Of Stones and Strength

[Guest guest]

There is a book of the same name written by Steve Jeck and

available through <http://www.ironmind.com>, the publishers of MILO.

For those of you who are interested in pure strength as well as a

bit of history, this is a very interesting read. What I found most

unique is that these centuries-old " Manhood " stones are still

rolling around in the countryside in various parts of Europe and

anyone can walk up and attempt to lift them. The Dec. 2000 MILO has

two " stone " articles this month, one by trying to hoist

the 270# Doon-side Stone and the other by Lucio Doncel about Basque

stone lifting.

The Basques are still hard at this in competiton and

have a special name for these athletes (arrijazotzaile) who lift 4

different shapes of stones. They are judged in the same manner as a

powerlifting meet in that there are certain parameters they must

follow, unlike the WSM contenders who simply get the stones on top

of a platform the best way the can. The Basques have a saying: " It

is better skill than strength " , although to look at the stone lifters

and consider the weight of the stones, I'd say it was a bit of both.

For those of you who have never read about this ancient test of

strength, and want some interesting, light reading about another

aspect of strength sports, I'd highly recommend this book.

Rosemary