FLORENCE, Ky. — A northern Kentucky man is attempting to become a world champion in arm wrestling 50 years after his father earned that title.
It’s not the money or the recognition, but getting out from under his dad’s shadow that drives him.
One might think a man who has won 89 titles and two national championships has nothing left to prove. But for Lanny Julian Jr., there’s one man left to beat: Lanny Julian Sr.
“My dad. He arm wrestled for 13 years. He’s a former world champion. That’s the reason I’m doing this now. It’s the 50 year anniversary of his world championships. So it seems like a good, pivotal year to do this,” Julian Jr. said.
He’s heading to Malaysia to compete in the Arm Wrestling World Championships for the first time at 56 years old. While he’s driven to match his father’s accomplishment, it was his granddaughter who gave him the push he needed to pursue the title.
“She goes, ‘I’ve never seen you arm wrestle before. Could I see before I go back home?’ [I said] sure. Well, the closest contest was in Chicago at Nationals. And that’s how the blind squirrel found the nut, and qualified to go to Malaysia,” Julian Jr. said.
It would be easy to assume all of Julian Jr.’s strength is in his arm. But he says most of it is in his head.
“There’s a lot more technique. A lot of it is mental. You can think your way into beating people. Much bigger people. I’ve done it a lot. That’s the whole thing I’ve done with this entire thing, is I’ve got a little motto that I’ve used,” he said. “It came from the book called “The Secret.” It’s called thoughts become things. You just think about it. You manifest it to happen.”
Having a champion father would also seem to be an advantage, but Julian Jr. said Julian Sr. wasn’t able to pass down much advice.
“He tried to, but I was a stubborn 15-year-old teenager that didn’t listen to him. I did it all off of just watching old films of him, and stuff like that. I refused to listen to him,” he said.
When asked if that ever changed, Julian Jr. said, “Not really, no.”
The two are close now, but still talk little about arm wrestling.
“I want to get out of that shadow,” Julian Jr. said.
Months of training, honing his skills and cutting over 70 pounds to make his weight class give Julian Jr. a great shot to win in Malaysia, but nothing is given.
“Everybody loses at this sport. You’ve got to be as humble as can be,” he said. “I don’t know what I’m up against with this.”
That could be a lot of pressure for someone competing to become world champion, but when it comes to arm wrestling, Lanny Julian Jr. believes in himself wholeheartedly.
“There’s no ‘if,’ or anything of it. [It’s] ‘when’ it happens. Positivity, always positive. You don’t ever think about the losing portion of it,” he said.
Julian Jr. Will weigh in on Sept. 26, and compete for world champion of his age group on Sept. 28.