Steel Bending Archives - www.oldtimestrongman.com

Simon Hertzberg

Posted on Sunday, May 1st, 2022 by John Wood

Here’s a strongman you’ve never heard of: Simon Hertzberg was a carpenter from Denmark who also happened to practice feats of strength in his spare time. Cutting, sawing, and joining wood in his “day job” gave Hertzberg and excellent base of strength, especially in the all-important grip and forearm areas. Here’s Hertzberg bending a 3/4-inch thick iron bar in his mouth!

Alexandre Bedock

Posted on Saturday, January 22nd, 2022 by John Wood

Alexandre Bedock was the steel bending AND boxing champion of South Africa, circa 1904. It’s also not hard to see how proficiency in one of those disciplines will assist in success in the other.

Pierre Ferechtauoff

Posted on Monday, December 4th, 2017 by John Wood

Another steel bender with an unknown past… at least we know his name, or at least the name listed on the photo: Pierre Ferechtauoff. Mr. Ferechtauoff is shown here scrolling a steel bar with the aid of his choppers. Something tells me that he might have also been a wrestler.

Hary Berti

Posted on Monday, December 4th, 2017 by John Wood

We haven’t found much so far about Hary Berti. He was a German strength athlete, likely active in the 1920’s-30’s who was billed as “das wunder menschlicher kraft” (“the miracle of human power”). Here he is bending a steel bar.

John Massis

Posted on Sunday, December 3rd, 2017 by John Wood

Flemish Strongman John Massis led an incredibly colorful life: Born in Bruges in 1940, by 19 years of age, Massis was already appearing on television as a strength prodigy. He bent steel bars and other traditional strongman feats but was most famous for his jaw strength. Massis lifted cars, stopped motorbikes and even once pulled two Long Island passenger cars, weighing 80 tons to get himself into the Guinness Book of World Records. Feats of strength were only part of Massis’ amazing accomplishments: he also recorded several hit songs, funded his own political party, founded a circus, and appeared in several films. Later on, a musical was written about his life.

Ivan Orloff

Posted on Monday, November 13th, 2017 by John Wood

Ivan Orloff, of Siberia, Russia, was a mid-card pro wrestler in the early 20th century who was quite prolific, he wrestled well into the 1940’s. Later on, he became a promoter. Orloff was billed as 6’2 and 210 pounds of wiry muscle — he was also adept at bending steel bars.

The Human Vise Strikes Again!

Posted on Wednesday, November 8th, 2017 by John Wood

Why do they call Pat Povilaitis the Human Vise? This collection of bent steel should explain it: about a hundred pounds of bent, mangled steel: nails, spikes, horseshoes, rebar, bolts, wrenches, drill bits, screw drivers, ripped card decks… nothing is safe when “The Vise” does his thing.

J.C. Tolson ~ The Young Mighty Apollon

Posted on Thursday, November 2nd, 2017 by John Wood

J.C. Tolson, of Yorkshire, England, took the stage name of “The Young Mighty Apollon” after his hero the original Apollon”, the great French Strongman. Tolson was a master of many different strength feats, including bending steel as shown here. The image above is actually from the Apollon Bar Bending Course which is posted in full in The Iron LeagueTolson was not a large man but had tremendous full-body power. In 1927, at a bodyweight of only 185 pounds, Tolson easily deadlifted 550 pounds, one of the first men to do so. .

Strongman Stunts Made Easy by George F. Jowett

Posted on Monday, October 9th, 2017 by John Wood

The “Strongman Stunts Made Easy” training booklet, along with five other individualized courses in the “Molding” Series, appeared sometime around 1930 and George F. Jowett claimed to have sold hundreds of thousands of them all over the world.

Like much of Jowett’s writings, the material is surprisingly timeless, of course, this booklet is devoted specifically to feats of strength — the Bent Press, lifting a human being, finger lifting, steel bending, how to tear a deck of cards etc.

In what should also not be a surprise, Jowett describes the training for each feat in great detail. Copies of “Strongman Stunts Made Easy” are not easy to come by but FYI, this course is available in its entirety in The Iron League.

Extreme Neck Strength in Action

Posted on Thursday, September 28th, 2017 by John Wood

I was going through some old tapes and while I knew I had the still photo, I found some footage that I didn’t even know I had. About ten years ago, Pat “The Human Vise” Povilaitis and some other buddies all got together at my house in Cincinnati, and well, when strong hombres get together, sometimes interesting things happen. Here’s Pat bending a spike while standing atop yours truly, John Wood, while I’m holding a nose-to-mat neck bridge. The video quality isn’t great, but hey, we had to take what we could get back in the day. (Video has sound.)