Indian club facts for kids

A pair of painted Indian clubs from the late 19th century.

Indian clubs, which originated in the Indian subcontinent, are a type of exercise equipment used to present resistance in movement to develop strength and mobility. They consist of bowling-pin shaped wooden clubs of varying sizes and weights, which are swung in certain patterns as part of a strength exercise program. They can range in weight from a few pounds each to special clubs that can weigh as much as up to 100 pounds. They were used in carefully choreographed routines in which the clubs were swung in unison by a group of exercisers, led by an instructor, similar to 21st-century aerobics or zumba classes. The routines would vary according to the group's ability along with the weights of the clubs being used. When the 19th-century British colonists came across exercising clubs in India, they named them Indian clubs.

Gallery

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  Indian (British Raj) club swinging team, 1890s.

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  An Indian pehlwan (wrestler) training with clubs c. 1973.

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  Carte de visite of Sim D. Kehoe, who brought Indian clubs to the United States from England.

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  Men working out at Zurkhaneh (House of Strength) in Iran.

Images for kids

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  Stone figure using an exercise equipment similar to Indian clubs, 5th-7th century CE found in Moghalmari.

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  Iranian club, Meels

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  Chi Ishi weighted levers

See also

In Spanish: Lanzamiento de mazas para niños