It was true grit when a 37-year-old Malaysian set a new world record after he successfully pulled six train coaches weighing 260.8 tonnes for a distance of 4.2 meters using his teeth and jaws.

V Rathakrishanan said today his feat has been certified by the Malaysian Book of Records and would be submitted to the Guinness Book of World Records for certification as a world record.

Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad and Brunei's visiting Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah witnessed Rathakrishanan on Saturday breaking Belgian Walter Arfeuille's 1996 record of moving 223.88 tonnes over 3.2 meters.

Asked how he developed his strength, Rathakrishnan said that for the past 22 years he had been practising stick fighting, an ancient Indian art of self-defence, meditation and breathing technics.

"It is the ability to concentrate and to focus your mind," he told AFP.

"I looked at prime minister's face a few times before I started pulling the coaches.

"After looking at Dr Mahathir's face ... it didn't seem a great effort to me when the coaches started to inch forward as I pulled the rope that was attached to the front of the train," Rathakrishnan said.

Hot and spicy food

Dubbed the "Tooth King", he said he had been training for the past 13 months and planned to pull the train for just 3.5 meters.

"But when Dr Mahathir and the Brunei Sultan appeared unexpectedly, it gave additional energy," he said.

Rathakrishnan said the prime minister urged him to break more world records.

On keeping a set of healthy teeth, he said the secret was abstaining from hot and spicy food and cold drinks, he said.

"Next I probably want to use my teeth to keep a flying helicopter from taking off the ground and maybe demonstrate my skills in Brunei," he said.