I am pleased to announce the republication of "The Art of In-Fighting" by Frank Klaus. The download is, as always, free. Special thanks to Professor Bruno Cruicchi, collector and life-long Martial Artist for providing the original of this book for me to republish. http://www.lulu.com/product/paperback/the-art-of-in-fighting/15104806 Marketoid blurb:Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in Frank Klaus was a German-American boxer. His professional career spanning 39 matches netted 32 wins 21 by KO. He won the Middleweight Championship of the world in 1913 and was elected to the Ring Boxing Hall of Fame in 1974. Acclaimed as an inside fighter, in approximately late 1913 or some time thereafter he penned his book of instruction on in-fighting. Klaus packs a great number of photograph into his work for such a comparatively short and focused book: 27 in all including several action shots from his fights giving this book a ratio of about 1 photo for every 2 ½ pages of instruction. Particular gems include The Liver Punch, Feigning Grogginess, and Beating an Opponent by Punching his Gloved Hands or Arms. Truly a Historic Boxing must have! Peace favor your sword, Kirk
Weird. It doesn't have the download link on the specific page. Go here: http://stores.lulu.com/lawson and click the "Download for Free" link just below the "Add print to cart" link. I generally avoid using the "store" link because 1) its got all of the other titles there too which can make it hard to find the one I'm announcing and 2) my book is there on top and is non-free (the only one, but still). That's only for the tree-ware. The download is free. Peace favor your sword, Kirk
Klaus advocates the Heart and Stomach punch but says that the Liver Punch is third in line particularly since, at the time of his writing, the Kidney Punch had been made illegal. Which, according to him, is fine because he, "never made much use of the punch" and instead, "made a study of the liver punch, which, although less painful, plays no small part in an opponent's undoing." You're right that "The Mark" was always a primary target in pre-Marquis boxing. I hold that this is because the MoQ rules barred grappling, tripping, and throwing. Why spend much time perfecting in-fighting when you can Cross-Buttock your opponent and fall on top of him or wrap his head in Chancery and strangle him or whale on his kidneys and liver while he's wrapped up? This desire to aim for "The Mark" held over for a very long time even after our good Marquis barred grappling. Grappling pushed the punching repertoire out to long range. It's interesting to note here that, near the end of the book, Klaus states a (somewhat brief) argument against "Old-Fashioned Methods." Peace favor your sword, Kirk
I'll try on my main computer. Let me know how it is doe. I've been trying to upgrade my game in the inside as u can see http://www.eastsideboxing.com/forum/showthread.php?t=291345
Klaus was a badass. If he hadnt let his title go to his head and become a party animal he would have been remembered more fondly. I think another reason why the old timers probably didnt tout the liver punch too much is that its a pretty hard punch to land on the money. You can spend a whole fight trying to land that punch and never hit the sweet spot that makes a guy cave and not want to get back up. Another factor is that Klaus would hook his left arm around a fighters right arm or waiste and work with his right to the head and body (which was allowed a lot more back then, at least in the USA). This would prevent him from being able to punch to the liver with the left. The infighting of those days is almost completely lost. It was like a test of stamina with a lot of mauling, pushing, and pulling to wear the other man out physically. Those old timers were physically very very strong in the kind of way that foreman was strong in the 1970s and 1990s. Just physically very powerful.
Great story. :good Klaus is my fav mw of that time which had a number of very good mws. :thumbsup I have that book printed out somewhere. Thanks anyway.