Martin “Farmer” Burns

Martin “Farmer” Burns was a professional catch-as-catch can wrestler as well as wrestling and physical cultural trainer.  Despite great success as a professional wrestler, even winning the American Heavyweight Championship, he is more famous as a wrestling trainer.

Martin “Farmer” Burns was born February 15, 1861 in Cedar County, Iowa.  Both then and now, wrestling is in an Iowan’s blood.  Burns was already wrestling at an early age.  When his father passed away, Burns began to do farm work to help support his mother and siblings.  This work helped him develop tremendous physical strength to go with his wrestling prowess.

At 19, he was already winning professional wrestling matches. Neck strength was one of Burns’ strongest assets.  Burns worked to develop a 20 inch neck.  To demonstrate his neck strength, he would have an assistant hang him by the neck with a rope to impress crowds and potential students.  Burns always walked away unscathed from his performances.

Even though he weighed only 165 pounds, Burns won the American Heavyweight Wrestling Championship and was undefeated between 1890 and 1893.  Often wrestling much bigger men, Burns used technique and power to defeat all challengers during his reign.  He finally retired in the early 1900s after a second reign as champion between 1895 and 1897.

Burns started training other wrestlers in 1893.  Frank Gotch was his most famous pupil.  Burns defeated his future student in 1899, when Gotch was 21.  Impressed by Gotch at such a young age,  Burns primarily managed and trained Gotch, who won the World Heavyweight Wrestling Championship from George Hackenschmidt in 1908, from 1899 on.

In 1914, Burns would publish an almost hundred page course on lessons in both physical culture and wrestling.  Besides Gotch, Ed “Strangler” Lewis also followed Burns’ training methods.

Burns passed away on January 8, 1937 at 75 years of age in Council Bluffs, Iowa.  Burns and his wife had three children, two sons and a daughter.  Burns’ wife passed away in 1930.  After his daughter passed away in 1932, Burns’ health began to deteriorate quickly.  Grief was the only opponent to get the upper hand on “Farmer” Burns.

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