Simply a Smashing Time....

From the desk of Craig Glenday, Editor-in-Chief...

Concrete... Wood... Ice... If you put it in front of martial arts expert Eduardo Estrada, he'll likely bash his fist through it. Guinness World Records' Editor-in-Chief, Craig Glenday, braces himself for a smashing time as he visits Saltillo in Coahuila, just one stop on his trip across northern Mexico.

So, I'd sampled the largest soup in the world, and met the world's heaviest man (more on him in a later post!). Now it was time to end my Mexican odyssey by spending an evening with strongman and martial arts expert, Eduardo Estrada.

I'd been hearing about Eduardo a lot in the run-up to his record attempts - his friends and family who helped to organize the event had speak with great admiration of his abilities; the students at the martial arts club where he trains idolize him as a living legend; and even his usually-silent maestro or Sensei was enthusiastically vocal with his praise.

So by the time did we eventually met - just an hour of so before the four record attempts he would be making - I was expecting an encounter with a living god, not the jolly, cowboy-hat-wearing Mickey Rourke lookalike who bounded over to say hello and give me a friendly, crushing hug!

With their hero now present, the crowd went wild, silence only by the playing of God Save The Queen - a special request made by Eduardo, a lover of British culture. With TV cameras in my face, I nervously mouthed the words like football players do when they clearly don't know all the words. Three verses later, I was ready to die of shame.

Attempt one was Most Concrete Blocks Broken in One Minute, with a total of 120 to beat. The blocks, as per the guidelines, were arranged in a sequence of 1, then 2, then 3, then four, etc, up to a massive stack of 16, giving a total of 136 blocks. After a rousing blast of "Eye of the Tiger", Eduardo ran along the line of blocks, pummelling one after the other. With just seconds to spare, he annihilated the lot ­ and despite 9 blocks disqualified for falling and smashing on their own, the total came to 127...A new Guinness World Record!

Sadly, the rest of the night was not to be so successful. Attempts at the Most Concrete Blocks Broken in a Single Stack, Most Pine Boards Broken Across the Forehead, and Most Pine Boards Broken in a Minute ended without success (and a lot of blood everywhere!) but Eduardo gave it his gallant best.

To end the night, the Mexican strongman attempted to smash massive ice blocks measuring 1.4 x 1.4 x 0.25 m (45 x 45 x 10 in). The seven blocks, which took over an hour to stack, were in pieces in seconds once Eduardo stepped up to the stage. Unfortunately, a couple of blocks failed to smash all the way through.

As disappointed as Eduardo was, there was still a party atmosphere in the club that night - attaining even one Guinness World Record is cause enough for celebration and, for many, a lifetime's achievement. I suspect, though, that this is not the last we will be hearing of Eduardo...

- CG