Dubai: Walking about in his traditional Emirati attire and weighing in at 125 kilos, Hussain Khalil cuts an imposing figure. But even that does not really give a proper clue to his immense strength. He is after all able to pull a truck with his hair.
Every time he substitutes his traditional attire with a tiger outfit, it’s a sign that action is about to begin.
Widely known as Shamshoon of the UAE, Khalil has performed feats that would make the faint-hearted... well, faint. He pulls seven-tonne trucks with his hair, endures sleeping on sharp nails as heavy rocks are smashed on his chest, has up to five heavy four-wheel cars drive over his arms, legs, or stomach and can perform many more gut-wrenching shows to entertain a thrill-seeking audience.
The 47-year-old and his team, which includes his three children, aged 16, 21 and 23, possess a remarkable abiltity to push their bodies to the extreme. In an exclusive interview with Gulf News, the super-athletic father of seven children tells us about his “God-given abilities and strength,” which he discovered at the age of 20.
“The secret [to my strength] is no secret. We have power and strength in every part of the body, in our teeth, hands, arms, legs, skin, including hair.” What differentiates him from the rest is “the pain that we can endure that others can’t.” he says.
As a child, “I remember how everything I did or felt was different. The food I ate was in larger quantities and the distances I walked were more than anyone else. Also, the pain others would feel from an injury, I would not.”
Khalil says this strength, along with the hobby of doing feats, runs in the family, starting with his uncle Ali Hassan, who is also his father-in-law. His uncle came to be known across the Arab world as Shamshoon of the Arabs. The title Shamshoon is given to people with supernatural strength and goes back to a Greek man who was known for his physical might, he said.
“I was much inspired with what my uncle used to do and the shows he used to perform all across the world. His shows allowed him to meet with big leaders like Jamal Abdul Nasser, the second president of Egypt, and also the late King Hussain Bin Talal of Jordan,” he said. “As I began practising some initial strongman performances in front of him at the age of 20, he was surprised with what I was able to do at that young age.”
Learning the basics from his uncle, Khalil went on to train day and night to reach his desired goal. He later joined his uncle’s team, who back then used to showcase their skills at several shows and seasonal festivals held across the UAE.
“My uncle tested all sorts of skills I had when I started training with him. A year on, from one car that drove over my hand, it increased to five big cars. The stone placed on my stomach that could be carried by one man now requires up to 15 people to lift it. The truck I started to pull with my hair weighed 1 tonne; now I’m able to pull a seven-tonne truck with my hair.”
There’s more: Khalil can also chew and swallow glass, wrap a barbed wire around his body to pull heavy vehicles, have stones cracked over his head, bend metal plates with his bare hands and sleep on broken glass as sharp nails are placed over him with more than six men weighing up to 846 kg in total standing on top. This however does not mean he is not prone to injuries.
“That’s only when the show was not set up the correct way, but I’ve never been severely injured. But when it comes to pain, I ignore it,” he says.
With over 25 years of performing such stunts, Khalil is now preparing to break a Guinness World Record and pull a 12-tonne bus with his hair at Global Village this year. “The current record is 10 tonnes and, in the future, I aspire to see my eldest son pull a plane. He can do it.”
His children, who are capable of nearly similar strongman acts, support him in his shows by using 10kg hammers to break the stones over their father’s chest or driving vehicles over him. “My 16-year-old son can stand on sharp nails,” says the proud father.
His son Ali, a political science student in the UAE, says: “I do get worried when I’m about to hit the hammer over the stone laid on his chest, but I’m confident of him. Tell a child to poke his father with a needle and they won’t do it, but we are trained and trust his capabilities.”
Recently, with a thick strap attached to his body, Khalil pulled the world’s largest mobile hospital weighing more than 15 tonnes during a Flag Day celebration held in the city. He says specific shoes are needed to complete such shows, and most importantly, a good healthy diet is required to get the necessary energy and stay fit.
“What I was born with is hereditary. But one’s love towards this hobby is what pushes us to accomplish more. It takes five days of mental and physical practice to prepare for truck-pulling shows, sometimes days without sleep because of the stress.”
When the shows are successfully completed, the entire family is relieved, he added.
Training regimen
Khalil’s daily full-body workouts include training his muscles and not necessarily doing extreme weight training, he said. “I try to not pressure the muscles by adding weights as I will already add pressure on them during shows.”
Khalil wants to dispel misconceptions that strongmen like him resort to black magic to perform their shows.
“People here in the Arab world are under the false impression that what we do is only possible through [black] magic. In the West, it’s the opposite, they see it as being athletic and full of strength. There’s a certain state of mind that needs to be reached before the show can be undertaken.”
He is looking forward to seeing his children achieve similar fame and appreciation. “We want to reach beyond the Arab world and raise the Emirati flag in every country. All we want is to put a smile on our audiences’ faces.”
Khalil and his team are also planning to host their performances for free at special needs centres across the city.
