Cyclops Dividing Money

[Roark]

Oldtime strongman Franz Bienkowski, who used the

stagename 'Cyclops' was reputed to be able to break

coins with his hands. Of course, knowing the metal

composition of the coins as well as the diameter and

width of the coins is critical in appreciating this feat,

and these details are missing from the accounts that

I have read.

Prof. Theodor Siebert was born on October 25, in 1866,

and would play pivotal, though, unrewarded roles in the

iron game: He witnessed Hackenschmidt perform 50

reps in the Hack lift with 110 lbs, and this was done in the original style with hands touching behind the back.

Siebert 'actually formulated progressive weight training

in a series of exercises, such as the curl, press, squat,

etc., before 1900."

DPW in Super Athletes, ties Cyclops and Siebert together this way: "In front of Theodor Siebert, the

contemporary German authority, he [Cyclops] broke

several 10-pfenning nickel coins and one 20-fenning

silver coin, using, according to Siebert, 'solely the thumb

and forefinger of one hand.'"

Years later Siebert fell on very hard times and his

income was about one third of what he needed to

exist; he died in Germany April 12, 1961.

Those interested in more details about Siebert should

see Iron Game History May/June 2000 for David

Chapman's translated piece on the Prof.

[Guest Luke Reimer]

Great stuff Joe, but... what is a Hack lift (pardon my ignorance)?

[Guest woody36]

Edited to remove link.

Joe your going to have to show me

a piccy.

(Edited by woody36 at 7:11 pm on Oct. 25, 2001)

[Roark]

Woody,

The photos in that link do not show a Hack lift,

even though they represent what is today com-

monly called one.

Super Athletes p 200: "The 'Hacke'  lift is performed

by knee-bending on the toes while holding a barbell

WITH THE HANDS TOGETHER behind the hips, thus

leaving the back muscles out of the effort and doing

all the work with the legs." [capitalization was mine]

So to call the Hack or Hack lift a form of a deadlift is

inaccurate. And any modern squat machine, or so-

called Hack machine, which has the weights anywhere

but behind the knees or thighs is also mis-leading. Plus

it would be difficult on such machines to have the

hands together behind the back.

When Sig Klein was spending some time with George

Hackenschmidt in the late 1950s, George was sur-

prised when Klein told him the Hack lift was named

after him, and George had been doing them since his

days with Prof. Siebert.

On a related terminolgy topic:

I see someone on another board is asking what

a Continental press is. It does not exist. The bell is

brought to the shoulder via the Continental, and

then a press is performed. Similarly we say clean &

jerk. Not clean jerk.

Sorry if I sound preachy, but our heritage should

be maintained as was and not renamed by those

with their own agendas to further, and this renaming

seems to be growing.

[Guest woody36]

Amen!

[BarBender]

Roark, speaking of non-sensical lift names such as "continental press", my father would routinely display his ignorance by mentioning "jerk press", "snatch press", and "overhead hoist". He spoke incessantly about George Hackenschmidt's wrestling talent. Many years later I learned that Hackenschmidt did a fair amount of lifting.

(Edited by BarBender at 7:54 pm on Oct. 25, 2001)

[Guest Luke Reimer]

Thanks, Joe, for describing the Hacke. That lift sounds brutal on the knees--I don't think I'd want to do 50 reps that way even without any weight in my hands!

[AP]

it is not such a strain on your knees as it is difficult to balence. if your going to try it you should start off with really light weight and perhaps even bumper plates because you are likely to fall over...i did...

i managed about 100 lbs for a few reps (not even close to 50)

[Guest Luke Reimer]

AP, I keep forgetting that some people actually have sound knee joints. I guess for healthy knees these deep bends wouldn't be a problem. (I find the noise from my knees too distracting when I do deep bends under a load).