Alexander “Iron Samson” Zass and his system of isometric exercises. Alexander Zass Isometric exercises of Samson

20.10.2019

Among the famous Russians, whom the whole world applauded, the hero Alexander Zass occupies an honorable place.
His name in his homeland is not as well known to the general public as the names of Poddubny and Zaikin, but in Europe he was considered the most famous Russian strongman.

He started, like most of his colleagues, with performances in the circus. Crowds of people came to see this kid playfully lifting multi-pound weights. This was absolutely incredible, considering that at that time Alexander weighed less than 80 kilograms. For example, Ivan Zaikin’s weight was more than 120 kg, Ivan Poddubny’s weight was 135 kg.

The First World War radically changed the artist’s life. He ended up on the front line, on the Austrian front. This is where his strength came in handy! Many times he pulled cannons out of the mud where horses could not do it, and once in a hand-to-hand fight Alexander killed two Austrians, hitting them with their foreheads and throwing them in different directions... And in one of the battles he was wounded horse, and Alexander carried it on his shoulders for about a kilometer. Rumors about the Russian strongman spread on both sides of the front. Many could not believe these stories, but looking ahead - later Alexander Zass demonstrated this trick more than once - carrying a horse on his shoulders...

In one of the battles, Zass was seriously wounded by shrapnel in both legs. He was captured, and the Austrian surgeon began amputation. But Zass begged not to do this. He believed in his powerful body and therapeutic exercises, which I developed for myself. And he recovered! Soon he, along with other prisoners, was sent to heavy road work. He made several unsuccessful escapes, after which he was severely punished. The third escape was remarkable. Having escaped from the camp, Alexander found himself in the city of Kaposvár in southern Hungary, where the Schmidt Circus, known throughout Europe, was on tour. Appearing before the owner of the circus, Zass openly told him about his misfortune, as well as about working in Russian circuses. Immediately the director suggested that he break the chain and bend a thick metal rod. Of course, hungry and tired, Zass was not in good athletic shape, but through an effort of will he coped with the task. He was taken to the circus, and soon the news of the amazing athlete spread throughout the city.

But one day the military commandant came to his performance. He became interested in why such a strong young athlete was not serving in the Austrian army. That same evening it turned out that Samson was a Russian prisoner of war. He was taken to the basement of the fortress, into a damp, dark room. And then he made a new escape, breaking the chain connecting the handcuffs, breaking the bars on the window, and knocking out the sentry guarding the dungeon.

After long wanderings, with the help of a Hungarian wrestler known since pre-war times, Alexander Zass ends up in the troupe of an Italian circus impresario, and his tour of Europe begins. The fame of the hero named Samson resounds throughout Europe, but most of all in England, where Alexander Zass ends up with his circus. Famous athletes such as Edward Aston, Thomas Inch, Pullum began to try their hand at repeating Zass's tricks, but not a single attempt was successful. Mr Pullum, Director of the famous Camberwell Weightlifting Club and editor-in-chief the sports magazine Health and Strength wrote about him: “A man has arrived right in the heart of England, capable of performing numbers that common sense refuses to believe in. If he had been a huge fellow, his performances might have been perceived as believable. But pay attention at least to the chest excursion (the difference between inhalation and exhalation) of this short man. It is equal to 23 centimeters, which says a lot to specialists. Therefore, I say that he not only has unprecedented physical strength, not only a magnificent artist, but also a man who uses his mind as well as his muscles.” And here is what the poster of the famous Alhambra hall, where Alexander Zass was supposed to perform, testifies: “In Manchester, during construction work, Samson, suspended with one leg from a crane, lifted a metal beam from the ground with his teeth, and was carried to the top of the building by a crane, in while the crowd stood below with their mouths open. If the Russian had opened his mouth, the crowd would never have been able to tell what they saw.” Posters and newspapers did not lag behind. Daily Telegraph: "Mr Samson is certainly the strongest man on the ground. You can believe this when you see how easily he ties iron rods into knots.”
Manchester Guardian: “According to advertisements, he is the most strong man on Earth, and after we have seen it ourselves... this statement can be considered irrefutable."

In 1938 in the English city of Sheffield. In front of the crowd, a truck loaded with coal ran over a man sprawled on the cobblestone street. People screamed in horror. But the next second there was a cry of delight: “Glory to the Russian Samson!”

His repertoire of power routines was amazing:

He carried a horse or a piano around the arena with a pianist and dancer located on the lid;

He caught with his hands a 9-kilogram cannonball flying out of a circus cannon from an eight-meter distance;

He tore a metal beam with assistants sitting at its ends from the floor and held it in his teeth;

Having threaded the shin of one leg into the loop of a rope fixed under the dome, he held the platform with the piano and pianist in his teeth;

Lying with his bare back on a board studded with nails, he held on his chest a stone weighing 500 kilograms, which was hit by those from the public with sledgehammers;

In the famous attraction, the “Projectile Man” caught with his hands an assistant flying out of a circus cannon and describing a 12-meter trajectory over the arena;

He tore the links of chains with his fingers;

He hammered nails into 3-inch boards with an unprotected palm, and then pulled them out, wrapping his index finger around the head.

They tried not to remember him in the Russian Empire, because he formally remained a military serviceman, but did not return to Russia. Some even called him a deserter.
Samson died in 1962. He was buried near London in the small town of Hockley.

There are several recordings of his late performances, when the athlete was over 55 years old...

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A 90-kilogram cannonball, which Samson catches, is fired from a specially designed circus cannon himself.

Samson did something similar in reality! An assistant was fired from a special cannon, which Samson caught!

Zass tendon exercises

It was a rare boy in the USSR who did not hold in his hands the book “The Secret of Iron Samson,” written by Zass’ nephew Yuri Shaposhnikov.

All the years until his death, Zass lived in the United Kingdom with a residence permit, never renouncing his Russian Motherland.

But with the beginning of the Second World War, Alexander Zass, who never accepted British citizenship, began to have problems. In order not to be among the internees, he stops public demonstrations of force and settles in the city of Paington, where he trains elephants, lions, and chimpanzees at the local zoo.

Alexander Zass's last public performance as a strongman in 1954 was organized for filming by the BBC television company. Samson was then 66 years old.

He continued to work, although not in the strength genre, but as a trainer, but often included strength tricks in his performances. So, at the age of seventy, he carried two lions around the arena on a special yoke!

Among the overgrown graves in the cemetery in Hockley, forty minutes by train from London, there is a tombstone with the laconic inscription “Samson”. And another slab, added later, with the inscription in Russian: “Dear Shura, you are always with us. Sister Nadya Zass, nephew Yura” and in English: “Alexander Zass (Samson) - The strongest man in the world, died on September 26, 1962 at the age of 79.”

In 1925, shortly after Zass first arrived in England, he met the dancer Betty - she became an assistant in one of his famous numbers: he hung upside down under the circus big top, holding in his teeth a rope on which a platform was suspended with piano and the pianist playing it. For many years Betty played music like this, hovering over the arena, until, during a performance in 1952 at the Liverpool stadium, Zass fell down, along with the piano, onto a fragile woman. But even this tragedy could not crush the incredible love that Betty had for Russian Alec, as she called him. Zass has always been popular with women and reciprocated their feelings. For the first ten years of their marriage, Betty forgave him everything. And only after a terrible quarrel in 1935 she told Alec: “Okay, we can’t fix you, we’ll remain just friends.” Soon she took up training and married a circus rider, later clown Sid Tilbury.

Joint performances in Zass’s room also continued. About a year before the tragedy with Betty, Alexander acquired land plot in Hockley, where the three of them settled: Alec, Betty and Sid. Their affection was so strong that when Samson, in his declining years, bought himself a place in the cemetery, he placed a bench in the courtyard of the house - so that after his death Betty could sit in the garden and see his final resting place. After Samson's death, Sid was buried in the same grave, and Betty was also supposed to rest there.

Nowadays, super heroes from the world of Marvel are becoming popular, but we forget about great people like Alexander Zass. This article was created by the site " Out of town"To correct such a misunderstanding. Let's talk about the great Russian circus performer who performed under the pseudonym Iron Samson.

An incident that occurred in 1938 in the English town of Sheffield will more than clearly demonstrate the possibilities national hero. Just imagine, a man is lying on the pavement and a loaded truck runs over him. Naturally, people observing such a picture are in shock, and the person, as if nothing had happened, gets up and shakes off the dust. I just want to shout: “Glory to the Russian Samson!”

Circus program of Iron Samson

Alexander Zass devoted his entire life to the circus. He became famous as the strongest man in the world. For decades, his pseudonym Iron Samson did not leave circus posters all over the world. It was the domestic circus performer who was the most desired artist or, as they call it, a “circus star.” And this is no coincidence, given his amazing repertoire. Here is a list of just some of his numbers:
1) He lifted the piano, on the top of which a girl was sitting, and carried her around the circus arena;
2) Was able to catch a cannonball, which weighs about 9 kg, with his bare hands. Note that the cannonball was fired at Alexander from a distance of 80 meters;
3) In his teeth he held a metal structure on which 2 assistants were sitting;
4) While under the circus big top (tied with one leg and oars upside down), he held the piano in his teeth;
5) He lay down with his bare back on a board studded with nails. Then, a group of assistants placed a stone that weighed half a ton on his chest. After that, those interested were invited from the audience, who could hit the stone well with a sledgehammer;
6) With just his fingers he was able to break the links of a chain;
7) Was able to drive a nail into a three-inch board using his bare palm. What’s interesting is that he then used his fingers to take them out, clasping the hat with the index fingers of his left and right hands.

Athlete Feature

The athletic performances performed by Alexander Zass always had a great sensation. People were ready to pay for tickets to the circus just to watch the Russian Samson again and again. But his psychically disturbing numbers were not the only thing that attracted attention. Alexander looked like the most ordinary, average man. He weighed only 80 kg, and was no more than 170 cm tall. The volume of his biceps was only 41 cm. That is, he had absolutely no resemblance to the image of a circus, which has huge muscles and massive bodies.

Alexander Zass argued that large muscles are absolutely not an indicator that you are strong. He was sure that the main thing is the ability to feel your body and strong tendons, coupled with unteachable willpower, make a strongman out of any man.

The path to strength

The most common question Alexander Zass heard was how he managed to become so strong. To which the athlete honestly answered: “My strength is the result of exhausting work, incredible tension not only of all physical, but also of spiritual strength to the last.”
A strict daily routine and constant training followed by performances - this is how one can characterize life path Iron Samson. There is an entertaining photograph showing 74-year-old Alexander, who is sitting at home, in the kitchen, and in front of him is a samovar with the inscription “5 minutes of rest.” Interestingly, even at this advanced age, Russian Samson continued to work, but not in the strength genre, but as a trainer. Although, he often diluted his performances with a couple of power tricks. One of the most popular numbers of that time for Alexander was a performance in which he took a yoke with two lions in his teeth and walked around the circus arena.

Choosing a life path

All the men of the Zass family were notable for their hefty strength. Of course, Alexander, thanks to his training, surpassed his ancestors. Once, when Alexander was very young, he went with his father to the circus. Then little Sasha was delighted with only two numbers - a number with an animal trainer and a circus strongman. It was the event that happened on this day that changed the boy’s worldview and pointed to his life path - to become a circus performer. This is what happened.
After the performance of the circus athlete, he, as was popular, called the audience out of the hall in order to repeat his “feat”. To do this, he suggested bending an iron horseshoe. Of course, there were no takers. But then Father Alexander got up from his seat, approached the athlete and said: “Let me try!” Then he straightened the horseshoe. Alexander, the audience, and the athlete himself were shocked! As it turned out, Father Alexander also loved to demonstrate his strength, but unlike the future Iron Samson, he did it in front of loved ones and guests.
After the event described above, Alexander Zass lived alone with the circus, one might say that he became ill with it.

The first training sessions of the future Iron Samson

In the backyard of his house, little Alexander, with the participation of adults, equipped a whole training ground. There were two horizontal bars installed there, on which trapezoids were installed. Then, gradually, he began to put sports equipment there: weights, dumbbells. I built a barbell. Over time, his backyard turned into a real gym, in which Alexander spent all his time free time in hard training. Even then, at the circus with his father, he carefully memorized the performances of the circus performers, and now his goal was to repeat what he saw there. Alexander, without outside help, mastered such complex tricks as a somersault on a horse, learned to do pull-ups with one hand, but all this seemed not enough to the young man, he understood that there was not enough system here.

Systematic training began for Alexander when his father gave him the book “Strength and how to become strong,” the author of which was the boy’s idol, athlete Evgeniy Sandov. In this book, the author shared incredible details of his biography, for example, a fight with a lion. But that wasn’t what Alexander was interested in, he needed a training system. He found them on the pages of this book. The books contained 18 exercises with dumbbells, which the future Iron Samson added to the list of his workouts. Over time, this was not enough for the young man; he felt that this was not enough, that dumbbells alone were not capable of developing in him the strength that he dreamed of.

Then he found new mentors in the persons of Pyotr Krylov and Dmitriev - Morro, who were famous as famous athletes. It was they who developed a set of exercises for the young man, expanding those that were in the teenager’s arsenal. Dmitriev-Morro made a particularly great contribution to the development of Alexander, who informed the young man about all the intricacies of playing sports using a barbell.
In addition to the fact that Alexander had developed considerable strength by the age of 18, he often attended circus performances in order to once again look at the circus strongmen. Over time, Alexander's sports props were supplemented with horseshoes, nails, metal rods and other elements with which circus athletes worked. It was when he began working with this prop that the future Iron Samson realized that it was he who made it possible to develop strength even more than a barbell or weights.

An incident in the war

The First World War came just when Alexander was of conscription age. He served in the 180th Vindavsky Cavalry Regiment. The incident described below amazed everyone without exception, even those who knew about Alexander’s abilities.
One day, returning from reconnaissance, Zass was ambushed by the Austrians. The event occurred when he was approaching Russian positions. The Austrian rifleman hit the horse's leg and, apparently realizing that he was near Russian positions, left Zass. The future circus athlete lay down, waiting out the danger, and then got up. Then Alexander, seeing the wounded horse, realized that he could not leave it! There were about 600 meters left to the regiment, but this did not stop the future Samson. He simply put the horse on his shoulders and carried it all the way to the regiment. Over time, when the war ends, this episode will emerge in his memory and will become one of the most striking numbers that he will demonstrate in the circus arena.

How Alexander got into the circus

The war left a number of terrible memories for Alexander Zass throughout his life. One day, he had to beg the doctors not to amputate his leg, which, due to a severe wound, began to fester severely. Alexander was in captivity and escaped three times, two of which ended in failure for the future circus performer, because he was caught and severely punished.
But the third time was successful. Moreover, Alexander's third escape served as the beginning of his circus career. When he managed to escape from captivity, he was able to independently reach the Hungarian town of Kaposvár, where, just at that time, the most famous Schmidt circus in Europe was touring. Then Zass went all-in. He approached the owner of the circus and told him that he was a prisoner who had escaped and said that he had incredible strength. Right then, the circus owner gave him a test by giving him a thick metal rod and an iron chain.
Alexander didn’t eat for several days, but still, having gathered all his spiritual strength, he broke the chain with his bare hands and bent the rod! After which Alexander became a member of the circus troupe, and the news of the strongest athlete spread throughout Kaposvár.
Unfortunately, he will be captured again. One day, the Austrian commandant, who will attend the performance, will be interested in Alexander's biography. Then he finds out that he is a Russian prisoner. After which, the future Samson will be severely beaten and thrown into prison. But here his strength will come to the rescue again! He will break the chains of handcuffs and straighten the bars of the bars.
This time he was able to get to Budapest. In the capital of Hungary, he meets the good-natured wrestler Chai Janos, who will help Alexander get a job in the circus. It is Tea that will influence Zass to become a member of the Italian circus troupe.
The Italian impresario, with whom the wrestler will introduce Alexander, will enter into a contract with the future Iron Samson.

World fame

This contract entailed the world fame of Alexander Zass. Having signed the contract, he goes on a European tour. It was in England, after Samson’s performance, that the great athletes of that time started talking about him. No matter how they tried to repeat what Alexander did, they did not succeed, and the English public was wildly delighted with the performances of Iron Samson. Mr. Pullum, the world's most famous sports journalist, argued that Zass is the only person in the world who has learned to use both physical and mental ability. He also claimed that if he had not seen Alexander in action, he would never have believed that it was possible to do what this athlete does on the circus stage, given physical parameters Alexandra.

Completion of life's journey

After Pullum's statement, the world's newspapers scrambled to interview Iron Samson. In the years that the circus troupe attended, with Alexander's participation, there was a wild excitement. From that time until the end of his days, Alexander Zass was a circus performer.
In total, Russian Samson spent more than 60 years in the circus arena. Despite his grueling training, the domestic athlete lived to an old age in good health.

In addition to the fact that Alexander Zass was a great athlete, he left behind a number of inventions. The most important of which are the wrist dynamometer and the gun, which allows a person to fire a shot. It was Alexander who came up with the idea of creating the “Projectile Man” attraction. One of the numbers that Iron Samson performed was a number in which he caught an assistant fired from a cannon he invented. Please note, the girl flew 12 meters!
In 1962, Alexander Zass left us. His burial place is the town of Hockley, which is located near London.

After Alexander Zass moved to England, his name was almost forgotten in the USSR - such a change of citizenship was not considered a worthy act and they tried not to talk about the strongman, despite all his talents. As a strongman, meanwhile, Zass was very talented; By promoting a non-standard training system, he achieved truly impressive results.

Alexander Zass is a Russian strongman, professional wrestler and trainer. He was best known under the pseudonyms "Samson", "Iron Samson" and "Amazing Samson". According to some sources, he is considered the first pre-revolutionary Russian heavyweight champion.

Alexander was born in 1888 in Vilno, then part of Russian Empire. While still very young, he demonstrated extraordinary physical abilities; among other things, Zass trained by “bending living branches.” Zass spent his childhood and youth in the Penza province, in the city of Saransk; There he was actively engaged, developing his impressive natural abilities. Zass's strength was unusual, including in relation to his physique and general parameters - for example, with a weight of 66 kilograms, Alexander could do a bench press with a deviation right hand 80 kilograms.

In 1908, Zass made his debut at the circus arena in Orenburg. Zass's external parameters were still not impressive - his height was 167.5 centimeters, and the strongman did not weigh more than 75 kilograms; however, Alexander’s own training system helped him become incredibly strong. The secret of the Zass system consisted of several factors; Thus, Alexander paid great attention to strengthening tendons and traditional work with weights and muscle contraction; he preferred isometric exercises. Physical strength helped Zass succeed in the circus industry, but the outbreak of war forced him to leave the circus.

During the First World War, Zass served in Russian army, fighting with the Austrians

tsami. During the war, Alexander was captured 4 times - and escaped 4 times from this captivity. Zass did not forget about playing sports even in captivity - the Russian strongman used the bars of his prison cell as an improvised exercise machine. Subsequently, Alexander’s experience in prison training was often cited as an example of the effectiveness of correctly delivered isometric training. On at least one occasion, Alexander used his extraordinary strength in his escape - breaking chains and bending bars. Subsequently, Zass himself quite actively promoted isometric exercises.

So, Alexander was captured in 1914 - while being seriously wounded in both legs by shrapnel. That time the escape turned out to be quite a difficult ordeal; Zass failed twice and was able to gain the coveted freedom only on the third attempt. Having escaped from the camp, Alexander reached the Hungarian town of Kaposvár, where he joined the troupe of the rather famous Schmidt Circus. By the way, it was in Schmidt’s circus that Alexander’s stage name, “Samson,” was first used. With the troupe, Zass traveled all over Europe and became quite famous.

After the war, Alexander got a job in a circus, where he actively demonstrated his abilities. Zass traveled all over the world with circus acts. There were rumors that performing as a circus strongman was only a formal reason for traveling abroad; According to some theories, Alexander Zass was a Russian intelligence officer who used the circus as a cover. However, the theory

that in many respects is quite dubious - so, in 1924, Zass settled in England on a permanent basis.

In 1926, Alexander Zass published his autobiography, “The Amazing Samson: Told by Himself.”

In 1928, Alexander's wife, Blanche, died; at that time she was just a teenager.

In the 30s of the 20th century, Alexander Zass still continued to perform as a circus strongman. Constant training allowed Zass to keep himself in shape; in addition, the strongman gave great value theoretical aspects of training - and demonstrated an extraordinary understanding of them.

Alexander Zass's list of achievements includes an incredible number of impressive demonstrations of strength. During the hostilities, Zass carried his wounded horse; Later, as a circus performer, he seriously refined this act - and now he already carried two lions on his shoulders. He also wore more complex combinations - for example, Zass lifted a piano, a pianist and a dancer at a time. In another number, Zass worked with only a piano - lifting it with only his teeth. Many people remember the act with the gun; Zass did not fulfill the popular in many circus performances the role of a living cannonball - he caught a woman who acted as such a cannonball. Alexander's strength was so great that he could bend a 13-centimeter steel rod into a horseshoe and, with his bare palm, drive a 13-centimeter nail into a 5-centimeter board.

In England, the strongman who settled there was famous

eats well; the country became his new home and a kind of starting point for new tours. In his homeland, they tried to remember Zass less often - the move to England dealt a rather strong blow to the reputation of the strongman in the Land of the Soviets. However, Alexander’s authority as a strongman and specialist in strength training it was impossible not to admit it. Zass personally invented a new version of the wrist dynamometer and created his own variation of the cannon for the circus act with a live cannonball.

As a strongman, Alexander entered the circus arena in last time came out in 1954; At that time, Samson was already 66 years old, but the strongman had not lost his former grip. However, Zass did not leave the circus, even ceasing to perform as a strongman - he quickly managed to find a new calling for himself, becoming a very talented trainer. Zass worked with dogs, monkeys, ponies and horses; in zoos, he trained elephants and even lions - and, from old memory, he carried the latter on his shoulders, using a special rocker.

In the 50s, Alexander Zass settled in Hockley, Essex; there he lived in a bungalow with a number of other former circus performers. Alexander lived in Essex until his death; He died on September 26, 1962 and was buried in the parish church cemetery. Later, a statue was erected in Orenburg in honor of Zass; a monument made by A. Rukavshnikov was unveiled in front of the Orenburg Circus building. The opening was timed to coincide with the 100th anniversary of the first performance of Amazing Samson and took place in 2008.

Alexander Ivanovich Zass

It was a rare boy in the USSR who did not hold in his hands the book “The Secret of Iron Samson,” written by Zass’ nephew Yuri Shaposhnikov. Many people know about how a Russian hero carried a wounded horse on his shoulders from the battlefield in the First World War, how he broke chains and bent metal rods in intricate patterns, and the system of isometric exercises that he developed and is still used by athletes around the world. The fate of the “Strongest Man in the World” abroad after the First World War remained a mystery to most. He was not like many strongmen of that time, who had massive figures and great weight. His height is 167.5 cm, weight is 80 kg, chest circumference is 119 centimeters, biceps are 41 centimeters each.

Of course, Alexander Zass had enormous natural strength, which is what distinguished his ancestors in general. Once in his native Saransk he visited the circus with his father. The boy especially liked the mighty strongman who broke chains and bent horseshoes. At the end of his performance, the artist, as was customary at that time, addressed the audience, inviting them to repeat his tricks. Alas, no one was able to bend a horseshoe or lift a ball barbell with a thick bar off the ground. And suddenly Alexander’s father, Ivan Petrovich Zass, rose from his seat and entered the arena. Alexander knew that his father was very strong. Sometimes he demonstrated his strength to the guests.

And so the strong man handed the horseshoe to his father. To the surprise of the public, the horseshoe in the hands of Zass Sr. began to unbend. Then Ivan Petrovich tore the huge barbell off the platform and, straightening his torso, raised it above his knees. The audience applauded like crazy. The circus strongman was embarrassed. He called the uniformist over to him. He ran backstage and brought a silver ruble. The artist raised his hand with a ruble and said: “But this is for your feat and for a drink!” The father took the ruble, then rummaged in his pocket, pulled out a three-ruble ruble, and handed it to the athlete along with the ruble, saying: “I don’t drink! But take it, but drink only tea!”

Since then, his son lived only in the circus. In the backyard of the house, with the help of adults, I installed two horizontal bars, hung trapeze bars, got hold of household weights, made a primitive barbell, and began to train with incredible persistence. I tried to repeat what I saw. Having mastered the “sun” (large rotation) on the horizontal bar, he began to fly from one bar to another, doing backflips not only on the floor, but also on a horse. I did one-arm pull-ups several times. But all these activities were unsystematic.

He convinced his father to order books on physical development from Moscow. And soon a book by the then famous athlete Evgeniy Sandov, “Strength and How to Become Strong,” arrived. He began to study according to the Sandov system - his idol. But he soon realized that exercises with dumbbells alone could not develop the strength that a professional strongman needs. He turns for help to the famous athletes Pyotr Krylov and Dmitriev-Morro, who did not ignore the young man’s request, and soon Zass received methodological recommendations from these athletes. Krylov recommended exercises with weights, and Dmitriev - with a barbell.

He squeezed two-pound weights simultaneously and alternately (“mill”), pressed them upside down, and juggled. With the barbell I performed mainly bench presses, clean and jerks, and overhead presses. With his own weight of 66 kg, young Zass twisted (press with torso deviation) with his right hand 80 kg. But most of all he was attracted by the power tricks that he saw in the circus. And he visited the circus constantly. His sports props began to be replenished with horseshoes, chains, metal rods, and nails. And then he realized that repeated attempts to perform a trick - breaking a chain or bending a thick metal rod - bring tangible results in the development of physical strength. In essence, these were the now widely known isometric exercises. Thus, purely empirically (based on experience), Alexander Zass came to the conclusion that athletic strength can be developed by combining dynamic exercises with isometric ones in training. He later published his isometric system, and the pamphlet created a sensation.

The circus career of Alexander Zass began in 1908 in Orenburg, in the Andrzhievsky Circus that toured there. Once in the circus, Zass at one time worked as an assistant to the legendary trainer Anatoly Durov, then as an athlete Mikhail Kuchkin, and he often told his assistant: “Someday, Sasha, you will become a famous strongman, I have never seen anyone who was so strong , like you, having such a small height and weight.” In general, Zass worked in the circus for about sixty years and almost forty of them with athletic acts.

In 1914 the World War broke out. Alexander Zass was drafted into the 180th Vindavsky Cavalry Regiment. One day an incident occurred that amazed even those who were well aware of Alexander’s extraordinary strength. One day he was returning from another reconnaissance mission, and suddenly, already close to the Russian positions, they noticed him and opened fire. The bullet shot through the horse's leg. The Austrian soldiers, seeing that the horse and rider had fallen, did not pursue the cavalryman and turned back. Zass, convinced that the danger had passed, did not want to leave the wounded horse. There was still half a kilometer left to his regiment, but this did not bother him. Having shouldered the horse, Zass brought it to his camp. Time will pass, he will remember this episode and will include carrying a horse on his shoulders in his repertoire.

In one of the battles, Zass was seriously wounded by shrapnel in both legs. He was captured, and the Austrian surgeon began amputation. But Zass begged not to do this. He believed in his powerful body and the therapeutic gymnastics that he developed for himself. And he recovered! Soon he, along with other prisoners, was sent to heavy road work. He made several unsuccessful escapes, after which he was severely punished. The third escape was remarkable. Having escaped from the camp, Alexander found himself in the city of Kaposvár in southern Hungary, where the Schmidt Circus, known throughout Europe, was on tour. Appearing before the owner of the circus, Zass openly told him about his misfortune, as well as about working in Russian circuses. Immediately the director suggested that he break the chain and bend a thick metal rod. Of course, hungry and tired, Zass was not in good athletic shape, but through an effort of will he coped with the task. While working at the Schmidt Circus, Alexander Zass, at the director’s suggestion, took the stage name Samson. This was needed for more effective posters.

He was taken to the circus, and soon the news of the amazing athlete spread throughout the city. But one day the military commandant came to his performance. He became interested in why such a strong young athlete was not serving in the Austrian army. That same evening it turned out that Samson was a Russian prisoner of war. He was taken to the basement of the fortress, into a damp, dark room. But his strength and will were not broken. He made a new escape by breaking the chain connecting the handcuffs and breaking down the bars.

Now he gets to Budapest, where he gets a job as a loader at the port, and then at the circus arena. The wrestler, world champion Chaya Janos, whom Alexander met back in Russia, helped him. This good-natured, powerful Hungarian treated the unfortunate Zass with sympathy. He took him to the village to his relatives, where Alexander’s strength gradually recovered. He then performed for three years in a wrestling troupe led by Chai Janos, alternating wrestling on the mat with athletic performances.

One day, Janos introduced the Russian strongman to the famous Italian impresario Signor Pasolini, who had heard a lot about Zass’ athletic capabilities. The Italian offered to conclude a contract. Zass's European tour begins, his fame grows.

In 1923, he received an offer to work in Paris. The athlete later shared his hesitations to “agree or disagree” in his book “The Amazing Samson: Told by Himself,” published in London in 1925. Zass nevertheless signed a contract with the New Circus of Charles Debreuil - on excellent terms, but did not stay long in Paris. A year later, Zass went to England at the invitation of the famous head of the British variety show network, Oswald Stoll.

Arriving in London, not knowing a word of English, Zass... got lost. The gentleman who met the popular strongman simply did not pay attention to the inconspicuous man, 166 centimeters tall, who arrived at central station"Victoria". Soon, however, the athlete was found, and since then his photographs have not left the pages of British newspapers. Manchester, Bristol, Edinburgh, Glasgow... Samson moves from city to city, performing at the best theater venues - yes, it was in theaters and music halls that the athletes of that time demonstrated their strength routines.

Samson was truly unique. Take, say, breaking a chain wrapped around the body. Each new impresario appeared in front of Zass with a thick chain. It was a kind of exam, a “pass” to the stage. But only Samson could demonstrate this act in dozens of variations, tearing metal different groups muscles. The performance when Samson carried a horse weighing 300 kilograms across the stage, slung on his shoulders, was a crowning performance. He repeated it just in public, under open air. To demonstrate the colossal load on his shoulders, Samson built a special tower. Standing at the top, he held suspended bridges with people on his shoulders. On the most famous photograph, where Winston Churchill is pictured in such a group, Zass holds 13 people on his shoulders.

In 1925, shortly after Zass first arrived in England, he met the dancer Betty - she became an assistant in one of his famous numbers: he hung upside down under the circus big top, holding in his teeth a rope on which a platform was suspended with piano and the pianist playing it. For many years, Betty played music like this, hovering over the arena, until during a performance in 1952 at the Liverpool stadium, Zass fell down, along with the piano, onto a fragile woman.

Zass developed a truly unique performance called “Projectile Man” from what was demonstrated by other strongmen: they caught a 9-kilogram cannonball, which was fired from a short distance by a cannon. To begin with, Zass chose a core to match himself - 90 kilograms. But this was not enough for him. Not indifferent to the weaker sex, he knew how to conquer the audience! After much calculation and searching, Samson created a miracle gun that fired not cold metal, but... charming girl! The performance was carefully practiced, and Alex’s training “shooting” was carried out by his faithful companion Betty. Later she was replaced by Lilian la Brahm, who conquered Samson either with better aerodynamics of shape or with lighter weight.

Replacing the jack, Alexander Zass lifted trucks off the ground on one side. Judging by the photographs, he generally had a craving for cars: in one or another city in Great Britain, his impresario Howard held “road shows”, when in one of the squares, with a crowd of people, Samson lay down on the ground, and on his legs, along the lower back - a car with five or six passengers was passing. "A man with the power of two horsepower", - the barker advertising poster. Zass also practiced horse stretching with the general public. At the same time, he held back two horses rushing in opposite directions.

One of Zass' signature tricks was driving huge nails into a thick board with the palm of his hand. The British press wrote about this excitedly. David Webster heard the story that Samson once misjudged his blow and went right through his arm. Finding himself thus nailed to the board, Zass grabbed the head of the nail with the fingers of his free hand and pulled it out of the wood, as if with pliers.

So, 1925 - Samson signs a contract and successfully tours in Ireland, then returns to England. The next decade saw the peak of Samson's fame - "The Strongest Man on Earth." It turns out that all the years until his death, Zass lived in the United Kingdom with a residence permit, never renouncing his Russian Motherland. But with the beginning of the Second World War, Alexander Zass, who never accepted British citizenship, began to have problems. In order not to be among the internees, he stops public demonstrations of force and settles in the city of Paington, where he trains elephants, lions, and chimpanzees at the local zoo.

Alexander Zass's last public performance as a strongman in 1954 was organized for filming by the BBC television company. Samson was then 66 years old. He continued to work, although not in the strength genre, but as a trainer, but often included strength tricks in his performances. So, at the age of seventy, he carried two lions around the arena on a special yoke!

Alexander Zass died on September 26, 1962 at the age of 79. He was buried near London, in the small town of Hockley.

Created 10 Jan 2009

This happened in 1938 in the English city of Sheffield. In front of the crowd, a truck loaded with coal ran over a man sprawled on the cobblestone street. People screamed in horror. But the next second there was a cry of delight: “Glory to the Russian Samson!”. And the man to whom the storm of jubilation was felt, stood up from under the wheels as if nothing had happened, bowed to the audience with a smile. For several decades, the name of the Russian athlete has not left the circus posters of many countries. Alexandra Zassa, who performed under the pseudonym Samson. His repertoire of power routines was amazing:

he carried a horse or a piano around the arena with a pianist and dancer located on the lid;
caught with his hands a 9-kilogram cannonball flying out of a circus cannon from an eight-meter distance;
he tore a metal beam with assistants sitting at its ends from the floor and held it in his teeth;
having threaded the shin of one leg into the loop of a rope fixed under the dome, he held a platform with a piano and a pianist in his teeth;
lying with his bare back on a board studded with nails, he held a stone weighing 500 kilograms on his chest, which was hit by those from the public with sledgehammers;
in the famous attraction “Projectile Man” he caught with his hands an assistant flying out of a circus cannon and describing a 12-meter trajectory above the arena;
he broke the links of chains with his fingers;
He hammered nails into 3-inch boards with his unprotected palm, and then pulled them out, grasping the head with his index finger.

The performances were triumphant. This is explained not only by the original athletic performances, most of which could not be repeated by any athlete, but also by the fact that he was not like many strongmen of that time, who had massive figures and great weight. His height is 167.5 cm, weight - 80 kg, chest circumference 119 centimeters, biceps - by 41 centimeters. He liked to say that big biceps are not always an indicator of strength. Same as a big belly does not mean good digestion. The main thing is willpower, strong tendons And ability to control your muscles. Very often Samson I had to answer the question of how he achieved such strength. He replied that this was the result of purposeful work, enormous tension of all spiritual and physical forces. If you trace your entire life path Alexandra Zassa, then you can see that it consisted of constant training and a strict regime. In one photograph, where Samson is captured sitting at a table near a samovar, there is his note: “5 minutes of rest,” but he was then 74 years old, and he continued to work, although not in the strength genre, but as a trainer, but often included in their performances are power tricks. So, at the age of seventy, he carried two lions around the arena on a special yoke! Of course Alexandra Zassa there was enormous natural strength, which is what distinguished his ancestors in general. Once in his native Saransk he visited the circus with his father. The boy especially liked the mighty strongman who broke chains and bent horseshoes. At the end of his performance, the artist, as was customary at that time, addressed the audience, inviting them to repeat his tricks. Alas, no one was able to bend a horseshoe or lift a ball barbell with a thick bar off the ground. And suddenly father Alexandra, Ivan Petrovich Zass, rose from his seat and entered the arena. Alexander knew that his father was very strong. Sometimes he demonstrated his strength to the guests. And so the strong man handed the horseshoe to his father. To the surprise of the public, the horseshoe in the hands of Zass Sr. began to unbend. Then Ivan Petrovich he tore a huge barbell off the platform and, straightening his torso, raised it above his knees. The audience applauded like crazy. The circus strongman was embarrassed. He called the uniformist over to him. He ran backstage and brought a silver ruble. The artist raised his hand with a ruble and said: “But this is for your feat and for a drink!” The father took the ruble, then rummaged in his pocket, pulled out a three-ruble ruble, and handed it to the athlete along with the ruble, saying: “I don’t drink! But take it, but drink only tea!” Since then, his son lived only in the circus. In the backyard of the house, with the help of adults, I installed two horizontal bars, hung trapeze bars, got hold of household weights, made a primitive barbell, and began to train with incredible persistence. I tried to repeat what I saw. Having mastered the “sun” (large rotation) on the horizontal bar, he began to fly from one bar to another, doing backflips not only on the floor, but also on a horse. I did one-arm pull-ups several times. But all these activities were unsystematic. He convinced his father to order books on physical development from Moscow. And soon a book by the then famous athlete “Strength and How to Become Strong” arrived. The author talked about his athletic career, about victories over famous athletes, and even about fighting a huge lion, which before the fight was given a muzzle and special huge mittens on its paws. The lion lunged at him several times Sandow, but he threw it off himself every time. Then came eighteen exercises with dumbbells, that is, what was especially necessary Alexandru. And he began to study Sandow system- your idol. But he soon realized that exercises with dumbbells alone could not develop the strength that a professional strongman needs. He turns to famous athletes and Dmitriev-Morro for help, who did not ignore the young man’s request, and soon Zass received methodological recommendations from these athletes. Krylov recommended exercises with weights, and Dmitriev - with a barbell. He squeezed two-pound weights simultaneously and alternately (“mill”), pressed them upside down, and juggled. With the barbell I performed mainly bench presses, clean and jerks, and overhead presses. With his own weight of 66 kg, young Zass twisted (press with torso deviation) with his right hand 80 kg. But most of all he was attracted by the power tricks that he saw in the circus. And he visited the circus constantly. His sports props began to be replenished with horseshoes, chains, metal rods, and nails. And then he realized that repeated attempts to perform a trick - breaking a chain or bending a thick metal rod - bring tangible results in the development of physical strength. In essence, these were the now widely known isometric exercises. Thus, purely empirically (based on experience) Alexander Zass came to the conviction that athletic strength can be developed by combining dynamic exercises with isometric exercises in training. He later published his isometric system, and the pamphlet created a sensation. Once at the circus, Zass at one time he worked as an assistant to the legendary trainer Anatoly Durov, then as an athlete Mikhail Kuchkin, and he often told his assistant: “Someday, Sasha, you will become a famous strongman, I have not seen anyone who was as strong as you, having such a small height and weight.” Generally Zass He worked in the circus for about sixty years and almost forty of them with athletic acts.

In 1914, world war broke out. Alexandra Zassa drafted into the 180th Vindavsky Cavalry Regiment. One day an incident occurred that amazed even those who were well aware of the extraordinary power Alexandra. One day he was returning from another reconnaissance mission, and suddenly, already close to the Russian positions, they noticed him and opened fire. The bullet shot through the horse's leg. The Austrian soldiers, seeing that the horse and rider had fallen, did not pursue the cavalryman and turned back. Zass, making sure that the danger had passed, did not want to leave the wounded horse. There was still half a kilometer left to his regiment, but this did not bother him. Putting the horse on his shoulders, Zass so he brought it to his camp. Time will pass, he will remember this episode and will include carrying a horse on his shoulders in his repertoire. In one of the fights Zass was seriously wounded by shrapnel in both legs. He was captured, and the Austrian surgeon began amputation. But Zass I begged him not to do this. He believed in his powerful body and the therapeutic gymnastics that he developed for himself. And he recovered! Soon he, along with other prisoners, was sent to heavy road work. He made several unsuccessful escapes, after which he was severely punished. The third escape was remarkable. Having escaped from the camp, Alexander I found myself in the city of Kaposvár in the south of Hungary, where the Schmidt Circus, known throughout Europe, was on tour. Appearing before the circus owner, Zass Frankly told him about his misfortune, as well as about working in Russian circuses. Immediately the director suggested that he break the chain and bend a thick metal rod. Of course, hungry and tired Zass I was not in good athletic shape, but by force of will I completed the task. He was taken to the circus, and soon the news of the amazing athlete spread throughout the city. But one day the military commandant came to his performance. He became interested in why such a strong young athlete was not serving in the Austrian army. That same evening it turned out that Samson was a Russian prisoner of war. He was taken to the basement of the fortress, into a damp, dark room. But his strength and will were not broken. He made a new escape by breaking the chain connecting the handcuffs and breaking down the bars. Now he gets to Budapest, where he gets a job as a loader at the port, and then at the circus arena. A wrestler, world champion, helped him Tea Janos with whom Alexander met back in Russia. This good-natured, powerful Hungarian treated the unfortunate Zassu. Took him to the village to his relatives, where the strength Alexandra gradually recovered. Then he performed for three years in a wrestling troupe under the direction of Janos tea, alternating fights on the mat with athletic performances.

One day Janos introduced the Russian strongman to the famous Italian impresario Signor Pasolini who has heard a lot about athletic capabilities Zassa. The Italian offered to conclude a contract. European tour begins Zassa, his fame is growing. Finally, he comes to England, where his performances generally aroused fantastic interest. Famous athletes such as Edward Aston, Thomas Inch, Pullum began to try their hand at repeating tricks Zassa, but not a single attempt was successful. Mr Pullum, director of the famous Camberwell Weightlifting Club and editor-in-chief of the sports magazine Health and Strength, wrote of him: “A man has arrived straight into the heart of England, capable of performing feats that common sense refuses to believe. If he had been a huge fellow, his performances might have been perceived as believable. But pay attention at least to the chest excursion (the difference between inhalation and exhalation) of this short man. It is equal to 23 centimeters, which says a lot to specialists. Therefore, I say that he not only has unprecedented physical strength, not only a magnificent artist, but also a man who uses his mind as well as his muscles.” And this is what the poster of the famous Alhambra hall, where he was supposed to perform, testifies Alexander Zass: “In Manchester, during construction work, Samson, suspended by one leg from a crane, lifted a metal beam from the ground with his teeth, and was carried to the top of the building by a crane, while the crowd stood gaping below. If the Russian had opened his mouth, the crowd would never have been able to tell what they saw.” Posters and newspapers did not lag behind. Daily Telegraph: " Mister Samson, is certainly the strongest man on earth. You can believe this when you see how easily he ties iron rods into knots.”

Manchester Guardian: "According to the advertisements, he is the strongest man on Earth, and after we have seen him for ourselves... this statement can be considered irrefutable."

Health and Strength Magazine: "In the face Samson we have a strongman whose achievements are completely open to scrutiny. Truly, his muscles are made of steel."

At the end of your life Alexander Zass invented the hand dynamometer, designed and manufactured a circus cannon for the “Projectile Man” attraction. Died Samson in 1962. He was buried near London, in the small town of Hockley.

Bruce Lee

In addition to the fact that he fought well, he pinned the US champion in the 110kg weight class Van Williams. The result of such targeted training was the forearms. Powerful, amazing strength. They were as hard to the touch as if baseball bat. Spoke Van Williams. Somehow Bruce offered to fight him. I sat down at the table with the idea of playing along with him as a friend. I was 112 kg then. How could I compete with Bruce seriously! However, it turned out that I did not have enough strength to overcome the resistance of his hand! Moreover, I could not move his hand even a millimeter. In a conversation with Herb Jackson, Lee jokingly said that he could become the World Arm Wrestling Champion. ABOUT Bruce Lee I can tell you a lot, but with a weight of 65 kg, he picked up 2 dumbbells of 37 kg each and held them on outstretched arms for 20 seconds.

Milo

Famous Hellenic athlete Milo from the city Crotona lived in the 6th century BC He was unbeatable in strength training and wrestling for twenty years, winning the overall winner's crown at the Olympic Games six times. He developed phenomenal strength, which became proverbial, almost according to modern principles of training: duration, continuity, gradual increase in load. For the first time Milo lifted the bull on his shoulders when he was a calf, and subsequently carried him around the stadium arena every day. The bull grew, grew and Milo's power. The end of the attraction is for the needs of the ancient public. Having lowered the bull to the ground, the athlete killed him with a punch between the eyes. Milo stood on a disk greased with lard or oil, and none of the spectators could push him off this slippery pedestal. A stone weighing 136 kilograms was thrown six meters. He put six people in a chariot, lifted it on his head and carried it around the arena. But he saved the most amazing of his tricks for last. Milo he squeezed a ripe pomegranate in his palm and invited those who wanted to take it out. No one succeeded. The athlete unclenched his hand - the pomegranate was completely intact and not even dented: to such an extent, while tensing the muscles of his fingers, he was able to simultaneously relax the muscles of his palm. During the war between his native Croton and the city of Sybaris Milona was elected commander. Like Hercules famous hero, dressed in a lion's skin, fought with a huge club in his hands, replacing an entire squad. The strongman's death was tragic. Having gone into the forest to get firewood for his old mother, he hammered wedges into the crack of a thick trunk and tried to tear it in two with his hands. But the released wedges fell to the ground, and the tree pinched the fingers. Milo I didn’t take into account that with age, even champions lose strength. He was unable to free his hands and found himself chained to the trunk. Helpless, hungry and exhausted, the famous athlete was torn to pieces by wild animals. That's how he died Milo of Croton, to whom a marble monument was erected and whose name was included six times in the lists of winners of ancient Olympia. Milo of Croton wrote the scientific treatise "Physics" and became famous as a singer - throughout his life he confirmed the ideal of harmony of body and soul. This ideal was put forward by Pythagoras, known to us from school, an Olympic champion and an excellent fist fighter. The father of medicine, the ancient Greek physician Hippocrates, had phenomenal physical strength and stood out among the Hellenic wrestlers and horsemen. The winners of the highest awards for sporting valor were the famous philosophers Plato and Socrates, and the tragic poets Sophocles and Euripides. Many of the most prominent philosophers and poets, statesmen and generals Ancient Greece(remember, for example, Pindar and Alcinades) - outstanding athletes and winners of Olympic competitions. The combination of greatness of strength and nobility of spirit was demonstrated by the ancient Greek hero Polydamus of Thessaly. He was relaxing with friends in a cave when the earthquake began. Polydamus supported the vault until his companions left the cave, but he himself was covered with stones. It is known about this athlete that he killed a lion with his bare hands, which in ancient times was considered something of a standard for the title of master of sports.

Albion athletes

Cornish farmer Payne had a son Anthony. Already as a child, he was distinguished by his extraordinary strength: he could put one of his peers on each arm and run up a steep hill with them. Being a huntsman, he went to hurry the servant, who was supposed to bring firewood on a donkey. He shouldered the donkey, the firewood, and the servant - and brought it all home. As you remember, the breakdown of strength in ancient times There was an exercise with a lion, but in the Middle Ages it was replaced by a harmless donkey. What degradation! Strength was not the privilege of only tall people. At the beginning of the 18th century, a dwarf toured Ireland Owen Farrell height 113 centimeters. He danced with two adults under his arm. And he walked freely, carrying four people. Enjoyed great fame Thomas Topham, born in London in 1710. His tricks were amazing. May 20, 1731 (this number shocked the audience so much that even exact date his performance) at a performance in Derby Topham lifted three barrels of water with a total weight of 863 kilograms on a belt thrown over his shoulders and neck.

The strength of heroes in Rus' is traditionally combined with selfless courage. During the battle in 1240, when our army under the command of Alexander Nevsky victoriously repelled the Swedes, the Novgorod warriors showed courage and extraordinary strength. Those who went down in history especially distinguished themselves Gavrilo Oleksic, Sbyslav Yakunovich And Yakov Polovchanin. Working magnificently with battle axes and swords, they crashed into the thick of the enemies and paved the way for the entire army. Interest in people of outstanding stature and heroic strength was persistent. Peter I issued personalized decrees, according to which heroes were wanted throughout Rus'. This is understandable - courageous people, who held weapons securely in powerful hands, were always needed by the Fatherland. At the end of the 18th century, he lived in St. Petersburg famous artist Orlovsky, a man of enormous stature and phenomenal strength. He could juggle a two-handed sword while holding it with three fingers. Having gone to someone's home and not finding the owner, Orlovsky would leave a poker tied in a knot as a sign of his visit. This is what they wrote about the captain of the frigate "Raphael" Vasily Lukin, who died in the Battle of Athos during the war between Russia and Turkey: “His strength was amazing, but it was difficult to force Lukina use it only in a cheerful hour among friends. He easily broke horseshoes, could hold pound cannonballs in his outstretched hands for half an hour, press a nail into a ship wall with one finger; could fold a massive silver plate into a pipe so that it was impossible to determine what it was originally. Once, while protecting his sailors from drunken, riotous English sailors, Lukin killed a dozen fighters on the spot, and the rest shamefully retreated from the scene of the massacre." In the second half of the 19th century, wrestling of a purely forceful nature gained popularity. They had gigantic strength, Zaikin, Shemyakin, Hackenschmidt, Kashcheev. Everyone knew the leading athletes, young and old. The pages of magazines were full of photographs of strongmen, their portraits were exhibited in store windows, and products were advertised with their names. In those years, there was still no orderly assessment of strength, and athletes came up with various feats such as bending a poker, lifting stones, and horses. They tore chains in front of spectators, tore apart a folded deck of cards with their fingers, weaved patterns from nails...

How the steel rose

It was difficult to say who was stronger until an objective opportunity for an answer appeared - the barbell. A standard projectile, lifted according to strictly defined rules. And here the heroes of our Motherland proved that they are fully worthy of their mighty ancestors: domestic weightlifters are, without a doubt, the strongest in the world. Largest number Soviet athlete Vasily Alekseev set 80 world records in weightlifting. He was the first to lift 600 kilograms in triathlon. Olympic champion Yuri Vlasov installed 28 world records. Other Russian heroes performed like them on the international stage - A. Voronin, N. Kolesnikov, Yu. Vardanyan, D. Rigert, L. Jabotinsky, Yu. Zaitsev and many others. So we can rightfully say: our athletes today are the most strong people planets.

Unsurpassed records

As the crowd watched, a truck loaded with coal ran over a man sprawled on the cobblestone street. This trick was demonstrated Alexander Zass (Samson). With his own weight of no more than 80 kg, he carried a horse weighing up to 400 kg on his shoulders. He lifted an iron beam with his teeth, at the ends of which two assistants sat, the total weight was 265 kg. For fun, he could lift a taxi and drive it like a wheelbarrow, break horseshoes and break chains. He lifted 20 people on the platform. Grigory Kashcheev walked around the circus arena, shouldering 12 two-pound weights (384 kg), and once lifted a forty-pound (640 kg) beam. Peter Krylov, the King of Kettlebells, pressed 114.6 kg with his left hand and bent rails on his shoulders. He set several world records in weightlifting: bench press on a wrestling bridge - 134 kg, bench press with a two-pound weight with his left hand - 86 times, spread his straight arms to the sides, holding a weight weighing 41 kg in each. Yakub Chekhovskaya demonstrated a sensational strength trick in 1913 - he carried six soldiers of the Guards regiment (at least 400 kg) around the arena on an outstretched arm, for which he was awarded an honorary gold belt. This record number has not yet been repeated by any athlete in the world. World champion in French wrestling Nikolay Vakhturov threw a two-pound weight over a railway carriage, and the world champion in wrestling Ivan Zaikin lifted a 40-bucket barrel of water onto his back and carried it around the arena. Athlete Herman Gerner, holding 50 kg in each hand, ran 100 meters in 18.4 seconds. Athlete Ludwig Chaplinsky for fun, he jumped over the dining table (80 cm high and wide) with a ram in his hands, and the athlete Peter Yankovsky on a dare, he squeezed three-pound weights into his palms while sitting on the floor. Georg Hackenschmidt lifted an iron core weighing over 585 kg twice in a row, tearing it off the platform by 10 centimeters. The greatest weight ever lifted by a person is 2844 kilograms. He was held on the shoulders of an American weightlifter Paul Anderson. Great Leonardo da Vinci, of course, is familiar to each of us. But few people know that, having enormous power, he swung with one hand such church bells that only four people could swing at the same time.

Exotic feminization

Lidia Rybakova(her weight is 68 kg) lifted a barbell weighing 900 kg from the ground. At the age of 33, on March 4, 1990, she started off and dragged a LAZ bus with 48 passengers in the cabin with a total weight of 10 tons 850 kilograms along the asphalt.

20 year old Svetlana Gavrilina from Serpukhov in December 1991, moved a 40-ton Tu-134 by more than two meters. Before her record, Svetlana studied... ballet for seven years. Her height is 164 cm, weight is 56 kilograms. Now she confidently lifts 500 kg on her belt, as well as a bar attached to her belt, on which 7 adult men are sitting. April 15, 1895 American Josephine Blatt(1869-1923) held a load of 1616 kilograms thrown on belts over her shoulders. This women's weight lifting record has not been broken to this day.

Pyramid of Dikul

Valentin Ivanovich Dikul(born 1947) is an outstanding athlete of our time. He performed two unique strength acts in the circus arena: holding a metal “pyramid” weighing a ton on his body, and holding a Volga car on his back (the load was 1570 kilograms). The uniqueness of these numbers is also in the fact that the athlete performed them after a severe spinal injury - he could not move for almost seven years and, with the help of exercise equipment of his own design, managed to restore his previous form. Now V.I. Dikul heads the Center for Rehabilitation of Patients with Spinal Injury and Consequences of Cerebral Palsy.

Krasnoyarsk Hercules

Klementy Boul born in 1888 in Achinsk; Soon the family moved to Krasnoyarsk. In 1911, for the first time he had the opportunity to participate in an international classical wrestling tournament held in St. Petersburg. The tournament brought together the best European wrestlers: the great Grigory Kashcheev, the Dutchman Van Riel, the Volga hero Nikolai Vakhturov. The high-profile titles did not bother the Siberian; in 16 fights he emerged victorious and won the title of champion.

Boule has established himself as an unsurpassed master of wrestling techniques. Being a heavyweight, he acted with extraordinary ease; his style was even compared to acrobatics. Boule met with the best carpet masters of that time -, Shemyakin, Zaikin, Lurich. In the final of the match, which took place in the arena of the Kursk circus in October 1928, he fought with himself. Within an hour Boule was able to withstand the six-time world champion and won a well-deserved victory. In the future Klementy Boul In the championships in classical wrestling he did not know defeats; in the mid-30s he switched to coaching. In the Dynamo society, he trained dozens of first-class wrestlers, including the European champion Konstantin Koberidze.

Died Klementy Iosifovich Bul in 1953, at the age of 66.

This man, 1000 photos, trained 12 hours a day, lived in the mountains for 3 years, fought 270 fights without a single defeat, a fight with him rarely lasted more than three rounds (it’s good that they fought with gloves), and usually lasted no more than 10 seconds . In live combat, he killed a person with one blow; if the person blocked, the limb would break. Demonstrating human capabilities, Oyama without fear he went out to fight a bull and cut off the horns of the enraged animal with a blow of his hand. He took part in fights with the strongest wrestlers and boxers of that time, and always emerged victorious. For his incredible strength and talent, admiring Americans dubbed Oyamu"by the hand of the Lord." Then they looked at him as a miracle, something supernatural. It took years for the secret of the great master to be revealed to all of us - any person engaged in Kyokushin karate. All you need is desire and perseverance in achieving your goal. During his life, he killed 52 bulls, 3 of them died on the first blow.

In 1957 in Mexico, at the age of 34, he was on the verge of death when a bull gored Oyamu. Oyama managed to knock down the bull and cut off its horn. He was bedridden for 6 months recovering from a usually fatal wound. The Humane Society of Japan protested against Oyama's animal fighting after Oyama announced his intention to fight with a tiger and a bear, although the bulls were killed Oyama were intended for slaughter. Here is a list of exercises that Oyama performed every day:

During a period of short but fruitful asceticism in the mountains Oyama lived according to a strictly developed regime, which often appears in biographies of the master and serves as an edification to frivolous students:

4 o'clock in the morning - rise. Meditation with closed eyes - 10 min. Running in the mountains - 2 hours.
7 am - cooking.
8 a.m. - meal, combining breakfast and lunch.
9 am - start of training.
Perform a set of five exercises ten times:
1. lift a sixty-kilogram barbell 20 times;
2. do push-ups on your fingers 20 times;
3. do 20 handstand push-ups;
4. do pull-ups on the bar 20 times;
5. deliver 20 punches from the right and left to the makiwara.
After completing each complex, do breathing exercises and immediately proceed to the next complex. After completing this complex ten times, rest for up to 11 hours.
11 a.m. - performing kata.
2 o'clock in the afternoon
- lifting weights. Lift a sixty-kilogram barbell 20 times, then gradually increase the load.
- Do 1000 push-ups: 200 times on two fingers, 200 times on four fingers, 400 times on five fingers. Before each complex, take a short break. Sometimes, for variety, do 1000 push-ups with fists, with a break after 500.
3 pm
- development of sparring techniques;
- exercises with makiwara;
- rope climbing;
- abdominal exercises - 200 times;
- breaking stones.
5 pm - cooking. Dinner.
6 pm - meditation and going to bed.

In addition to this eloquent document, we note that many kempo devotees and enthusiasts adhered to such a daily routine not for a year or two, but for twenty, thirty years or their entire lives.

In 1952, Oyama went on a tour of the United States, where he created a sensation and brought complete confusion to the public, demonstrating superhuman performances. In fact, how should American spectators react when a visiting master pounded huge cobblestones like porcelain, tore off the necks of beer bottles without the bottles falling off, beat himself on the knuckles with a hammer, punched thick boards with his hands and feet, (about 30 cm) tiles laid in fifteen to twenty layers and three or four bricks lying on top of each other? Oyama traveled throughout the United States for a year demonstrating his karate skills live and on national television. For your students Oyama developed a whole cascade of dizzying tricks that embody the highest achievements of karate on the physical level:

punching a sheet of thin rice paper suspended on two threads with blows of the fist and fingers;
splitting a board (or brick) suspended on a rope with blows of the fist, elbow, edge of the palm, edge of the foot and forefoot from a standing position on the ground or while jumping;
splitting several inch boards in the hands of two assistants with all possible blows of the hands and feet, including jumping at a height of about two meters;
splitting a one-inch board floating in a barrel of water;
splitting up to twenty layers of tiles with hands, feet and head;
splitting three bricks stacked on top of each other with a “hand-sword” or “iron hammer” blow;
splitting with a sword-hand blow three ice slabs, each three inches thick, stacked one above the other at intervals;
breaking through an ice block with your hand and head;
splitting massive cobblestones with the base of the edge of the palm;
cutting off the neck of a standing bottle;
penetration with a “hand-spear” blow into a tightly tied bundle of bamboo rods;
piercing a suspended cow carcass with a hand-spear blow.