“You Only Heal With Cold Steel”
by, Paul Tucker
From 1804 until 1854, Tasmania was a conveniently isolated colonial prison, serving as a dumping ground for the worst offenders in England’s overcrowded prisons. In addition, many lesser criminals were transported and provided the bulk of free labor to the developing colony of Van Diemen’s Land.
Convicts were assigned to chain gangs and to prevent escape were shackled to cast iron balls…
Recently, while ferreting around for some blacksmithing tools, I literally stumbled over one of these balls in an antique shop. In an attempt to establish provenance, I obtained a pair of scales which yielded weight of 22 kg. (about 5o pounds) The asking price was almost exactly double that of a 20 kg Tasmanian kettlebell. I guess this is an example of modest inflation. It was a bit rusty, hence the “bargain price.”
While working as a surgical resident in the 80’s, the phrase “you only heal with cold steal” was glibly banded around the surgical wards. Clearly there are other ways of skinning a cat. Many orthopaedic and other procedures could be avoided if musculoskeletal health was optimized through regular vigorous and balanced weight-bearing exercise. Loose weak ligaments = floppy joints = abnormal wear and tear
The shop owner, a fellow of about 60, told me he had, had a bad back all his life, plus he’d been diagnosed with “arthritis” in his shoulder. However, after getting into the antiques business, REGULAR VIGOROUS EXERCISE such as moving whole households of heavy antique furniture had FIXED HIS BACK AND SHOULDER. He told me he didn’t believe “all this stuff about arthritis.” Perhaps it’s all a conspiracy promoted by the pharmaceutical companies…
We weighed the convict ball and found it was 22 kg. It seemed much heavier than the 20 kg kettlebell, perhaps it had absorbed decades of misery and pain.
After the photo I showed him some kettlebell swings and stuff…he became somewhat nervous given the plethora of glass cases containing dozens of antique optical and measuring devices…
To return to the original thread, in 1856 transportation ceased and Van Diemen’s land was renamed Tasmania, named after the Dutchman who discovered the island, Abel Tasman.
For those of you with recalcitrant children (or grandchildren), I can highly recommend a short chain secured around their little ankles and connected to a kettlebell.
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