Greetings from Australia

[Boethius]

Greetings,

I am from Australia have background in fine art from university and became interested in strength training and body building as a result of figure drawing. I've Lurking for a month or two reading about different systems and finally thought I should sign up. The HOPC community seemed to be a great community who have a wealth of experience without the hype that is usually found in the fitness industry.

I think I first came into contact with physical culture is probably rather different to most. I had been reading 19th century works influenced by François Delsarte and looking at how his poses and exercises could be applied to poses for the visual arts. This brought me into contact with early physical culture proponents and eventually Sandow and Maxick. I am not a huge fan of the products of contemporary professional body building but that is probably just an artistic preference but I do have a great respect for their dedication and commitment.

I had always been fairly athletic and gone to the gym with friends who were serious about body body building but many things had put me off from being serious about strength training. I recently started muscle control through the Maxalding course with basic calisthenic exercises which I hope with be a good foundation after a few months to progress to further training routines. I think David has done a great service putting all these materials in together in one library and the information on this forum has been great to compare different methods and get tips on training .

[peter yates]

Hi Boethius,
A very warm welcome to the forum.Glad you found us and i hope you will stay around awhile.Most of us have been around a long time and seen fads come and go.We have also witnessed the splintering of the related arts that at one time were practiced by most of the pioneers of PC.Those being weightlifting to demonstrate the strength of the developed muscle plus athletic skill, hand balancing, muscle control, strong man feats etc. Even up the sixties bodybuilders still did weightlifting,muscle control and strength feats,such as Chuck Sipes, Bill Pearl and John Citrone to name a few.Sadly in my opinion it is not that way today.
Glad to see you are embarking on Maxalding training,combined with progressive calisthenics you have a great starting template that will yield a firm foundation.Also in this time of isolation it is just what is needed with gyms being closed.Recently we have seen a few people becoming interested in Muscle Control,which for those of us who have been doing it a long,long time is very heartening to witness. The very reason Gil Waldron started the Maxalding website was so the material would not be lost and hopefully introduce it to a new crowd.I reckon he did a good job.
Yes we are very lucky that we have so much information from David combined with the earlier site run by Gil and so very ably crafted,woven together and manged by our dear Diane,who makes it all come together.
By the way have you been able to check out the Australian PC section in the Library yet? Australia has had some terrific strongmen/athletes, many of whom worked as artists models at one time or another.
Which part of Australia do you live? I was in Perth for 4 years and Sydney for 4,plus traveled to quite a few other places in that time.Great country,down to earth people.
Regards,Peter.

[Boethius]

Hi Peter,
Thank you for the warm welcome. It occurred to me too that muscle control is probably a good thing to focus on at the moment with governments putting cities in lock down. I am from Perth and as you probably know is rather a quite beautiful and relaxed place here. Aside from the economic effects with the open space being in isolation here may be inconvenient but it is not really going to be as troublesome when it happens compared to some larger cities. I know a few people in London and they seem to already be feeling a little claustrophobic.

I am hopping to add hand balancing in a few months when I feel that I am fairly proficient in the exercises from the maxalding course and made some progress with calisthenics. I guess much can be said for a more wholistic approach of weightlifting plus the range of other athletic skills that were often developed as you say. Something that has impressed me is the longevity of the practitioners of physical culture. Many seemed to continue training into older age with fewer injuries as it also seems a few of the members of this forum have too. I imagine I will have a few questions on what best direction once I complete the course but at the moment I am just focusing on securing a good foundation.

There has been many good books and articles in the library that have I have not yet had a chance a look at the Australian section yet. I am sure that will give me some good reading over the weekend.

[peter yates]

Hi Bothius, yes Perth is a beautiful city and certainly not a bad place to be with lock down in effect.A real good time for reading and developing your skills. When you are ready for hand balancing let us know and we can point you in the right direction.By the way one of the best British bodybuilders of the 50s/60s,Len Sell lives in Perth.He was an all rounder and his trainer Reub Martin was one of Britain's best hand balancers with a terrific stage act.
Regards,Peter.