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05/06/2010 Entry: "5/7/2010: Part 2 of the September 15, 1988 letter from Charles A. Smith to Joe Roark"

CASr4 for May 7, 2010

Part 2 of the September 15, 1988 letter from Charles A. Smith to Joe Roark

The reason why the military press was dropped and turned into, first the Olympic Press, then a travesty of all pressing, was because of the difficulty in judging it, caused by the hordes of Russians rushing up to the Jury of Appeal when one of their lifter's presses was turned down by the ref and judges. Finally, in desperation, and instead of showing their moral courage, and telling the Russians to go take a flying copulation at themselves, they gave in to them. Finally the press was shoved out of it altogether.

The present set of power lifts, bench press, squat, and dead lift, were in existence at LEAST 60 to 80 years ago, but not welded together to form a Competition Set of lifts.

The squat has been in use, no, was being used as a competition lift in Europe, particularly GERMANY long before 1920-- in fact in the 1880s and '90s.

The dead lift was also used on the European Continent too. The so called SUMO style of dead lifting, popularly thought of by modern practitioners as 'NEW' is also older than the proverbial hills. First mention of it comes in Ottley Coulter's and Jowett's course and the APollo Course, first put out in 1922. Ottley calls it a new way to dead lift. It wasn't then, it isn't now and it may have been new ONCE, way back in the distant past.

Ditto for the bench press. Joe and I were using that in 1932, a few years before it was mentioned in Mark Berry's books. Joe and I thought we had invented it. But lo and behold, I again saw the bench press mentioned in the same Apollo Course, Ottley advising you to do it on a backless couch if you didn't have a bench. Grimek illustrated it in one of Berry's books in 1934 or 1935.

The dead lift. At one time in British competition, you could raise it to above the knees, stop there with the bar resting just above the knees, on the thighs, adjust your hands, firm your grip, or whatever, then continue the lift to upright position. One condition of competition was that the shoulders must be pulled back and NOT be hung forward. This, now, has changed to one continuous pull to completion.

So, as far as I know, the power lifts, that is the squat, bench press and dead lift as a CONTEST SET, DID NOT COME INTO BEING UNTIL THE LATE 1950s or early 60's. Thus to call a set the strength set BEFORE THAT date or dates, might confuse lifters into thinking that power lifting existed before it really did.

To repeat, the CONTINENTAL SET was known as the POWER STRENGTH SET for a WHILE.

Moral: Don't confuse the old POWER STRENGTH SET, the Continental Set, with the modern POWER SET, the bench, squat and d/l.

Do try and get hold of Pullum's book and see the esoteric lifts-- such as Hold Out In Front, raised from Below. The Hold Out In Front, LOWERED FROM ABOVE. The Two Hands Swing. The Two Hands Anyhow With DUMBBELLS and the Lateral Raise Lying were being used to crack records.

In those wonderful and guilt and fraud free days, if one fancied oneself for a record break, he had to send in an application to the Lifting Committee, stating when and where he would make the attempt and who would be there, AND if a meet would also be held at the same time. The committee members would then meet and decide if the attempt could be made or not-- permission was almost always granted, and in fact I can't recall an occasion when it wasn't-- given that is.

So far as I am concerned, THERE IS NOTHING NEW. Lifts have evolved from what they were either because of political expediency or else sheer bloody moral inertia, as in the case of the two hands military press.

They had a set of rules before them, rules which had been followed and successfully, for decades, but it got too tiring, too much of a hassle, what with audience participation, the bellowing of the Russians, soon aped by other Eastern Bloc Countries, and now we have but two lifts, and talk of the Snatch being doneaway with, AND steroids. Ugh.

I had hear that Lincir has got a lot of Batchelor's material as well as splitting Bert Elliot's stuff with someone else-- Harry Hill or some such was it?

Reg Park hasn't written to me in at least 3 years. Funny how friends are forgotten, or else dropped because they are no longer of use to you. Ho hum.

I knew Reg had the Inch Challenge dumbbell, but didn't know what had happened to it. I understand that Reg and Inch were cozy at one time.

I shall not be attending the Old Timers' Bash in NYC. They are honoring a man I think of as nothing more than a male whore. Again UGH.

I know Slim Farman and his stunt.

Re Joe Price and he and Pullum working on the Vulcan Course. Another instance of cashing in on someone else's idea. This sort of stuff was first put out by Edward Aston who called it the ANTI BARBELL COURSE, utilizing the leverage principle. That honest despoiler of other peoples' ideas and brains, G.F.J. also shoved out a similar course with oblong weights on the end of a ridged bar.

Adrian Schmidt's Schmidt Machine was based on the same leverage principle. Aston died in his 80s working as a porter at London's Billigsgate Fish Marker DAED BROKE. The world just isn't fair.

Best, Chas [PS: Would appreciate a mention if you use any of my info in your articles.]