# How difficult is the "villian choke"? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 2, 2006, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-difficult-is-the-villian-choke/346711 "2006-03-02T01:44:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Operation\_Ripper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/34f0e0/32.png) [@Operation\_Ripper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Operation_Ripper)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2006, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-difficult-is-the-villian-choke/346711/21 "2006-03-02T18:12:58Z")
Oh, I too know it is entirely possible, just not by the average joe. I’ve met a number of people who, regardless of their size or musclature, were just (genetically I suppose) incredibly strong. My father being one example, as a teen I was twice his size but on occasions when needed to he could easliy pick me up by one hand in a manner similar to the “villain choke” even if he wasn’t mad. Unfortunately, he didn’t pass it along genetically to me though. Instead he gave me his receding hairline. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2006, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-difficult-is-the-villian-choke/346711/22 "2006-03-02T19:10:10Z")
> [@Operation Ripper](#): > > Oh, I too know it is entirely possible, just not by the average joe. I’ve met a number of people who, regardless of their size or musclature, were just (genetically I suppose) incredibly strong. My father being one example, as a teen I was twice his size but on occasions when needed to he could easliy pick me up by one hand in a manner similar to the “villain choke” even if he wasn’t mad. Unfortunately, he didn’t pass it along genetically to me though. > Instead he gave me his receding hairline. Genetics can suck, can’t they? NO matter how much I work out, I know I’m never going to develop Super Badguy Strength. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2006, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-difficult-is-the-villian-choke/346711/23 "2006-03-02T19:14:25Z")
> [@Cheesesteak](#): > > Mathochist, I think the height difference would make it easier. The neck is about 10" below the top of the head, so dnooman would have been lifting from a point about eye level, not higher than his own head. The top point of dnooman’s hand position would have been maybe 3" above head height, not difficult to reach at all. > . It should make it easier, not only for the reasons you state, but also because the closer your arm is to being straight, the more pushing or lifting strength it has. Some exercise machines in gyms incorporate this fact into their design, in that greater resistance is brought to bear when your arm or leg is near full extension. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2006, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-difficult-is-the-villian-choke/346711/24 "2006-03-02T19:19:34Z")
> [@Spectre of Pithecanthropus](#): > > Genetics can suck, can’t they? NO matter how much I work out, I know I’m never going to develop Super Badguy Strength. And thus, I have to rely on minions and henchmen to carry out my nefarious ends. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2006, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-difficult-is-the-villian-choke/346711/25 "2006-03-02T19:21:51Z")
> [@Spectre of Pithecanthropus](#): > > It should make it easier, not only for the reasons you state, but also because the closer your arm is to being straight, the more pushing or lifting strength it has. :dubious: This is true when the triceps is involved … but the OP’s narrowly defined conditions should be involving basically _only_ the deltoid muscles of _one_ arm. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2006, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-difficult-is-the-villian-choke/346711/26 "2006-03-02T19:26:18Z")
I’d wager that true "straightarm “hold and suspend at arms length distance” holds are very rare in real life as 1: They are nearly impossible to do with anyone of size, even for strong people 2: People citing stories of these situations where they are lifting or tossing or hoisting others are highly likely to be employing bent arm or bent torso leverage at some point in the process the vast majority of the time. “Strongest man in the world” type guys might manage it with a small person but I’d wager even these bruisers couldn’t hoist a 200 lb man off the ground in straight (non-bent) arm grab and keep him suspended off the ground at (unbent) arms length for more than a few seconds. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2006, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-difficult-is-the-villian-choke/346711/27 "2006-03-02T19:42:46Z")
> [@astro](#): > > I’d wager even these bruisers couldn’t hoist a 200 lb man off the ground in straight (non-bent) arm grab and keep him suspended off the ground at (unbent) arms length for more than a few seconds. Even “a few seconds” would be hugely impressive though, if possible. There’s a book called _Gem Of The Prairie_, about crime and prisons in 19th-century Chicago and other midwestern cities, containing a story about a _female_ prisoner in Denver who picked up a guard with one hand, held him, and _tore off his beard_ with the other hand. I suspect there was some exaggeration in the telling and the repeating of that story. ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2006, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-difficult-is-the-villian-choke/346711/28 "2006-03-02T19:49:33Z")
> [@bordelond](#): > > :dubious: > > This is true when the triceps is involved … but the OP’s narrowly defined conditions should be involving basically _only_ the deltoid muscles of _one_ arm. On re-read … the OP’s conditions aren’t actually all that stringent. Never mind me. ---
**Author:** ![Rysdad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7cd45c/32.png) [@Rysdad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rysdad)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2006, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-difficult-is-the-villian-choke/346711/29 "2006-03-02T21:41:13Z")
While it might be nigh on to impossible to hold one guy like that with a straight arm, some of those guys in the World’s Strongest Man competition might be able to do it with _two_ guys of slight stature. They would counterbalance each other. So, maybe Magnus Magnusson (sp?) might be able to hold two Woody Allens straight out to the sides for a couple of seconds. Come to think of it, I’d bet he could. ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2006, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-difficult-is-the-villian-choke/346711/30 "2006-03-02T21:47:05Z")
> [@Rysdad](#): > > Magnus Magnusson (sp?) Magnus ver Magnusson. Magnus Magnusson is/was the host of Mastermind. ---
**Author:** ![dnooman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/839c29/32.png) [@dnooman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dnooman)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2006, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-difficult-is-the-villian-choke/346711/31 "2006-03-03T00:03:28Z")
> [@Mathochist](#): > > What you’re describing sounds more like getting _under_ the neck and pressing up to lift the body than the proper outstretched-arm lift described in the OP. If this is what **dnooman** meant, then that’s an entirely different story. > > **dnooman** went out of his way to imply that it _was_ what the OP described, though… I guess I wasn’t clear, I was definitely lifting under his neck. It was not an outstretched arm lift. Maybe I didn’t read the OP carefully enough. ---
**Author:** ![mittu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecd19e/32.png) [@mittu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mittu)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2006, 10:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-difficult-is-the-villian-choke/346711/32 "2006-03-03T10:21:15Z")
According to [this](http://www.engineeringtalk.com/news/abb/abb167.html) site the world record for the crucifix strongman event is 1 min 24seconds. The event involves holding two 12.5kg weights out to the side of the body for as long as possible. I’m not sure how the times acievable would change by allowing the competitors to raise their arms at an angle but this record does demonstrate that this feat is incredibly difficult considering that weights used here are about 6.5 times lighter than the average male. ---
**Author:** ![vibrotronica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/a9a28c/32.png) [@vibrotronica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vibrotronica)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2006, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-difficult-is-the-villian-choke/346711/33 "2006-03-03T17:44:24Z")
> [@Rysdad](#): > > So, maybe Magnus Magnusson (sp?) might be able to hold two Woody Allens straight out to the sides for a couple of seconds. I’d sure like to see that! The downside, of course, is that there would have to be TWO Woody Allens. One is quite enough, thank you. And, FTR, Darth Vader not only picked up the Rebel shocktrooper by the neck and held him aloft for an extended period of intense questioning, he nailed the dismount by crushing the soldier’s neck with one hand. Would that be possible, even if you weren’t holding your traitorous rebel scum victim aloft? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-difficult-is-the-villian-choke/346711.md?page=1)