Tom Burrows Archives - www.oldtimestrongman.com

Tom Burrows and Lt. Col. Dean

Posted on Thursday, February 28th, 2019 by John Wood

Tom Burrows “The King of Clubs” took it upon himself to spread the gospel of Indian club swinging far and wide. Here he and Lt. Col. Dean perform at the London Homeopathic Hospital on May 3rd, 1913

Tom Burrows

Posted on Wednesday, October 24th, 2018 by John Wood

Here’s a rare postcard of the great club-swinger Tom Burrows. Those medals on his chest weren’t just for show, Burrows accomplished many amazing club-swinging feats over his career.

To give you one striking example, Burrows swung a pair of three pound, six ounce clubs from Tuesday, April 15th through Friday, April 18th in 1913 — 100 consecutive hours total.

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 Textbook of Club-Swinging by Tom Burrows

Posted on Friday, January 5th, 2018 by John Wood

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” …

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.)

Indian Club History: Endurance Club Swinging

Posted on Friday, February 7th, 2014 by John Wood

Indian Clubs

In the early 20th century, the unlikely hot spot for the even more unlikely sport of “Endurance Club Swinging” was Australia. The gentleman in the middle is the American champion, Harry J. Lawson, flanking him are his manager G. J. Jones (at the right), and Carrie Jones (his manager’s daughter) at the left. Lawson’s two training partners Bill Stanley and George Simmons are behind.

This picture was taken in 1910, and it was worth the very long trip by steamship to Rockhampton, Queensland, Australia where Lawson set a (then) endurance club swinging world record of 73 hours, 8 minutes with a pair of 3lb. 3 oz. clubs.

One of the reasons that Lawson traveled such a long way was to challenge the great Tom Burrows to a match…

Tom Burrows Makes The Record

Posted on Saturday, June 16th, 2012 by John Wood

Tom Burrows Makes The Record

On April 18th, 1913, the Australian All-Around Athlete and Club Swinging champion Tom Burrows accomplished an incredible feat: he swung a pair of Indian Clubs for 100 hours straight without a rest. He averaged 80 repetitions a minute through the entire affair, a mind-boggling feat of muscular endurance and toughness. That’s a record you won’t see challenged any time soon.

Club Swinging for Health by Tom Burrows

Posted on Friday, October 7th, 2011 by John Wood

Club Swinging for Health by Tom Burrows

Here’s a real treat: an extremely rare Indian Club training course from Tom Burrows, published in an issue of Health and Strength in 1905. Burrows was a champion in boxing, wrestling, fencing, gymnastics, the broad jump, the long jump, the hundred yard dash and the mile run — in fact, he won whole track meets by himself.

It was Burrows’ feeling was that swinging Indian Clubs was the finest all around exercise for health and strength.

In this particular course, Exercise 1 is for chest expansion, balance and leg development… Exercise 2 is for building the waist and arms… Exercise 3 works the trunk… Exercise 4 develops the shoulders and thigh muscles… Exercise 5 is for the abdominals… Exercise 6 works the arms, legs, trunk and thighs… Exercise 7 is for chest development and Exercise 8 is for arms, legs and trunk development.

Tom Burrows: The King of Clubs

Posted on Friday, July 15th, 2011 by John Wood

On April 18th, 1913, the Club Swinging champion Tom Burrows accomplished an incredible feat: he swung a pair of Indian Clubs for 100 hours straight without a rest. He averaged 80 repetitions a minute through the entire affair, a mind-boggling feat of muscular endurance and toughness. That’s a record you sure won’t see challenged any time soon.