Advanced Phonebook Tearing Techniques

[The Locust]

Advanced phonebook tearing techniques by Clay Edgin

This article is a follow up to the first article I wrote on ripping a phonebook with what is now commonly called the "popping" technique because of the sound the binding makes when you rip the book in this fashion. I'd say that the popping technique is good for beginners, the sideways rip good for more intermediate rippers, and the Grip N' Rip is for those who have already annihilated books with the first two techniques.

In my opinion, no matter how you rip the book, the end result is that the book ends up in two pieces and your hands get stronger because of it. I've had noticeable strength gains in other aspects of my grip training by only ripping phonebooks. In fact, I credit climbing two levels of the Mash Monster Pyramid to the strength I gained from phonebook tearing with the popping technique, even without doing any other grip training.
I'll be showing two different techniques, the first of which is a variation of what I learned from David "Gorilla Hands" Erives. David has incredibly strong wrists and hands and I was fortunate to learn some stuff from him. Some of the feats I've seen him perform are an inverted (spring pointing down) #4 close, two finger 50lb blob lift, and giving the Inch dumbbell some serious air time.

To begin, grab the book with one hand on top of the pages and one hand on the bottom (non-bound) side of the book as shown in the picture below:



In this picture, the binding side of the book is in my left hand at the top of the picture

From here, you are going to twist your hands in opposite directions which will cause the pages in the middle to be sheared right in half. In these pictures there are a couple inches of space between my hands on the book, but you will want to start with your hands a little closer together so you can feel how the pages shear apart. To modify your position, simply slide the hand at the top of the book down towards the other hand. In the picture above, I would just slide my left hand down about an inch.



You can see in the picture above that the hand position somewhat resembles how your hands are set on a deck of cards when you are ripping it. That is, you've got a hand on top and bottom of the deck and they're twisting in opposite directions. Keep twisting. You'll see that the pages are forming a "S" shape. The tear will begin right in the middle of that "S". If you are only getting a little tear in a few of the pages or nothing is happening, try twisting your wrists back and forth in opposite directions which should encourage the pages to shear more evenly. It's almost like a wiggle. There is a video lower in this article that shows you what I mean. Alternatively, you can slide your hands closer together which will force those pages to tear more cleanly. The closer you can keep your hands into the middle of the tear while ripping, the cleaner the tear will be. A perfectly executed rip will leave you with two halves of the book that look like they were cut with a saw - nice, crisp, and straight.



Here the pages have sheared. You can see how clean the tear is and this clean tear usually follows all the way down the book. From here you can either just continue to push your hands in opposite directions or regrip like in the picture below:



When I can get my right thumb into the tear on the book, it's simply a matter of gripping tight and pulling with the left hand and pushing with the right hand to finish off the book. Having my thumb around the inside of the tear like that eliminates the possibility of the pages ripping off one at a time.

http://www.nmstrongman.com/sidewaysbook.WMV
http://www.nmstrongman.com/doublesidewaysrip.WMV


Technique Two - The Grip N' Rip

This is the technique some of the best phonebook rippers use and is considered by many to be the only legitimate way to destroy a phonebook. While that is up for debate, there's no question that it takes strong lower arms to pull this off. At its most basic, this technique is just about clamping on with two vices and pulling the book apart.

I am right handed and prefer to rip with the left hand holding the top of the book on the binding side and the right hand on the loose page side as in the picture below.



What isn't obvious in the picture is that the corner of the book on the binding side is being bent down with the heel of my left hand. I'm bending the binding side of the book here. From here, I will move my right hand out of the way so that the loose page side flops down and then grab it like in the picture below. Don't worry, there are a couple videos lower down the page that show how to do it. The hard part about writing an article about something like this is that it sounds good in my head but I already know how to do it.



Now hopefully you can really see the bending of the book in my left hand. At this point I have also started began to tug at the book and just like with the sideways rip above, you can begin to see the "S" forming in the middle of the book near my left index finger knuckle. This is where the pages begin to shear. From this position, execute the following motions with each hand:

Left Hand - Continue to bend the binding side of the book down and clamp very tightly with your hand. Lefty's main objective is to bend the book in this fashion and keep it braced tight against the body so that Righty can tug and rip the book.

Right Hand - After gripping very tightly and getting your hands into the position shown above, push your thumb pad/heel of your hand into the book and pull back and up with the right hand. It's kind of like peeling a banana or pull starting a lawn mower. Those analogies may not make sense until the first time you get the technique right, so if that confuses you then just move on.

After you have executed these instructions, you should have a tear in the book as shown:



Now the easy part! Continue bracing that book with the left hand against your body and keep pulling with the right hand. If you feel your right hand start to slip off the pages, move it closer to the tear in the book and stick your thumb through the tear as shown 4 pictures up. Then just finish 'er off.

To onlookers, when done correctly it appears that you have just gripped and ripped the book without any kind of real technique. When I have done shows in the past and asked for volunteers to try to rip a book, almost all of them start with both hands on top of the book and they try to just pull it apart. The way they do it, I don't think there is anyone in the world that can rip a book in that manner. This Grip N' Rip technique as used on thicker books looks like a lot like what they were trying to do so it doesn't look like there is some top secret technique involved. And while it is a simple technique to learn, the strength required to rip a thicker book this way is much higher than that which is required for the popping or sideways technique.

http://www.nmstrongman.com/gripnrip.WMV
http://www.nmstrongman.com/abqgripnrip.WMV

[builderB]

wtf, hij scheurt em alsoft écht helemaal niets is

sggrk en 't is gebeurd...