Jorge Meraz: Folks, today on "Crossing South," we visit a arm wrestling club, in Tijuana, with international aspirations, and we hit a very folksy-food gastro park which managed to surprise us, and it's all coming to you now.

♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ Jorge: I find myself in the middle of Tijuana, eastern part.

I'm in the middle of a company called Orbex.

What we're gonna talk about and do today has nothing to do with what this company does.

The reason why we're here is because the owner has engaged in a sport and created a club here of a subculture that's become a phenomenon worldwide.

It's become of great renown.

You can Google it in YouTube, and you'll find so many things about the sport of arm wrestling.

It's worldwide now.

It's gone mainstream, and Tijuana, well, it caught the bug, and the owner of this company has a lot to do with it, so stay with us, folks.

It's "Crossing South."

Jorge: Daytime, he's a mild-mannered impresario.

Noel Sanchez Ornelas: Good to meet you.

Jorge: By nighttime, you belong to this culture.

Noel: Thank you, thank you.

Jorge: Tell me your story, Noel.

Noel: I am a family business entrepreneur doing business here in Tijuana, Mexico, since I was 12 years old.

Jorge: Really?

Noel: Yes, so this is a long family history and doing business, so, and doing what I do.

So, one day, I fall down from my motorcycle, and I injured my shoulder.

Jorge: Really?

Noel: So, look in videos to rehab my shoulder, I come across with arm wrestling.

Jorge: Oh, really?

Noel: Yes, so that's how I started doing exercises to strengthen my shoulder, and that's how I started.

Jorge: Who did you see?

Like, who?

What athlete did you see when you first saw-- Noel: Devon Larratt.

Jorge: Devon Larratt.

Noel: Yes, yes, of course, Devon Larratt.

I watched Devon Larratt.

So this guy has an application, a very good application to hook up with different arm wrestlers in every part of the world, so I subscribed to his app.

Jorge: Oh, really?

Noel: Uh-huh, which is out, Armbet, and then I found my friends here in Tijuana-- Jorge: No way.

Noel: --who are arm wrestler.

So I contact them, and so we start meeting, and then there were not an organized club in Tijuana, not even in Baja California.

Jorge: Is yours the first club is the city?

Noel: The first organized club in the city was our club.

Jorge: What's the name of your club?

Noel: It's Potencia Mexicana Internacional.

Jorge: So the sport's grown a lot.

Before, the mainstream reference everyone had was over-the-top, Sylvester Stallone, right?

That was it, but then Devon Larratt, John Brzenk-- Noel: Brzenk.

Jorge: --he's in that movie, isn't he?

Noel: Oh, yeah.

Jorge: Briefly.

Noel: Yeah, yeah, in fact, did you know that, that movie, that tournament in the movie is a real tournament?

Jorge: No.

Noel: Yeah, of course.

Jorge: Really?

Noel: Yeah, and John Brzenk won that tournament.

Jorge: His category, right?

Noel: Yeah, yeah.

Jorge: 'Cause he looked small back then, in that movie.

Noel: That's why he's the GOAT on the sport.

Jorge: He's considered the GOAT?

Noel: Yeah, he's considered the GOAT in sport because he's not a big guy, and he wrestles for a lot of years, I think, more than 20 years, and he won every time with guys much more bigger than he's.

Jorge: Wow.

Noel: Yeah.

Jorge: Until you get into it, you learn that the sport has techniques, right?

Noel: Oh, yeah, every sport has their own techniques, and we didn't know anything about the sport before.

We always wrestle in the back of a truck and in every--you know, in the school stools and--but, yeah, there's a lot of technique involved in arm wrestling.

Jorge: I don't know it.

I mean, I know there is technique-- Jorge: It is.

Noel: --but I don't know any of it, so I'm wondering if you could help me?

Noel: We'll show you, of course.

Jorge: Could you help me?

Noel: Oh, yeah, of course, of course, let's do it.

Jorge: They'll be waiting for folks at "Crossing South."

He's gonna transform right now.

You're gonna see him like, you know, Spider-Man or Superman, in the phone booth, transform so-- Noel: That is correct--aaargh.

Jorge: It's "Crossing South," folks.

Don't go anywhere.

Jorge: Once Noel went from mild-mannered businessman to ripped arm-wrestling master, it was time for me to take some lessons and learn about the sport.

Jorge: Okay, Noel, you gotta show me the techniques, okay?

Noel: Of course.

Jorge: So, the secrets.

I know there's technique to this.

Help me beat all the drunken sailors, you know?

Noel: Exactly, yeah, yeah.

Once you learn the technique-- this is what I'm going to tell you-- you're gonna beat everyone, all right?

So don't be afraid.

If one guy comes to you with the big muscles, don't worry about that.

Jorge: Yeah, okay.

Noel: You're gonna beat him, all right?

I always start with technique, and once you have the technique, you can start makin' more progress in power.

Devon Larratt says that there is a couple things, very important.

One, the first one, you need to be strong.

Jorge: Technique, but don't stop getting strong?

Noel: Exactly.

Jorge: Keep training to get strong.

Noel: Yeah, exactly, exactly.

So this pad has the official measurements.

Arm wrestling is very important to train it with the very good equipment.

We made this right here in our shop.

Jorge: When you take a coffee break here, do you go, "Hey, guys, let's go--" Noel: Yeah, yeah.

Did you went visiting Human Resources?

Okay, come here first.

Jorge: Exactly.

Noel: Let's talk.

Jorge: Before you go to Human Resources, we're gonna settle it here.

Noel: Exactly, exactly.

So this is very important: So this pad has 7 inches.

You can rest your elbow here, and you can move it in every area of the pad, but what is not permitted is to raise your elbow from the pad or get out of the pad.

You always have to be touching the pegs here, all right?

And, if possible, you can, at the start, you have to maintain your parallel to-- your shoulders parallel to here.

Jorge: So don't do this.

Noel: Exactly, no, all right?

The most important thing is maintaining your wrist, okay?

Jorge: Wait, what does that mean?

Noel: If you lower your hand like this, you are more vulnerable.

Jorge: Oh, really?

Noel: Yeah, you have to maintain this, your wrist, like this.

You are more strong.

So very high rise, and then, of course, your "post," which is your arm here, if you can maintain it also very high like this-- Jorge: So this is also bad.

Noel: Not too good, yeah.

Jorge: Okay, so a good position to begin is like this?

Noel: Correct.

Jorge: No way.

Noel: Yeah, the most basic thing is that you take your opponent's hand like this.

You maintain your wrist.

Jorge: Knuckle?

Noel: --knuckle has to show always.

I cannot cover your knuckle like this.

So if we take hands like this and I cover your knuckle like this-- Jorge: It's not good?

Noel: It's not good.

Jorge: For who?

For me or for-- Noel: For you, it's not good.

Jorge: Oh, really?

Noel: And it's not permitted for me to do it, okay?

So I always have to grab your hand and leave that uncovered.

Jorge: So their--both knuckles, thumb knuckles, are showing.

Noel: Yeah, the second important thing in arm wrestling is the cupping, okay?

"Cupping" is called when you attack your opponent's pronation, "Cupping."

This is called "cupping."

So you're gonna bend your wrist, and you're cupping, and then you're attacking my pronation or opening my pronation.

So the first thing is, during your movement, is cupping like this so you are securing your position, and then, at the same time, your elbow runs-- goes like this because you want to always play in your side of the table.

This is my side of the table.

This is your side of the table.

Jorge: So what you showed right now, am I pulling you?

Noel: Yes.

The other thing is that you always have to maintain your center of gravity, so you need to be very close to the table all the time.

Jorge: Okay.

Noel: When you are arm wrestling, the hand that is fighting is the-- Jorge: Oh, that leg?

Noel: The leg is inside.

Jorge: Forward?

Noel: Yeah, forward.

Jorge: Oh, okay.

Noel: And then the other thing is, when you pull, you don't pull with your hand.

You pull with all this "block" together, okay?

So you do not pull just with your hand.

You'll pull with your block, like this, okay?

Jorge: Oh my goodness, heh, ha-hah-hah.

Noel: So the other thing is that, when you're going down, when you're pulling down, you need to raise your elbow because-- Jorge: Why would you do that?

Noel: --because, when you go back, you need to let this free so you can lower your complete-- your body, okay?

Because, if you try to pull here, and you put your hand here, you're gonna be blocked.

Jorge: Oh, and twist my elbow.

Noel: Yeah, it's gonna-- you're gonna be blocked.

Jorge: I'm blocking myself.

Noel: Yeah, you're not gonna be able to go down.

Jorge: So this allows me to do this.

Noel: Exactly.

So this is called magnesia.

So it's very important to prevent humidity and slipping.

Jorge: Sweaty hands?

Noel: Yeah, sweaty hands.

Are we ready?

Ready?

Jorge: Yes.

Aaargh.

Jorge: So just to give me an idea of the levels there are to this, they had me feel out, in our little practice pull, their main competitor, El Tren.

Jorge: Aaaargh, oh, man, you're so strong.

Jorge: No, you are very strong too.

I told you.

I felt your wrist.

Go.

Jorge: Noel and his team are very careful with all beginners.

They make sure they don't hurt them, and they try to explain the consequences of hubris and bravado.

There is no place for that in this sport.

El Tren: Foul.

Jorge: Foul?

Jorge: So now we move over to the gym where they actually have their official practice sessions.

This is where all the competitors and students get training on a weekly basis.

It was amazing to see how many people love this sport.

I couldn't just watch.

I had to get my hands dirty.

I wanted to try this.

After multiple full-strength matches with these guys, my producer wanted to pull with me.

Even though my arm was dead by then, I accepted his challenge.

Yeah, I had nothing left.

Still, with the techniques learned, I was able to hold my own, and my hand didn't touch the mat, but, yeah, I was dead.

Jorge: You know, one of the things that I like about these guys, they take care of new--of newbs like me.

You know, they're not tryin' to hurt you.

They're like, "If you keep doing that, you're gonna get injured."

You know, I asked the guy that I was training with right now, I'm like, "Okay, if you already put me down, am I done?

Is there any recourse?"

And instead of being selfish and like, "No, I'm not gonna tell you," he literally told me what to do, and it worked.

I mean, I didn't beat him, but I was able to extend my match longer than--you know, I was, like, this far away from losing.

So the guys are, like, generous.

It's really cool.

They teach newbs, you know, 'cause they don't want 'em to get hurt.

Noel was telling me that "if we would just, like, be rough with new people comin' to train and injure them, they're never gonna come back, and we want the sport to grow in the city, so we really take good care of new entries so that they develop, learn the technique, and protect them, take care of them along the way in their development."

It's pretty cool.

We're pretty glad it's here.

Noel: Okay, so, buddy, I have a little present for you because the people who contribute to our sport and to try to promote the sport for us, it's very important to give a little bit of what we-- Jorge: Talking about appreciation?

Noel: Yeah, exactly, yeah.

Jorge: Thank you, my friend, thank you so much, okay?

Thank you, my friend.

It's "Crossing South," folks.

Don't go anywhere.

I got my shirt.

I'm officially part of the team, all right?

"Crossing South," ah-hah-hah-ha-ha-ha-ha.

Jorge: Look at us, heroic and ready to pull.

This was fun indeed.

So all of that arm wrestling really worked up an appetite, so we went to this place called "Gastro Cinema."

It's actually a drive-in-theater experience where you could watch a movie while enjoying some fast-food culinary delights.

I'm in an "eat first, watch movie later" mode right now.

Jorge: There's fancy places that you find when you go out, and then there's crusty places, crusty hole-in-the-walls that you find, you know, that'll have, like, a carnival feel, and this certainly is the place for that.

You know, it's in the middle of the city.

It's not a touristy place at all, but, you know, we've heard our fans.

You know, they wanna know where the locals, you know, where the locals eat, the kind of places that they visit, the kind of places that are not, maybe, you know, on the polished area of the city, and, you know, we found such a place.

So we're gonna get to see it, you know?

This is part of the food movement in Tijuana.

Jorge: The first food that I try from this collective was from a place called Dr. Ramen.

This place is a bit rudimentary.

You know, it's not like your polished, you know, place, so I wasn't expecting, like, a bona fide ramen, but they have a place here called Dr. Ramen, and the girl that brought it is actually Korean, so, you know, okay, let's give this place a chance, right?

You've got your noodles, you've got your shrimp, you've got your chop suey there.

You know, it's getting kind of chilly.

We're hitting this season in the middle of-- like, the beginning of fall, so we're feeling that temperature change from summer to the fall, and this has gotta fall.

I think the old adage of "never judge a book by its cover" applies here because this ramen is rockin'.

I've been to places that are super-polished and super, you know, nice in regards to, like, aesthetics and the decorations, and the taste was not good at all.

This place is super-rustic, but I have to tell you, this ramen is bangin'.

Jorge: This carousel of food was just getting started.

As a professional eater, I've learned to pace myself.

This is a marathon, not a sprint race.

So next on the slate?

You guessed it.

Probably tacos.

They've got a place here called Tacos el Viejon, and I'm looking at it, and it looks like an adobada taco.

You know, adobada tacos, this is the type of taco that you can say, "dime a dozen in Tijuana," but some places are bad, and some are good.

So the more you know where you have a good taco, even if it's your pedestrian adobada taco, you wanna know, "Hey, I know a place near here."

You're in another part of town, "Hey, I know a good adobada taco here, a good asada taco here," right?

So let's try, just see, make sure it's good, you know?

Just make sure you got your basics covered.

It's an acceptable taco.

It's not fantastic, but it's a good taco.

It's a little on the spicy side.

So, adobada, because it has all that spice on the pork, on the spindle, some people add more peppers than others, and this one, I don't know if it's the sauce or if it's the adobada, the adobo.

A little on the spicy side, but it's a good taco.

Jorge: Okay, so, so far, ramen, right now, is on top.

Like, that was a really good dish, surprisingly good dish.

Tacos?

Very average.

The tacos are very, I have to say, very average, but I think they wanna redeem themselves.

Look at what they brought.

They brought this monster right here.

Oh, my goodness, look at that.

Now, that looks good.

There are some taco stands that have this.

Not all of them do but where they put all their type of meats.

Like, I can see your asada.

I can see your adobada.

This is your giant burrito, I guess.

Oh, boy.

That's a lot better.

That's a lot better.

Jorge: Let me tell you, if you're hungry and you come here and you go to Tacos el Viejon, get that big burrito.

Ha-ha-ha-ha, don't get the tacos.

Go straight for the big burrito.

Jorge: After that gigantic mega-ultra-burrito, I needed something to wash it down with.

Fortunately, it would be taken care of.

Jorge: There's a place here called Kura Kura.

They have this strawberry lemonade.

So, I mean, there's places here that just serve food, and there's places that only serve drinks.

Like, this one has, like, the artisanal beers, but I'm more interested in the places and the drinks that they make, so let's see the strawberry lemonade.

Very citrusy, yeah, very nice.

It's almost like a sparkling water, like a sparkling strawberry water.

It's quite good, not impressive, but it's good.

Let's see their pina colada.

Pina colada's a lot better, oh, yeah.

Jorge: Isn't it cool?

All bases covered, you know, when you go to a place like this.

You know, you got your food stuff; you've got your dessert stuff, which is coming right now, so we're gonna see that right now.

Jorge: You guys know me.

I'm partial to desserts, so it's an easy layup for me.

Okay, so in here, there's a place called Corazon Feliz, and this is why.

This is the stuff they bring.

Look at this crepe.

Has bananas, chocolate swirls.

Inside, apparently, it's got Nutella and nuts, so let's lift up the veil.

Oh, you got all this stuff in there.

Oh, more bananas, okay, banana, Nutella.

It's got a little bit of ice cream.

I could tell the ice cream's not, you know, really anything fancy.

It's, probably, it's-- just looking at it, I know it's, actually, it's a commercial, cheap Mexican ice cream.

I can tell just by looking at it, but let's try how it goes together still.

Desserts are always good.

Can't go wrong with Nutella and crepes.

Corazon Feliz means "a happy heart."

And this bad boy right here, this is a Mazapan Frappe.

Mazapan is a Mexican candy of pulverized, powdered peanuts.

I grew up on mazapan, so I like mazapan, so I should like this no matter what.

I mean, it's theirs to lose, literally, but I still have to give you my honest opinion about it.

Let's see.

Mm-hmm, it's good.

You know, I'm always the one that doesn't like overbearingly sweet drinks, but there's also such thing of not sweet enough, and this might fall into that category.

Jorge: We're gonna start here with the sushi portion of the competition.

I know sushi, you know?

Well, sushi rolls.

Like, they may not be the fanciest, but you're surprised sometimes by the taste, right?

Battered, blonde pepper stuffed with surimi.

It's got your melted cheese on top, avocado.

We're adventurous, right?

So let's just see how things are.

It's very good.

It's super-spicy, but it's very good.

Oh, man, that was spicy--woo.

That was Mexican-level spicy.

Okay, were gonna grab this sushi roll now, one of the big ones.

I know it's battered too.

They call 'em "cooked sushi rolls" here.

It's got bacon.

It's got shrimp.

It's covered in this chipotle sauce.

Let's grab one of these shrimps.

Put it on top.

It's very good.

I mean, it's a different kind of good.

I wouldn't put this into a category of, like, your fancy sushi rolls.

This is more like a cooked meal.

It comes in the form of sushi rolls, but this is just like, you know, the presentation of a fried exterior shell with meat, bacon, shrimp, and chipotle sauce.

Just, it's in the shape of a sushi roll, but I'm a purist with sushi rolls.

I like more fresh sushi rolls with raw fish on top, you know, around, and so on.

It's kind of, like, what I like, but if you simply see it as what it is, you know, like a bite-size of, you know, battered, you know, food goodness, heh, and, like, remove the label of, like, a purist's sushi roll, then it's a delicious meal.

That's all I can say.

It's really tasty.

Mm.

Jorge: So top one, I think I would still be with the ramen.

I mean, that was really good ramen.

The burrito would be second.

The sushi, maybe, would be third.

The desserts and the drinks, you know, those would probably go way down in the depth chart, but they're good, but, I mean, that's not what I'm here for, you know?

That's like a little sprinkle of that.

You know, we wanna know where the food is, the actual food, how good it is, and I want you to take a look at this now.

So this from a place called Don Cheto.

They have their Boneless Chicken Fries, hah.

They seem to be caramelized, kind of like a glazed, you know, boneless chicken kind of thing.

I won't put it into my favorites, but it's quite good.

I'm very pleased with this place.

I'm being honest here.

My expectations were low, but we wanted to show you guys not just, you know, manicured places.

We wanna show you places that are a little bit rustic, a little more in the middle of town, you know, hole-in-the-wall kind of place, and we have been pleasantly surprised.

So they have this giant bad boy right here.

As you can see, I'm marathoning here, eating, and I don't eat everything that you see on screen.

I eat portions of it, hah-ha-ha.

Jorge: One of those places that are good, very tasty, but I think because there's a few places here that set the bar a little bit higher, they kind of stole the thunder of those last ones, so, very tasty, very good, but maybe not living up to the number-- you know, to the top three of the place.

Maybe that's why.

Maybe my enthusiasm was--you know, don't let it fool you that they weren't good.

They're very good, but I think the bar was just set that much higher by the first three participants of this endeavor.

Jorge: This location has a drive-in cinema, so before heading out to watch the movie, I had to get myself some popcorn, right?

Heh-heh-heh, as if it wasn't enough.

Jorge: They've got your pedestrian, normal, buttery popcorn.

They've got your caramel popcorn.

It looks like powdered rather than glazed and crunchy if you could look at the detail there.

And you've got your cheddar.

Now, I love cheddar popcorn.

That's like--that's it for me, and it's very hard to find a good cheddar.

They used to have it in Costco.

I don't know if you guys remember back in the '80s, in the bag, like, the stars and stripes, like the U.S. stars and stripes.

And that was phenomenal popcorn that just went out of rotation for some reason.

So, Costco, shame on you.

And I will tell you how good a cheddar popcorn this is.

It's good.

It's cheesy.

Okay, folks, this being a drive-in Gastro park with actual cinema, you know, behind us, I think I'm gonna take this bad boy and catch up, catch a nice flick.

Jorge: So, after having my preconceptions completely shattered by this low-key Gastro park, and after pulling with the big boys of the Tijuana arm wrestling team, Potencia Mexicana Internacional, we wonder what other adventures will await us the next time we get to cross south.

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