What device is a devisse?

[Roark]

Here is a teaser. On January 22, 1894, Batta, the

oldtime strongman performed a devisse [lift] with

220.25 pounds. That's the heaviest I have ever

seen by any lifter, but then the word devisse has

appeared in print only twice that I have seen- it

probably appeared much more but not in the litera-

ture to which I have access.

It was a very rare lift. Anyone ever heard of it?

We will have the answer Friday at cyberpump.com

in the Iron History section.

Batta once contested against Apollon with the very

predictable result of Batta losing, which is modern terms

is similar to losing in a wrist curl contest to David Horne,

no shame:

Gaudreau, writing in VIM magazine Jan 1941 explains:

"I am of the opinion, after much investigation, and

comparison, that among the famous strong men

noted for their grip, Batta had no known peer.. Only

his friend Apollon could have duplicated all of Batta's

grip tests."

Batta's real name was Jean Baptiste Charles Estienne.

Later a group named themselves after him by spelling

his name backwards: The Attabs.

Anyway, any ideas on the devisse?

[David Horne]

Joe,

I've had a quick look in my collection, and I'm having a guess at one of two strength feats.

1) Having a barbell at arms length in one arm, whilst holding yourself on the floor with straight arm, and your body straight and parallel to the floor.

2) His other stage feat was to  open a tree trunk apparatus in the style of Milo of Crotona. This feat of strength was the downfall of Milo who tried to pull apart this sawn off trunk protruding from the ground with the strength of his hands. As he was trying his hands slipped and he got his hand or hands stuck in the closed trunk. He was trapped and at the mercy of the wild animals who finished him off.

Anyway, just my guess, David

[Roark]

Thanks, David, but no.

[David Horne]

Joe,

Elizabeth here: here's my guess. Is it a screw lift, kind of a bent/side press? I got this from the French 'devisser' meaning to screw!

Elizabeth

[David Horne]

Sorry, correction: visser is to screw, devisser is to unscrew

[Roark]

Elizabeth,

It is a form of bent press, but there is a key

element yet unmentioned...but you're on the

right trail...

[Nathan Say]

David Horne beat me to it. I just looked n a dictionary & found to unscrew or undo as devisse.

[Guest woody36]

Joe,

    Is this lift performed from a seated position?

   

    You can tell i'm clutching at straws here!

[Roark]

Woody,

No, it is performed standing.

[paul valpreda]

Joe,

I have been searching everywhere and I can't find a thing about what devisse means! Will you provide us with a clue? I gather that it is a French word.

paul

[Roark]

Okay.

In Denis Reno's Weightlifters' Newsletter recently

there was quite a debate going on about the bent

press. One person mentioned that in his decades of

lifting he has never seen anyone bring the bell to the

shoulder with one hand- that either the bell was stood

end, then the lifter leaned into the center of the bar

to position it for the overhead, or that the bar was brought

to the shoulder with two hands, then put overhead with just one in the bent press.

Because we have not heard of something does not negate

it having happened, and the devisse was a form of the bent

press wherein the bell is cleaned to the shoulder using only

one hand, so obviously Batta's lift is incredible! And anyone's

devisse will of course be limited to whatever can be cleaned

with one hand. Saxon, of course, was not able to one-hand clean his tremendous poundages, so he used one of the

other methods.

As I mentioned, I have encountered the word in print only

twice, but I suspect in the French mags of bygone days

it was mentioned frequently. I hope to learn more about it.

[Nathan Say]

I guess the unscrewing part has something to do with how it was brought to shoulder height with one hand.

[Sybersnott]

Roark,

Why didn't you give some of us a chance on that?  I had it solved!

In the French language, a "devisse" is loosely translated as "press".  Arthur Saxon's famous lift, the bent press, was called by some Frenchman as a "devisse".  This is a lift using one hand, unassisted by the other, and the body is bent over whilst the weight is over the body lifted by the one arm.

[Roark]

Actually the weight is not so much lifted over the head,

as the body is leaned away from the hand, or a combo of

the two.

Some people used to call the bent press a screw press.

Sybersnott, I went ahead with the explanation for two

reasons:

1. I did not want to appear coy. I know Coy, and do not

   appreciate being mistaken for him.

2. Informed sources told me your hotline was approaching

   meltdown with inqueries regarding the devisse, and

   that your patience was becoming unscrewed.

[Roark]

Just encountered another reference to Sandow

performing a right hand clean and bent press of

179 pounds. It was not called a devisse, which is

one of the reasons the term devisse was not re-

cognized when I first placed this teaser on the

board.

Anyway Sandow did that lift on Jan 28, 1891.

If anyone on the board lives in France, can you

supply any more details about the devisse?

[Guest girevik]

I think I know something that will help. In Pavel's book "Russian Kettlebell Challange" where he's explaining the bent press, it says that if the best press is not much of a challange anymore, you could try the superhuman stunt by the old timer Batta. "Entirely surrounded by sharp knives" as Strength & Health Magazine reported in 1938, "he would bent press 220 pounds and while in the low position place his other hand on the floor and stretch his legs out...he could maintain this position for as long as twenty seconds!" Minus the drama of knives, this "gladiator press" will make a dandy of a drill for you. Especially if you are a grappler or just a tough guy.

[Roark]

That part of Batta's stunt aside, it appears that the

devisse was more a part of bringing the weight to

the shoulder.

Along the vein you mentioned, Albert Attilla (not

Louis Atilla) had a special barbell which had tapered

spikes inserted into the globes- made a body very cautious

when trying it. Arthur Saxon failed repeatedly (I think

when the bell was loaded to only 240 lbs), then when

Albert showed him how, Arthur did it right away. Albert

himself lifted the barbell as part of his performance even

though he weighed only 140-150 lbs.

I have not seen Pavel's book. Is there much history

in it?

[Guest girevik]

Yes, there is a some interesting history in the Russian Kettlebell Challange, but not enough that it would be worth the price if all you were interested in was the history. It's a good training book, though. Actually I noticed that most of the exercises are the same as in Arthur Saxon's book "The Developement of Physical Power" (one arm snatch, swings/snatch pulls, cleans, jerks, military, bent, and side presses, etc) only done with kettlebells instead of barbells and dumbells.