Since the time of Kempegowda, Bengaluru is known for its Garadi Mane, the traditional wrestler training centres. Even today there are a few such akhadas in old city where many young men practice this sport, exercise and tone their bodies. Becoming a wrestler is not everyone’s cup of tea. Many young men like to build their body and tone their muscles, both for looks and strength.

Now, all over the city, there are a number of such centres popularly known as gymnasiums, offering varied types of traditional and modern methods of body building. However, during the first half of 20th century there were hardly any such places in the city to shape a sound mind in a sound body. The credit of running such a vyayamashala successfully, goes to KV Iyer. He is remembered even today for exploring a systematic method of physical culture.

A few years ago I met Dr. KV Karna and his wife Vasanta Karna, son and daughter-in-law of KV Iyer, to know of his contribution. Prof. K V Iyer Smarane’ is a memoir brought out by V.Si. Sampada in which the author KG Nadiger gives a vivid picture of K V Iyer’s life, his Vyayamashala and the gymnastic achievements. “Ordinary feet, extraordinary feat” is an apt tribute given to this master of body building by Dr.Veena Bharati in her book of the same title.

Kolar Venkatesh Iyer was born on January 8, 1898 in the village of Devarayasamudra in Kolar district. He lost his mother at the young age. His father came down to Bangalore and started a a small eatery to eke out a livelihood. Iyer could not continue studies after his intermediate due to financial constraints. But he was very much interested in body building.

He learnt the basics of the art of physique from his guru Venkatakrishnaiah. After taking a course of Charles Atlas, who was an Italian-American body builder best remembered as the developer of a body building method and its associated exercise programme, KV Iyer began developing his own system of body building harmoniously, blending the Indian system of Hatha Yoga and Western style of aerobics. His first training centre, Hercules Gymnasium was established in Tipu Sultan’s Palace in Bangalore in 1922.

Once, T P Kailasam, a versatile genius and a household name in Kannada literary circle, came to his class. They had met earlier in another occasion near Kolar. Kailasam explained to him about the salient features of Maxalding system. Maxalding is an exercise system of muscle control using a form of isometrics. Books and pamphlets teaching the system were first published in 1909 and continued until Maxalding ceased to trade in the late 1970s. When Kailasam had gone abroad he had met Eugen Sandow. He also shared his experiences of his meeting Eugen Sandow, a legend of physical culture. He also asked whether K V Iyer had read about Lady Windermere’s Fan, A Play About a Good Woman, a four-act comedy by Oscar Wilde. KV Iyer promptly replied that he had no time to read any books other than literature on physical culture. The playwright replied “Oh my! You are only into body-building, what about your brain? The general opinion about physical culture is All brawn and no brain. You should prove to the world that brawn and brain can go together.” This dictum of his well-wisher had a long lasting effect on the young body builder. He changed his thinking, style of functioning and imparting the training to this pupils.

He rented a bigger house in Chamarajapet fifth main which was located right in front or the residence of the well-known Dr. B. Nanjappa, and established a full-fledged gymnasium which later came to be known as K V Iyer’s Vyayamashala.

For young K V Iyer, Eugen Sandow, the German body builder of early nineteenth century, also considered as “Father of Modern Body Building” was the role model. Earlier, the body builders simply displayed their well-developed physique as part of strength demonstration or wrestling matches. But Eugen Sandow was so successful at flexing and posing his physique that audiences were thrilled and enjoyed viewing his “muscle display performances”. He later created several businesses around his fame, and was among the first to market products branded with his name. He was credited with inventing and selling the first exercise equipment for the masses like machined dumbbells, spring pulleys and tension bands. Even his image was sold by the thousands in ‘cabinet cards’ and other prints. He also authored a few books and journals on the subject. Sandow visited India in 1905, at which time he was already a cultural hero and had the most influence on modern yoga as exercise.

KV Iyer too, like his role model, presented the sequence of yoga asanas in Surya Namaskara, as a practical, modern, stretching exercise rather than as something only spiritual. He toured India doing lecture-demonstrations, accompanied by the yoga guru Seetharaman Sundaram.

Like Sandow, he vigorously promoted himself, appearing in magazines such as Health and Strength and The Superman. He wrote several books on physical culture including Perfect Physique, Muscle Cult, Physique and Figure, Suya Namasakar and Chemical Changes in Physical Exercise.

To be continued….

Email: sureeshmoona@gmail.com

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Entertainment / by Suresh Moona / July 24th, 2020