Читать книгу Strength and How to Obtain It - Eugen Sandow - Страница 7

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The statement to which I refer is this—that though by my system a man may increase the size of his muscles, add to his bodily strength, and improve his physique, he does so at the expense of his vital organs. This statement has been freely bandied about by those who ought to be above such petty and stupid malice; men, who, professing to teach physical culture, are mostly quite ignorant of the very rudiments of the subject. Their reasons for such utterances are not far to seek; they are envious of the success which has attended the years of hard work and endeavour I have gone through, and regard me as a rival to damage whom everything is justifiable. One or two have even gone so far as to say that I myself am anything but sound, that my heart is in a very bad condition, and that there is every probability of my “going over to the majority” at a very early age.

Let me nail these outrageous lies to the counter once and for all. Some who repeat them doubtless do so in good faith; let them listen and amend their ways. For those who circulated them, well knowing them to be false, I have no words in which to express my contempt. Fair and square opposition I can face; but a lie, however groundless, once sent on its journey is difficult to overtake.

Now for my refutation. First, amongst my pupils have been many who, prior to coming to me, had been rejected as unsound by Life Insurance Companies; well, they have got their policies safely locked up now. Some had weak hearts, some poor lungs, others were generally unfit. They came to me, generally, for two or three months, applied again, and were accepted. Those who doubt my word can, as in the case of the Army lads, see the proofs for themselves. Is that good enough, or does “our friend, the enemy,” require any further demonstration that, far from injuring the vital organs, in many cases my system is enormously beneficial to those who are delicate. If so, here it is. They say I am unsound; very well, here is an answer for them.

Some months ago I was insured for a large sum in the Norwich Union Life Insurance Company; I was accepted in the highest class, and the doctor who saw me expressed great surprise at the soundness of my heart, the strength of my lungs, and in fact at the fine condition of all my organs. Surely these envious people show little ingenuity in inventing falsehoods which can be so easily disproved.