Early Life
Akbarian was born in Chaharsoogh Aligholi Agha Place in Isfahan, the former capital of Persia (Iran). The oldest son of Mirza Akbar, he lost his father at the age of seven and was forced to work as an apprentice carpenter to support his mother, his sister and his three brothers. When he started to train in wrestling at the age of around 20 in the Chaharsoogh Aligholi Agha Zurkhaneh (Persian: زورخانه چهارسوق علیقلی آقا), he was a young skilled carpenter owning his own shop. (Zurkhaneh literally means "the house of strength", equivalent to a gym or club). Over a period of ten years, he climbed the ranks by mastering the Zurkhaneh exercises including the traditional wrestling techniques. He was conferred with the rank of "Pahlavan" (champion) after defeating all wrestlers in his neighborhood Zurkhaneh and the challenging wrestlers from other Zurkhaneh. The wrestling matches were arranged by appointments or just by showing up unannounced in the sessions of the traditional Zurkhaneh workouts on Friday mornings.
Read more about this topic: Hashem Akbarian
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