Dr. Douglas Edmunds, speaking on behalf of IFSA, told IronMind® that his organization parted ways with the 2006 Arnold Strongman contest because of IFSA's inability to come to an agreement with Arnold Strongman founder and chairman Dr. Terry Todd over the events, although Edmunds was quick to add that IFSA "is very supportive of what Terry does."

"We couldn't find any agreement in total," Edmunds said. "It's contrary to our ideas."

At one point, Todd's group was considering an event dubbed "the Kaz curl," which was a repetition clean, from the hang, with a pair of dumbbells, a concept that Edmunds called "just plain daft." IFSA favored the inclusion of a maximum log lift, something of a flagship event for its organization, especially because the branded IFSA log could have been used. Edmunds explained that this is a standard event worldwide and that it has "the look of IFSA," which is vital to the organization since it is focused on producing "spectacular TV," Edmunds explained. Edmunds also said that the leading IFSA athlete, Zydrunas Savickas, who has won the last three Arnold Strongman contests, is capable of breaking his own world record in the event. "Zydrunas told me that he is ready to do 220 [kg]," Edmunds said.

Much discussion centered around the Wheels, the Log and the Kaz Curl, but ultimately, Todd's group settled on adding a 500-kg Yoke event.

Edmunds noted that IFSA objected to this event, too, citing concerns from a health and safety perspective, saying, "I don't want my boys to get injured."

Asked about IFSA's safety concerns, Todd told IronMind® that this was the first time he had heard this raised and that while it was reasonable to assume there is always a risk of injury in strongman, he felt that a well-designed Yoke event actually posed little apparent risk.

Despite these disagreements, Edmunds had many good things to say about the Arnold Strongman contest, which he sees as an "all-comers" contest that will "expose the pretenders" and serve to counter "spurious claims" about who really is the top strongman.

"I support Terry 100% on this grand platform," Edmunds said. "It's unfortunate that we couldn't agree on events."