Ivan Vladimirovich Lebedev is a famous Russian sportsman of the beginning of the 20th century. He is an outstanding athlete and wrestler. He was the organizer of wrestling championships, worked as an entertainer and circus choreographer. In addition, he published sports magazines as a writer and journalist, he himself performed in the circus. In this article, we will talk about his biography and outstanding achievements.
Childhood and youth
Ivan Vladimirovich Lebedev was born in 1879. He was born in St. Petersburg. His mother was a bourgeois by birth, she worked in a bakery saleswoman. Father served as a lawyer. Due to class inequality, their marriage was never officially registered, as a result, the boy grew up illegitimate. Moreover, the father did not live permanently with his family. He occasionally visited his son without much help.
Later, the future athlete repeatedly admitted that he did not hold a grudge against his father, as he was grateful to him for his origin. It was it that helped the modest child to becomestrong fighter, temper character.
From childhood, Ivan Vladimirovich Lebedev had to endure humiliation and ridicule from his peers. To counter them, he actively engaged in physical education. Wanting to develop strength and endurance, he overturned huge boulders on the shores of the Gulf of Finland. He devoted a lot of time to studying training methods that were considered advanced for that time. It is also important that the child was educated, learned to read early, showed great interest in literature from childhood.
Education
Education Ivan Vladimirovich Lebedev received in the Seventh Gymnasium of St. Petersburg. At the same time, he began to study in a circle of athletics lovers, where a fateful acquaintance for him with the trustee and mentor of many athletes of that time, Professor Kraevsky took place.
They say that already at the first lesson the young man set a gymnasium record. He managed to lift a 24-kilogram weight 23 times with one hand. Training on the coast of the Gulf of Finland made itself felt. This day became important in the biography of Ivan Vladimirovich Lebedev. It is believed that from that moment his sports career began.
Kraevsky was amazed and pleasantly surprised by the extraordinary strength and endurance of the young man. The professor took patronage of a promising and promising high school student. Soon he even lobbied to appoint him as a coach in his sports society.
Famous alias
Lebedev deserved the greatest fame as a sports coach. He was also active in the circus.activity.
Surprisingly, already in 1897, when the hero of our article was only 18 years old, he got his famous nickname. They began to call him "Uncle Vanya". This was preceded by an interesting fact from his biography.
Lebedev once argued with his friend that he could lift a huge piano to the second floor alone. From surprise, the movers who were watching this only opened their mouths. One of them then asked: "What is your name, uncle?". The embarrassed and very out of breath young man answered. So he became Uncle Vanya.
Coaching
In 1901, Lebedev became a student at the law faculty of St. Petersburg University. During his studies, he takes the initiative to start opening sports sections at higher educational institutions. This project was approved by the Ministry of Public Education and officially entered into force in the same year.
It's been a while. Lebedev is awarded the title of professor of athletics, which makes him a professional coach. Later biographers calculated that during his mentoring career he managed to train at least ten thousand pupils.
Parade of wrestlers
When Kraevsky died, Lebedev continued his work. He prepared a large number of real weightlifting titans who amazed those around him with their outstanding strength. Moreover, his talent was not limited to sports. In his youth, he became interested in the theater, having achieved considerable success in this field. Acquired acting experiencehelped in the future when Lebedev became a circus performer.
He never managed to graduate from the university. In 1905, he dropped out of school to devote himself entirely to his favorite pastime. With his direct participation, a parade of wrestlers is organized that same summer. On it, Lebedev himself performs in a rather unusual role as an entertainer.
Before that, he had to be a referee more than once during wrestling matches. Now he decided to prepare for the public a completely unusual spectacle. His great merit as a circus director and entertainer lies in the fact that such celebrities as Pyotr Krylov, Ivan Poddubny, Ivan Zaikin, Georg Lurich, Klementy Buhl took part in the parade of wrestlers.
Lebedev necessarily accompanied each athlete's stage appearance with unique comments, often with joking overtones, bringing the audience into indescribable delight.
Success in the circus
After such a triumph, the hero of our article went on tour throughout the country. In the largest cities of the Russian Empire, Ivan Vladimirovich Lebedev organized power performances and tournaments, in which the most famous athletes of the country took part.
In 1915, in Yekaterinburg, he arranged a major international wrestling tournament, which lasted for two months. The tours of his troupe invariably drew a full house, and each appearance on the stage of the circus performer, Ivan Vladimirovich Lebedev, caused a storm of applause and applause.
His unique, distinguishing feature was the appearance in a classic bourgeois outfit. These were boots, a quilted undershirt, a cap worn on one side, which emphasized his class origin. At the same time, for absolutely everyone, including athletes, he still remained the most ordinary person from the people, who was called Uncle Vanya.
Educating the next generation
In between performances, Lebedev always arranged communication with the public. He witty and original answered any questions, knowing how to amuse numerous spectators. Each time, coming to the next city, he began by attending local sports clubs and giving valuable advice to young athletes.
The wrestler remembered how hard it was for him to make his way in life, to build a career, so he sought to support provincial athletes, natives of families of workers and peasants. He helped them discover new, previously unseen talents. The authority of the kettlebell lifter Lebedev in sports circles at that time was enormous.
Sport promotion
Surprisingly, in his entire career, Lebedev did not receive a single major title, but at the same time he managed to significantly raise the prestige and popularity of sports in the country. Thousands of novice wrestlers and weightlifters, inspired by his example, the demonstration performances of Russian strongmen and the wise instructions of Uncle Vanya himself, went to enroll in sports sections throughout the country.
Wrote about him with great respect and reverencefamous writer of the early 20th century Maxim Gorky. He respected Lebedev, noting his enormous contribution to strengthening the he alth of the nation and the social life of the country.
The hero of our article did not forget about his teacher. In 1910, he opened his own weightlifting school, which he directed for two years. He dedicated it to Professor Kraevsky and took on the upbringing of physically gifted people from all over the country. Later he transferred the educational institution to the balance of the St. Petersburg sports society "Sanitas".
Media work
These were not all of Lebedev's talents. He is also known as a journalist and writer. Friends called him a real walking encyclopedia. Having an excellent education, he freely read and wrote in several languages. Among them were even exotic ones, such as Hebrew and Latin.
Back in 1905, as a student, Lebedev began to publish the "Illustrated Journal of Athletics and Sports", which became the first publication of this type in Russia. His initiative was then supported by well-known public figures who willingly joined the work. True, the magazine did not last long. Only three issues came out, after which it had to be closed due to lack of funds.
Hercules magazine
The first failure did not stop Lebedev at all. In 1912 he opened a new edition in St. Petersburg. The journal "Hercules" begins to appear regularly with a frequency of once every two weeks. Taught by past mistakes, the hero of our article competentlybuilds a more thoughtful editorial policy. This allows you to quickly win an audience.
The magazine was published until the October Revolution. Its circulation reached fabulous values for those times - 27 thousand copies. Lebedev managed to attract many famous writers of that time to work: Alexander Grin, Alexander Kuprin, as well as coach Alexander Anokhin. Additional interest was caused by the publication of works by foreign authors. It was in "Hercules" that the stories of Jack London and Arthur Conan Doyle were published.
At the same time, sports remained the main theme of the publication. The magazine sought not only to introduce people to a he althy lifestyle, but also talked about the successes of novice provincial athletes. For many of them, these publications have become a real ticket to life.
The experience of a journalist helped Lebedev in his subsequent writing activities. He is the author of several books on weightlifting, sports and self-defense. Many of them became bestsellers.
Life in Soviet Russia
After the October Revolution, the Bolsheviks had a great interest in the figure of Lebedev. They were attracted by the scale of his personality and proletarian origin. So Uncle Vanya became a propagandist and agitator. His performances around the country continued, he was still a judge of wrestling tournaments and an entertainer in a circus.
Lebedev did not leave his coaching career either. With his direct participation in 1920, the "Palace of Sports and Arts" was opened in Odessa, in which he himself trained young weightlifters and wrestlers.
Last years of life
When the Great Patriotic War began, Lebedev was in Leningrad. He did his best to help fellow countrymen survive the blockade, participated in the defense of the city. After some time, he was nevertheless evacuated along the "road of life" among the valuable cultural figures.
His last years were spent in Sverdlovsk. He continued to work as a coach, brought up the European and world champion Nikolai Saxonov.
The years of the life of Ivan Vladimirovich Lebedev - 1879-1950. He died shortly after he turned 71. He did not know about the triumph of his pupil, who became the silver Olympic champion in 1952. Saxon at the Olympics in Helsinki lost only to compatriot Rafael Chimishkyan. He won the gold of the world and European championships in 1953.
Training Principles
Lebedev promoted his training principles everywhere and everywhere, which helped him grow into one of the most famous athletes of the beginning of the century.
When doing exercises with a lot of weight, he advised not to make sudden movements. Even when pushing the kettlebell, the lunge should be smooth, since the ultimate goal is to grow muscles, and not damage them by tearing them. At the moment the projectile was lifted, the coach forbade his students to hold their breath. Due to lack of air, strength becomes less.
In his opinion, it was important not to disturb the auxiliary muscles unnecessarily. When preparing to lift the barbell, this should be done with confidence and power, and not frantically grabbing the bar.
Important internally notafraid of iron. It should tremble before the strength and power of the weightlifter. This training principle has become a kind of motto for him. Lebedev advised a person who is not sure that he will be able to lift the chosen weight to understand: in such a situation, the body itself warns against a rash act. In this case, it is better to take half of the planned kilograms than to take on a burden that will be unbearable.
He warned his pupils against chasing records from the first day of classes. Beginners were allowed to start heavy weight only after two years of hard and regular training. Outdoor exercises occupied an important place in Lebedev's training process. These are swimming, running, football, skiing and cycling.
Hardening, regular dousing with cold water was a prerequisite. At the same time, at night, he did not advise wrapping himself in warm blankets so that the muscles could breathe freely.
