Its not surprising to me that club swinging has started… well ok, not exactly started, but is becoming much more mainstream in the fitness world. For dedicated club swingers this isn’t a big revelation, and the dedicated swingers, would swing clubs regardless of their “popularity” or obscurity. But, it’s nice to be recognized and to be part of a movement or sorts.
A club is perhaps the OLDEST tool in the world… second only to maybe a rock, and both rocks and clubs in their most raw forms still do as good or better in terms of “functional” strength and conditioning then most modern equipment, but a tool is only a tool and will only do as good of a job as the hands who use it.
Because the club is so very, very old, all cultures have at their base a type of club swinging tradition and without a doubt it was for martial training, so in all honesty, NO culture has any ownership of clubs.
I still know guys who know volumes about Irish stick fighting or Shillelagh and some of the club work they do is downright torturous in terms of how they use their clubs to build strength and conditioning and body durability, makes a lot of what I have seen look tame in comparison.
I have seen and learned true Chinese kung fu methods of using a 15-30lb spiked club called a Wolf Teeth Cudgel, with high leaping and tumbling and rolling will swinging and levering this heavy weapon.
The Japanese have their Kanabo a stout and often studded weapon 15-25bs, associated with only the strongest samurai and power and wild spirits called Oni. I was invited to be a guest Oni at a Shinto shrine and got to see and learn about the Kanabo on a deeper, spiritual level that truly changed my perspective on everything.
Even from my own Germanic heritage heavy club swinging is associated with Thor or Donner. His hammer or “harmr” where both the words hammer and harm come from, was originally a club, latter a club with a stone axe head and evolved into what we think of as a hammer. Mjollinar or Thor’s hammer was about power and how a man uses it. Thor had an iron glove which embodied a powerful grip and a thick leather belt that show cased his very strong lower back, hips and legs… all of which, the belt and glove came from having to swing Mjollinar, meaning a strong back and hands come from swinging a heavy club… which is very, very true.
I don’t mean this to be a history lesson, but to establish to you that through my own life I have a wealth of club swinging knowledge and experience to use without ever having to look at “Indian” Club swinging or any “modern” club work manuals, and trust me I do both and I make NO apologies for doing so, and I wait for NO ONE’S permission.
Getting back to the rightful surge in club swinging in today’s fitness world.
Most people will have heard of “Indian” club swinging and probably only connect club swinging to India, which is completely understandable and trust me a king’s ransom of material is there to learn from. But when you’re talking about Indian club swinging, you also have to factor in Iranian, Turkish and Persian influences and independent styles and there are a lot of differences between even those
There is a lot of misunderstanding in what is being presented as “Indian” club swinging and what really is Indian club swinging.
First and foremost, 1-2 pound clubs…. So NOT Indian club swinging and the people selling them as Indian clubs KNOW better or should… either way, don’t be lied too, know and understand the difference and know what you are REALLY getting into.
1-2lb clubs may have been influenced by the club work done in India and Iran, but they are the product of a highly anal retentive and closed off Victorian culture, were heavy sweating, big muscles and anything overly “sexual” or physical was frowned upon. Not only that, but the business side came into play. Economically shipping and selling a manual and 2 pound club made sound sense; shipping heavier clubs was too expensive and impractical. So, clubs where kept light and a whole tradition was brought up on light club work because of money and religious views… hmmm wonder if that happens now, yeah you bet it does.
Ok, so what is a light pair of clubs good for? EVERYTHING!
This type of club work is great for mobility, rehab, loosening, rejuvenating and warm up, before workouts, after a workout, after sitting at a desk for hours, just after you wake up, before bed…etc… light club swinging just makes you feel good and it does your body a mountain of benefits. But this type of swinging WILL NOT turn you into the Great Gama, and again these sites that put up pictures of 2 pound clubs next to a picture of him is just laughable and downright dishonest to make such a comparison.
So, swing light clubs… but KNOW what they are really going to do for you and how and why you are swinging them.
For 5-50lb clubs there are a huge world of possibility, the sport of Zurkhanah a traditional warrior training for Iran, Olympic Club sport, and what is called Tac-Fit, which is from what I have seen is the most accessible and very result producing form of 5-45lb club swinging around. All these types of club swinging traditions WILL build you into a version of the Great Gama, you have a very wide range of different weighted clubs, different routines, different methods of swings, it has a lot options and its worth dedicating your fitness regimen too.
Lastly now we have what is called “Strongman” style Club work, something I am happy to say I along with Steve Belanger and Rik Brown have helped bring back into the public’s attention. This type of Club work focuses on 80lb+ club work and making use of 35-45lb clubs as one handed clubs and using them for double club work. This will make you a modern day Thor or Captain Caveman, the sheer amount of weight you will swing and lever will build hand and leg and back strength like nothing else and because its swing weight you can take heavy clubs into heavy reps so it’s a big endurance builder too. However, it’s not a “higher” level… it’s just different and it’s for some people and not for others.
Everyone is different, in their mentality, in their physicality, in their needs, their goals and their situations. The VAST number of different types of clubs is proof positive of taking a simple tool like a club, a piece of wood and fashioning it to meet a wide range of different purposes. Like people, we all start out as very basic and very similar like that crude club, but we are all fashioned differently and there is a “club” style for everyone and room for everyone’s experiences, knowledge and goals … yes it’s that simple and that profound.
-Kevin Wikse