Push Ups In the News

A few days ago, I was scrolling social media for reconnaissance, and an article came to my attention:

Australian father sets world record with more than 3,200 push ups in an hour

Naturally, I was more than a bit curious, as I had witnessed the record set back in 2003 (gosh, has that been 20 years ago now!?!?). Tim Sikes performed 3669 push ups in an hour at Bill Taylor's Bushido School of Karate in Murfreesboro in 2003. I was one of the official counters. Heck, I went to dinner with Tim and his family & friends after the event. The links in this blog's 2009 article are all still active, and even more are available online with Tim's record. 

On the other hand, it was easy to find a Sports Illustrated article about the Australian man, and a few others. 

Make no mistake, what Helmke did was not easy. A definite accomplishment. And even the official Guinness World Records site lists Helmke as the record-holder. However, 3206 in an hour is not as many as 3669 in an hour. Tim Sikes hit 3206 with 7 minutes left to go (give or take). I am not certain why Guinness is not acknowledging Sikes' record. I've seen their signed document (framed) among Sikes' belongings. Interestingly enough, the document they received, certifying the results, is signed by myself, among others (Sikes still has a copy of that, as well). 

Why would someone doubt the Guinness claim? After all, it is their own claim. Well, because in 2003, Guinness themselves said the old record was 3416. Here is an article that quotes that. 

Just in case you think this might be the only such conflicting story:

Former Marine breaks record for push-ups, raises thousands of dollars

This article states Marine Corps veteran, TShane Johnson, unofficially broke the Guinness World Record for the most push-ups in one hour by performing 3050 push ups. 

Florida man, 60, does 3,264 pushups in 1 hour to break world record

This article states Rob Stirling said he decided to take on the Guinness World Record for most pushups in 1 hour (male) after learning that Australian Daniel Scali set the total at 3,182 in April 2022.

Speaking of Scali, here is an article on his accomplishment. 

Here is a YouTube video by what appears to be the Guinness official YouTube channel. The description states: The most push ups in one hour is 2,220 and was achieved by Carlton Williams (UK) in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia, on 25 July 2015. Clearly, the record could have been broken since 2015. But it goes to show that not all things line up. 

And here is why you cannot trust #FakeNews - 

From the Nashville Scene: The Associated Press reports that a 12-year-old in Murfreesboro did 3,669 push-ups in one hour recently, which is probably a new world record. The young man, Tim Sikes, would do 75 push-ups, then rest for 15 seconds, then do 75 more, and so on. The previous record of 3,416 push-ups, according to the Guinness Book of World Records, was set 28 years ago.

(emphasis was mine)

No such AP article could be found. However, an article by The Huron Daily Tribune may shed some light on this: "What began as a quest to beat his dad doing push-ups as a 12-year-old ended 28 years later with a likely world record for Tim Sikes."  The Left has minimal reading comprehension skills (the Nashville Scene is a notoriously Left-Wing rag), and this demonstrates it. They claimed Sikes was 12 at the time he broke the record. However, Tim Sikes was 40 when he performed 3669 push ups in one hour. 

Also, several of the articles linked above stated Sikes "did sets of 75 push ups for the hour." That is partially true. Sikes did four sets of 75 to start, then went to 60-pushup sets after that. 

The Industry Standard

In the martial arts world, there was major headline news recently. A jiu-jitsu student was awarded $46 million in damages. In writing and on YouTube, the jiu-jitsu community is apoplectic. Mr. Iturralde, the man who caused the injury, stated that Rener Gracie gave false testimony when serving as an expert witness. As of the publishing of this article, it has not been easy to track down what part of Gracie's testimony was considered false by Iturralde. 

Gracie put out a video, explaining what he testified to, and correct application of the technique in question. 

YouTube personality and MMA coach Ramsey Dewey put out a video in which he decried what he stated were Gracie's claims, and made some other observations, as well. However, the video is chock-full of inaccuracy about Gracie's testimony, claims, and also relies heavily on assumption of things not stated. This is not typical of Dewey. Dewey is usually right on the money and very accurate. Here are the more erroneous claims:

• Dewey claims Gracie called himself the industry standard with regards to banning certain more dangerous techniques. This is patently false. Gracie stated the industry standard is that there are banned techniques - most every training studio bans specific injurious techniques. Gracie urged all studios to adopt this practice, and that is very wise. 
• Dewey claims Gracie called himself the industry standard with regards to having a syllabus of techniques that students need to learn. In so doing, Dewey committed a hasty generalization fallacy, as his claim is patently false. Gracie stated the industry standard is that there is a list of things students need to learn in most studios. Gracie urged all studios to adopt this practice, and that is very wise. 
• Dewey observed that Gracie testified that the studio in question did not separate beginner and advanced classes. Dewey drew the conclusion that this meant Gracie advocates "white belts only spar with white belts." Gracie never testified to that, and it is a completely erroneous statement by Dewey. This was a straw man fallacy to be sure. Dewey goes on to point out (accurately) that white belts are the most dangerous people in the studio. A better interpretation might be that Gracie insinuates that advanced students ought not apply more dangerous techniques to newer students. Also, the industry standard is to separate beginner and advanced classes, for just this reason. 
• Dewey made several snide comments on the Gracie University online learning. This came across as sour grapes. 

Summary

Martial Arts studios should have a syllabus. And most do!

Martial Arts studios should have a written list of banned techniques. Most have banned techniques, but this author would question how many studios actually write down the banned techniques. 

Martial Arts studios should have beginner and advanced classes. Most martial arts studios do. 

Gracie spoke to the industry standard and was correct. One who disagrees so vehemently might do so because they are guilty of not adhering to those minimum standards. 

Misleading Slogans

New Label: "Misleading Slogans"

Some years back, this author read a book, and there was a line in the book that was very poignant. "It is a slogan, and is misleading, as all slogans are." The irony is the statement is, itself, a slogan of sorts. Nevertheless, it is true. 

As an example, this blog has an article from 2013 on whether to cross the feet when applying an arm bar. In Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu ("BJJ") circles, there exists a slogan, "don't cross the feet!" The article from this blog goes into detail about why that slogan exists, and how it can be faulty. 

As research was being done for future blog articles, it became painfully clear that many "known truths" in our society are deeply flawed. Since so many of these had slogans attached, the need for this new label became evident. 

Some of the misleading slogans being worked on for future blog entries:

• Women communicate better than men. 
• Police / Military have a corner on firearms training. 
• Liberals are more compassionate than conservatives.
• And more...