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The Great Gama: Key facts about Indian wrestler who inspired Bruce lee
Google on Sunday celebrates the 144th birth anniversary of the Amritsar-born wrestler Ghulam Mohammad Baksh Butt with a doodle, popularly known as Rustam-e-Hind or by his ring name ‘The Great Gama' aka Gama Pehlwan. Here are a few facts about the Indian wrestler you need to know:
Gama Pehelwan was a Kashmiri Muslim, born in Jabbowal village of Amritsar district in Punjab on May 22, 1878, and was regarded to be one of the greatest wrestlers ever lived.
Google doodle on Gama PehlwanGama Pehlwan has been a household name in India since the early 20th century and has been used when a person's strength is being remarked.
Gama has beaten all in the subcontinent, and can't even find opponents anymore, so he started issuing challenges to individual famous wrestlers saying he would beat them or "pay them the prize money and leave for home"According to the Google Doodle blog, when Gama was 10 yrs old, he followed a workout routine that consisted of 500 lunges and 500 pushups every day and even sometimes more exercise within 30 to 45 minutes each by wearing a doughnut-shaped wrestling apparatus called a hasli of 1 quintal (approx. 100 kilos).
Gama performing a dandGama, who picked up wrestling at the age of 15, came to the limelight in 1888, when he entered a strongman competition held in Jodhpur, which included many grueling exercises such as squats. The contest was attended by 400 wrestlers and Gama was among the last fifteen and was named the winner by the Maharaja of Jodhpur due to his young age. His success gained him fame throughout the royal states of India and was subsequently taken into training by the Maharaja of Datia.
Gama performing a baithakGama was also considered a national hero as he was responsible for saving the lives of many Hindus during the partition of India in 1947.
A famous American wrestler, Benjamin "Doc" Roller agreed to Gama's challenge. The bout lasted 1 min 40 sec before Gama pinned Doc. Doc shocked, demanded a rematch. In the rematch, Doc went all out and lasted 9 whole minutes.Gama earned many awards during his career, notably the Indian versions of the World Heavyweight Championship (1910) and the World Wrestling Championship (1927) where he was bestowed with the title of “Tiger” after the tournament.
Reportedly, Gama has won over 5000 fights and In his 50 years of bouts, he lost 0 times.
Stanislaus Zbyszko also accepted Gama's challenge and on 10 Sept 1910, Gama & Zybysko faced off in what became a 2 hr 36 min match. At the 1 min mark Zybysko was taken down. A rematch was conducted on Sept 17, but none showed up, except for GamaHe boasts an undefeated career that spans more than 52 years and has also lifted a boulder that weighed over 1,200kg. The boulder is also currently kept on display at Baroda Museum in Sayajibaug.
Gama Pehlwan with his groupDuring Gama's visit to India, the Prince of Wales also honoured Gama with a Silver Mace.
Great Gama trained his nephew Bholu Pahalwan who held the Pakistani wrestling championship for almost 20 yrs.
Kalsoom Sharif (Granddaughter of Gama) and her husband Nawaz Sharif Bruce Lee was an avid follower of Gama's training routine, who read articles about Gama on how he employed his exercises to build his legendary strength for wrestling. He quickly incorporated them into his own routine. His training techniques of "the cat stretch", "the squat" (known as "baithak", and "deep-knee bend" are from Gama.
Bruce LeeGama once began campaigning for things like free rail travel for poor Indians and challenged the British govt of India that he would stop a moving train with his bare hands if they'd make rail travel free on a 11 km stretch but, the govt refused.
On the roads of Ladakh, a common drive safely sign reads: “Don’t be a Gama in the land Lama”Today, a 100 kg doughnut-shaped exercise disc called Hasli, which Gama used for squats and pushups, is housed at the National Institute of Sports (NIS) Museum in Patiala.
His diet included 10 litres of milk, six desi chickens, and a pound and a half of crushed almond paste.After the partition of British India, into the Dominion of India and the Dominion of Pakistan in August 1947, Gama opted for Pakistan, where he spent the rest of his days in Lahore and died on May 23, 1960, at the age of 82. His legacy continues to inspire modern-day fighters.
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