Is finger strength everything? An experiment...
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- čas přidán 2. 05. 2024
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My friend, Artur, has incredible finger strength but has never set foot in a climbing gym. I thought it'd be interesting to see how hard he can boulder with no experience. Turns out.... pretty hard!
Follow Artur: / archiepopoff
Filmed at Block10, Dundee.
Camera work by @Kim_Norrie
Thumbnail by @Kim_Norrie
Photography by @Kim_Norrie - Sport
Did Artur do better or worse than you expected? Comment below 👇
He was INCREDIBLE!!! So impressed with his Day 1 Hour 0!
Better, the foot work is amazing, can't believe it
Way better, the strength wasn't a surprise but he's got a really good intuition for how to climb and good footwork.
Better, I wasn't expecting him to get that purple but the orange before it I knew he would crush. It definitely helps a ton watching someone do the correct beta right before as well.Half the time its the micro beta and problem solving that makes a climb hard, the slab really showed that at the end but you shoulda threw him on a climb without showing him just to see that difference.
This guy NEEDS to be taken outdoor bouldering...
Magnus finally found a good disguise.
Based comment 😂😂
Got me so bad 🤣
hahahah
Funny comment lol
Legit LOLd at this. Five star comment.
I hope artur keeps climbing. He is the next magnus ondra
Yoo idat climbing arc?
We expecting any climbing vids from you soon idat?
You're probably doing your boulders bare feet :)
Time to show off your climbing apron!
brooo dudes been binging the climbing content too
This guy skipped the first year of climbing and started out as an intermediate climber ,insane
i think even skipped 2 years. hes a menance
more than that, in the beginning you pregress exponentially, if he regularly climb 1 year, he'll be as good as your average climber with 4-5 years of climbing, he already has the fitness for it
Man is using heel hooks like a pro I refuse to believe he’s never done this before
If it wasn’t him not knowing the rules or the names of anything I’d never have believed it!
There is a lot of heel moves in BJJ, wrestling etc. As a Judo expert, I'm sure he instinctually knows how to use his heels in ways the average person does not.
He also seemed to watch Mike very carefully, and simply copy
Same if I hadn't seen something similar, met a guy in the gym who didn't know the term heel hook. Which confused me cause he'd just got up something I'd been projecting in the 6Cish range. Turns out he'd been climbing like half a year, but learned outdoor in spain. He was already fit, and was a mechanic which seems like a joiner had given him the finger strength. Been obsessively climbing since. He's already at 7Bish not a full year in.
Yeah no way. He is smearing on the wall (14:32), doing heel hooks & drop knees (7:03). Cool vid, but obvious this guys know to climb.
With people that can climb so well on their first try, the joy the next day is hearing them say “everything hurts”.
can confirm this is what he said 😂
I also work in construction and before that was a mover, plus I'm 6ft so relatively tall, I've been climbing for a "year" but after starting I only went 3 times until 4 months ago when I actively started going. I was able to send 1 v4 route on my first time and could comfortably do v3s (and I spent 3 hours there), and I can absolutely confirm everything hurt for a week. But now today I almost sent my first V6, and can comfortably do most v5s 😁
"I'll be back for this!"
That's it! He's hooked!!!
Shall we do another video with him?
@@MikeBoydClimbs Absolutely! Take him outside, let's see how he does!
@@MikeBoydClimbs Please do!
@@MikeBoydClimbs Please do! This whole thing is incredibly fascinating
@@MikeBoydClimbsyeah 100
Another factor which I think must play into Artur's astounding natural ability: body awareness from judo. He seems to intuitively understand how the placement of his centre of mass affects his ability to stay on the wall. The way he naturally rocks over into his feet to reach the next hold (something _many_ novice climbers struggle with), the way he naturally tries to keep his hips close to the wall... Super interesting to watch. Hope he enjoyed it and maybe even sticks with it!
bro flashed a V5 in his first session while most people can't ever flash V5s after years of climbing
not sure who you're climbing with but they don't sound very athletic 🤣 almost slightly depressing
@@AutonomousPlayground Depends where you climb. I've been to the gym Mike's climbing at in this video, I'd say the grading there is on the softer side but not ridiculously so, at least compared with other gyms around Scotland/the UK.
I went to Montreal for work last year and went from climbing V4 and the bottom end of V5 here to flashing multiple V5s and a V6 there, so it was definitely a lot softer. On the other end of the scale I'm sure there are plenty of people who've been climbing for years and can't do the moonboard V5 benchmarks.
This is the kind of person that does v7+ in their first year of climbing
I feel like a lot of people end up doing that
@@yoooooo4543 Around 20 percent in my gym can do a v7+ in general
Lol. He flashed a v5 in his first day without optimal beta. He could’ve probably sent a v7 if he tried all session. He’d send v15 on his first year
I did my first v7 after about 6 months of climbing, however I also did years of judo as a kid. So this comment is spot on 😄
@@nanojack97 that's ridiculously high. In my gym, I think it's closer to 1%.
This is insane I have never seen someone climb this good on a first go it looks like he toe hooks for the purple finish that is a serious technique....wow
He’s a fast learner too, he saw me using them and instinctively knew how to put them to good use!
I guess because you need to be familiar with leverage in judo probably helps with that.
Be careful with injuries Artur! It's common for beginners with a lot of finger strength to full crimp everything and get hurt (and also it contributes the most to pump!). Try the 3 finger drag, open crimp, and half crimp grips.
Good advice
not when u already have insane insane finger strength and body control though 😂he has built it up over his whole life
I’m about to go and try to send my first V4 in ~15 minutes and this guy just flashed one on his first time climbing 😭
A V5 as well 😅
GL
Nuts right?
I mean, grades indoors don't really mean a whole bunch and can vary wildly from gym to gym so I wouldn't worry too much about who flashes what and where. Just go have fun and enjoy the process of projecting something new
@@Carlosallouchimontero This gym if anything looks to be on the mid-tough end for grades
17:05 The giggling while falling off the wall and the rolling after falling is too much 😂❤
coach here, commenting for the second time on one of your videos:
wow! Artur, extremely impressive. highly unusual level to start at, and most of all it was so lovely to see you enjoying yourself
looking ahead - i'd predict a sort of plateau after this mad dash to fairly high grades at the beginning. Don't let this dissuade you, I think you have one of the more competition-ready sets of skills (body awareness, rhythm, considerate movement) i've seen from a beginner and if you give some time to developing the finer details of climbing movement we could be seeing the start of an incredible and hopefully long and enjoyable climbing career (regardless of where you decide to take it)
Mike - you're doing great too! It's been a delight to see your progress, and as a coach it's wonderful to see everyone's individual journey and their own puzzles to solve.
i'm coming to Edinburgh this month (to head further north and ride the Badger Divide), I hope to hop onto a wall there for some fun. you ever climb there?
Thanks for taking the time to leave such an insightful comment.
I’ve not climbed much around Edinburgh. Ratho has good indoor routes up to 26m. The quarry next door also has some spicy Trad and good sport routes. Enjoy! (Maybe checkout North Berwick too)
@@MikeBoydClimbs (side note, I kinda loved the seething competitiveness when you saw Artur hitting those more difficult climbs. So much energy it's great 😂 I guess that's how you succeed the way you do!)
I'm curious what your opinion is on the grading of the first couple boulders shown in the video. I personally feel that especially the ones of the easier levels (v2-4) looked harder. I could be biased by the grading I'm familiar with in my gym but I'm not sure.
As someone who has done judo and climbing for a couple years, I think they are more transferable skills than people would think at first.
Grip strength, biomechanics/body positioning, balance, flexibility, explosive power, and endurance are all things essential to both sports
It seemed to transfer extremely well for Artur!
@@MikeBoydClimbsi guess you're gonna have to see of it transfers the other way too now. 😉
As someone who did judo for like 10 years as a kid / teenager, I can confirm this is 100% true. I was able to pick up climbing (hard boulders) much faster than most, and judo definitely helped!
I'm curious if BJJ would transfer as well or if the standup balance is especially important. I think Judokas BJJ athletes would have similar grip strength, flexibility, body awareness, and explosiveness, but the balance would definitely be different
this is so awesome and now i really want to do judo again!
i did some as a very not athletic child and hated it lol, definitely the sort of stuff i can love now
what a champ, that attitude on the last boulder was amazing, just having fun even though he got constantly spewn off! that's what we love to see!
There was a crowd of people watching. Infectious!
Really impressive. This isn't just pure finger strength. Arthur seemed to intuitively understand how his centre of gravity affects his ability to stay on the wall but also move between holds. On the red one he actually smears, dips in and drives from the smear to create a pendulum to transition to the next hold. Mike relies on static movement, scumming against the wall and doing the move statically. Then at the end he smears on the wall again to form a stable position intuitively, he figured this out faster than Mike. On top of that his ability to gauge, set up and time deadpoints, do rock-overs and his foot placement is remarkable for a first timer.
mike "spotting" him by holding up his hands was the funniest thing
Crikey! I was really hoping this was going to be an undercover Magnus style video, at the end "Joke! By the way I've been climbing 3 years!", but no! Get this guy a gym membership!
At some point during filming, I thought the same thing!
@@MikeBoydClimbs Hannah getting her own back haha!
"You are soft, its better"
I am in disbelief watching Artur climb things that I spent sessions on trying to get, hope I see him at block10 sending more routes!
Brilliant Artur.
No surprise to me. Artur works with me all week and he’s a warrior
That was so entertaining, Artur is a pure athlete. Thanks Mike!
On the V3 Artur even did a little bit of an instinctive drop knee... absolute natural!
But also really scared for Artur's tendons... take care, Artur!
@@spspaceboyhis tendons are really strong from judo
Great concept for a video Mike, enjoy your climbing content. Its so awesome to see that youve actually discovered a potentially lifelong hobby from your series on your other channel.
Honestly love this climbing content especially cool when you see your local gym
the personality of a labrador got me, everyone has a friend like this! pure heaven
everyone should have a friend like this!
great vid its awesome to see you climbing and making great content for this great sport!
That means a lot. 🙏
Bloody hell, Artur sure is a natural. You sure he's not been secretly climbing for a year or so? 😁
Super fun to watch. Love the good vibes 👍
More videos of this guy. He's inspirational
Part 2 when!? I was so hyped for Artur
I think this kinda shows how much it helps being generally athletic before starting climbing. Also, he was climbing very straight on with the overhang routes which is by far the hardest way to climb anything overhang. That's where technique really plays a massive part in reducing the amount of effort needed to do moves
I actually do not believe he's never climbed before. I've never seen any pure beginner with this kind of intuition or technique. The flagging, the quiet feet, the precise toe placement, the shoulder positioning, the hip positioning, the list goes on. I love this channel and I think Mike does believe his friend has never climbed but unless Artur is the next Daniel Woods or Hoseok Lee (both climbed V9 in their first year I think - but with an insane amount of training) I'm calling total BS on Artur.
Flashing a V5 on your first day in the gym man what the hell, Ive been at it casually for 3 years and I've plateaued at V3-4
Also shows how much the mental game of climbing comes into play. Being positive, "puppy" mindset as you put it is huge. Something I can definitely learn from.
Me too!
What a nice guy. Looking forward to him climbing with us :)
I met a dude bouldering, i remember he was climbing some roof 6b's/6b+ and it was his 2nd or 3rd time climbing and I almost didn't believe him, because he was climbing some pretty spicy routes. Then he told me he had been practicing judo for 12 years, and he was only 17-18.
Interesting to see that judo really has a great carry over to climbing! But it makes a lot of sense in regards to not just grip strength, but over all strength. As well as fantastic body awareness and general "toughness"
Worth mentioning that footwork is a huge part of Judo, both in placement and pressure, so it's not surprising how good his footwork was!
Judoka (shodan) here: precise foot movement with exact shifting of weight is actually an important part of judo, so…
This is super Impressive! Think it shows that grip strength can definitely give you a very good head start! Think with a bit of practice on technique ( since it’s Literally his first time 😮) he can be an absolute SMASHER!
Can’t wait to see what he becomes!
The only thing I saw "wrong" from him in the lower grades (and that's a bit subjective), he was using his hands before thinking about his feet. Which is typical for everyone, it's also why his feet were silent. It's not a bad thing per se, it's just very inefficient and might be a reason why he was pumped a lot earlier than you were. (Which is absolutely crazy that this was the only thing to need improvement. He's crazy for a first timer)
And yes, do more vids with him ! At some point it could be funny to see with the rest of the british climbing youtube space !
I think we’ll try him on a sport route next!
The strength he had..on the v2, it looks like he lock off with only one hand..for a moment..on the v1, the way his hand are so solid when holding the hold..like not budging at all..goes to show that he is really strong!!..not to mention how he naturally uses is toe, and climb dynamically, to generate momentum..are you sure this is his first time?🤣🤣
Crazy strong!
This video is fake for sure
Great content! Interesting to watch, Artur is incredibly strong.
Wow. Rarely do I get stunned but I’m stunned
Very impressive! would love to see more to see how he progresses
EYYY, that Orange route you set was a 10/10 climb! Big ups to Artur!
nice experiment and viceo. more climbing!
This was amazing! I suspect the reason Artur might have been more tired at the end is because his moves were a little less optimized -- he was replacing feet/hands a bit more often, and doing certain moves with a little less "finesse". I think he was using more energy per climb. He did way better than I expected! Really strong performance, you were both showcasing why climbing is so fun!
Thanks for the insight!
This man should consider climbing some more ! Would love to see another video of you two challenging each other
I like how the "can I learn everything" channel has now become a climbing channel :D
very impressive for the first time. Hope to see him in other videos. To track his progress.👍
We’ve already booked him in!
Wow! This dude blows mind. I climbed for a year and half non stop and was stoked to climb V4
Hes crazy you hve to make more videos of his progress. That would be awsome!
This was a treat! Really really interesting to see how a skilled athlete in one sport or activity can apply it to another activity, in this case climbing. I think it highlights some really interesting things;
* The mental game is a huge deal. Artur has a can-do attitude and is super hyped to try his hardest. I think as climbers, most of us are painfully aware of how much attitude can hold us back - it is my primary struggle, by far.
* Sports where precise movement matters a lot, programs you to be precise and confident in your movement in other sports as well. I think this is why his movement - footwork in particular - was so quiet and confident. He has practised this for years in martial arts, and it transfers beautifully.
* Mike could do way better on overhangs, because this requires strength AND highly climbing-specific understanding of body positioning and balance, from a position that just doesn't really occur in other sports. This makes a lot of sense!
* Mike's V3 boulder is comfortably within the strength limit for Artur, but it also requires a lot of climbing-specific body positioning, and can't really be brute forced with just strength and/or confidence, it also requires "feel" and sensitivity with your feet, and just a reportoire of body positions that are not common in most other sports. Slabs remain the great equalizer, as always!
Overall this was super cool to watch. Artus could become a real monster if he wanted to! And I think for the rest of us, it's important to understand that his ability to climb didn't come from nothing, and certainly not purely from strength. He could transfer the mental game and body awareness to a large degree from previous sports. At least, that's what I'm going to tell myself...
Thanks for great words! I'm glad you liked watching my climb. You're right, judo really helps with the mental and precise moves. Appreciate your insight and support, it pushes me to do even better. Cheers!
This is so cool! It hadn't occurred to me before, but yeah - judo is probably a great on-ramp to climbing, what with all the gripping, leverage, body position, heel hooking etc
His understanding of momentum and balance is great. He saves a ton of energy keeping his arms mostly straight, whereas mine often stays engaged throughout the climbs. Teach this guy about opposition and finding the right hold Angle and he's got v7 for sure
Wow cool video, gives me more appreciation for the level of difficulty of the line you set!
Glad to hear that!
Damn, that's amazing body awareness! Intuitively using his contralateral coordination, toe- and heelhooks.
Also very quick at picking up betà!
Well done on the video Mike! Curious how his climbing will progress (:
Interesting how fearless he was! Really impressive first session. Skateboarding and calisthenics helped me to climb fearlessly and muscle through to V5 in a month or two, but after that the progression is much slower and technique/finger strength become so important.
Absolutely fearless. Definitely helped a lot
That boulder you set looks so good!!
Thanks a lot!
your friend has great body awareness, the way he moves his weight and tenses his hands/legs gives him great tehnique
I'm amazed! It's clear he knows how to use his body and shift weight. Great job!
I also started recently and I'm over 30, had never climbed before, but I used to do karate as a teenager, and the body coordination definitely helped me. I considered myself a very fast learner, made good progress in short time, but damn, THIS is fast progress. Hope he keeps at it and tries lead climbing as well 🤜🤛
First of all: Nice video, as per usual. Also Artur seems to be a real kind person and an incredibly impressive sportsman. Kudos to him.
Also - should you ever find yourself in Vienna and need a guide to the local bouldering gyms who's around or slightly above your climbing level, I'm your man. :)
I'll maybe take you up on that!
@@MikeBoydClimbs Would be chuffed. Went to beutiful Scotland a few years back and everybody was so warm and welcoming that I feel I have a debt to your countrymen. ;)
There is absolutely no way he hasn't climbed before... The way he did a toe hook at 13:51 really makes me think that he's climbed before
the boy's a natural! find him all the roof problems you can, he'll fall in love with the sport
Holy crap!! That's insane, would love to see you guys try bouldering outside together!!
I think we’ll get Artur on another video
@@MikeBoydClimbs So psyched for more, you’ve done a good job hyping up and recruiting a new possible climber 🥳
Just a little thing i noticed @mike Boyd: don't spot with straight arms. If they fall, they will "impale" themselves on your arms. Instead have a slightly bent arm, that way you will absorb some energy from their fall and you"ll find it much easier to guide them dynamically to a good landing position
But great video! I think i had similar things going for me that set me apart from the other people in my beginners course. Not the grip strength, but no fear to commit or to fall and an intuitive sense on how to use my body tension and center of mass on the wall. I didn't have the grip strength Arthur has, but I made up for it a lot with technique and was able to progress quickly and even more once I started to build the grip strength. I think my missing grip strength is honestly my limiting factor at the moment, so i should probably get on the hangboard a bit, which i mostly ignored so far. But I just did my first 8+ rope climbing (german system, no idea how that translates) after just under 2 years. And now an 8+ with a long roof section that i haven't managed to climb without sitting in the rope, but I'm sure I can full send it fairly soon now that I've figured out the moves. Climbing is just great!
That was really interesting to watch, his grip strength and body awareness were outstanding. Would be interesting to know how high a level he competes at Judo and would also be great to track his progress!
Awesome video, your friend's footwork (but even more so ability to position his body) is quite good for a beginner! He is lacking scapular strength on overhangs. You guys should try some benchmark problems on the moonboard etc to settle the level better :)
Such a good video, that was impressive! I didnt not expect.him to get purple at all, i thought red or maybe yellow. I havent been able to do a yellow there yet!
That's a good gym and good routesetting!
Very interesting video. As a martial arts practitioner who started my climbing inbmy 30's i can confirm that no fear of falling, good grip and general fitness helps a lot. I remember being able to climb v4 in my first session. Something you haven't mention is his ability to implement what he sees when you show the boulder in the first place, his body awareness is amazing and also due to his martial arts experience probably. He is struggling a little bit when it is more technical but no doubt in couple of weeks/months he will crush you
Possible the most talented first time climber I’ve ever seen. Shame he did t find climbing earlier in his life!!
I think he’s still in his 20s. Still got time to climb 9a if he puts his mind to it 😜
@@MikeBoydClimbs he really does! Looks like judo trains finger strength and body awareness incredibly well!
His laugh when he topped at 11:15 was such a telltale sign. He loved every second on the wall.
Also, his ability to trust his feet on that sketchy undercling at 14:54 is something even an experienced climber would hesitate on.
Thats super impressive!
Such an interesting Video. I would love to see him project a boulder and see how hard he can climb, because I'd imagine he'd able to project something ridiculously hard
He is a natural climber. With regularity he can do amazing things! I have met a couple of people like him and their downfall was trying to do too much too fast. Climbing is a sport that requires proper rests between climbing sessions, otherwise it's pretty easy to get injured.
I started off in the same boat as Arthur where I could do v4-5 within the first 3 months. His background, judo and work, really helped him translate some skills into climbing like dynamic moves, explosiveness, overall power too similarly to me where i did powerlifting for quite a while. His footwork is oddly insane compared though.
Wow, not only he's super strong but he has an innate ablity for good footwork, body position, commitment, even using heelhooks! wtf?! I hope you two can climb together more as he seems like a wonderful person to be around, I really envy his energy and positivism. And for you Mike, I'm going to recommend "Ping pong: the animation", is an anime about hard work vs innate skills and it's very, very good.
He is great to be around. Super nice guy. Will check out the animation.
i used to be black belt and teach jiu jitsu, but then got bored and stopped and didnt do any sports for like over 5 years I think.
Then I tried climbing and was immediately at V3/4 on the first session (I think I probably would've maxed at V4 then cause I had loads of problems with my feet when i first started).
I think from jiu jitsu/judo type sports, it's grip, shoulders, back, core, and no fear that gives the advantage. the weird movements, pulls and balancing you have to do when you're grappling and throwing is pretty similar muscles imo
When I saw him comfortably hold himself with one arm while smearing on the first climb I guessed he could get to that level, I took a judo friend climbing once and had a similar experience (only other sport I've heard where pulley injuries are common too). I did find myself going up a few v grades in Block10 but was an insanely impressive first climb.
You cant describe how insane hanging on an 8mm edge is without specific training. I would say go try it for yourself to see but dont. Most people will injure themselves.
I think arthur is a "feeling person" and his experiences throughout life definitely translate to climbing. Cool dude.
By the way, a match at the top should be 2 seconds hehe
Such a nice video in all ways :)
Really fun video! I guess the combination of grip strength and his strength/knowledge of body movement, leverage, momentum, etc all add up to equal climbing!
Glad you enjoyed the video!
Some of those fingery yellow climbs at Block 10 are hard as nails. Fair play!
I did judo for 10 years before climbing and this makes a lot of sense. You really how to pull with feet/heels in different ways and use body tension. If you’ve competed at an even higher level and have the grip strength I can see starting climbing at a really high level
I think, it is safe to say, that finger strength is VERY important in climbing. ...and you friends probably has a natural talent for climbing as well 👍👍💪💪👍👍☀️☀️
I think finger strength and general fitness helps a ton, but as someone who comes from a martial arts background it can't be understated how much body awareness helped here. Great first showing!
This is incredible Mike, really interesting to see how natural he was. Can I ask did you go first every time? As in did he watch you do every route before he got in to try it?
I’ve done wrestling and BJJ most of my life, and I relate to this man. Not in a bragging type of way but the skills were so transferable I sent a v6 about two-ish months into my climbing journey. I’m currently 5 months in right now. Highly recommend more strong grapplers to try climbing.
This is so impressive. He has incredible intuition. He flagges, heel hooks, foot swaps-the list goes on-and all of it seems to be based on intuition. It's not just his finger strength that is impressive; he also has basic technique down very well. He could be a very strong climber if he decided to pursue it more.
when you run into a a truly talented athlete, it feels unfair how easy everything comes. they really are different than the rest of us. and having the advantage of years of training crimpy gi grips and manipulating not just your own weight but a resisting opponent’s… your predictions had no chance
very interesting video and interesting experiment!
11:53 Damn that's such a nice chalk bag!
I think V5 is about the best I’ve seen anyone do their first time, and that was a pro gymnast. The footwork is the thing that blows my mind. Many people are strong, but they usually still try and put the ball of their foot on every hold when they start
Artur also seems to have a wider wingspan which seems to help in these long reaching climbs, but if you got him on a tighter climb his wingspan might become more of a challenge for him.
10:58 that ''Oh my god'' from you was the sudden realization that he was doing the route all wrong making it hard on himself and still holding on 😂😂