The Great Gama Pehalwan, Rustam-e-Hind

In an era of professional wrestling that has been dominated by the likes of Andre The Giant, Hulk Hogan, and even “Stone Cold” Steve Austin, it can be easy to forget about the original man.

Rustam-e-Hind. with the ring name The Great Gama, was an Indian pehlwani wrestler and strongman. In the early 20th century, he was undefeated as a wrestling champion in the world.

Born on the Indian subcontinent in 1878, The Great Gama (Mohammed Gama) was one of the top wrestlers in his time and was awarded a version of the World Heavyweight Championship. In a professional career spanning more than 52 years (154 days), he is considered one of the greatest wrestlers in history. During the partition of India, his last days were spent in Lahore  before dying on May 23, 1960.

The Great Gama was a professional wrestler who is considered to be the father of professional wrestling. He is credited with creating the modern professional wrestling format, which includes matches with predetermined outcomes, signature maneuvers and a dramatic storyline. Gama also popularized professional wrestling in India and across the world.

Bruce Lee was an admirer of Gama’s training routine.

In 1902, an Indian man who had come to Baroda made everyone astounded by lifting a piece of stone. Nobody had seen anything like that before. Bruce Lee’s inspiration was this Indian Pehalwan who was so strong he could lift 1,200 kilograms!

113 kg was the weight of the Great Gama Pehalwan.

Previously, he’d been drinking a lot of juices mixed with crushed almonds, and trying to exercise frequently. He wanted his digestion and body metabolism to be strong; he exercised everyday with wrestling foes of forty.

Every day at 3:00 am, he would wake up and do 4,000 Hindu squats, in which 700 of them were jumping squats. In the afternoon he would then do 2,000 one-arm and two-arm press-ups followed by a 4 mile jog and 3 or 4 hours of wrestling.

Gama died at the age of 82 years (1878–1960)