The great Gama before the era of fake wrestling

 The great Gama 

Before the era of fake wrestling, there were three genuine unbeatable world champions from India , all three from Punjab and surprisingly they were all from Majha belt of Amritsar

1) Gama or Ghulam Mohammad Baksh ( Born 1878 died 1960 )

2) Dara Singh Sandhu/ Dulchipuria ( Born 1918 died 1988)

3) Dara Singh Randhawa/Dharamchakkia 

 ( Born 1928 died 2012)

Gama, some facts 

Height 5 ft 8 in

Weight: 110 Kg 

Exercise and Diet 

Gama's daily training consisted of grappling with forty wrestlers in the akhara . He used to do five thousand Baithaks (squats) and three thousand Dands (pushups). Gama's daily diet was 7.5 liters of milk, yakhni or thick soup made of 30 chickens , one Kg of crushed almond paste made into a tonic drink along with fruit juice and other ingredients to promote good digestion. This high protein and high energy diet helped him accumulate muscle mass .Gama was so strong that when he was in his 20s he lifted a rock weighing 1200 Kgs .

In London he could not get entry into the tournament because of his low height so Gama presented another challenge to specific heavy weight wrestlers. He challenged Stanislaus Zbyszko and Frank Gotch, either he would beat them or pay them the prize money and go home. The first professional wrestler to take his challenge was the American Benjamin Roller. In the bout, Gama pinned Roller in 1 minute 40 seconds the first time, and in 9 minutes 10 seconds the other. On the second day, he defeated 12 wrestlers and thus gained entry to official tournament And so, on September 10, 1910, Zbyszko faced the Great Gama in the finals of the John Bull World Championships in London. The match was £250 in prize money and the John Bull Belt. Within a minute, Zbyszko was taken down and remained in that position for the remaining 2 hours and 35 minutes of the match

Another interesting fact is that his granddaughter Kulsoom Nawaz Sharif is the wife of Pakistan P.M Mian Nawaz Sharif so Mian Nawaz Sharif is his grand son in law

Post Credit : Rathindranath Mukherjee