Here’s a few members of the Proviso (Illinois) Township High School Basketball team clowning around. That’s Cunningham on the left, Jarus in the middle, and Warren on the right. What I’m more interested in is the Indian Clubs on the wall in the back – Wow, what a selection! This picture was taken in 1922 – and back then sights such as this were common place.
Many examples of early Indian Clubs were custom made by club swinging enthusiasts, much like this colorful pair from the early 1900’s.
Here’s another interesting example of some unusual custom wooden Indian Clubs which were created by an enhusiast. Clubs of different shapes and dimensions offer different training experiences. It is quite understandable for someone who enjoys clubs swinging to have several different pairs, and likely the case with these.
While Burrows was obviously pretty good at the clubs, he was definitely no one-trick pony: Burrows in addition to his club-swinging prowess, he won the light-heavyweight wrestling championship of Australia … numerous boxing competitions … swimming events … the mile run … high-jumping … broad jumping … cricket matches … gymnastic events … fencing… He was what was once referred to as an “all-rounder” because of his tremendous success in a variety of sports and activities.
Through it all, Burrows maintained that club-swinging exercises “are the finest preparation for all branches of athletics requiring stamina, agility or speed.“
I would certainly agree. While I am certainly not an expert in the magnitude of Mr. Burrows, I have been swinging the clubs for a long while now. To me, swinging Indian Clubs stands out among physical training techniques because it is not only convenient, but also a lot of fun, so “sticking with it” is not an issue like it is with some other forms of training.
The clubs are convenient, so you can do them pretty much anywhere and it is also very rewarding knowing that you are doing something good for your body when you use them.
But aside from these benefits, the clubs are a tremendous way to build strength and condition your body. Graceful Indian Club movements help keep the joints strong and supple, and they certainly build tremendous stamina and toughness, especially when done for time.
In the early 20th century, Burrows wrote several training courses on the clubs, in the hopes that others would come to understand their benefits.
A while ago, we were lucky enough to come across a copy of one of Tom Burrows’ rare club swinging courses and today, we are proud to make “The Textbook of Club-Swinging” once again available to a modern audience.
In “The Textbook of Club-Swinging” Burrows covers all the information that one would have to know to use the clubs successfully.
These include:
The basic movements, notes on form and technique, combinations, proper grip, hints for instructors (in case you want to teach others or start your own class) and even information on endurance club swinging (which Burrows was famous for.)
Our modern reprint edition is brief and to the point, clocking in at 78 pages, 4″ x 6″, fully illustrated with rare pictures and printed on heavy weight paper for the many times that you will thumb through it for information.
The glossy color cover is an entirely new design… If you are into Indian Clubs as much as we are, you simply must have The Textbook of Club-Swinging in your training library!
The Textbook of Club-Swinging by Tom Burrows:
_________ $14.99 plus s/h
This Man…
Swung a pair of 3-pound, 6-ounce Indian clubs for 100 consecutive hours… he did not sit down… he did not take a water break… he did not stop for even a second… he kept his clubs moving at an average of 80 repetitions a minute for the entire duration…
His name was Tom Burrows, but after accomplishing this amazing feat, from them on, he was known as “The King of Clubs” …
Indian clubs have long been a staple in YMCA’s and athletic clubs. Shown here: the Indian club swinging team from the St.Paul Young Men’s club, Ipswich, Queensland, Australia, circa 1890. Note the unusually long clubs which were the style of the day.
Sometimes you will need unusual training equipment if you want to build unusual strength — Here’s a look at a few of my favorite pieces: You’ll see a few unique sledge hammers and various tools along with some vintage Indian Clubs. The two hammers in the foreground have brass and copper heads, respectively which, quite curiously, have a much different feel than traditional steel hammers. The larger hammer just beyond those came off a tank, it was used to wack the treads back in line out in the field. Kinda cool, huh? Most of the time I’ll use this equipment for leverage training like Slim The Hammer Man.
“The Indian Club Workout That
Goes Right on Your Gym Wall”
Your Author: Staff Sgt. Alfred Moss– Yes, he looks like he knows a thing or two about physical training.
One of the traditions of Oldtime strength training that we really like a lot are wall charts and posters. Not only do they look really great while hanging in the gym, they also allow for an easy way to follow along and get in a great workout.
So, in keeping this tradition alive, one of the projects that we have been working on was to take a classic Indian Club training course which was written back in the early 1900s and reprint it. We didn’t just reprint it though, we created an entirely different format… turning it into something that not only looks great, but should also help your club swinging as well, you guessed it: an instructional wall chart.
Written in 1905 by the famous strongman, gymnast and physical culturist Staff Sgt. Alfred Moss, “Simple Indian Club Exercsies” will take you step-by-step through the 12 basic Indian Club movements and includes additional suggestions on performance: technique, style, form and cadence etc.
…All you have to do is follow along for a complete Indian Clubs workout.
This poster is printed on high quality enamel paper but, in order to keep that classic look, we “aged” it digitally so that it looks like something that would be hanging in Sandow’s gym or Sig Klein’s place.
Sig Klein’s Gym is long gone, but if it were still around, you
can bet there would be one of these posters on the wall!
The poster is 23 inches by 35 inches in size, comes folded, and looks great as you can see by the picture of it shown above. Think of it as a complete training course that you can hang on your wall instead of putting on your book shelf.
Ordering Options:
You have two options when ordering the “Simple Indian Club Exercises” workout poster. You may either a) order the poster by itself or b) order any Indian club set and the poster will be included at a reduced price. Please click the button below to be taken to our Indian Club order page:
The Honorable George P. Kersten
