A Hoss Gallery Part 2 by Mark Hatmaker

“Tarzan” Grip Strength

· Otto Poll, known on screen as Frank Merrill was the second man to play Tarzan on screen.

· He stunt doubled for the 1^st Tarzan, Elmo Lincoln for the 1921 serial The Adventures of Tarzan.

· He played the role himself in 1928’s The Mighty Tarzan.

· Poll/Merrill stood 5’8” and weighed 160 pounds. [Hollywood press agents listed him as 6’ feet tall.]

· Poll/Merrill held the National Championship for the rings for several years in succession.

· But he was no specialist, he was an all-around athlete who also was proficient in bar vaulting, standing jumping, and certain weight-lifts.

· The grip strength we want to turn our attention to is his one-handed vine swing.

· The “vine” is actually a knotted rope but…

· Anyone with experience with single-armed hanging can tell you that hanging from a vertical rope is harder than a horizontal bar.

· Anyone who has played with a trapeze can tell you that hanging while swinging adds considerable g-force that literally “peels” the gripped object out of one’s hand.

· Now, picture a single-arm hang, while swinging—now add grabbing and lifting another human being with the free arm.

· Poll/Merrill did just that when he “rescued” actress Natalie Kingston who weighed 122 pounds at the time.

· That is a combined weight of 287 pounds with one arm while swinging.

· He did it more than once.

· On the first take the rope broke, Poll and Kingston fell a considerable distance—she landed on top of “Tarzan.”

· He was injured.

· They rigged a new rope, and he repeated the feat with the added burden of having just suffered an injury.

· So, kinda sorta makes our “hard day” at the pull-up bar look a little pale don’t it?

Resources for Livin’ the Old School Warrior Life

The Black Box Store

https://www.extremeselfprotection.com/

The Indigenous Ability Blog

https://indigenousability.blogspot.com/

The Rough ‘n’ Tumble Raconteur Podcast

https://anchor.fm/mark-hatmaker

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