August 29th - a date to remember Arm Raising is one of the world's newest sports, and was invented on the 29th of August by a Mr Gary Walker of Cheltenham. It involves holding your arms in the air for as long as possible, and was invented on an a Cheltenham Town AFC away-travel bus, on the way to Leek Town. What does it involve? Although the concept sounds simple - holding your arms in the air for as long as possible - there is really a lot more too it. Here is a basic explanation of the rules: Two players, one timekeeper, and four cans of coke are required. The timekeeper also acts as the referee, and his/her decision is final. A coin is tossed. Whoever loses the toss starts first (player 1). One minute after player 1 starts, player 2 commences. This adds drama towards the end. To start the competition, the player must thrust his arms up in the air and keep them there for as long as possible. Neither hands nor arms may touch each other, but the arms must remain as straight as possible. After a pre-arranged amount of time (45 minutes is reccommended), can of coke is to be placed into each hand of each player. The game finishes when both players have done one of the following: Put down one or both of their arms Dropped a can of coke Been disqulaified because their arms/hands touched three times Been disqualified after receiving three 'arm straightness' warnings from the timekeeper. Arm Raising should only be practised by experts. Please work your way up to it, perhaps by holding your arms straight out in front of you for half an hour per day for two weeks. Then try Arm Raising for five minutes per day for two weeks, and gradually work your way up towards a record time. No responsibility can be taken by the Arm Raising Committee for injuries caused by muscle strains or falling coke cans. Current Records Placing Name Time 1= Crump 1hr 6mins 31secs 1= Dab 1hr 6mins 31 secs Unfortunately, these are the only times we have at the moment. More to follow shortly. Variations There are numerous variations that can be made, but at the moment, the only one endorsed by the Committee is the 'Horizontal Arms' Competition. This involve holding your arms out at 90 degrees to your body. This is much more difficult, as can be seen by this record table: Placing Name Time 1= Gary 5mins 15secs 1= Mini-PJ 2mins 40 secs How did you do? If you have been practicing your Arm Raising, perhaps you'd like to let us know with your times. Unfortunately your times cannot be used in the Current Records table unless they are witnessed by a member of the Arm Raising Committe, however, we may include a separate table for non-official times in the future. To submit a time, or if you have any questions, then email robins.cheltenham@btinternet.com.

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