FOR many people, an arm wrestle is light-hearted and rare event.

Generally they take place to settle a friendly rivalry or assert the dominance of one ego over another, and are not to be taken seriously.

But in Swindon, there is a club that has taken arm-related combat to the next level.

Formed in 2004, Swindon Crusaders is a fully-fledged outfit that trains on a weekly basis and has champions in its ranks, with coach Julien Cini being a two-time British title winner.

I discover this on a visit Blunsdon House Hotel where Crusaders runs a number of their sessions, with 36-year-old member Jason Kelham revealing that he and his clubmates train for more reasons than they simply enjoy it.

“Sometimes people look surprised when you tell them you do arm wrestling, because they don’t know people do it seriously,” said Kelham.

“But this is what we’re trying to get over, that we do. It is a professional sport and we want to let people know about it a little bit more.

“We are very keen to promote the sport and show people there is much more to it than they might think.”

As Highworth resident Kelham subsequently explains, arm wrestling as a term is slightly misleading, as the sport forces participants to use their whole body in order to win.

While one arm is involved in combat, the other grips a handle on the table, and the remainder of the body is used to create maximum force behind the active arm. Even the position of the feet is crucial.

“There is an awful lot of technique involved,” continued Kelham.

“There are many different moves and many different names for them - people would be amazed.

“The two common moves are hook and top roll, but there’s many variations on both of those, and you just do whatever you think your opponent isn’t going to expect.

“Some people will do a hook because that’s where their strength is, and some will top roll because they have long arms. It depends on who’s on the other side of the table as to what you do.”

Competitions cover different weight categories to ensure fair contests take place, and Kelham assures me that despite the physical strain involved, injuries are very rare.

“Arm wrestling is a great sport to be involved in,” added Kelham, who is to compete in the Arm Wars series on Eurosport in 2012.

“You don’t need great big arms, you just need technique and a bit of strength. The bigger biceps don’t always win and it is just great fun.”

For more information about the Swindon Crusaders club pay a visit to http://www.crusaders.moonfruit.com/.