Arm wrestler Brittany Sutherland, right, dreams of a national championship, and a trip to the worlds.
Brittany Sutherland had been arm wrestling, and winning, for years at the annual winter carnival on the Peguis First Nation in Manitoba when her husband wondered if there was further to go in the sport.
Two years ago, she attended her first provincial championships – and won. But at the 2015 nationals, the competition was intense. "It was a whole new level," Sutherland said. She was humbled but the next year she won provincials again and then returned to nationals far more prepared. She finished second.
This Canada Day weekend, at the 2017 national arm-wrestling championships in Halifax, Sutherland will be among 300-plus competitors, vying against each other in an array of categories. The nationals date to the early 1980s. In recent years, there has been a rise in participation from Indigenous communities across Canada, a story featured in a new documentary series, Arm Nation, set to appear on APTN in 2018.
Sutherland, 31, dreams of a national championship, and a trip to the worlds. She often wakes at 5:30 a.m. and trains for an hour – weights in her basement, where she also has an arm-wrestling table, and flipping tractor tires outside. She had recent setbacks in her regimen, so Halifax may not be her moment, but her goal is in sight. And she has also drawn others to the sport on the Peguis First Nation. This will be the second July that she will help stage a competition at the annual treaty days and pow wow.
"I love the adrenalin that I get from arm wrestling," Sutherland said. She paused, and then laughed: "And I love that I win."
The idea for Arm Nation, produced by Montreal-based Picture This Productions, came from Trevor Sanipass. He grew up in an arm-wrestling family on the Eskasoni First Nation, in Cape Breton.
Sanipass's father was a residential school survivor. His older brothers were successful arm wrestlers and he followed them into the sport. (The extended family has a sporting history: Sanipass's cousin, Everett Sanipass, played in the National Hockey League, and was also involved in the Canada-Soviet Union brawl at the world juniors in 1987.)
Trevor Sanipass's first idea was to highlight arm wrestling in general. He had seen Game of Arms, a reality show from the United States that ran in 2014.
"There's a misconception of arm wrestling, where it's just in bars and people drinking," Sanipass said. "There are serious arm wrestlers. We train extensively. And it's not just your arms. Every body part matters: Your fingers, your legs, your core. And your diet."
Sanipass had built a network in the burgeoning Indigenous arm-wrestling community. He and Sutherland met at the nationals in 2015.
Maureen Marovitch, creative director of Picture This Productions, at first was skeptical. "Arm wrestling, really, is that a sport?" she wondered. But the idea of Indigenous arm wrestlers was interesting. Her company has told other Indigenous stories. The sport, and the people, drew her in.
"It's chess and strength combined," Marovitch said. "And it's always people's stories, their life and struggles."
Picture This has chronicled a dozen or so main characters. Thirteen episodes are planned for APTN in 2018.
Rick Pinkney has been part of organized arm wrestling in Canada since the start – back in the 1980s, when Sylvester Stallone starred in the arm-wrestling movie Over the Top. Pinkney is president of the Canadian Arm Wrestling Federation, and has refereed each year at the world championships since 2002. Among his competitive results, he was second at the worlds in 1998.
"We're starting to get more First Nations people coming out," Pinkney said. "We didn't before, which is really a shame. You need only one person in a community, no matter what community. I think Arm Nation will bring it."
At the world championships, Canada is not a force in arm wrestling. In 2016, Canada ranked 32nd among 48 countries, with a second- and third-place finisher. Russia was first, with 38 first-place finishes, followed by Kazakhstan in second overall, and Georgia in third.
Sanipass, who lives in the Halifax area, recalled arm wrestling as a balm to some in his community.
"Substance abuse and addiction was an issue," he said. "We have some arm wrestlers from my community who struggled but they overcame it. They focused on arm wrestling and training. That was their healing path."
As for his prospects at this weekend's nationals – he placed third in 2014 – Sanipass is uncertain. He spent much of the winter and spring in politics, running as an NDP candidate in the Nova Scotia election. He finished third in his riding in late May.
"I'm competing," Sanipass said nationals. "Am I ready? No." He laughed.
It's as much about the sport as it is the community, he said.
"Arm wrestling is picking up. We have more people coming in," Sanipass said. "It's like a big family, the arm-wrestling family."