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IN THE WEST – F.I.H.C., N.A.B.B.A. AND I.F.B.B..
IN THE EAST – US. THE SITUATION HAS NOT CHANGED TO THIS DAY.
Looking back through the prism of the previous century, the key foundations of world bodybuilding history become increasingly clear.
For a long time, political circumstances divided the world into two parts – the “capitalist” West and the “socialist” East. The two worlds were isolated from one another, and bodybuilding, like many other sports, developed along separate and largely independent paths.
In the West, officially recognized bodybuilding was led from 1947 to 1969 by the international weightlifting federation F.I.H.C. (Fédération Internationale Haltérophile et Culturiste), under the significant influence of American Bob Hoffman (Robert Collins Hoffman, 1898–1985). Later, from 1971 to 1998, the leading role was assumed by I.F.B.B. (International Federation of Body Builders).
The unofficial, internationally unrecognized bodybuilding movement in the West was represented by N.A.B.B.A. (National Amateur Body-Builders' Association), established in Great Britain in 1950.
THE BEGINNING
In the socialist world, attempts were made to organize bodybuilding through F.I.H.C. In 1963, a bodybuilding organization – an athletic gymnastics commission – was established within the USSR Weightlifting Federation.
This was the first international-type bodybuilding organization in the socialist world. At the time, however, bodybuilding in the USSR was still in its infancy. The Weightlifting Federation had little interest in actively developing what was essentially a new sport introduced from above, and the organization gradually faded away.
In 1968, in Kaunas, Lithuanian SSR, Soviet bodybuilding enthusiasts established a new USSR bodybuilding organization (commission). It remained active until 1973, when bodybuilding was banned and persecuted in the USSR and other socialist countries.
During this period, the organization managed to hold two USSR bodybuilding championships and establish a tradition of international competitions – the “Amber Prix” in Lithuania and the “Georg Tenno Memorial” in Estonia.
THE YEARS OF THE BODYBUILDING BAN
After bodybuilding was banned in 1973, a period of confusion and uncertainty followed. The former USSR bodybuilding organization was largely forgotten. Official competitions were discontinued, but the bodybuilding movement did not disappear.
In 1974, DSc. Edmundas Daubaras illegally organized the “Amber Prix” tournament in a bomb shelter belonging to the Klaipėda Seaport. That same year, Estonian Inaras Mardo organized the “Georg Tenno Memorial” in Tallinn.
In Estonia, the tournament was held semi-legally. The authorities were persuaded that, given Estonia's long and internationally renowned tradition of strongmen, bodybuilding could be regarded as a distinctive part of the country's national sporting heritage.
These two tournaments – Lithuania's “Amber Prix” and Estonia's “Georg Tenno Memorial” – became the most important symbols of continuity in the bodybuilding tradition of the socialist world. Despite bans and persecution, they continued to be organized.
THE USSR BODYBUILDING FEDERATION OF 1987
During the period of perestroika, the greater freedoms emerging in public life made it possible for bodybuilding to organize more openly again.
In 1987, the USSR Bodybuilding Federation was established in Kubinka, RSFSR. The traditional international competitions of the socialist world – the “Georg Tenno Memorial” and the “Amber Prix” – continued to be held.
It appeared that bodybuilding had finally broken free and would soon merge with the Western sporting system. Caught up in a kind of euphoria, the bodybuilding community of the socialist world immersed itself in the Western sport it had discovered through heavily promoted bodybuilding magazines and long admired from afar.
Yet it soon became clear that reality was considerably more complicated.
AFTER THE COLLAPSE OF THE USSR
In 1991, the USSR collapsed, and the bodybuilding forces of the former socialist world also fragmented. National federations and organizations emerged in the newly independent states, while sports organizers continued to develop, drawing knowledge and experience from the West.
Over time, however, as this interpretation of bodybuilding history maintains, another side of the picture became apparent. Western bodybuilding was not as advanced in every respect as it had appeared from a distance. In the socialist world, distinctive approaches to athletic preparation and sports organization had been developed over decades, and these traditions remained alive.
These differences also became apparent in the activities of international bodybuilding organizations.
WORLD FITNESS FEDERATION
In opposition to the growing trend toward bodybuilding gigantism, in 1995 DSc. Edmundas Daubaras and German Klaus P. J. Hoffmann took the initiative to establish an international organization – the World Fitness Federation (W.F.F. – International).
In 1996, the federation's founding meeting was held in Stuttgart. Austrian Peter Papula and Greek Anargiros Tsopouridis also participated.
Klaus Hoffmann relied on representatives of N.A.B.B.A. member countries, while Edmundas Daubaras relied on countries of the former socialist world. The aim was to create an international organization that would continue the distinctive bodybuilding traditions of Eastern Europe and the former socialist world.
Over the decades, a kind of international bodybuilding system had emerged: I.F.B.B. for athletes prepared to accept stricter anti-doping controls, N.A.B.B.A. for bodybuilders committed to its traditional approach without doping control, and W.F.F. for an organization whose roots were connected with the bodybuilding tradition of the former socialist world.
THE “AMBER PRIX” AND THE “GEORG TENNO MEMORIAL”
Today, viewed from a historical perspective, one may argue that one of the most important foundations of bodybuilding in the socialist world was not a single institution, but a living tradition of international competitions.
Its most prominent symbols were the “Amber Prix” tournament in the Lithuanian SSR and the “Georg Tenno Memorial” in the Estonian SSR.
These tournaments survived political bans, organizational changes and the collapse of the USSR. Their history reflects a distinct path of bodybuilding development that, for decades, evolved separately from the Western bodybuilding system.
Therefore, the history of world bodybuilding should not be viewed solely through the activities of Western organizations such as F.I.H.C., N.A.B.B.A. and I.F.B.B. Alongside them existed an independently developed Eastern bodybuilding tradition, built on people, organizations and, above all, a competition tradition that continued for decades without interruption.
More about this history, its people, organizations and key events will be presented in forthcoming articles.
Follow the international website: www.wff.lt
IN THE EAST – US. THE SITUATION HAS NOT CHANGED TO THIS DAY.
Looking back through the prism of the previous century, the key foundations of world bodybuilding history become increasingly clear.
For a long time, political circumstances divided the world into two parts – the “capitalist” West and the “socialist” East. The two worlds were isolated from one another, and bodybuilding, like many other sports, developed along separate and largely independent paths.
In the West, officially recognized bodybuilding was led from 1947 to 1969 by the international weightlifting federation F.I.H.C. (Fédération Internationale Haltérophile et Culturiste), under the significant influence of American Bob Hoffman (Robert Collins Hoffman, 1898–1985). Later, from 1971 to 1998, the leading role was assumed by I.F.B.B. (International Federation of Body Builders).
The unofficial, internationally unrecognized bodybuilding movement in the West was represented by N.A.B.B.A. (National Amateur Body-Builders' Association), established in Great Britain in 1950.
THE BEGINNING
In the socialist world, attempts were made to organize bodybuilding through F.I.H.C. In 1963, a bodybuilding organization – an athletic gymnastics commission – was established within the USSR Weightlifting Federation.
This was the first international-type bodybuilding organization in the socialist world. At the time, however, bodybuilding in the USSR was still in its infancy. The Weightlifting Federation had little interest in actively developing what was essentially a new sport introduced from above, and the organization gradually faded away.
In 1968, in Kaunas, Lithuanian SSR, Soviet bodybuilding enthusiasts established a new USSR bodybuilding organization (commission). It remained active until 1973, when bodybuilding was banned and persecuted in the USSR and other socialist countries.
During this period, the organization managed to hold two USSR bodybuilding championships and establish a tradition of international competitions – the “Amber Prix” in Lithuania and the “Georg Tenno Memorial” in Estonia.
THE YEARS OF THE BODYBUILDING BAN
After bodybuilding was banned in 1973, a period of confusion and uncertainty followed. The former USSR bodybuilding organization was largely forgotten. Official competitions were discontinued, but the bodybuilding movement did not disappear.
In 1974, DSc. Edmundas Daubaras illegally organized the “Amber Prix” tournament in a bomb shelter belonging to the Klaipėda Seaport. That same year, Estonian Inaras Mardo organized the “Georg Tenno Memorial” in Tallinn.
In Estonia, the tournament was held semi-legally. The authorities were persuaded that, given Estonia's long and internationally renowned tradition of strongmen, bodybuilding could be regarded as a distinctive part of the country's national sporting heritage.
These two tournaments – Lithuania's “Amber Prix” and Estonia's “Georg Tenno Memorial” – became the most important symbols of continuity in the bodybuilding tradition of the socialist world. Despite bans and persecution, they continued to be organized.
THE USSR BODYBUILDING FEDERATION OF 1987
During the period of perestroika, the greater freedoms emerging in public life made it possible for bodybuilding to organize more openly again.
In 1987, the USSR Bodybuilding Federation was established in Kubinka, RSFSR. The traditional international competitions of the socialist world – the “Georg Tenno Memorial” and the “Amber Prix” – continued to be held.
It appeared that bodybuilding had finally broken free and would soon merge with the Western sporting system. Caught up in a kind of euphoria, the bodybuilding community of the socialist world immersed itself in the Western sport it had discovered through heavily promoted bodybuilding magazines and long admired from afar.
Yet it soon became clear that reality was considerably more complicated.
AFTER THE COLLAPSE OF THE USSR
In 1991, the USSR collapsed, and the bodybuilding forces of the former socialist world also fragmented. National federations and organizations emerged in the newly independent states, while sports organizers continued to develop, drawing knowledge and experience from the West.
Over time, however, as this interpretation of bodybuilding history maintains, another side of the picture became apparent. Western bodybuilding was not as advanced in every respect as it had appeared from a distance. In the socialist world, distinctive approaches to athletic preparation and sports organization had been developed over decades, and these traditions remained alive.
These differences also became apparent in the activities of international bodybuilding organizations.
WORLD FITNESS FEDERATION
In opposition to the growing trend toward bodybuilding gigantism, in 1995 DSc. Edmundas Daubaras and German Klaus P. J. Hoffmann took the initiative to establish an international organization – the World Fitness Federation (W.F.F. – International).
In 1996, the federation's founding meeting was held in Stuttgart. Austrian Peter Papula and Greek Anargiros Tsopouridis also participated.
Klaus Hoffmann relied on representatives of N.A.B.B.A. member countries, while Edmundas Daubaras relied on countries of the former socialist world. The aim was to create an international organization that would continue the distinctive bodybuilding traditions of Eastern Europe and the former socialist world.
Over the decades, a kind of international bodybuilding system had emerged: I.F.B.B. for athletes prepared to accept stricter anti-doping controls, N.A.B.B.A. for bodybuilders committed to its traditional approach without doping control, and W.F.F. for an organization whose roots were connected with the bodybuilding tradition of the former socialist world.
THE “AMBER PRIX” AND THE “GEORG TENNO MEMORIAL”
Today, viewed from a historical perspective, one may argue that one of the most important foundations of bodybuilding in the socialist world was not a single institution, but a living tradition of international competitions.
Its most prominent symbols were the “Amber Prix” tournament in the Lithuanian SSR and the “Georg Tenno Memorial” in the Estonian SSR.
These tournaments survived political bans, organizational changes and the collapse of the USSR. Their history reflects a distinct path of bodybuilding development that, for decades, evolved separately from the Western bodybuilding system.
Therefore, the history of world bodybuilding should not be viewed solely through the activities of Western organizations such as F.I.H.C., N.A.B.B.A. and I.F.B.B. Alongside them existed an independently developed Eastern bodybuilding tradition, built on people, organizations and, above all, a competition tradition that continued for decades without interruption.
More about this history, its people, organizations and key events will be presented in forthcoming articles.
Follow the international website: www.wff.lt