Indian Club Swinging Archives - www.oldtimestrongman.com

Captain T.B. Bax

Posted on Friday, November 11th, 2022 by John Wood

Captain T.B. Bax of Hawkes Bay, New Zealand, set his first endurance Indian Club swinging record in 1895, swinging a pair of 2lb. 9oz. clubs for 26 hours, non-stop. Bax set his last (and all-time) endurance club record on December 10, 1913 swinging a pair of “light” Indian Clubs for 144 hours, 33 minutes. I get tired just thinking about it.

Indian Club Video Training Course

Posted on Monday, June 7th, 2021 by John Wood

The Revolutionary New Video Course That Can Teach ANYONE to swing Indian Clubs Like an Expert

For building strength and stability in the shoulder girdle, there is nothing better than including Indian club swinging in your training. As we have discussed MANY times, Indian clubs will benefit everyone for the very same reasons that made them important for centuries. Many people get into Indian Club swinging with at least some basic understanding of why the clubs are important and how they can benefit any training program…

The problem — and something that has happened in many cases — is that once they get the clubs in their hands, they get confused on how to use them and lose interest, thus depriving themselves of the myriad benefits that come with regular club swinging.

Needless to say, the clubs won’t be of much help to anyone sitting on the mantle place just gathering dust. It is also important to point out that Indian Club swinging is NOT just waving two sticks around, you have to know HOW to swing the clubs correctly to get the benefits.

… Fortunately modern technology now provides us a quick and easy solution to either case:

Imagine what it would be like if John Wood were to personally teach you how to swing the Indian clubs — that is essentially what this course is. Via our mobile app, we created a new video course for learning to swing the clubs where I take you through a variety if Indian Club movements.

The basis of this course is a Indian club training article that was originally written in 1922 — we shot a video of each Indian club movement shown or mentioned in the article.

And not only that, but each Indian club movement is demonstrated:

* with one club
* with two clubs
* to the right
* to the left
* clubs converging or diverging
* from the back
* in slow motion
* from the back AND in slow motion

And not only do you learn the movements from several angles, in post production, we went in and added motion lines to illustrate the path of the clubs — instead of trying to guess what they club movements are supposed to look like, now you have the ability to understand what they are and how they are performed exactly as they should be.

As you can see by the still shots above, in the course, the motion lines follow the clubs throughout the course of each movement. Rather amazingly, even with modern video editing capabilities, it appears no one has done this yet.

There are 40 clips in all, plus the unedited full workout, plus a brief write-up on each type of movement.

All in all, this is a VERY complete Indian club course and once you see and understand what all the club movements are supposed to look like and how they are performed, adding the clubs to your repertoire will be as easy as pie.

Here’s where you can get started immediately:

Indian Club Video Course (via mobile app)
__________________ $19.99

N.B.

1. Due to the multimedia approach of this course, it is only available via our Oldschool Strength mobile app.

2. DO NOT PURCHASE THIS COURSE if you do not have a smart phone that can accept text messages and a basic understanding of downloading and using apps. There are NO REFUNDS for app courses.

3. Our Oldschool Strength app CAN be viewed on a iPad or tablet.

4. If you are already an app user, we will unlock this course under your account right after your order appears in our shopping cart. This typically takes place a few minutes after you complete your order.

5. If you are not already a user of our app, please confirm your credentials on the order confirmation page and we will be in touch as soon as possible with the quick and easy setup instructions. App setup typically takes less than a minute.

6. a copy of our Indian Club Training Bulletin #2 is not mandatory for this course, but it is strongly encouraged.

The Textbook of Club Swinging by Tom Burrows

Posted on Friday, August 17th, 2018 by John Wood

Whereas Arthur Saxon wrote The Textbook of Weight-Lifting, Tom Burrows wrote The Textbook of Club Swinging. Both men were certainly qualified to do so. There were several other “Textbooks” — on Swimming, Wrestling, Boxing, and various other athletic pursuits.

The Honorable George P. Kersten

Posted on Friday, June 29th, 2018 by John Wood

During the last century, a few minutes of Indian Club Swinging were not out of place during the normal work day. These sessions helped relieve tension and stress thus allowing for more productive work to be accomplished. Above is George P. Kersten, the longtime judge of Cook County, Illinois. The good judge certainly had his hands full in the city of Chicago during Prohibition years. Still, he never missed an opportunity to swing the clubs. These pictures are dated 1922.

Kersten worked his way up through the court system from a job as a clerk in police court in 1880, getting his law degree in 1885, a justice of the peace in 1900 and election to the circuit court in 1903. It was said that at one point he turned down a run for the Mayor of Chicago since he enjoyed being a judge so much. Notably, Kersten was also a crack shot, well-known as one of the most prominent marksmen in the Northwest, and was a long-time member of the Chicago Sharpshooter’s Association.

Indian Clubs in China

Posted on Wednesday, March 23rd, 2016 by John Wood

I knew that many other cultures regularly trained with Indian Clubs but was not aware that China was one of them, at least until now. Club swinging has always been popular with young students as it is a very good way to stay physically fit as well as build upper body strength before studies begin. A short morning training session with the clubs in a school setting will go a long way in improving the educational process.

Richard J. Cox ~ Clubswinging Champion of The World

Posted on Friday, March 18th, 2016 by John Wood

Richard J. Cox developed lung problems when he was 12 years of age, and was labeled a “hopeless” case by his doctors. In a last ditch effort to regain his health, Cox took up Indian club swinging at the urging of his father. Within a few months of regular practice, the young master Cox had not only rid himself of his lung troubles but also gave his first club-swinging performance. Swinging the clubs became a lifelong pursuit for Cox and he won many medals and trophies for doing so. The above photo was taken in 1909, the day he won his first contest. (Looks like club swinging DOES build a little muscle, eh?) Cox eventually succeeded Gus Hill as “Club Swinging Champion of The World.”

John C. Heenan’s Exercise Clubs and Boots

Posted on Monday, February 15th, 2016 by John Wood

April 17, 1860 is a famous date in pugilistic lore, it was on that date that American John C. Heenan was to face the Brit Tom Sayers in a bare-knuckle bout to decide the World’s first international Boxing champion. Like all big fights, this one captured the public’s imagination and topics which would normally be ignored were highlighted in great detail.

The newspapers of the day followed Heenan’s training regimen with great interest and among his preparations for the fight, Heenan swung Indian clubs to condition his shoulders (a gift from Sim Kehoe himself!) Despite giving up forty pounds and five inches in height, Heenan was in fine fettle come fight time. Above is a rare engraving showing Heenan’s clubs and exercise shoes. As for the fight, the action lasted forty-two rounds spread out over two hours. you can read more about the outcome HERE.

Tom Burrows’ First Club Swinging Record

Posted on Wednesday, December 9th, 2015 by John Wood

On March 20th, 1895, Australian club swinging champion Tom Burrows set out to break his own record of 24 hours on continuous club swinging. In order to do so, he set forth the following conditions:

1. The clubs were to be 2 pounds each and to be 24 inches long.
2. To Swing 50 complete circles each minute.
3. No rest or stop allowed during the 25 hours.
4. No aid of any sort allowed.
5. To swing no fewer than 70,000 complete circles for the record.
6. There would be two judges present at all times to watch the swinging.

Burrows commenced swinging his clubs at 9:18 pm on Wednesday evening. At 10:18 pm the next day, he officially met his mark of 25 continuous hours of club swinging but he didn’t stop there. At 11:33 pm, he finally put down his clubs having established the mark of 26 hours and 15 minutes of continuous swinging. The above photograph is from that evening (I’m quite curious about the axes.)

William Needham

Posted on Friday, March 6th, 2015 by John Wood

Health and Strength League member William Needham was the Tasmanian Club Swinging Champion of 1911. Needham swung a pair of 4lb. Indian clubs for 24 continuous hours to set the Tasmanian record in April of that year. At times, he did 300 circles per minute but his average was about 150 per minute. Eyewitness accounts reported that Needham looked surprisingly fresh at the conclusion of his record swing.

A few years later, in 1913, Needham swung a pair of 3 lb. 3oz clubs for 100 hours and 4 minutes to establish a new record. Not only that, during one of his memorable endurance swinging performances, Needham allowed his barber to give him a shave, while continuing to swing, of course! Needham engaged in several memorable Endurance Club swinging matches against Harry J. Lawson.

Miss Carrie Davenport

Posted on Wednesday, December 10th, 2014 by John Wood

Miss Carrie Davenport was a vaudeville performer during the late 1800’s. She was an expert at Indian club swinging as well as a champion clog dancer, so she was never out of work.