Ghulam Mohammad Baksh Butt: Ghulam Mohammad Baksh Butt was a legendary Indian wrestler who was known as “Gama Pehelwan’ and ‘The Great Gama’. Till this day, he remains one of the most iconic and legendary figures when it comes to the history of wrestling.
What gave him the name ‘The Great Gama’ was his wrestling prowess, which was unprecedented, and the kind of strength he displayed.
Early Life and Professional Career
He was born on 22.05.1878 in Amritsar in a town called Jabbowal. The wrestling career of Gama started in the early 20th century and spanned over five decades. He was a wrestler who practiced Pehlwani wrestling, which is also known as Kushti and is a form of South Asian Wrestling.
Initially, he started his training in the akhadas in Punjab, which is the traditional way of wrestling. When he was just 10 years old, he participated in a competition organised by the Maharaja of Jodhpur, which was to see who could do the most ‘bethaks’ or deep knee bends or squats. Gama surprised everyone when, out of the total of 400 candidates that participated, he was one of the remaining 15.
When he entered his teenage years, he had already beaten the wrestlers that he wrestled against in India.
Even in international matches, he defeated champions all across Europe and other nations.
Throughout his professional career, Gama remained undefeated and inspired countless people throughout the Indian subcontinent. He started his career at a young age and ended up winning several championships, like the Indian version of the World Heavyweight Championship and the World Wrestling Championships in 1910 and 1927.
Ghulam Mohammad Baksh Butt and how he inspired Bruce Lee
Even the Legendary martial artist and actor Bruce Lee took inspiration from Gama’s methods of training, which mainly included repetitions of exercises like the cat stretch and the squat. The work ethic displayed by Gama was also something that Bruce Lee took inspiration from by reading about him.
In this manner, by way of adoption of training routines that involved certain specific and unique exercises, Bruce Lee built his legendary strength.
He is considered to be one of the greatest wrestlers to have ever lived.
READ MORE: Top 6 Most Decorated Badminton Players Of All Time
