Alexander Karelin: What made him so special?

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Footwork333

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Hey guys, I was just reading on Wikipedia how Karelin was special because he could lift 130kg heavyweight opponents into the air and I told a weight-lifting friend about this. However, my friend said it wasn't that impressive because many people in the world can lift 130kg so Karelin wasn't that special. I didn't know what to say in response. How was Karelin's lifts special?

Thanks!

Obligatory Karelin photo:

karelin.gif
 
When someone is resisting, fighting it with all their power it's a lot different. Much different than lifting a barbell.
 
Your friend is a complete moron.
 
When Fedors kids was little and misbehaving he told them if they did not behave Karelin would come and take them. Fedors kids are all well behaved..

Karelin was a MONSTER. There are tons of stories about him.
One old one from Sweden and some wrestling coach is, that Karelin was visiting the gym and the guys decided to play a little prank on him. They were doing bench presses and maxing. But they told Karelin they were just warming up. The guy said "ok" and went and warmed up with the Swedish wrestlers max. I THINK it was the juniors but still.

He also bought a new fridge at one time, but nobody had the time to help him get it up the stairs.
It was either 3 or 4 floor. So he carried on his back by him self. We are talking USSR 1980 fridge...


This is just 2 random stories nothing big. But if you dont respect Karelin you are probably a douche and loves to play with barbie dolls.
 
When Fedors kids was little and misbehaving he told them if they did not behave Karelin would come and take them. Fedors kids are all well behaved..

Karelin was a MONSTER. There are tons of stories about him.
One old one from Sweden and some wrestling coach is, that Karelin was visiting the gym and the guys decided to play a little prank on him. They were doing bench presses and maxing. But they told Karelin they were just warming up. The guy said "ok" and went and warmed up with the Swedish wrestlers max. I THINK it was the juniors but still.

He also bought a new fridge at one time, but nobody had the time to help him get it up the stairs.
It was either 3 or 4 floor. So he carried on his back by him self. We are talking USSR 1980 fridge...


This is just 2 random stories nothing big. But if you dont respect Karelin you are probably a douche and loves to play with barbie dolls.
Click to expand...

wow thank you for those stories

Alexander Karelin = GOAT wrestler
 
Footwork333 said:
How was Karelin's lifts special?
Click to expand...

to answer your question , karelin's "lifts" were special because they were difficult and nobody else could do them as consistently.

but anyone who compared a human to a barbell is a fuckin idiot, im sorry
 
Tell your friend that it requires technique, as well as strength.
Also, Karelin is a natural beast. A guy that I know met him and he said that his hand disappeared into Karelin's hand as they shook.
I forget how huge he was as he was born but his mom must have had a hard time squirting him out.
 
most of ppl barely can hold few kgs wiggeling fish and here we have 120+ kgs sweaty wrestlers.Yep its piece of cake.
 
He is a bad man. He made highlight reel footage from throwing Jeff Blatnick all over the Place.


RIP Blatnick...
 
Frank23 said:
Your friend is a complete moron.
Click to expand...

Agreed.

Lifting a barbell is much, much, much easier than lifting a wriggling, writhing, grasping, resisting human being. If it was easy for people to do Karelin wouldn't have gone down in history for doing it.
 
If he had the mind set for mma and went that route he would have killed people in the ring /cage.
IIRC he is actually also a sambo black belt.
 
lsa said:
IIRC he is actually also a sambo black belt.
Click to expand...
There is no such thing. The only "rank" in Sambo is that of Master of Sport. From there it's generally divided into what kind of tourneys you competed in (regional vs. national vs. international) and how well you did in them-- the most successful international competitors being the true "black belts" and so on in the sense that only black belts are permitted to compete in world-level Judo.

It's possible that he trained sambo while in Europe but belt rank does not exist in sambo.

Source: 3 weeks of sambo and interest in national/international sambo results brackets. FEAR ME

Two guys from my school won nationals last year. : )
 
Ask your friend to flex his quads as hard as he can.

Then leg kick the shit out of him for being stupid.
 
found this Blatnick quote on his match against Karelin

"I was doing everything humanly possible to prevent him from lifting me off the mat. I weighed 265 pounds. I was in good shape. I was scared -- intense fear. I don't like flying through the air like that. I kept thinking, 'Don't get hurt. Don't get hurt.' With him, it's almost a victory if you don't get thrown."


RIP Jeff Blatnick
 
Karelin is lucky to be born with a great genetic, he is a total freak; it helped him to be the greatest wrestler of all times. Too bad he chosed Greco Roman wrestling, if he had chosen freestyle wrestling he would have been even greater and more complete.
 
Lifting 130 KG is not hard by itself. What makes lifting a wrestler up harder is they know how to distribute their leverage so it is not like picking up a 130KG weight, but rather a very awkward and cumbersome moving object from difficult positions.

Like any GOAT ins a sport, Karelin was so special because he had a work ethic like an Ox, he was a physical freak, and he had a very high wrestling IQ. It was not one thing that made him special, he had everything.
 
The huge factor that people forget is that he was doing this to OLYMPIC wrestlers, these guys are literally the best in the world at not getting picked up and or put on their backs and he literally did both in convincing fashion.
 
Just look at a photo of the man. His technique was excellent, but holy crap was he strong. Upper body was beastly, but his calves were not even human.
 
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