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Stone-lifting
In the spring of 1984, Terry Todd—now the Director of the Stark Center for Physical Culture and Sports—was in Vittoria, Spain to attend the European Weightlifting Championships. He was there on assignment for Sports Illustrated magazine gathering information for an article about the Bulgarian wunderkind, 16 year-old Naim Suleimanov, who had already broken world records. The night before the lifting began Todd attended a pre-contest party and, at the party, a large young man introduced himself and said he had read Todd’s book on powerlifting. The young man was Inaki Perurena, and he was there to do an exhibition of the unique stone-lifting popular in the Basque region of Spain. Todd was aware of this traditional form of strength display but had never seen it for himself, and after meeting Perurena and seeing him perform Todd managed to locate a shop in Vittoria which sold artifacts related to Basque sports, and to buy a carving of a stone-lifter in the process of shouldering a cylindrical stone. Basque stones are hand-made in four basic styles—cylindrical, cubical, rectangular, and spherical—although some of the more famous stones are natural, found either in fields, forests, or water. Recently, Todd and his wife, Jan, went to northern Spain to meet Perurena—who went on the become stone-lifting’s most famous performer and, in the process, a legend. An account of the Todd’s recent visit to Spain will be published in an issue of the Stark Center’s journal, Iron Game History. |
As a research center at The University of Texas at Austin—one of the nation’s major research universities—the Stark Center is dedicated to: 1. acquiring and providing access to archival materials in the fields of physical culture and sports; 2. supporting and conducting research in disciplines concerned with health and high performance; 3. preserving the history of physical culture and sports; and 4. educating the public about the cultural and scientific significance of physical culture and sports through publications, digitization, web-based initiatives, and museum gallery displays.
Physical Culture is a term used to describe the various activities people have employed over the centuries to strengthen their bodies, enhance their physiques, increase their endurance, enhance their health, fight against aging, and become better athletes.
