Growing up, Heidi Cordner was always arm wrestling with her father, brothers and cousins.
At any family event, they would end up arm wrestling, Cordner says it was her family’s "schtick."
Arm wrestling was just always part of Cordner’s life, who is now the math department head at Huron Heights Secondary School in Newmarket.
Even when she went on her first date with her husband, Kelly, she arm wrestled with him and beat him.
Kelly, having seen an arm wrestling event before, then began to tell her about how she could actually participate in arm wrestling events and compete professionally.
That’s when the thought of competing began to cross her mind and, about 25 years ago, she went to her first tournament, but didn’t do that well.
She and Kelly ended up getting married shortly after and had two sons, and then 12 years ago, she decided to re-commit herself to the sport after meeting a coach.
“I’m a very competitive person by nature and I just really enjoyed the arm wrestling community, it’s like a big family,” she said.
Known as the “Tower of Power,” Cordner has won multiple gold medals at the Canadian championship and multiple Ultimate Armwrestling League titles as a heavyweight.
Cordner said the sport has appealed to her because it’s so welcoming with it being a smaller sport in Canada and a tight-knit community.
“If you’re committed to the sport, you can really climb quickly in it,” she said. “And I just love it, I get such a rush out of it.”
One of the most decorated arm wrestlers in Canada, Cordner recently competed in an AWC (Armwrestling Canada) event in Mississauga against Sweden’s Anna Gronlund, a multiple world champion.
It was a special experience because the match was broadcast on Triller TV and the best-of-five supermatch went all five rounds with Cordner winning 3-2.
“It was awesome,” she said. “My family was there supporting me and my parents — my dad is in a wheelchair — were able to watch it live on pay-per-view. It was exciting.”
Getting ready for an event is no small process, Cordner says it takes four or five months to get ready with specific wrist, forearm, and hand training on top of regular weight training.-Mixed in with the weight training, Cordner says there’s table time where she arm wrestles mostly with men because it’s a male-dominated sport.
“You can develop your strategy and positioning at arm wrestling team practices,” she said.
Cordner encourages those who are interested in arm wrestling to find a local club and get involved. She says it’s a unique sport in that anyone can do it and most people have tried it at least once with their friends or family.
“You do have to be careful, but if you’re looking to get into it, there’s lots of clubs across Canada,” she said. “Clubs are always very welcoming.”
