Giri is a cult Russian invention

2024 Author: Seth Attwood | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 15:55

Kettlebells in Russia are more than sports. They were pulled by both Leo Tolstoy and Ivan Poddubny. In Soviet times, it was a good tradition to have kettlebells at home. And today exercises with them are included in the mandatory training program for our best athletes.

The cult of weights

The weights, which have retained their shape to this day, appeared in the 18th century in a completely unexpected way. According to legend, Russian gunners constantly, with great efforts, manually laid cannon balls into the cannons. It took preparation. A simple but excellent idea was proposed: attach a handle to the core and thereby train the muscles of the arms.

The results were overwhelming, the speed of loading the cannon into the cannon increased several times.

Weight lifting was not considered a sport until the end of the 19th century. It was more of an entertainment, but firmly rooted in the culture. Strongmen performed at city fairs and in circuses. However, it can be argued that all modern weightlifting grew out of the passion of the strongmen of the past with kettlebells. The siloviki went on tour and collected full arenas. This gave rise to a real cult of strength.

All famous wrestlers of the past practiced with kettlebells. Ivan Poddubny, Ivan Zaikin, Georg Gakkenschmidt and many others - they all went through the kettlebell lifting school.

Pyotr Krylov, who was called the "king of weights", squeezed a two-pound weight 86 times in a "soldier's stance" and broke several world athletic records. His "trick" was an excellent physique (he took prizes for the most athletic figure) and the fact that during his performances he was vividly communicating with the audience, thereby showing that the most difficult exercises are given to him without much effort.

Frederic Müller, who took the pseudonym Eugene Sandov, is considered to be the founder of bodybuilding. He, who did somersaults with a 24-kilogram kettlebell, in 1930 published a book under his Russian name with the laconic title "Bodybuilding".

Vladislav Kraevsky, the founder of the St. Petersburg "circle of athletic fans" at the age of 60, amazed the guests by easily squeezing the "doubles" (32 kg) ten times.

Russia also has a priority in the theoretical development of kettlebell lifting. Even before the revolution, in 1916, Ivan Lebedev (the strongmen called him "Uncle Vanya") published the book "Guidelines on how to develop your strength by exercising with heavy weights", and his student Alexander Bukharov in 1939 published another textbook - "Kettlebell lifting ".

Powerful grandfather

Speaking about Russian kettlebell lifting, one cannot fail to mention Leo Tolstoy, who was one of his most devoted fans. In principle, he attached great importance to strength exercises. In his house there were rings and a trapeze, in the yard there was a horizontal bar. The writer worked with kettlebells until old age. Once he remarked: "After all, you know, I lifted five pounds with one hand." It is hard to doubt this. At the age of seventy, the "Yasnaya Polyana elder" overtook the boys in running, swam well, rode well. A year before his death, in 1909, when Tolstoy was 82 years old, in a humorous dispute he defeated all the guests in a "wrestling in his arms."

The writer transferred his passion for kettlebells to his novels. In Anna Karenina we read about Levin (he is considered one of Tolstoy's alter ego):

"And, listening to this voice, he went to the corner where he had two pounds of weights, and began to lift them gymnastically, trying to bring himself into a state of vivacity. Footsteps creaked outside the door. He hastily put down the weights."

Or a fragment from the novel "Sunday":

"Entering the office, he locked the door, took out two galters (weights) from the cabinet with papers from the bottom shelf and made twenty movements up, forward, sideways and down and then easily sat down three times, holding the galters over his head."

Tolstoy, who became one of the first fighters for sobriety and a healthy lifestyle, said: “For me, the daily movement of bodily work is as necessary as air.

Weights in the USSR

In the Moscow metro, in the pavilion of the Dynamo station, there is a bas-relief depicting a kettlebell lifter. Kettlebell lifting deservedly achieved the honor of being imprinted among other sports disciplines. Kettlebells were loved in the USSR devotedly and selflessly. In every house, it was customary to have at least a pound shell. Even unsportsmanlike people pulled kettlebells as exercise. This was already the norm in the post-war period.

Kettlebell lifting developed rapidly. In 1948, the first All-Union competition of strongmen was held, the program of which included exercises with weights and a barbell. Thanks to the energy of security enthusiasts, kettlebells have become a part of the culture of the union republics.

In 1978, the All-Russian Kettlebell Lifting Commission was founded, at the same time the first championship was held. In 1984, the All-Union Association of kettlebell lifters was opened. The sport developed, the program disciplines changed slightly, in 1989 a temporary regulation appeared, which made the competition more spectacular. Before that, the strongmen competed in the maximum number of repetitions. The growth of strength and technical indicators allowed the best athletes to lift weights up to 1000 times. It was great, but not as spectacular as the time and speed competition.

Weights for everyone

Today Russian kettlebell lifting is on the rise again. Our athletes traditionally take prizes at international competitions. In addition to sports disciplines (snatch, jerk with two hands, jerk in a long cycle), kettlebell lifters also devote time to power juggling, the entertainment of which motivates new people to come to the sport.

Exercises with kettlebells are used by athletes, percussionists, wrestlers. Kettlebells perfectly develop strength endurance, coordination, strengthen ligaments. Unlike weightlifting, kettlebell lifting is not traumatic; both girls and children are successfully engaged in it.

Read also: Russian heroes: Alexander Zass and Yuri Malko