Rare Footage Of Karl Gotch Training With Antonio Inoki

When I first started out way back in 2005, Matt Furey was my first intro in the world of Physical Culture with the recommendation by Logan Christopher of Lost Empire Herbs & Tyler Bramlett of WeShape. Things slowly began to change for me from then on and learned about all kinds of people in that area of old school training. I learned about the legendary Karl Gotch who had mixed reviews of those who knew him or interacted with him at one point or another. Some praised him, others saw him as this sadistic wrestler with a pension of beating the crap out of guys. 

The two people I knew who was around the man for an extended period of time was Bud Jeffries and Tom Puckett (Both RIP). Bud respected Karl as a wrestler but didn't see eye to eye with him and didn't get along with him which at the time would be understandable. Tom saw the man as a father figure and told me a story about him when we went to the gym together and got in workouts. He showed me his style of the exercises Karl taught him and I did my best to mimic him but even when he was sick, Tom was a machine and could still go in some fashion. 

Karl had this mystique about him and his workouts were about as crazy as you can get. His legacy lives on with the likes of Jake Shannon, catch wrestling legends such as Yoshiaki Fujiwara and current Japanese star Minoru Suzuki. His skill set was beyond what most would comprehend and is arguably the greatest wrestler of the last 50+ years. I never got to meet the man but I've heard enough stories to last a long time. 

After his stint in the states, Karl found fame in the Japanese culture where to the point the wrestlers called him a God even though the man himself never really liked that moniker. His conditioning methods were torturous and it showed in certain footage you can find on Youtube. One of his students became the Hierarchy for Japanese wrestling Antonio Inoki who owned New Japan Pro Wrestling which has been the top of the food chain in Pro Wrestling in that part of the world for decades. His training under Gotch has rarely been seen on screen to the point where even with all the research, there's less than a handful of videos of Inoki training under him. 

Now as a side note, Karl's idea of conditioning was taken from the Indian Style of wrestling called Kushti. The Great Gama is the most famous man in this style of wrestling. Karl learned it from a practitioner in England who taught him what we now know to be Hindu Push-ups, Squats, Bridges, The Clubs, Mace and others. He was fascinated by this to the degree where he took the approach to another level and worked other wrestlers into the ground to show them what they had to do before even stepping foot on the mat. Karl's numbers alone in his own conditioning were so impressive that he put them into a watered down entity for others to even try to accomplish or be consistent with. 

In this past week, some footage popped up on Youtube that was uploaded in Japan of Gotch putting Inoki through a workout (edited of course) that shows not only what Inoki was capable of back then but what is even more rare is seeing Gotch himself who was in his late 40's early 50's at the time train. His style of Hindu Push-ups is not the same as Furey taught decades later, this was actually the same variation Tom Puckett taught me to do when I went to the gym with him. I like this style better because it mimics the movement on the Push-up board that you see in the video. He was doing mobility drills long before what most do today so even way back then, Gotch was ahead of his time and his bridging was just phenomenal to watch. The man was thick and had a powerful neck and thoroughbred legs that could go on forever. He was just incredible. After seeing this footage, it gave me another perspective of what the man did and have a higher sense of respect than I already did. Barrel chested and was one of the most flexible and durable men that was a heavyweight. Think at his peak he was about 6'3 and 260 and could do thousands of squats if he wanted to, push-ups that would make most men puke their guts out by the end, tremendous agility and mobility and had stamina that was right up there with the likes of Lou Thesz, Ed Lewis, Frank Gotch & others. 

If you're serious when it comes to conditioning, wrestling and understanding the history of the game, this video alone can give some great insights and something that should be respected and shared. I may not completely agree about certain things about Gotch but he deserves respect beyond what he's already been given and was one of the last remnants of an era of wrestling that is now long gone. He truly was a man among men and had levels of conditioning that is still talked about today. 

Hope you enjoyed having a small bit of a history lesson and watch the video linked above here, it's really awesome stuff. Have fun, get conditioned and keep being amazingly awesome.

Lost Empire Herb Of The Day: Elderberry  

A Playout That Turns Boys Into Men & Little Girls Into Strong Women

Many playouts can be challenging and having variety brings a great element of using your brain and your nerves to take in strength & endurance you didn't realize you had. To me such a playout is using a simple deck of cards that can be done in a variety of ways; you can go fast, go slow, do holds, modify and utilize different variations to your advantage and fitness levels.

A awesome playout with the deck of cards is just doing Hindu Squats & Hindu Push-ups. Just these two alone can get you in awesome shape and give you a level of conditioning second to none. The idea of this one is to beat the deck and go a little faster beating it each time but unless you're a pro athlete (Pro Wrestler or someone in Combat Sports specifically) you can only go so fast until you start to lose form and stop focusing on the breathing, the technique and paying attention to the body inside and out. At one point in time for a while I was doing 400 Hindu Squats & 250 Hindu Push-ups at a time with the deck and that wasn't always the best thing for me and ended up hurting myself due to over excitement and adrenaline not paying attention to my body. It's a learning experience and doing that high of reps is a great accomplishment but there's more to it than just hitting those numbers.

You can put any exercise you want with your own deck but don't just do repetitions and thinking that's the best way to get stronger; there is a line you don't want to cross and it'll either make you or break you if you don't pay attention. The deck I like best is the one made for students of Matt Furey and the exercises are Hindu Squats, Hindu Push-ups, V-Ups & Tablemakers. These 4 are the foundation for Combat Conditioning and can be done in great ways that don't always require speed. There have been playouts with this deck where I didn't go for reps but counted breaths or seconds with each card and that becomes a whole other ball game. Doing them in Isometric Fashion develops strength from another universal element and creating power you didn't think existed. It gives that extra spring in your step and puts you in a state of mind that is blissful, peaceful yet excitingly challenging.

You don't need the Matt Furey Exercise Bible to do these 4 exercises, you can put them on any deck you choose but how you apply them for the best intentions is up to you. I mean just the other day I did a total of 300 Hindu Squats  and 100 Hindu Push-ups, V-Ups & Tablemakers each and felt like a million bucks. It never gets easier but it does get more interesting once you're consistent with it. You can make it the most challenging Playout of your life or make it to where its not that difficult but yet still feel great. Make it play for YOU!!!

If you can't get your hands on that specific deck, here is a place where you can pick your own deck and have at it.....My personal favorite deck is here.