Grandmaster Dennis Rogers and Iron Tamer Dave Whitley. These 2 men played an instrumental role in making my idea and dream a reality.
When I first thought up the idea of performing this feat again both Dennis and Dave thought I was nuts. I had already been told by my doctor last february to stop doing anything against my throat due to excessive scarring built up on the walls of my throat.
This scarring can cause serious problems, even life threatning. But I new I could do more and I know my body better than anyone else.I decided that if I was going to do this again then I will do it big.
I was already the first man that we know of to have a horseshoe bent in my throat so I did not want to do that. (I already did it at the strongman dinner in the lobby courtesy of Chris Rider) I decided lets see how many of these 5/8 pieces of steel I can tolerate in one minutes time. I said I would do 5, but I needed one person strong enough and comfortable enough to do this feat with me.
That man is Iron Tamer Dave Whitley.Dave has bent more bars across my throat than anyone else and he is also one strong bull when it comes to pulling power. When Dave told me he was nervous about the feat I told him I was scared too.
Here is why: I will do other things with a 5/8 piece of steel bar but never over my throat again. I loaded the video and as you can see when you start to cut the bar down in size and do multiple bars the pain is super intense as you can se in my face on the video. It is even worse than when I bend 3/4 4ft bar on top of my head. I’m very happy and at peace knowing what I have been able to accomplish. My neck as jacked up as it is will be happy too. It is just too risky to keep pushing the envelope any further.
In Uncle Iron Tamers own words:
WARNING: This video is disturbing because it shows something that, in any other circumstance, would be called attempted murder. DO NOT attempt this feat without the appropriate training. Seriously.
One of the most terrifying and literally… death-defying feats of strength I have ever even heard of, much less had the honor of performing. Mike Bruce has the strongest neck in the world. Period.
It was such an honor to be there for him and with him as he set this world record. Thank you Mike, for all you do. Thank you Dennis Rogers for the inspiration and guidance.
This is not a joke, it is very difficult and painful when you get up to thicker steel bars. You must be very careful and take years of training to build up the neck to withstand the trauma. Sur, you can let someone bend a bar across your throat but if you place the bar wrong and just one mishap you could be in lots of trouble. Some injuries that you could see are: collapsed trachea, crushed trachea, scarring or too much scar tissue like I have after 80+shows and too much trauma on my throat. This scarring can lead to plaque which then poses the threat of flaking off and shooting up an arterie which then can cause stroke or hemorrhage. This is why I officially retired this feat yesterday and I was blessed enough to go out with a bang and withstand the force of 7 bars total, 2 more than I said we would do.
Of course this event/record was made even better by my mentor Dennis Rogers wanting to be here for the event and even flying in on his own dime! I offered to pay his airfare and would not allow it. This deeply moved me that he believed in me enough to want to be here and take part in the event.
My dear friend “Iron Tamer” and the man that is like a Pop to me Dennis Rogers. Dennis blessed me by MC’ing the event and also performing some of his signature feats. David did the same and spoke about the RKC and Kettlebell, he closed with a great display of pinky strength and wrist strength performing some of his signature feats too.
I have done over 80 shows and this was the most nervous I have ever been. Many of my clients and friends in attendance recognized my nervousness by asking if I was ok. I was told it was my best performance yet and that my speaking was very polished. We were able to raise over $1,000 for both charities that I have the distinct pleasure of handing over the checks to the groups tomorrow day. To have 2 of my closest friends that I have utmost respect for was intense and awesome at the same time.
We had standing room only and even people in the hall looking in.
The Machine
(a special thanks to Mike Cornett)
You did an amazing job sir.
