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Okanagan competitors to be featured in arm wrestling documentary

Arm Nation, featuring competitions from Kelowna and Penticton, will air on Oct. 20 on APTN
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Image by Arm Nation.

You may be familiar with TV wrestling, but have you heard of TV arm wrestling?

Arm Nation will be premiering on APTN on Oct. 20 as Canada’s first documentary series about competitive arm wrestling that features a father-son duo from Penticton and a man from Kelowna.

According to a release from the show’s producer, Picture This Productions, the show “will bring viewers into the virtually unknown training, competitions and personal life battles of over a dozen Indigenous men and women who compete in one of the world’s oldest sports.”

Each episode will focus on two arm wrestlers and their personal and professional lives. Viewers will be able to follow along as several arm wrestlers appear throughout the series, detailing their journeys to become national champions.

Related: Father being featured in APTN’s Arm Nation

“Filmed across Canada, in large cities and the reserves of Eskasoni First Nation, NS and Peguis First Nation, Manitoba, the final three episodes of the series bring together all the characters as they travel to Nova Scotia for the Canadian Arm Wrestling Championships,” states the release.

Featured within the documentary are Richard Hensen and his son Laisen, Penticton Métis who only picked up the sport in recent years. Richard took home the silver medal in the 2016 Nationals and has been “training in a whole new style in an effort to win gold for both arms” at the next national competition, according to the release.

Frank Nuyens, an Ojibwe from Kelowna, is also featured in the documentary. He trains differently than average competitors as “he uses only his work as a diamond driller to build muscle” and “does not train at the gym” states the release.

A free, bilingual mobile game is available on the App Store and Google Play that allows players to “learn how to counter basic arm wrestling techniques against the top arm wrestlers in the series” states the release.

The series trailer is available on the show’s Facebook page. The show will air on APTN’s network at 7 p.m. local time and will also be available for streaming on www.aptn.ca.

To report a typo, email: editor@pentictonwesternnews.com.

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Richard Henson takes a round out of a punching bag at City Centre Health and Fitness while a film crew from Picture This Production filmed him for the Aboriginal Peoples Television Network Series Arm Nation. Western News file photo