Karl Gotch - Mace Swinging Demo

[PhillyPugilist]

what does that workout?

[TheJungleCook]

that looks like a bowling ball on a stick.



[secutorclaudius]

@TheJungleCook it looks like a caramel apple on a stick.

[coconutsavage]

It is ironic that with so much praise being heaped upon Mr. Gotch in these posts and in Japan, that he basically "got no respect" from the press or the wrestling community in the nation where he resided. As far as my research can tell, the only press his passing received in the States was the local papers and TV news. Even here on YouTube, his wrestling videos/films are rare despite his many years of competition. Sometimes history and the universe are cruel.

[azionereazione]

RIP master Karl Gotch!! In this video he was almost 70...his conditioning lessons are a bridge from the ancient to modern era, too many grant-oriented copies around and too few warriors.

[Jimmynable]

22lbs

[DanteMoodyFilms]

This guy was a fucking monster. Lookit him! Amazing man indeed.

[waistedaway]

i noticed two things......one......is that fuckn jose canseco in this video? lol......two, thats a sweet integra in the carport

[closecombatuk]

JUST LOVE IT

[bman316420]

I love these old school training methods. This guys got the iron sheik gut, all muscle, these kinda guys got real strength!!

[A2010usa]

muito bom este !Very good!

[pinfold1000]

all hail the king of wreslting long live strong style

[chanchi789]

I love all sort of ancient weapons.

In medieval times, that thing would be a "maul", not?

[PrsFenderJackson1980]

22.5lbs?

[theresidentone]

Wow bro... That's a big Lollipop

[v1ntyred]

when u see other ppl on net do swing they never seem to bring it to there waist like he dose and hold for a sec. this being proper way i would say .

[pillsburydoughboy47]

Part of the reason the Russians mopped the floor with American wrestlers, is because, in most places in the old world (the eastern hemisphere) any discipline with a long tradition, including the ones in Europe, have a very step by step approach to training and teaching, here, they just throw you on the mat and its "sink or swim." Obviously the American mentality does not work, considering American performance against the Russians.

[danmaani]

the guy standing there with him looks like the guy Kimura who fought rickson gracie

[daredevilpre]

when I was wrestling in school about 25 years ago, my granddad had me do an old time workout; clubs, throws with six feet of a telephone pole, medicine ball, endless calisthenics (like the deck of cards routine). It killed but I have never been stronger and I never ran out of gas. I won a lot of matches by pin fall in the last minute. My grip became ridiculous and my legs were unstoppable. This approach trained the whole body.

These old time wrestlers were in amazing shape, that is for sure.

[DeadlyVenomToad]

Does any one know what muscle groups this works? It looks tough...my guess would be core, shoulders, arms, lats, and serratus. Anyone here have some opinions, on how this training has affected them?

[Jibbie49]

@DeadlyVenomToad I'm certain it works the small muscles at the bone level, since you are doing something unusual with pushing the weight up and then having it swing down behind the back and have to be pulled back up from that unusual position. I remember my father, who was a farmer, picking up hay bales and swinging them up into the barn loft.

[templarus1000]

@DeadlyVenomToad you must consider that the ancient Romans trained in that way before entering the arena

[stardingo747]

it works your whole entire body. When you LIFT weights, you are working only specific muscles, or a set of muscles, however when you swing them (from a standing position and with the correct movement) to maintain control you need to use all of your muscles. The aim of the mace, is both to get muscles to work as a unit, as well as build strength. However you need to combine it with cals; muscles need to be trained both individually and as a unit.

[Ironbulluk]

I would love to know where to get macebells

[AlKindian]

The text at the bottom of the video has a link to where you can get them. I've used a 10 and 16# sledge to start and those have been great at getting used to swinging the macebell.

[pillsburydoughboy47]

seriously man, who the hell is crazy enough to train with a 150 sledge hammer? I mean damn man, swing once and then watch your arms fly off.

[Waymankol]

reminds me of those old english circus strongmen lifting weights and saying " hup hup hup"

[rmsolympic1]

Boom: this was exactly an idea I had after seeing tornado balls: make a mideval-style mace, perhaps using a chain. THe mace looks really cool.

[Leonidas3888]

Old man strength!..This guy was a real studd, good example of what kind of shape we can only hope to have at that age.

[concretionx508]

Karl did a lot of things right with his training. He's a good example of muscle Maturity and density.

[PeterTheEvilBastard]

You simply shouldn't have this kind of muscle at this age. I'm 22 and he looks more ripped than I...

[Deathrune456]

thats a real mans body, not that of shaved oiled statue that you see littering the streets of florida now

[WarriorBlackBanner]

gotch was one of the best.

[choloperuanaso]

thanks for all mr GOTCH R.I.P !!!!!

[vento32]

Very nice!!!

[theropemaster]

real training

[cnhatton]

Karl Gotch had the physique of an old-time professional wrestler (and by old-time, I mean before 1930): \a thick waist, a thick lower back, and a less heavily muscled chest than bodybuilders. Today's aesthetic, exemplified by the large shoulder to waist ratio, was not the norm back in those days. See photos of John Lemm, Joe "Toots" Mondt, John Berg and even Frank Gotch (although he was never what one might call 'cut up').

[alexdrums90]

if you drop that on your head your fucked

[Obvious78]

Oh no...u wont be fucked...u'd be fucked up!

[altenburg423]

i imagine the vikings would have looked like the man in the video..great excersice btw

[bordeauxdogge]

The old man had still great abs!

That's what i love most at macebelltraining, it gives you extrem core strenght without training the core isolated.(doing crunches and stuff) For all those who think macebell swinging is for pussys, it's only a question of the weight of the macebell. I got myself a costumized 23 kg macebell. At the start i could only swing it 2 or 3 times...

[kayel474]

You have 50lb macebell?

[irishclubswinger]

I do and I have hit 100 swings in a row with it :)

[punch9992]

Karl Gotch. Invented the German Suplex and after all these years still has one of the top 5 German suplex's in history

RIP

And I love the gotch Bible. That man was a hero.

[jasel29]

where can i get one of these macebells? that exercise doesn't look easy at all

[virtualoverstock]

this kind of exercise is VERY hard to do. its no just dropping a club its controling the movment of somthing heavy. also he does a bunch of reps. he's toning and flexing at the same time. if you notice karl is in a much different shape than athletes today. all his strength is in his back and neck. not in his biceps and chest.

[billysue2]

what does toning and flexing mean?The reason hes a different shape is because hes an old man and since when do current wrestlers have all their strength in their chest and biceps

[CSchruppNMU]

That's such an ignorant comment. No one stated all their strength was in biceps and chest. Everyone knows that wrestlers need to have an all around strength...but Gotch is a legend for a reason. Don't be stupid. NOt to mention that he's old.

[donerlich]

I mean no disrespect,from other posts this guy is apparently amazing and held in high regard but I can't see why this excercise is so hard or difficult, it just looks like momentum swinging it around. Is it more of a limbering up excercise or what?

[moosemonkeymma1]

ye it is partly momentem, but still hard as hell. it builds funtional strength and the ability to flow as aposed to bench pressing,curls ect that while they make you look good, arnt that good for functional strength. :)

[lolll666]

no. if you pay attention, you'll notice that he merely lets it drop at an angle. once it hits about 90 degrees left or right, he pulls.  he also pushes it until its 90 degrees. push/pull exercises are synonymous with athletic fitness, so if you don't understand the concept i can't help. the swinging itself is also an exercise, but not necessarily for strength, more so for being able to balance a large amount of weight that is in motion. it's like a different version of kettlebells basically

[TahoeVista]

What does that thing do? Im all interested. Im a major fan of kettle bells. This seems to be somewhat of the same school of training.

[IsamashiiX]

RIP Karl Gotch. King of catch forever! A true survivor!

[NassemAir]

like clubswinging

[icescape333]

Wow. How much does that ball weigh in pounds??

[scientificwrestling]

10 KG

[elswanno]

FYI: 10kg = 22lb

[kozes]

@icescape333 10 kg is about 23 pounds

[TKcmcbTD]

@icescape333 10 kg = 22 pounds

[powerballss]

@icescape333 roughly 2 pounds to every kilo.

[thejin666]

@icescape333 about 22 pounds

[alfredtink]

i am in very good shape cause oh his exercises. hindu push ups and squats work like magic. wonder where he got the card trick from. my bro and them used to do that in the pen. a friend of mine also used to use cards, except he used push ups and pull ups. another method they showed me was ten set of ten reps. i read about that workout, it said it was invented by the germans. interesting.

[irishclubswinger]

I got the 15kg Macebell, the 360 swings are pretty intense. I like the Macebell for the levering lifts too!

[1ToNJaB]

cool! that came from the Indian Wrestlers.

[darktim99]

carl gotch learned his stuff from bill riley from bolton/wigan. the miners taught belly and they used to wrestle on lose stone straight out the pit

[65infanteria]

pretty hardcore if you ask me

[biged004552]

This guy invented the german suplex and alot more in wretsling.

[romang58]

Damn karl was a beast even in old age. I love the card game black cards Hindu push ups, red cards Hindu squats.

[ziyou1969]

Way to go Karl Gotch! I wish I could have met him. This videoclip inspired me to approximate the mace swinging movement with my 14-lb, 6ft iron bar. I am sore as hell in the shoulders but what a workout! I am looking forward to getting a 10 kg (22 lb) macebell in the near future.

[STEELPOT1]

Sweet! Old school workout kicks ass!

[koolaid28]

How old was he in the video? Thats amazing!!

[bearshaman0]

wow looks like a bowling ball stuck on the end of a sturdy broom handle!! lol that awsome/.

[thebigandgreat1]

You have to respect someone at that age for being that strong. Karl Gotch was a mans man and he was really under appreciated here in the states like so many others for his vast knowledge of wrestling and exercise.

[olderloverxx]

Absolutely stunning, what a physique

[koolpaw]

R.I.P.

[wing0120022000]

You were one of the few real deal in submission wrestling. Shooto fighters, Sakuraba, Ken and Frank Shamrock proved your submission techniques do work in outside of the pro-wrestling arena. I really miss you.

[criceto]

Gotch was a very powerfull specimen

[Elementa2006]

WOW! Even at that age, Gotch's strength was amazing, I read that these maceballs are heavy.

[scientificwrestling]

Absolutely not, ask anyone that owns a Macebell. The force vectors are completely different, it's basic physics really (this is why the Indian wrestlers had different tools for different exercises, e.g., the jori AND the gada).

For example, the Macebell was made to Karl's specifications. It is nearly 54 inches long (more leverage than a Clubbell) and comes in 5, 10, and 15 kilo bells (2.2 lbs to 1 kilo). Hope this helps!

[lazur1]

I'm not sure I understand: Granted, the effect will be different, but is this not nonetheless, a good movement to do with a Clubbell?

[scientificwrestling]

Every single person that I have spoken to that has wielded both testifies that they are completely differently, primarily because the clubbell is much much to short to do Macebell work. They are very different, albeit complimentary implements.

[scientificwrestling]

Sure, and I suppose you could go play golf with a baseball bat too. j/k

Seriously, in India they use both the Jori (which happen to generally be quite a bit longer that Clubbells) and the Gada (Mace). The grapplers use both, and for good reason, because they are very different.

[scientificwrestling]

Interesting notes: the Champions of Hindu grappling contests are given a ceremonial Mace, NOT a jori (club).

The Hindu God of Strength carries a Gada (mace), not a Jori (club).

No amount of "internet marketing" or "fitness guru jibber-jabber" will change these facts.

>;^)

[lazur1]

It's infinitely more pleasing aesthetically, and 10,000 times more lasting, (so far), but wasn't the artwork of ancient times the internet of the day? The impressions of one man, manipulated to influence others. Ancient culture is still culture, always one step removed from the real deal of the individual's consciousness.

[doctorzom1]

@scientificwrestling There is no Hindu God of anything so he doesn't carry anything. It is a myth. Karl Gotch on the other hand was the real deal daddy-O.

[ashdivay]

@doctorzom1 There is not ? really ? please explain ?

[lazur1]

Taken in the spirit it was posted, and I'm convinced of the crucial differences in training effects, but, still, the analogy is a bit off: Unlike golf & baseball, wrestling uses neither club nor mace.

[Dusmiethwhi]

Couldn't I do the same thing with and idian club/club bell?