always been in good shape. The big thing was I didn’t squander it. I used it.” While he may not be able to lend out any of his genetics, he is more than happy to train others, be it strongman or arm wrestling. “I’ll do anything to promote arm wrestling and physical fitness,” Eddie said. “Whether it be putting together a competition or just doing a show.” Eddie has performed his strongman feats in the area, but if anyone would like to train with him, he encourages them to call 574-527-2472 for more information. And if anyone would like to train with him, he says he’s a serious teacher and not just one dropping words of praise. “I’m serious about it,” he said. “I don’t let them think they’re doing things better than they are.” The reason for his seriousness is because he doesn’t want anyone getting hurt needlessly. For example, he says the easiest way to break an arm while arm wrestling is by looking away from your hand. When you look away, your hand can end up aligned with the wrong side of your shoulder, resulting in an injury. When promoting his own arm wrestling competitions, if he’s judging a match and sees a competitor not looking at his hand, he’ll be given a foul, if not kicked out. “They may not like it, but I’m doing it for their safety,” he said. It’s this knowledge he’s bestowed upon his wife and son, and it has helped Storm gain the attention of others in the arm wrestling world. “We’ve been told by some that he has a chance to be the next multi-world champion,” Eddie said about Storm. The family will train with each other at home, and the Stapletons’ other three children used to come together to help Storm gather the reminents of torn up playing cards after their father would tear them up. “We would scramble to pick them up,” Storm said. And it’s one of those stories that Eddie hopes would fill a book about his life. “A lot of people’s book may say, graduated from school, got married, had kids and retired,” Eddie said. “To me, that’s not an interesting book.”
