Description

The Legendary Great Gama

In 1890, over 400 bodybuilders gathered at the national physical exercise competition of the Rajah of Jodhpur. All at once, they started performing free squats known as Baithaks. Sometimes called the Hindu Squat, it’s a variant of the regular squat exercise, where you swing your arms to the rhythm of your motion. A standard regimen involves doing one hundred or more of these.

At the Raja’s contests, grown men performed thousands of these squats for hours on end. One by one, they dropped out due to fatigue. By the time there were just 15 athletes remaining, the Raja called off the contest. It was clear that one of them had earned both the crowd’s attention and the prize of the contest – ten-year-old Mian Ghulam Muhammad.

Ghulam would later be bedridden for weeks. But his legendary training regimen is just one of the reasons the Punjabi lion went undefeated in wrestling for 50 years, under the name ‘The Great Gama’.

– “The Great Gama: The Legendary Wrestler Who Inspired Bruce Lee”, in: Madras Courier, November 15, 2017.

The Great Gama protocol is named in honor of one of the most famous warriors in the history, Ghulam Mohammad Baksh Butt (22 May 1878 – 23 May 1960), Pakistani wrestler, undefeated champion of the world in a career spanning more than 52 years.

That victory didn’t necessarily show any wrestling ability, but it did demonstrate unusual qualities of physical robustness, will power and competitiveness in the young Gama. At that time he was routinely doing five hundred Baithaks and five hundred Dands (stretching pushups) daily, and working on pit digging – turning over the earth of the wrestling area with a pharsa (hoe).

– Graham Noble, “‘The Lion of the Punjab’ – Gama in England, 1910”, in: Journal of Alternative Perspectives, May2002.

Youth-Restoring Calisthenics

Many sources claim that The Great Gama – and many other wrestlers – did actually thousands of Hindu pushups and Hindu squats a day. True or not, it doesn’t matter – these exercises deliver multiple benefits, as you will find out on your own: mobility, flexibility, strength, endurance, health.

Pavel  writes in Super-Joints:

There are a million exercise complexes out there,” muses Academician Amosov. “Look up the literature on physical culture and you will find very complicated routines that have 40–50 exercises. These for the first week, others for the second, etc. ad nauseam. They argue that every muscle needs its own movement. Let us not pick on them, an expert’s job is inventing and complicating… Non-athletes training for health do not need complicated routines. Why cram their brains? Let the person bend and squat…

This exactly what you are going to learn – a very simple routine with some forward and backward bends, pushups and squats, plus few additional exercises: time tested “youth-restoring calisthenics” routine that you can keep doing for months, possibly years, possibly lifetime.

No equipment? No excuses!

you can practice anytime, anywhere. All you need is few square feet – Chinese masters call it “lying buffalo’s spot” (wo niu zhi di 臥牛之地) – i.e. a space big enough for a buffalo to lie on is big enough to practice.

You will improve your mobility, flexibility and movement quality!

…using some of the most popular and time tested exercises from the arsenal of the Chinese and Indian warriors. Rehab routine? Possibly, but leave it to your physio. Prehab and body maintenance routine, beneficial to your muscles, joints, sinews, ligaments,  and other connective tissue? You bet.

You will get stronger!

…although GPP is not a pure strength program. It is a great “general physical preparation” program, building an excellent movement and strength foundation for any subsequent training.

You will improve your endurance!

although GPP is not a conditioning program either. As Strong Endurance™ taught us, the typical HIIT acid baths do work – but for a price. We will use use altogether different programming than AMRAP (if you don’t know what does it mean, good for you). Forget the DEADCONs… I mean METCONs.

As for the conditioning, you will get extra benefits by utilising nose breathing only as well as breath holds after exhale both during the exercise and after the exercise, and “fast and loose” exercises between the sets.

Let our motto be:

If after your exercise, your bath and your rub-down, you feel fit to battle for a kingdom, then your schedule is right.

– Earle Liederman, Secrets of Strength, 1925

About the Teacher

Pavel Macek

Certified StrongFirst Master Instructor & StrongFirst Elite, old-time strongman training fan, Flexible Steel Specialist, Oxygen Advantage Instructor, Chinese martial arts and MMA instructor, cat lover and Pu-Erh tea drinker, and generally nice guy.

The Content of the GGP Online Course

Part 1: Intro [5:41]

• About the coach
• Great Gama, one of the greatest wrestlers that ever lived, undefeated for over 52 years!
• Eastern/Western old-time strongmen/martial artists and their bodyweight exercises of choice
• “Morning recharge” or a standalone basic program
• Overview of all sections and exercises
• Benefits? Health, strength, conditioning, joint-mobility, flexibility, movement
• High reps for healthy connective tissues: tendons, ligaments, and cartilage
• Resilience, antifragility, “in-between strength” and high rep/light practice as an ideal counterpart to low-rep/heavy training

Part 2: Prelimary Exercises [9:51]

• Arm-swing exercise from Chinese martial arts and longevity arts
• Correct basic posture & breathing
• “Swing Hands Exercise” (Ping Shuai Gong 平甩功/Ping Shuai Shou 平甩手)
• “Swing Hands Exercise” – without the knee dip
• “Swing Hands Exercise” – with the knee dip
• „Spiritual Dragon Twists the Pillar“ (Shen long jiao zhu 神龍絞柱) for rotational power and much more
• Combination of both preliminary exercises

Part 3: Sun Salutation – 3 Subsets [10:10]

• Sun Saluation (Surya Namaskar) as body maintenance of the old-time Indian wrestlers
• Full set deconstructed for easier learning
• Subset 1: Backward and forward bend
• Subset 2: Lunge sequence
• Subset 3: Upward/downward dog
• Harder variation of Subset 3

Part 4: Sun Salutation – Full Set [16:12]

• Putting all 3 subsets together
• Demo of the full set – just the movements first, front and side view
• Variation 1 – front foot flat, pushup on the knees
• Variation 2 – front foot on the toes, standard pushup
• Breathing – 3 (actually 4) simple guidelines
• Anatomical breathing explained
• Demo of the full set – with breathing, front and side view
• Most common mistakes

Part 5: Dands aka Hindu Pushups [13:17]

• Building on the foundation of Sun Salutation
• Variation 1 – 4 steps Hindu pushup
• Details – hands, fingers, palm, shoulders, stance, neck…
• Tempo, rhythm, speed, flow, breathing
• Why not to flare your elbows
• Variation 2 – “Iron Ox Ploughs the Earth” (Tie niu geng di  鐵牛耕地), common in Chinese martial arts
• Variation 3 – Navy SEAL’s Dive bomber pushup
• What if even variation 1 is too hard? Variation 0 – Upward/downward dog straight-arm “pushup”
• Closing notes to pushups (that will apply to the rest of the exercises as well)

Part 6: Baithaks aka Hindu Squats [10:35]

• Toes over the knees – dangerous, or not?
• Variation 1 – Deep knee bend – slow and controlled movement from point A to B
• Variation 2 – regular Baithak
• Arm swing, rhythm, flow, speed, breathing
• Variation 3 – jumping Baithak
• What if even variation 1 is too hard? Variation 0 – supported Baithak
• Tips for the (weighted) variations of the squats
• Most common mistakes and advice for the older model Terminators with mileage

Part 7: Thoracic Bridges [9:31]

• Different kinds of wrestler’s bridges and the bridge for today’s sitting population
• Variation 1 – modified Reverse table pushup
• Extra arm extension drill for tight shoulders and biceps
• Variation 2 – Rotational thoracic bridge: Floor version
• Variation 2 – Rotational thoracic bridge: Wall version
• What if even variation 1 is too hard? Variation 0 – reverse Table hold
• How to progress in the future (get StrongFirst RESILIENT, of course)

Part 8: Chinese Health Preservation Methods [6:11]

• Yang shen fa 養生法 of the traditional Chinese medicine
• Sharp vision – “Eyes bright like precious pearls”(Ming yan bao zhu 明眼寶珠)
• Healthy teeth and good digestion – “Clicking the teeth, swallowing the saliva” (Kou chi yan jin 叩齒嚥津)
• Young face and alert mind – “Washing the face, beating the [heavenly] drum” (Mu mian ming gu 沐面鳴鼓)
• Energizing the body and mind – “Rubbing the ears method” (Rou er fa 揉耳法)
• Smart brain and shiny hair – “Combing the hair” (So Lei 梳理)

Part 9: Morning Recharge: Sample Sequence [4:50]

• “Morning recharge” – step by step procedure after waking up
• Follow-up routine with commentary
• Selected Chinese health preservation methods (Rolling the eyes, Clicking the teeth, Swallowing the saliva) >
• Arm swings >
• Sun salutation >
• Pushups >
• Squats >
• Bridges >
• The remaining Chinese health preservation methods (Washing the face, Beating the drum, Rubbing the ears, Combing the hair)

Part 10: Evening stretching [8:39]

• Elephant walk to improve the toe touch
• Contract-relax methods
• Kneeling postures options and variations
• Upward/downward dog variations + Pump stretch
• Flexible Steel extra exercise 1: Tactical frog
• Flexible Steel extra exercise 2: Hip switches

Part 11: Outro [1:43]

• Teacher, method, student
• Progressions/regressions
• Follow up questions
• Keep practicing
• Health & strength!

Part 12: Programming Manual [.pdf]

• When, how often, how many reps, how many sets, what to do in the rest periods, etc.

 

TESTIMONIALS

I just purchased the GGP at the weekend and included turned it into my morning routine. It makes me feel comfortable trough out the whole workday at the office. I was first skeptical if I should buy it, as the movements are not really new to me and I was already practicing Dands, Baithaks and Crab Reach from Animal Flow. But It was totally worth it and I’m happy I did! Your approach for programming the exercises is excellent as well as your instructions! I love the protocols simplicity, nothing fancy or complicated, but everything you need to keep and increase the body’s functionality for daily life and sports. Thanks a lot for this! – Nick Kato

Purchased yesterday and watched in one run. Even if I knew majority of exercises from different Pavel Macek’s videos, articles or our lectures, the real devil is in the details…and established system….and the system details. I like the way the traditional Chinese and Indian practices are combined into unique comprehensive system. I would also like to highlight quite cool Sin City look of the videos. – Petr Šimsa

Great aesthetics with black and white filming. Not often we see that today. – Anders

I love it! Toe Touches, Hindu Squats, Hindu Push-Ups are my all time favorites, and your stuff is spot on progressions and programming! I love how you have given these unjustly maligned exercises the Pavel Tsatsouline, Strongfirst, and SIMPLEXTRONG treatment! – Richard Barret

It is exactly what I’ve been wanting as a supplement to my Simple quest. – cmerow

It gives you an healthy and strong routine for lifetime and, in addition, it matches very well with strength training (I am doing S&S with 32 and 40 kgs) It is a good investment and Pavel Macek is a great instructor. Very good! – Mmatteo