Nothing stops 'The Mighty Apollo', c.1946

[@MarkruffcutAnderson]

This man is my father. He was an amazing individual both in mind and body. He came from an age of Circus and Daredevils. An Era when feats of strength and showmanship were the real deal. No steroids or tricks here. If you got it wrong there were no second chances. They certainly do not make them like Apollo any more!!

[@NFSAFilms]

Thanks for your comments Mark ruffcut Anderson.We are honoured to preserve this footage of your father as part of our collection. What an amazing and interesting character he was! If you come across any more films, please let us know ([e-mail]).

[@leonjlyell3007]

Hi Mark, my father's family were showies and at least one knew your father. My grandfather Alonzo Poe did some strongman feats about the time of WWI. Do the surnames Deering, Livingston or Poe ring a bell? Cheers - Leon

[@windsorkid7069]

Impressive. Must've been comforting knowing you had that kind of back up growing up.

[@JeffSayYes]

Did you think his outfits were funny?

[@savvasperisanidis]

Mark ruffcut Anderson mate full respect I am very good mates with your brother Paul in Melbourne I train at your fathers gym Your father was the modern Hercules Your brother is a mighty strongman

[@Laconic-ws4bz]

I met this man and we had a conversation. In the late 70's I was walking around the melbourne CBD and discovered his gym. I had heard of him and seen his exploits on TV. being a young bloke I thought maybe I can meet him. It was quiet in his gym which resembled a mixture of weights and other training gear. He had a bed in his in an alcove. To speak with he seemed like a gentleman who was interested in sharing his art. He mentioned that he had learnt alot from the Japanese having served in WW2 and studied there martial arts after [I may be inaccurate here]. This bloke had no airs or graces and entertained and educated a 17 year old. How lucky was I meet to meet him.

[@ericellis3506]

The sledge hammer stunts had me wincing.

[@jbsc97]

It was stupid of them to do two sledgehammers at once. The block absorbs and disperses the force of the sledgehammer so it doesn’t hurt, but if two sledgehammers are mistimed, then it could directly hit him

[@paulanderson5419]

Theres a hell of a lot of force to hold & brace while the hammers hit down on the stone. More hammers more force & danger thats the idea! Maybe you should have taken Apollo’s Challenge if you were alive in the day!

[@bear01ism]

The Mighty Apollo was my karate sensei. He taught me Shito Ryu karate way back in the early 70's at his dojo near St.Francis's Church in Melbourne. He had to be in his 60's when he taught me but he was still fit, agile and very, very powerful. When he shook your hand you really felt it and it also gave you an insight into his honesty and integrity. Being a young teenager at that time I didn't have the determination and so gave it up after a short while. However, I am awful glad and also proud to have known this incredible man. RIP sensei.

[@tonywethereld7429]

Gee, your memory (and outcome) mirrors mine!

[@FLMKane]

Dear lord, with that kind of strength and muscle control, he must have been a fantastic martial artist. How did he get into Karate?

[@BFaluup]

Imagine how people looked at him when he was out in public...it was extremely rare to see someone like that so well built and muscular back then. I used to know a retired and old power lifter and he used to say when he started training he had to hide is weights because in that time period they thought weight lifting was bad for you.

[@elyeltonnata4351]

Today is more rare look around is all obese.

[@BFaluup]

@@elyeltonnata4351 that is true about overweight and obese people..but you can go to any gym and see at least one or two muscled people..back then that was so rare that you were put in show business.

[@paulanderson5419]

Mighty Apollo was my father so i can talk with some facts on this great performer. Only 5’ 5’’& in this clip 140lb a featherweight. Strength athletes during 1930s to 50s, time Apollo performed, could only make money as theatre & circus performers. Apollo performed the $1000 pound challenge tour during this period. Rewarded to any one independent of body weight or athletic ability who could match or better his feats. This challenge was offered at the start of the feat to the crowd. This was to show there was no trick & allowing others to test themselves. Many tried & failed. One trick or loss & thats the end of your reputation. Later feats : elephant stand on his body, cars/teams held in tug of war, multiple bar bending , fully loaded tram & truck pulls by teeth on slight up hill grade, trucks over body, human one arm turkish get ups & more!

[@NFSAFilms]

Wow - thanks for letting us know.

[@TheDirthound]

Wow. 5'5" 140lbs and a Beast! I admire the pre-steriod era strong men.

[@mollyscott26]

I trained at Apollos for around 3 years in the late 80s when he had the gym in West Melbourne. The gym was slowing down but there were still some real characters. Tom Scott

[@HippoRockstar]

I was training in the art of jujitsu in the early- mid 80s . A man with a strong , but caring soul.

[@stuartr9379]

Did you know Ron?

[@peteryates1948]

GREAT POST. THIS GENTLEMAN HAS A GREAT PHYSIQUE AND I AM SURE WAS A GREAT MARTIAL ARTS PRACTITIONER TOO. THANKS FOR POSTING THIS.

[@tomoakley9954]

I trained at Elizabeth street dojo in1974 learning jujitsu and karate from the mighty Apollo,never met a man who could say put a strangle hold on his through and flex as hard as a tree and a jab that felt like walking into a 4x4 jara post with no effort,the strongest man ever in Australia and taught Aussie soldiers self defence ,introduced Karate to Australia and houred by the Japenesr for his prowess .When is Australia going to recognise a hero,raised money for the war effort,such a proud and modest Victorian hero,so proud to say I knew and spoke and learned a lot ,what 15year old could lift a horse up a ladder or have 6ton elephant stand on his chest,a Superman and legend,never will we ever witness that cosmic strength, that's what he said strength in god ,that was the only time he mention god,a Greek god ,Apollo a giant like ourMighty Apollo 0

[@tonywethereld7429]

I mght have been there around ‘76 or ‘77, hard to remember now. His son used to help him teach us and he was pretty good too I seem to recall.

[@Xander102]

Like holy wow we wow . That’s incredible

[@atedinahalf6288]

Steriods just came out during his time. Look at the guys in the 60s and 70s. Holy moly.

[@roughriderreturns5039]

A Mighty Man was he.

[@MarkruffcutAnderson]

Other short films about the Mighty Young Apollo made by Fox Movietone were "The Man They Could Not Hang and Meet Young Apollo. There were also some very short clips included in a 90's video release titled "Movietone Memories"

[@NFSAFilms]

Thanks again, Mark.

[@chaoticdays]

Unlike other strongmen of that era, this guy was ripped and shredded, and could have been a physique competitor as well if something like that was around those days. His physique was even better than Charles Atlas' physique who was the only guy from that time who used to flaunt his muscles.

[@RPG-5.MGTOW.ARMAGEDDON]

Да , я тоже это заметил , что он с лёгкостью мог бы стать первым мистером Олимпия , и мистером Вселенная в истории бодибилдинга и вообще в истории силового спорта , просто невероятно 😳

[@BuJammy]

nope nope and nope

[@ie2adm212]

Finally a video on Apollo, aka Louis Uni the famous strongman.

[@chaoticdays]

This is not Louis Uni (the mighty Apollon) from France. This is Paul Anderson (the mighty Apollo) from Australia.

[@fatbulous1082]

He's got a quite similar yujiro hanma dekon back. What a legend

[@mikeahern5591]

An amazing fellow. I read about him man years ago.

[@justlife4385]

those were the Times with no steroids n these athlete looks grt

[@Briselance]

apoorv karan Damn right. Better food, no steroids. Those are real strongmen.

[@Richdadful]

They used injections of animal testiclular extract. Brown sequard elixir search it. It probably had testosterone in it. Because its said it used to boost performance.

[@mohammadtausifrafi8277]

@@Richdadful That makes a lot of sense, otherwise how are these things humanly possible. Thank you very much for the knowledgeable reply.

[@vittocrazi]

@@Richdadful then again, PED use was to take rat poison to make blood thinner, in an attempt to be better at marathon running (edit: i know this is later than the rat poison thing, but just saying that they have always tried stuff... be it actually helpful or not)

[@emperadorzar2023]

steroids were invented in 1926

[@robertrinehuls9099]

I initially mistook this video as film of the American weightlifter Paul Anderson.

[@AsadAli-jc5tg]

Robert Rinehuls .... Paul Anderson was on juice.

[@mmafan8407]

Paul Anderson didn't look anything like. He was huge and didn't have a chiseled physique like Apollo

[@joeeastwood3795]

me too

[@unchilepicoso2502]

Amazing

[@knightveg]

Before the time of strongman power lifters bodybuilders People used lift weights to perform amazing feats strength , look healthy and muscular

[@YoutubeCensorsYou]

1:00 I guess this was before they discovered the existence of the lower spine.

[@jasoncarpp7742]

Bugger! This man has a body of steel! I'll bet that hurts, the stuff he has them do to him. Don't try this at home, children.

[@leemclaury6251]

A beautiful body

[@mosescola4174]

Go natural gentleman

[@rogerlewis7770]

This man gets hit with a sledgehammer and shrugs it of as if it were nothing SMH

[@offmarketinvestments9770]

jees....health and safety would freak out. Superb physique though....

[@akbarsarwari5600]

Louis cyr: hold my beer

[@gusman37]

Titans that are humans all get arthritis when they get old , but what a strong man back in the day's of old 👍 👏

[@ВикторСеменов-б2щ]

Здравия желаю🌏

[@ponciopilatospilatos8300]

Quanto ele pesava

[@m.g.8897]

siick

[@anthonyproffitt5341]

No offense to this man or other strongmen of the past. Strength was a spectacle with a catch to take what was feat of strength and make it a tall tale back then and further into history. People have been looking for an edge to get better since the beginning of time. Why can’t this be appreciated for what it was without bad mouthing strongmen and athletes today. Every generation makes advancements in training, nutrition, and enchantment. Many Strongmen of the past would have taken advantage of many of the advantages of today in order to compete, be loved, and make a living. You have people that stay in their lane in the past and today. You have people that push boundaries today and in the past. Humans are no different at their root, just a lot more and more exposure. So if you want to bad mouth the now, we can over analyze these guys and bad mouth them as well. Fair is fair? At any rate he was pretty impressive. I’ll never understand sledge hammering bricks on the back and arm, nor pulling stuff with the teeth. Reminds me of the Asians that lift heavy rocks with their genitalia. Begs the question of Y?

[@paulanderson5419]

Apollo performed feats of strength from 1925-1982 he was dead against steroid use & could have used in later time of life if wished. Feats of strength were performed in the day to demonstrate strength in order to make money in circus or theatre arenas. Teeth pulls & holds very much a circus feat. Objects such as rocks & vehicles, weight people could relate to, making the feat more spectacular for the public. Today gym sled pushing & pulling big part of conditioning & strength display.

[@averagejoe8265]

Thats Joe Weider.

[@richardyoung1890]

😂Joe wishes but he used to wear his hair like that in some old pictures! Joe,and Ben were from Canada and then moved to California.

[@matthewneufer1758]

That's just plain not smart

[@SavageFreddy33]

Your cautious mentality might save you from life, but it will not save you from death.

[@Jay-O_Carlow]

a misguided swing of that sledge hammer to the head would stop him!! what fuckin stupid stuns two people will never swing at the exact same time he keeps holding his fore arm as the hammer keeps hitting him lol🤦‍♂️😂

[@paulanderson5419]

Having used hammers in these feats there is a count, timing & practice to strike at same time & hit different area of the stone. Apollo said re this clip not his usual skilled hammer man. Later in life he would lie under double bed of nails & use 8 hammer swinging people-striking all angles. All danger is part of the attraction if things go wrong -ie hammer or rock bouncing & hitting in face.

[@michaelnunez2598]

Jajaajajaa bulshet fake

[@jasonsplace]

I knew him. Not fake. He was the greatest. Dedication and a life of hard work transformed him into The Mighty Apollo.

[@paulanderson5419]

Mock what you don’t understand by your own standards. This is why Apollo had challenge tours for sceptics to try before he performed on stage. Apollo’s life & reputation of integrity in genuine feats were central to him.

[@Laconic-ws4bz]

I see you can't spell. I met him in the late 70's in Melbourne.

[@lumimobb]

Anyone know weight of the first barbell in video?