Shin-kicking world champion wins title with painful training
www.gloucestershirelive.co.uk
The shin-kicking world champion from Cheltenham has taken a strange approach to training to defend the title

cross-posted from: https://feddit.uk/post/13205301

A man who became the shin-kicking world champion on his first try has successfully defended his title, having trained by hitting a hammer on his shins nearly every day for a year. The world champion set his sights on becoming the five-time champion of the bizarre 17th century English sport.

Mike Newby, 34, an account director who lives in Cheltenham with his girlfriend, Geo Legate, 27, competed in the Cotswold Olimpick Games – which celebrates English folk sports and games, such as tug of war, hammer throwing and the main event, shin kicking – on May 31, 2024.

The winner of the competition is crowned the world champion and has their name added to a trophy which is displayed in Chipping Campden, home of the Olimpicks, all year round.

Just a few weeks after winning the 2023 edition of the competition, Mike hit the gym, did cardio, struck his shins with a hammer, and practiced martial arts almost every day for a year. It paid off, he won all three of his rounds this year and came out unscathed, having broken two toes last time around.

During the competition he was up against “humongous” men, and relied on his signature move “the shin wheel” – which involved kicking his competitor in the shins and pulling them around so they tripped over his legs – to secure maximum points.

…

Mike told PA Real Life: “When I won, I really couldn’t believe it. There’s a person who dresses up as Robert Dover, the original founder of the games, in a royalist Civil War costume, and I grabbed their sword and just went up the castle holding the sword and cheering – I felt a bit like Maximus from Gladiator. The experience was just mythic, it was amazing.”

  • ᴇᴍᴘᴇʀᴏʀ 帝@feddit.ukOPMEnglish
    2·
    5 months ago

    In all fairness, they were only little taps of the hammer:

    In preparation, Mike went to the gym every day, hit his shins with a hammer to help strengthen them every few days, and continued doing martial arts, sharing his progress on his Instagram under the handle @idahomike_.

    Regarding the hammer, he said: “You don’t have to hit very hard, just regularly, and over time, it gets less and less painful and then you can hit a bit harder every time. So you do it within your own tolerance of pain.