The extraordinary Toni Bajada is still remembered from the 16th century mainly for being an amazing swimmer. Yet, not all of Malta's mighty muscle men dwell in the past, and you never know when you might bump into a living Maltese legend at the local grocery store. Specifically, this 86-year-old man, Joe Falzon ‘The Powerful’, Malta's most famous strongman.

Joe Falzon is renowned for being one of the first strongmen in the world to pull a full-sized jumbo jet which weighed over 70 tonnes, back in the 1960s. Among his other feats, he has done teeth lifting and 'human anvil' stunts, blown up hot water bottles and truck tyres with his breath, pulled cars by his hair, pushed a train and lain on a bed of nails for twelve hours. Even two whipped horses would not break his grip.

Born 9th November 1932, Joe Falzon was just 20 years old when he became renowned as a bodybuilder. And people would be amazed by what he could do. Standing at just 5'6" and weighing around 82kg, his strength was beyond reason and even today, it leaves him in awe of himself. His world records remain unsurpassed in over half a century.

"He is a living legend among the Maltese and respected by the thousands who have witnessed him in the past." 

However, Joe ‘the Powerful’ Falzon ultimately credits his extraordinary strength to the Holy Mother and his intimate devotional relationship with her. He reckons she ‘talks’ to him by intuition and gives him the power to do anything he sets out to do by her will. In some of the pictures, you can see a statuette of the Virgin, which he took everywhere with him, especially to feats of strength. When at one of the feats, the statuette was damaged, he ended the show there and then due to the tragic accident.

In those magic days, together with his friend Michael Aquilina, Joe ran a four-hour show entitled 'The Magnificent 7'. This included various performers of different talents, such as magic and acrobatics. No fewer than 68 performers, including his 10 children, participated in some 24 shows per year. Trained on tightrope and trapeze, the entire Falzon family was recognised as professional acrobats by the British Acrobatic Association. Joe also ran the local gymnasium in Zejtun, his hometown.

In the above video from 2016, Joe Falzon told twelveoversix of the world record feats of strength he set out to do as a young man and his relationship with the Holy Mary. Still training in his makeshift gym, Joe encourages others to follow his example. He recommends regular light, not excessive, daily training to tone and strengthen all body parts in order to maintain health, guaranteeing that anyone who follows this regime will never get ill.

Who wants to live forever?