Ghulam Muhammad: The "Great" Gama
The Great Gama is the only undefeated wrestler in the world. His career spanned 50 years. And Bruce Lee was his follower.
The "Great" Gama also known as "Gama Pahelvan" and "Lion of the Punjab", born Ghulam Muhammad (Urdu: غلام محمد), in Amritsar, Punjab, British India, was a renowned wrestler, warrior and a practitioner of Pehlwani wrestling. He was awarded the Indian version of the World Heavyweight Championship on October 15, 1910. To this date he is the only wrestler in history who remained undefeated his whole life which was substantial, as his career had spanned more than 50 years. He has been billed as the greatest Pehlwani wrestler in history. After India's independence in 1947, Gama moved to Pakistan. Kulsoom Nawaz, the wife of Nawaz Sharif is the grand-daughter of Gama.
Early life:
Ghulam Muhammad, whose Punjabi nickname was "Gama", was born to the renowned wrestler Muhammad Aziz in Punjab. Maharaja Bhawani Singh, the ruler of the princely state of Datia, patronized the young wrestler and his brother Imam Bukhsh. Gama was first noticed at the age of ten when he entered a strongman competition held in Jodhpur, which included many grueling exercises such as squats. The contest was attended by more than four hundred wrestlers and young Gama was among the last remaining fifteen wrestlers. At that point the Maharaja of Jodhpur announced Gama as the victor due to his remarkable show of enormous stamina and dedication among the many older wrestlers.
Influences:
Bruce Lee was an avid follower of Gama's training routine. Lee read articles about Gama and how he employed his exercises to build his legendary strength for wrestling, and Lee quickly incorporated them into his own routine. Some of the training routines he got was: "The Cat Stretch" - an Indian version of the well known "Push up, "The Squat" - which is called "baithak" in India, its simply known as "deep-knee bend".
In popular culture:
The Great Gama inspired the design and concept for the character Darun Mister, appearing in the Street Fighter EX videogame series. The character bears a strong physical resemblance to that of Gama.
The Great Gama appears as a character in the video game Shadow Hearts: Covenant.
Read More: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Great_Gama
The Great Gama is the only undefeated wrestler in the world. His career spanned 50 years. And Bruce Lee was his follower.
The "Great" Gama also known as "Gama Pahelvan" and "Lion of the Punjab", born Ghulam Muhammad (Urdu: غلام محمد), in Amritsar, Punjab, British India, was a renowned wrestler, warrior and a practitioner of Pehlwani wrestling. He was awarded the Indian version of the World Heavyweight Championship on October 15, 1910. To this date he is the only wrestler in history who remained undefeated his whole life which was substantial, as his career had spanned more than 50 years. He has been billed as the greatest Pehlwani wrestler in history. After India's independence in 1947, Gama moved to Pakistan. Kulsoom Nawaz, the wife of Nawaz Sharif is the grand-daughter of Gama.
Early life:
Ghulam Muhammad, whose Punjabi nickname was "Gama", was born to the renowned wrestler Muhammad Aziz in Punjab. Maharaja Bhawani Singh, the ruler of the princely state of Datia, patronized the young wrestler and his brother Imam Bukhsh. Gama was first noticed at the age of ten when he entered a strongman competition held in Jodhpur, which included many grueling exercises such as squats. The contest was attended by more than four hundred wrestlers and young Gama was among the last remaining fifteen wrestlers. At that point the Maharaja of Jodhpur announced Gama as the victor due to his remarkable show of enormous stamina and dedication among the many older wrestlers.
Influences:
Bruce Lee was an avid follower of Gama's training routine. Lee read articles about Gama and how he employed his exercises to build his legendary strength for wrestling, and Lee quickly incorporated them into his own routine. Some of the training routines he got was: "The Cat Stretch" - an Indian version of the well known "Push up, "The Squat" - which is called "baithak" in India, its simply known as "deep-knee bend".
In popular culture:
The Great Gama inspired the design and concept for the character Darun Mister, appearing in the Street Fighter EX videogame series. The character bears a strong physical resemblance to that of Gama.
The Great Gama appears as a character in the video game Shadow Hearts: Covenant.
Read More: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Great_Gama
