In a small health club tucked away in Changi, the sound of slamming arms echoes off the partitions. Athletes of all ages practice rigorously, perfecting method and constructing energy.
Arm-wrestling isn’t only a train in machismo or a celebration trick for this rising neighborhood—it’s a severe sport, and it’s gaining momentum right here due to pioneers like Gregory Yeo.
The 30-year-old Gregory is the person behind Eastside Arm Wrestling: Singapore’s first devoted arm-wrestling health club, the place fanatics collect 4 instances per week for membership apply periods. And he’s hoping the game will grow to be a mainstay.
Gregory Yeo competed in arm-wrestling competitions throughout the globe
Rising up, Gregory arm-wrestled right here and there—like many different teenage boys.
“I used to be in a boys’ faculty, Maris Stella, and it was commonplace to arm-wrestle with buddies in between courses,” he recalled. “I used to be fairly robust, however by no means actually the strongest child, so after taking my fair proportion of losses, I made a decision to take to the Web to be taught strategies concerning the sport to beat my buddies.”
That marked the beginning of his obsession. In 2010, at simply 15 years outdated, Gregory started learning arm-wrestling severely—watching YouTube tutorials, studying boards, and analysing all the things from grip angles to leverage mechanics.
However for a number of years, the game took a again seat as he targeted on faculty and aggressive bowling, the place he represented his faculty in tournaments.
It wasn’t till 2016 that issues took an actual flip—Gregory travelled to Malaysia to compete in his first “correct” arm-wrestling match. Since then, he has competed in occasions throughout the globe, together with the Worldwide Federation of Armwrestling (IFA) World Armwrestling Championships in Paris, King of the Desk Worldwide in Dubai, and Over The High Down Beneath in Gold Coast, Australia, amongst many others.
Competing was one factor, however Gregory by no means actually had a correct place to coach. When he first joined the arm-wrestling scene 15 years in the past, there have been barely any gamers—most likely solely about 5 “severe” arm-wrestlers in Singapore, he estimated.
Coaching often occurred at a buddy’s home (who was additionally a competitor) or below the void deck close by. Then, beginning round 2018–2019, he skilled outdoors a bar alongside Round Highway.
To offer the game “a sure stage of legitimacy,” Gregory determined to take issues into his personal arms, and that’s when Eastside Arm Wrestling happened. The health club was launched in Sept 2025 with startup prices of round S$10,000 to S$20,000.
How a lot does Singapore’s first arm-wrestling health club price?
At Eastside Arm Wrestling, a S$30 day move grants full entry for someday, whereas month-to-month packages begin at S$99. Members come collectively for coaching periods on Tuesday, Friday, and Saturday evenings, in addition to Sunday afternoons, every lasting 4 hours.
Throughout these periods, pullers—a time period used within the arm-wrestling neighborhood for opponents—spar on competition-standard arm-wrestling tables, refining strategies, testing energy, and, simply as importantly, having fun with the camaraderie. Senior members information newcomers via the fundamentals and fundamentals, serving to them construct correct kind and confidence.
As a result of arm-wrestling is a extremely technical sport, many of the coaching focuses on sport-specific workouts, which embrace working with specialised instruments and tools. However the health club additionally incorporates basic energy and conditioning, making certain members keep general health and forestall accidents from muscle imbalances.
Supporting this coaching is a workforce of skilled coaches, lots of whom have clinched medals at abroad competitions. They provide one-on-one teaching for members making ready for tournaments, serving to athletes take their expertise to the following stage.
Singapore has over 500 aggressive arm-wrestlers
At present, Gregory shared that as much as 15 members present up on peak coaching days—however he hopes to see that quantity develop, although he admits that the game continues to be in its early days.
I consider arm-wrestling nonetheless has a protracted option to go when it comes to receiving mainstream recognition in Singapore. We’re very a lot nonetheless a really grassroots stage sport.
That mentioned, the area people has expanded steadily over time, with round 500 pullers now lively throughout Singapore.
A lot of this progress occurred throughout the COVID-19 period, from late 2019 onwards, spurred by on-line personalities similar to Larry Wheels and Devon Larratt who introduced international consideration to the game, shared Gregory. “Earlier than that, arm-wrestling in Singapore was very sluggish rising, gaining solely possibly three to 4 arm-wrestlers per yr at greatest,” he defined.
Whereas the game as soon as primarily attracted these already concerned in strength-based disciplines, that’s not the case. Lately, many newcomers have little to no expertise in energy sports activities, and the neighborhood can also be various, with individuals starting from as younger as 12 to as outdated as 60.
Nonetheless, hurdles stay. Based on Gregory, the largest problem the game faces is funding. “Arm-wrestling itself isn’t costly to coach for,” he defined. “However competing requires a considerable quantity of sponsorship. The largest tournaments are often both in Europe or North America, which may be very costly to journey to from Singapore.”
To deal with this, Gregory has made athlete sponsorship a key aim for Eastside Arm Wrestling. He’s funding a few of these efforts personally—in 2023, Gregory sponsored 5 junior arm-wrestlers to compete on the World Championships in Kuala Lumpur, and final yr, he introduced in a workforce of Filipino arm-wrestlers to compete in opposition to native pullers.
Recognising arm-wrestling as a nationwide sport
Trying forward, Gregory needs to take the game to the following stage. Eastside Arm Wrestling has been working intently with the Singapore Armwrestling Federation, an organisation that develops, governs, and promotes arm-wrestling in Singapore, with the long-term aim of attaining Nationwide Sports activities Affiliation (NSA) standing.
Reaching NSA standing could be a serious milestone—it could formally recognise arm-wrestling as a nationwide sport in Singapore, opening doorways to authorities funding, sponsorship alternatives, and structured athlete growth programmes. It might additionally increase public visibility and pave the way in which for it to be featured in additional mainstream sporting occasions.
“I really feel just like the founding of the health club is an effective step in the appropriate route in direction of this aim,” mentioned Gregory. He believes that constructing a robust, constant area people is essential, coupled with robust performances in worldwide competitions.
On his half, Gregory continues to advertise arm-wrestling via social media and neighborhood outreach, hoping to draw extra individuals to the scene. Throughout the subsequent couple of years, he additionally plans to develop Eastside Arm Wrestling to a bigger area geared up with extra professional-grade gear.
“I’d like for extra of our athletes to be competing at huge worldwide occasions such because the Asian Championship or World Championships, and hopefully we may have a number of extra medalists inside the subsequent a number of years.”
- Discover out extra about Eastside Arm Wrestling right here.
- Learn different articles we’ve written on Singaporean companies right here.
Featured Picture Credit score: Eastside Arm Wrestling
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