An Interview With Joseph L. Greenstein a.k.a. 'The Mighty Atom'. Physical Culturist of the Month of February.

Having been frozen for 10s of thousands of years I, Lurg, am sad to say I missed out on the days of Vaudeville. I missed the action of the Atlantic City Boardwalk in it's heyday and the spectacle that was Coney Island. Circus Acts, games of chance, a pitchman on every corner and of course, what would have been my favorite, the strongman. Not the muscle bound meatheads that bench press twice their own weight but can't scratch their own backs, the real strong men. Naturally healthy masters of their body that performed impossible feats with ease. Perhaps the most impressive of them all was the runt of the litter at 5'4”, Joesph L. Greenstein a.k.a. The Mighty Atom.

The Mighty Atom was an accomplished wrestler having studied many disciplines including jiu-jitsu and rarely found another man that was his equal. He was known for displays of strength such as bending railroad spikes with his bare hands or iron bars with the bridge of his nose. He could even break chains wrapped around his torso by simply expanding his chest. Pound for pound there was no one stronger. Heck, even his hair was strong. Using an elaborate comb and clamp contraption The Mighty Atom was known to have pulled fire engines and multiple trucks at a time. Not only did he hold back an airplane from taking off using his hair (a stunt that left the only other man to try it dead) he even hung from a plane in an ill-conceived stunt over the streets of New York for the purpose of raising money for war bonds.

To truly understand the marvel that was The Mighty Atom, one needs to understand where he came from. Born July 15th, 1893 in Suvalk, Poland, 3 months premature to the poorest family in town, Yoselle (americanized to 'Joseph' upon arrival in the States decades later) had little chance of survival, especially to a family that could afford little else beyond bread and potatoes. Premature babies rarely lived in those days. Nine days after birth three doctors came to visit the family to examine baby Yoselle. Amazed he had lived this long, they offered the family money for the child's remains for use in their medical studies if he were to 'expire '. Although the frail child defied the odds he grew up pale, sickly and asthmatic. When he was 14 a doctor told his mother that due to the respiratory condition he inherited from his father, who passed at the age of 39, they deemed it unlikely that he would make it to his 18th birthday.

On the way home he and his mother passed a traveling circus show with strongmen and animal shows. One particular poster, that of 'The Champion Volanko', a chiseled strongman and world class wrestler, caught his eye. He begged his mom to stay and promised to be home soon. With no money to see a show, he snuck under a tent to steal a peek. A man beat him to near death, spouting such hatred as 'Dirty Jew' and promising to kill the boy. Having the presence to fake death, the beating stopped but left him with little power to move. He crawled towards the light of a kerosene lamp and found solace inside a wagon.

He was soon found by none other than Volanko. Volanko took pity on the battered and bloody child. Upon hearing of the boy's story, Volanko searched out the attacker and punished him with a single blow that cracked his nose and left him unconscious.

Volanko's own personal history was quite similar to Yoselle's and prompted him to suggest he could use a valet to assist him. Despite promising to seek his mother's permission to join Volanko as the circus left town the next day, Yoselle left without ever speaking to his mother as he knew she would not approve.

For the next year and half, Yoselle learned from Volanko how to eat, how to wrestle, how to care for his body, how to breath properly and most importantly how to overcome all obstacles with the power of the mind over body. When he returned home at the age of 16, he was a lean athlete and no longer asthmatic. He was not yet known as The Mighty Atom, but the foundation had been laid.

I recently had a chance to sit down with Joseph Greenstein to not only learn from him, but to get to the bottom of something that has been on my mind.

Lurg:

Thank you, Joe, or can I call you 'Atom'? For taking the time share your thoughts on physical culture with me and the followers of Tragically Fit.

Joseph Greenstein:

You can call me Atom. It's great to be here. I cherish the opportunity to speak about my passion and to impart the wisdom I have gained over the years on anyone who will listen. It takes me back to my days as a pitchman selling my own line of ointments, soap and other natural and healthy sundries.

Lurg:

A regular Billy Mays huh?

Atom:

Who?

Lurg:

Nevermind. So I have a bone to pick with you and I don't mean the one in my hair. Do you deny that your costume, your CAVEman costume, is a direct ripoff from the official ceremonial attire of my people?

Atom:

I deny nothing. My leopard skin tunic is in honor of the biblical character of Samson. He had great strength whose source was in his hair and I paid tribute to that notion with my costume. I trust that you too are like Samson, so any similarities with you, Lurg, are an homage.

Lurg:

Well then... I guess I owe you an apology and a 'Thank You', it's an honor... Now if only Fred Flintsone were as gracious.

Atom:

Who?

Lurg:

No one, just a no-talent TV persona... forget it. Anyway... let's talk about what it takes to fuel such a powerful and lithe physique.

Atom:

My principles are simple and they go back to my days with Volanko. He once showed me the inner workings of his pocket watch. I examined the elaborate maze of springs and wheels. He told me that the human body is “a million times more fine and important.” And he admonished me that just as you don't grind dirt into the gears of such a machine, you don't “put in your body what is unclean and bad for it.”

Lurg:

That's deep... But what specifically do you eat?

Atom:

Living things. And by that I do not mean animals. That is dead flesh. If you eat dead things you are dead inside. That is not to say I don't eat the occasional piece of lean chicken or fish, but they are by no means a staple in my diet.

The truth is, the average american is eating themselves to death. One should only eat when they are hungry, not because the clock tells them too. Your food should digest and be moved from your body each day. If you eat by the clock “your stomach is forced to labor under improper conditions.” You body becomes inefficient, it turns on itself.

Lurg:

Like dirt in the gears...

Atom:

Exactly. And don't get me started on sugar.

Lurg:

You got it, so I …

Atom (interrupting):

.. sugar enslaves us. The body was not developed for it yet we include it in everything and blindly add it to our foods ourselves despite the fact that it is degenerative to the human body. Sugar plays a part in ailments ranging from the common cold, constipation, nervous disorders, diabetes and rotting teeth and gums. Our children do not have a chance as we poison them. Children's foods have adorable names and objects or animals adorned to them attracting children to the point that they are hooked on them for life.

Lurg:

Like Fruity Pebbles!! Damn that Fred Flintstone!

Atom:

I'm sorry, you say this name again and I don't know who he is.

Lurg:

Consider yourself lucky... let's talk about your exercise routine. When I was first unfrozen I was lured into the chrome and fern of today's gymnasiums and put on a regimen of weights, weights and more weights. Instead of getting stronger I felt I was getting weaker overall as my body could no longer function as one. Is it true that you developed your strength without the use of traditional weights.

Atom:

To be honest, I do not disparage the lifting of weights and I have trained with them but not exclusively. “Some strongmen do not lift weights, and some weight lifters are not strongmen.” I personally found them to be quite boring and not suited to the types of physical activities and feats that I employed. When I did use them I rarely used anything more than a 25lb dumbbell with many repetitions. I prefer to master the movement of the whole body and practiced many bodyweight and gymnastics type exercises.

Lurg:

In addition to your careers as a wrestler, strongman and pitchman for your own line of natural products, you are also a bit of a medicine man too. A self-taught naturopathic healer. You even saved your own daughter's life.

Atom:

Yes, well when you are a father to so many mischievous children there isn't a short supply of patients. As part of my research about how the body functions and herbology I logically began to learn about the natural ways in which we can heal ourselves. My daughter, Leah, had been bitten by an insect but had not bothered to tell my wife or I. By the time I saw the wound on her leg it had festered into dire circumstances. The doctors, after their treatments failed, claimed she would need to have her leg amputated or else she would die. My poor Leah wailed at the thought of losing her leg. I told her how I was also given a death sentence once and I refused to believe it. I promised her that if she wanted it bad enough, we could fix her together. I also promised her the best silk stocking and prettiest dancing shoes when she was better.

Lurg:

What did the doctors say?

Atom:

The doctor pleaded with me to reconsider. He was convinced that without the amputation she would die. I promised him I would fix her and he promised me he would eat his hat if I did. I considered that a fair wager.

Through a strict regime of washing and applying my own remedy of herbs for 21 days, plus a lots of love, laughter, stories and jokes, the infection subsided and her leg healed. I bought my princess her stockings and shoes.

Lurg:

I bet you would have liked to see that doctor's face after that huh?

Atom:

What? You think I didn't march right to his house after we stopped at the fancy store for her stockings and shoes?! I put on my best hat and pounded on his door until he came out. When he saw Leah twirling in her new shoes his jaw dropped. I offered him salt or pepper with my hat, but he declined.

Lurg:

Before we leave there's just one more thing I would like ask. In all your training and your experiences what is the one piece of equipment that you found most valuable in keeping your body in such peak and extraordinary condition?

Atom:

For many reasons, my most valuable asset is my mind. Too many are fooled by their minds into thinking they can't. They create doubt where none should exist. I could bend horseshoes and iron bars because I knew I could. It is as Volanko taught me during my first days with him. “Before you begin a task you must first succeed up here. Mind and spirit, then action. Like a bullet from a gun. Once it begins, it's already done.”

Lurg:

Mental toughness and determination.

Atom:

Yes, but just as important as it is to believe, it is important to learn. Knowledge. Without knowledge you can not find purpose or understanding. I could not heal my child if I had not first spent hours in the library learning about the body and about natural cures. I could not have strengthened my body to accomplish such feats without learning about how best to exercise it to meet those challenges. I could not fuel my body or fight off sickness if I did not learn how the body works and what is most crucial for its survival and function. I could not have succeeded as a wrestler had I not examined my weaknesses and sought the guidance of experts at other disciplines. If nothing else, I ask of your readers to cherish their greatest gift that is life. To look at the natural world and to learn from it.

Lurg:

Mighty Atom, Joseph Greenstein, your story is an inspiration and we have only scratched the surface here. We appreciate the time you have spent with us. Thank You!

Author's note: The source material for this article came exclusively from the book 'The Spiritual Journey of Joseph L. Greenstein' by Ed Spielman. Although this does not represent the actual reflections of Joseph Greenstein or Ed Spielman, it is based on the facts as Mr. Spielman presented them. Any quotes were taken from this book.

The Spiritual Journey of Joseph L. Greenstein - The Mighty Atom. 2nd ed. Cobb, CA: First Glance, 1998. Print.

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