Georg Gackenschmidt: biography and career of the athlete

Georg Gakkenshmidt - a German German who was well-known in the 20th century, developed the muscles of the body to such qualitative characteristics, thanks to which he was able to establish the first world record, including in the history of Russian sport. He squeezed a weight with one hand, weighing 116 kg. In 1911 Georg's book was published, which describes the same system that promotes healthy physical development and longevity. Gakkenshmidt believed that 20 minute daily training supports a body capable of resisting illnesses.

Childhood

According to the new chronology, the Russian lion, as he was later nicknamed by the public, was born in 1877 in Dorpat, the modern name of this Estonian city is Tartu. In the family of the German and Estonian, he was the eldest child, was brought up with his younger brother and sister.

Parents had an average physique, but the grandfather on the maternal line, which, by the way, never saw Georg, differed in growth and strength. In his life Gakkenshmidt recalled that the mother spoke for the similarity of her eldest son to her father, only the latter was even higher.

Being the strongest among peers, the boy was considered the leader of the children's army. In addition, from an early age, Georg Gakkenshmidt was fond of physical exercises. He understood that having a distinctive appearance, he is much superior to his comrades, so sports were necessary for him to maintain strength.

Enthusiasm

At the age of ten, the boy went to study in the Derpt general educational establishment, which is called a real school in the meantime. George immediately liked the subject of physical education, especially gymnastics, and in 1891 he became a prize winner of competitions held among students of the school. This victory was immediately published by local newspapers.

Gakkenshmidt wrote that at that time he was the best player in the towns, he could overcome in a jump of 1.9 meters in length and 1.4 in height, with his right hand 16 times, and with the left 21 times squeeze a 13 kilogram dumbbell. A distance of 180 meters run in 26 seconds. That is, Georg Gakkenshmidt, whose biography is full of victories and confessions, already had the prerequisites to become a champion at a young age.

Revel and the first sports membership

After graduating from the seven-year school, in 1895 the young man moved to Revel (modern Talin), where he came as a student in a machine-building plant to obtain a profession. Georg expected to work as an engineer, while simultaneously doing his physical health.

However, having joined the ranks of members of the athletic and bicycle club, the guy was keen on sports, and even got several prizes in bicycle races. In the cold season, Georg paid attention to heavy work and wrestling. If the first enthusiasm for the young man was a success, then in hand-to-hand fighting he was inferior to his comrades.

First defeat

In the autumn of 1896, Gakka met Georg Lurikh, at that time already a professional wrestler. In the sports club with the newly arrived athlete, everyone could test their strength in hand-to-hand combat. Naturally, the outcome was the defeat of the Reval wrestlers. Georg Gakkenshmidt, whose training was aimed at lifting weights, also entered into a contest with his namesake.

In the autobiography, the Russian lion mentioned this duel and shared feelings with the reader, they say, Lurikh could easily put a technically unprepared opponent, although he did not concede to force characteristics. Publicly, at the Officers' Meeting, George Lurich in the first battle immediately put Georg, and in the second it took 17 minutes for the Gakkenshmidt's shoulder blades to touch the floor.

The wounded pride of a beginner athlete contributed to enhanced hand-to-hand training, as a result of which the wrestler soon put all the members of his sports club.

Powerful acquaintance

Somewhere in 1897 a guy got a hand injury at an engineering plant. "It made me turn to a doctor for advice," writes Georg Gakkenshmidt. "The way to strength and health" - a book later published by an athlete, contains a whole chapter dedicated to the St. Petersburg doctor Krayevsky, the same person to whom the young man turned with pain in his hand.

Vladislav Frantsevich Krajewski was a supporter of weightlifting and the founder of a similar sports club in St. Petersburg. The fifty-six-year-old doctor, when he first saw the preparation of Georg during the examination of a sick limb, immediately predicted a professional future for the athlete, and suggested moving to him in St. Petersburg. Learning that Vladislav Frantsevich coached Lurikh and the fact that George has the prerequisites to become the strongest fighter, he, without thinking twice, went to meet his dream in 1989. As Dr. Krayevsky introduced in St. Petersburg to the other athletes of Gakku, historian Olaf Langsepp described it. "Georg Gakkenshmidt" - a book about the life of an athlete - contains an excerpt about the relief body, without fat, with biceps at 45 cm and an incredibly wide back. Such muscles could not boast of any of the athletes of the Petersburg club.

The Krayevsky regime

Moving to St. Petersburg, the guy settled with his friend and mentor Vladislav Frantsevich, who, in turn, lived alone in a huge house on Mikhailovskaya Square. Gymnasium was equipped with simulators for the development of strength, dumbbells and barbells.

One of the rooms was covered with portraits of famous athletes, and wrestlers who came to Petersburg, always visited the hospitable house of the famous doctor. In this case, each of them was subjected to weighing, measurement and research. Perhaps such a vast study of different people with physical development served to create Kraevsky's training system. Accumulation in one house of athletes and public weighing contributed to the development of the desire of each of the present athletes to become better than others.

Georg Gackenschmidt, whose photo is an example for imitation of how a healthy and handsome male body should look , never touched tobacco and alcohol. He drank exclusively milk. Georg trained with Vladislav Frantsevich after taking bathing procedures. They, without wiping, lifted together the weights until they completely dried up. The main rule for a healthy person, set by Krayevsky, is an eight-hour sleep.

Achievements

In 1989, Gakka pushed one with his right hand at 110 kg, and lying on his back with both hands - 151 kg. In the spring of the same year Georg Gakkenshmidt won the title of "Champion of Russia" for lifting heavy weights. On extended arms over his head, he kept the weight 114 kg, which is 1 kg less than the world record set by the Frenchman Bonn. Then he competed in St. Petersburg for 45 minutes of French wrestler Pavel Pons, and in 11 minutes he laid on Yankovsky's shoulder blades.

The preparation of the athlete for the European Championship begins. To get used to the public, Krayevsky directs Georg, as a wrestler and an athlete, to perform at the Riga Circus. After training, a team of athletes from St. Petersburg, headed by a doctor, goes to the European Championships in Vienna. The result of the competition was the title and gold medal for G. Gakkenshmidt.

In 1899, Georg won the Finnish championship, with 20 opponents. In the same year he became a prize-winner of the championship of Russia.

Injury physical and mental

In every sport, you can not do without injuries. During training on lifting of weight the guy has damaged a tendon in the right shoulder. This failure was accompanied by a long pain. But, despite the injury, Georg Gakkenshmidt went at this time to the championship in Paris. Two fights he undoubtedly won, one in 18 seconds, the second in 4 minutes. Then a dislocation of the shoulder occurred in one of the preparatory trainings for Gakki . As a result, the right arm weakens. Two more fights Georg survived, and then decided to leave the championship.

The French doctor warned the young man: "I need rest for 12 months." Six months he treated Georg's hand, and in the spring of 1900 he began to exercise again. In summer the wrestler won two titles: "Champion of St. Petersburg" and "Champion of Moscow". More than one victory was taken in the history of the athlete, including at the World Championships in Vienna.

In 1901, Dr. Krayevsky died, and this was a tremendous shock to all athletes trained by the method of Vladislav Franzevich.

After the injuries suffered, the guy took a short break in the fight and left for Germany. And already in 1902 he became a world record holder, raising behind him 187 pounds with his knees bent. Later, with bound legs, he jumped 100 times across the table.

Georg Gackenschmidt: books

In 1908 the book "How to Live" was published, a year later "The Way to Power". After retiring, the man was carried away by philosophy. In 1936, the light saw the book "The Man and the Cosmic Antagonism of the Mind and Spirit," authored by a professional athlete. Among the listed literature from the pen of Georg came out books: "Three types of memory and forgetfulness," "Consciousness and character."

In 1950, Gakkenshmidt changed his citizenship, becoming a citizen of England. After 18 years, being of sound mind, died at the age of 91 of his life.