1. Georg Karl Julius Hackenschmidt was an Estonian strongman, amateur and professional wrestler, writer, and sports philosopher who is recognized as professional wrestling's first world heavyweight champion.
77 Facts About George Hackenschmidt
1. 2.
George Hackenschmidt began his professional career in Tallinn, Estonia, and after an 1899 tournament in Paris was often referred in the media by the moniker "The Russian Lion".
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George Hackenschmidt lived most of his middle age and later life in London, England.
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George Hackenschmidt is believed to be the creator of the professional wrestling version of the bear hug as well as the person who popularised the hack squat; additionally, Hackenschmidt is attributed as the creator of the bench press.
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George Hackenschmidt was known for his impressive strength, fitness, and flexibility.
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George Hackenschmidt had a younger brother, Bruno, and sister Alice.
7.
George Hackenschmidt later said that neither of his parents were particularly robust in stature or had any unusual physical characteristics, though his maternal grandfather was said to have been a huge and powerful man.
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From his earliest years, George Hackenschmidt devoted himself to physical development, particularly at the local Real school, where he took advantage of the gym.
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George Hackenschmidt excelled in gorodki, cycling, gymnastics, swimming, running, jumping and weightlifting.
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George Hackenschmidt set several records in weight lifting and was considered both the strongest and the best-developed man in the world.
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George Hackenschmidt joined the city's Athletic and Cycling Club, becoming an ardent cyclist and winning prizes, but developed a keen interest in wrestling and weight lifting.
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In late 1897-early 1898, George Hackenschmidt suffered a minor hand injury at the factory and consulted a doctor who was acquainted with Dr Vladislav Krajewski, who was in the service of Emperor Nicholas II of Russia.
13.
In 1898, Hackenschmidt trained at Krajewski's and was supported by Count Georges de Ribeaupierre.
14.
The wrestling championships were an openweight competition in the Greco-Roman style, with George Hackenschmidt winning the championship.
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In July 1900, George Hackenschmidt took part in a forty-day wrestling tournament in Moscow, making his first appearance as a professional wrestler in Russia.
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George Hackenschmidt competed for two prizes, and won both, becoming champion of Moscow and Saint Petersburg.
17.
At the Chemnitz tournament, George Hackenschmidt met Lurich for the first time in his professional career.
18.
In March 1901, George Hackenschmidt suffered the death of his mentor Krajewski, whom he considered his second father.
19.
George Hackenschmidt won first place, received two gold medals and 3000 francs.
20.
George Hackenschmidt won tournaments everywhere he wrestled, and toured England in 1903 managed by the flamboyant C B Cochran to confront the country's best wrestlers in the catch-as-catch-can style which was regaining popularity.
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George Hackenschmidt wrestled in opera halls, music halls and theaters.
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Cochran polished his act until George Hackenschmidt was a major attraction.
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George Hackenschmidt might take on five wrestlers in the same evening, defeating them all.
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Handsome as well as powerfully built, George Hackenschmidt was adored by women and admired by men.
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George Hackenschmidt continued touring England and defeated the local favorites Tom Cannon, Tom Connors, Tom MacInerney, Jack Baldwin and Tom Clayton.
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George Hackenschmidt thought he had found such a man in Ahmed Madrali, called the "Terrible Turk", who faced Hackenschmidt at the Olympia London on 30 January 1904.
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George Hackenschmidt picked up Madrali and threw him down onto his arm, dislocating his shoulder.
28.
George Hackenschmidt left Cochran's management to tour Australia where he defeated the Australian Cornish wrestling champion Deli Nelson in 1905, amongst others.
29.
George Hackenschmidt then sailed to the United States for an extended tour and a rematch with Jenkins at the Madison Square Garden under catch-as-catch-can rules, which Hackenschmidt by now preferred.
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Jenkins put up a hard battle, but George Hackenschmidt again won in two straight falls, the first in 31 minutes, 14 seconds, and the second in 22 minutes, 4 seconds.
31.
George Hackenschmidt was declared the inaugural World Heavyweight Wrestling Champion and subsequently most major league US versions of this title in the 20th and 21st centuries trace their roots back to this match.
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George Hackenschmidt then wrestled in Canada and returned to England for a long list of music hall engagements.
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On October 28,1905, George Hackenschmidt faced Scottish champion Alexander Munro at the Ibrox Stadium in Glasgow with an audience of 16,000.
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Ten minutes later, the second bout began, which George Hackenschmidt successfully finished in 11 minutes, 11 seconds.
35.
George Hackenschmidt took extra catch lessons from Jack Gromley at Shepherd's Bush.
36.
George Hackenschmidt defeated Madrali at the Olympia London in just four minutes, but noted that the Turk was one of the toughest men he had ever faced.
37.
George Hackenschmidt then sailed to the United States to fulfill his obligation to meet a new challenger from Iowa by the name of Frank Gotch.
38.
The wrestlers stood on their feet for two full hours before Gotch was able to get behind George Hackenschmidt and take him down.
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George Hackenschmidt bullied him around the ring, and his thumbing and butting left Hackenschmidt covered in blood.
40.
George Hackenschmidt complained to the referee of Gotch's foul tactics and asked that Gotch be forced to take a hot shower to rid his body of an abundance of oil, but the referee ignored the complaints and told George Hackenschmidt he should have noticed the oil before the match began.
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The match continued until the two-hour mark, when George Hackenschmidt was forced against the ropes.
42.
George Hackenschmidt had trained to avoid this hold, which he did, but the effort took his last remaining strength.
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The wrestlers then retired to their dressing rooms before coming out for the second fall, but George Hackenschmidt refused to return to the ring, telling the referee to declare Gotch the winner, thereby relinquishing his title to him.
44.
George Hackenschmidt failed to heal his knee and was sent back to England.
45.
In England, George Hackenschmidt attended a match between Zbyszko and Poddubny, which Zbyszko won.
46.
The contest was held on February 6,1908, at Oxford Music Hall, where George Hackenschmidt defeated Rogers in a short bout.
47.
George Hackenschmidt was then scheduled to face Zbyszko, but the match was canceled due to knee problems.
48.
The rematch is one of the most controversial and talked about matches in professional wrestling history, as George Hackenschmidt claimed to have injured his knee against Dr Roller, his chief training partner.
49.
Furthermore, according to George Hackenschmidt, his sparring partners for this match were Americus, Jacobus Koch, Wladek Zbyszko and Roller.
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George Hackenschmidt himself ignored it completely in declaring, the day before the match, that he was "fit to wrestle for my life" and was "satisfied with my condition and confident of the outcome".
51.
George Hackenschmidt was easy prey for Gotch, losing in straight falls in only 20 minutes.
52.
George Hackenschmidt invented the exercise known as the hack squat, whose name is a reference to his own.
53.
George Hackenschmidt helped to popularize many other types of lifts common within the modern training regimen, such as the bench press.
54.
George Hackenschmidt went on to write books, including Complete Science of Wrestling, Man and Cosmic Antagonism to Mind and Spirit, Fitness and Your Self, Consciousness and Character: True Definitions of Entity, Individuality, Personality, Nonentity, The Way to Live in Health and Physical Fitness, and The Three Memories and Forgetfulness: What They Are and What Their True Significance Is in Human Life.
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George Hackenschmidt taught physical education to members of the House of Lords and served as a judge at the 1948 Mr Universe show in London won by John Grimek.
56.
George Hackenschmidt was already hospitalized at St Francis Hospital in Dulwich, a suburb of London, when he died on 19 February 1968.
57.
George Hackenschmidt was cremated at West Norwood Cemetery, where his memorial plaque records him as George Hackenschmidt.
58.
George Hackenschmidt's brother Bruno, who was a wrestler, was captured in Germany and died in captivity.
59.
George Hackenschmidt became a naturalized French citizen in 1939, and then became a British subject in 1946.
60.
George Hackenschmidt lived with his French wife Rachel in South Norwood, London.
61.
George Hackenschmidt was a friend of the magician Harry Houdini and playwright George Bernard Shaw.
62.
In 1904, George Hackenschmidt described rump steak as his favourite dish.
63.
Charles B Cochran recounted that he once invited Hackenschmidt to dine at his flat in Piccadilly.
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Cochran noted that George Hackenschmidt ate "eight or nine eggs, a porterhouse-steak, and a whole Camembert cheese".
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George Hackenschmidt has been described as a considerable meat eater during the height of his wrestling career and would eat steak and half a dozen eggs as a snack but did not eat tinned foods.
66.
In 1906, George Hackenschmidt told interviewers that he had reduced his meat intake and that a typical meal would be pea soup, meat, vegetables and a rhubarb tart.
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George Hackenschmidt preferred fresh foods including nuts over processed foods.
68.
George Hackenschmidt is alleged to have written that he consumed eleven pints of milk a day for training.
69.
George Hackenschmidt told Atholl Oakeley that the quantity of milk prescribed had been a misprint.
70.
George Hackenschmidt rose to prominence when the governing style of wrestling was the slower, more ponderous Greco-Roman style that emphasized muscle power over speed, agility and ring generalship, and involved holds only above the waist.
71.
George Hackenschmidt was a natural showman, he was honest, straightforward and serious, and he would finish off his opponents quickly.
72.
Unlike many other professional wrestlers, including Frank Gotch, George Hackenschmidt was never mean, vindictive or unnecessarily rough in the ring, "contrasting his physical prowess and fighting skills with a quietness of spirit", David Gentle explained.
73.
The more depressed he got, the more difficult he was to work with, and this all worked against him because, for the first time in his professional career, George Hackenschmidt faced a foe fully capable of defeating him.
74.
Finally, and worst of all, in both matches with Gotch, George Hackenschmidt was accused of lack of heart.
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George Hackenschmidt remained in the public eye because he had become an icon in the world of physical culture, a legendary bodybuilder as well as health addict, and a world champion wrestler central to a movement that was now increasingly popular.
76.
George Hackenschmidt spoke and published widely on a wide range of subjects, but most notably on health and fitness.
77.
Lutcher Stark Center for Physical Culture and Sports at the Todd-McLean Library and Special Collections in Austin, Texas, has a digitized version of a nearly 600-page scrapbook owned for decades by George Hackenschmidt and bequeathed by his widow Rachel.