Gymnast Archives - www.oldtimestrongman.com

Exhibition Clubs

Posted on Monday, April 25th, 2022 by John Wood

A shot of some unknown gymnast or circus performer along with a set of his (likely custom) exhibition clubs.

Not sure where this gent got his clubs but Spalding had a commercially available set of exhibition clubs, circa the early 1900’s (bottom). These clubs had strips of German silver (a shiny but very light alloy) along the sides. When swung under stage lights, the reflections made for a very dramatic show!

Otto Arco

Posted on Wednesday, April 18th, 2018 by John Wood

Otto Arco on the cover of the November, 1925 issue of Bernarr MacFadden’s Muscle Builder Magazine. In 1907, Arco became the second man in the world to hoist double bodyweight overhead with a 278-1/2 pound lift at 138 pound of bodyweight. He was also the first to one hand snatch over bodyweight with a 145-pound lift. Arco was a great wrestler, gymnast and hand balancer. He and his brother Pete performed with several different circuses in the US and abroad. Arco achieved his tremendous form through a variety of training methods, traditional weight lifting, gymnastics and Muscle Control.

Handbalancing Made Easy by E.M. Orlick

Posted on Friday, February 8th, 2013 by John Wood

Professor Emmanuel “E.M.” Orlick was an outstanding strongman, physical culturist and gymnast who came from a long line of circus performers.

Over the years Orlick became a prolific strength author who wrote hundreds of training articles on a variety of topics. Orlick was the contributor to many of Joe Weider’s magazines and courses and was eventually also the editor of “Mr. America” magazine for a number of years. In addition, Orlick was the assistant editor of a Boxing/Wrestling magazine and on occasion wrote newspaper articles on ice hockey.

While Orlick was certainly proficient at a number of strength feats, handbalancing and gymnastics were his greatest areas of interest and he wrote several training courses on these topics, one of which was “Handbalancing Made Easy,” and ad for which is shown at the right.

Orlick’s other handbalancing training courses include: “Walking and Jumping on Your Hands” and “How To Do The One-Hand Handstand” ~ all of which we’ll be reprinting at some point.