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Presents for the Natives

Miklukho-Maclay was a Russian scientist and traveller who lived more than a year on the island of New Guinea. The ship came to the island in the evening of a September day in 1871. Next morning the captain said to Maclay:

“You are coming ashore. Why don’t you take more men with you? Have you a gun?”

“I don’t need a gun. I have presents for the natives.”

The island was beautiful. There were trees and flowers everywhere, and it was very hot. The sun shone brightly high above Maclay’s head. He walked for some time down a forest path. Suddenly he stopped because he heard a noise. A native stood in front of him. He looked at Maclay quickly and then started running away. Maclay ran after him. The native looked back and suddenly stopped. Maclay took out some presents and showed them to the man. The native took the presents and smiled. This was how Miklukho-Maclay met the first black man on the first day of his life in New Guinea. The native’s name was Tui. He was Maclay’s best friend all the time that the traveller lived on the island.

On the first of October Maclay started out for a walk in the forest. He carried no gun. He had only a notebook and a pencil. In the forest, he met a native boy who saw him and ran away. Maclay heard the voices of men and women and the cries of children. Suddenly many men with spears in their hands came out. They stopped and looked at Maclay angrily. When he tried to say something, one of the men wanted to throw his spear at him. Maclay did not know a word of their language. He could not explain that he was their friend. He knew that he had to do something quickly. And a good idea came to him. He suddenly sat down on the ground and began to take off his shoes. Then he lay down, put a bag under his head and ... slept. The natives did nothing to him.

The Olympic Champion Alexandr Medved Gives Advice

A wrestler must have many qualities to beat his rivals. He must be strong and very quick. Then he needs enough strength to tear the rival from the mat and throw him on the floor.

I will tell you about myself. I grew up tall and thin with no great strength in my arms. Wrestling came into my life when I was 18. I was 188 cm tall and weighed 85 kg and could not compete with my rivals in strength.

Then I decided to build up my muscles. I developed a system of exercises, which helped me to become stronger. I spent much time weight lifting. I lifted a bar equal to my own weight, which is up to 100 kg. However, that happened after two years of regular exercising. At first, the weight was only 30-40 kg. In general, I advise to choose the weight, which is twice as small as your own.

Push-ups were also of great help to me. At first, I could push up only 3 or 4 times, so weak were my arms! Then 30 times. Interesting enough, if you strengthen your legs, you feel as if your body has become much lighter. It is a very useful exercise. I also worked with dumb-bells and weights and threw heavy stones into air. You must combine muscle-building exercises with long distance running. It is a good relaxation for the arms and back muscles.

I was considered the strongest heavyweight wrestler in the world. However, I have never been the biggest among my rivals. I weighed a little over 100 kg but defeated even those who weighed 120, 150 and 180 kg like the American Chris Taylor whom I threw on the floor at the 1972 Olympics. If you are strong, you do not fear any rivals! My advice to you is if you want to be strong, take up physical exercises at once.