Grab your chalk, get your favorite gripper and give it a hard squeeze - just because there's a lot going on in the grip world right now.

For starters, George Champlin said that his Grippermania forum is approaching its one-year anniversary - we hear that it is the fastest-growing internet forum for the grip community and that it also has the most active members.

On the contest front, the Diesel Crew is getting ready to roll out its Global Grip Challenge on September 17 in what co-meet director Jim Smith is calling, "The biggest grip contest ever . . . Huge talent and a new champion will be crowned." Please check the Diesel Crew website for full details.

Straight from the Heartland of America, Kevin Fulton, CoC3 '99, is holding his Super Grip Challenge - VI on October 22 on the Fulton Farm, near Litchfield, Nebraska, with a contest that focuses on classic and widely-recognized tests of hand strength, mixed in a with a touch of all-around lifting. Please email Kevin Fulton for details: kevinnamy@nctc.net.

And on November 12, longtime English grip enthusiast David Horne is hosting a contest called Champion of Champions, a high-level international invitational competition in Stafford, England which will focus on the grip events that have been the centerpiece of David Horne's grip contests for years.

Along with the Captains of Crush® grippers, the Rolling Thunder® is an established international standard for testing grip strength, and IronMind® has received reports about a couple of guys who are banging out big numbers, although not yet under official conditions.

First, Southern California's Bruce Webster is continuing his casual but daunting attacks on this "let's see who's really strong" test of grip strength, and under the expert eyes of Starkie Sowers at Clark's Nutrition and Fitness Center in Riverside, Bruce has broken just under 260 pounds off the ground. Another fellow who is reportedly ripping big numbers on the Rolling Thunder® is England's Laine Snook, who told IronMind® that he has his eye on the magic 300-pound mark and is in the process of firming up the date for a big pull at Pullum Sports in Luton, England next month or so, where he hopes to do about 280 pounds.

And as a sign of the continued development of the grip world, Brian Carlton - of Blob Syndicate fame - and Bob Lipinski - who is coming off a string of successful grip contests in Michigan - are in discussion about the formation of a grip federation.