World Fitness Federation,
Universe 2008
a review by
Gerry Triano

DVD Review: 2008 WFF Universe -- The Men #1  GMV-708DVD
Contest held in Petersberg, Germany, on June 7, 2008
DVD Distributed by  GMV Productions, Australia
Availability: http://www.gmv.com.au
Produced by Wayne R. Gallasch
Edited by Sean W. Gallasch
Class winners photographs only by Klaus Hoffmann, WFF.
All other photos by Wayne Gallasch.
DVD Cover Design: Ollie Parke.

This is the first of two discs featuring the men's competition at this prestigious World Fitness Federation (WFF) event. GMV has been faithful in its coverage of this event. As always, this was a competitive, well run, fairly judged and interesting show.

Ollie Parke's DVD cover merits special mention. The cover is well designed and laid out, and it piques the viewer's interest in wanting to view the DVD. It’s another in a long line of top achievements for Ollie.

This DVD covers the Junior Men's division in the Fitness, Performance, Athletic and Superbody classes. Also shown is the Men's Division of the Fitness and Extreme Body classes, as well as the Grandmasters Over-50 Men's Bodybuilding competition. Non-European viewers will notice somewhat different criteria for men’s competition than they’re used to.

In all disciplines, the procedure is the same. Competitors in each class are compared in quarter turns. Then each competitor has 60 seconds of free posing. Following that is the mandatory posing comparison and then a 60-second posedown. An interesting aspect in the quarter turns is in the execution. Usually, this is a semi-relaxed round. Throughout this event, competitors were flexing their legs more, particularly on side turns, rather than keeping their feet flat on the floor.
 

Classes are based on degree of development. Fitness, Performance and Athletic classes are judged on leanness, hardness, symmetry and proportion. Superbody and Extreme Body place more emphasis on size -- although hardness, completeness and symmetry are part of the judging.

Although all divisions were competitive and worth seeing, I was most impressed with the Extreme Body and the Over-50 Divisions. There were three Extreme classes: Up to 30, Over 30 and Over 40. After each class winner was decided (Thomas Young of the UK in Up to 30, Reginald Gill of Holland in the Over 30, and Scott Politano of the USA in Over 40), the overall Extreme winner was determined in the mandatory comparison and in an intense posedown. Each finalist gave it his all, and it seemed close between Gill and Politano in my view. Gill was named the Overall Universe Extreme winner. Gill had a balanced look to him and was hard and symmetrical. A worthy champion, as were they all.

There were good competitors in the Over-50 group, and Rony DeWinter of Belgium was very sharp, had a good presentation, and deserved to win.

The DVD also includes an extensive photo gallery, which showcases the talent of Wayne Gallasch and his informal photo plus the contest winners photos by Klaus Hoffmann.  Wayne captures the flavor of the event, backstage. All in all, another top event covered in style by the GMV crew.

Gerry Triano

January, 2009

PS. If you are interested in Men’s DVD #2 from this event, click here for GMV-709DVD.
Review courtesy Mike Emery's Reviews.