Bob Fitzsimmons on how to BOX

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IN my first lesson on boxing I told you how
to use your feet. Now, we will suppose you
have learned that correctly, and we will go to
the next lesson : how to hold the body.
The body of a boy or a man is the boiler.
It is from there that all the steam comes that
moves the machinery, the arms and legs. No
matter how big and strong the arms and legs
are, they will not be able to do anything unless
the body gives them the power. So you see
how much care you should take of the body.
There is no exercise that will do so much to
make the body strong and healthy and full of
steam as boxing.
Care must be observed not to do anything
to offset the benefit of the exercise, such as
smoking cigarettes or chewing tobacco. As
for drinking beer or spirits, no one of commonsense
will do that. Then, when the body is
clean and full of vitality, there is always a feeling of cheerfulness and goodnature.
There is no desire to be quarrelsome. No one
should learn to box so that he may bully it
over others, but that he can defend himself
from attack, and for the health and strength
that the exercise gives.
Wrong Beginning
It is natural for the American boy to box.
He picks up a bit of the art himself in sparring
with his playmates. But the trouble with this
is that he is likely to begin all wrong, and then
he has to unlearn all he knows before he can
learn the right way.
Quite recently I saw a case in point: two
boys, without the knowledge, attempting to
box. The way they held the body, feet, and
hands was all wrong. The style of one boy
was worse than that of the other. He held his
body away back. A gentle push would have
taken him off his feet. He had no brace with
the body to back up the force of his own blow
or to stand against that of his playmate.
The other boy was not so bad, but his
muscles were too stiff and his shoulders too
square. Neither of the boys could move about quickly and easily. They were not supple or graceful. They did not have that
sure movement of the body which gives to it so
much health. Movement is fuel to the body.
Where there is plenty of fuel there is plenty of
steam.
In taking your stand for a “bout” with the
gloves, let the body lean a little bit forward
from the hips. Have all the muscles loose.
Put the left side forward. Do not stand with
your body square to your opponent: it gives
him a wider target to hit and does not allow
you the swing of the body and shoulders which
you need in order to strike a good blow.
Hold your shoulders down, the left one
particularly. This gives you length of reach
and ease of arm movement. Keep your left
arm out, but not straight. Always have your
elbows bent a little. A perfectly straight arm
is easily hurt. If the arm is bent a little at the
elbow it gives it strength and quickness of
action.
Swing your body with the waist as a pivot.
Do not have it “set;” that is, held rigid.
Always keep it swinging, not so hard as to tire
you, but so that it is ever ready to start in any direction. The body can start much quicker if it be moving than if it be still.

Getting Away from Attack
A boxer with his shoulders about his ears
and his body held rigid cannot move quickly.
When you jump back from an attack do not
alter the position of your body; in other
words, go back with the body held in the same
manner as when you began to spar. The
reason for this is, that when you land away, on
your feet, you are still in a position for either
attack or defense should your opponent follow
you.
The man who would evade an onslaught by
thrusting back his head and body so that he
is almost falling backward is all wrong. His
adversary could follow the attack and easily
have the “backward” man at his mercy.
Fill the Lungs. When boxing, keep your stomach in and
your chest out; not stiffly, but naturally. It
may be awkward at first, but you will soon
l learn how easy it is and wonder how you ever
stood any other way.By keeping the stomach in and the chest full
of air you enjoy all the lung strengthening
benefits of boxing and keep the stomach out of
harm’s way. That part of the body is always
a point of attack and should be protected.
I will next tell how to hold the hands while
boxing.

 

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IN my last chapter I told how to hold the
body while boxing. The position of the body
plays a most important part in the art of self defense.
Now, that you have learned the
correct way of holding the body, I shall tell
you how to hold the hands.
In boxing never have the muscles “set” and
tense. Always have all the muscles of the
arms and body and legs loose and ready for
action. Hold your hands open. Never close
your fist, except at the moment when you land
a blow. The reason for this is plain: holding
your fist closed strains the muscles of the
forearm and uses up a certain part of your
strength unnecessarily. Always remember
that you should never use any physical force
until the moment arrives when you need it.
Do not have your muscles strained and rigid.
Keep everything loose. It is easy to do so,
and the best exhibition always comes from a man who is not musclebound. In landing a
blow remember this particular piece of advice:
never hit with the thumb. Always keep the
thumb up, and when you land a punch have
the impact and your opponent’s head in such
relation that your hand will not be injured;
that is, use the first two knuckles of the hand.
In hitting a blow never close the hand until
the blow is landed. The reason for this is that
it strains the muscles of the forearm and tires
the boxer needlessly. Holding the hands open
not only relieves the muscles from any unnecessary
strain, but keeps a wider space of
glove always ready to defend from attack.
Now, in stopping a blow there is a wrong
and a right way. Always turn the palm of the
glove outward in stopping a blow. Keep the
hand open. This presents a larger surface to
the glove of your opponent and will do more
to prevent his blow from landing than if your fist was closed.
In guarding always keep your elbows close
to your sides. This takes in the benefit of
i the forearm, and if the glove be held close to
the face all that side of the body is protected.
Never land a punch without having the block ready to meet the counter. Every time you
start a punch remember that your opponent
intends to come back with another punch.
The particular art of the game is to land
a blow without a return; but every time you
make an attack you render yourself liable
to an offensive demonstration from the man
with whom you are sparring.
One of the best uses of the hands in boxing
is not to use them. When a blow is struck the
proper way to avoid it is not to stop it with the
hand or forearm, but to “slip” it. By “slipping”
a blow, I mean that you should get away
from it in such a manner that no part of your
opponent’s arm touches you. This is known as
“ducking” and “sidestepping.”
For instance,
if your sparring partner swings his right for
the side of your face, lower your head and let
the blow go over. Do not “duck” in toward
him. Let your head go under the blow and
away from it to the side. This prevents your
opponent from landing an uppercut, which he
would do if you were close enough to him.
Always remember that the hands are a
most important factor in boxing. Never land
a blow that will hurt the hands. When you lead a straight punch,
keep the thumb up.
When you swing, always keep the knuckles
up. A blow is landed with the first two
knuckles of the hand.
There is another thing to tell a young man
if he wants to succeed in boxing: Take your
chance when you see it, and hit from where
your hand is.
Why do I win fights? Because I see the
chance when it comes, and I take it.
Every little while a man leaves himself open,
but it is only for a second—it is not even a
second, it is less than the tenth part of a
second. You must seize that chance and strike
the instant you see the opening.
The foolish fighter draws back his hand to
hit harder, but by the time he has drawn his
arm back the man has protected himself, and
the chance is gone.
What I say to young men, and what I say to
everybody, is this: Do just what I do. If you
want to make a success in life, always hit when
you see the chance; do not draw your arm
back; hit from where your hand is, and you have
got him. That is my motto. It is no trouble
to whip your opponent when you use that.

 

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HAVING learned how to use the feet, hands,
and body, I will now explain how some of the
blows used in boxing are struck. I will not
show you all the blows in this lesson. It would
take more than a chapter to show them all.
You have not forgotten that the feet must
be held apart, with the left leg before the right
and the left knee bent a little. Also, that the
weight of the body rests on the right leg. You
remember what I told you about keeping the
muscles free and easy, and not held stiffly. All
this is important in striking a blow.
It is not only the hand and arm that are
used in striking; the legs, body, and shoulders
also come into play. There used to be an old
idea of striking with the arm working like the
piston-rod of an engine. In storybooks
the hero always knocks down the villain with a
blow “straight from the shoulder.”
That is all changed now. A blow to have
force must have the "send" of the legs and the swing of the body with it. A straight blow has not the telling force of a swing. This
is because the swing has all the weight of the
body behind it. A Simple Blow
An important blow is the straight left lead
for the face. It is a simple blow and easily
landed. But it is not one of the hard raps in
boxing.
To deliver a straight left lead watch your
chance when the other has his guard low.
Step in quickly. Swing the left shoulder
forward from the hip, at the same time sending
the arm out in a straight line. As the arm
goes out shut the fist. Keep the palm of the
hand turned inward and partly downward so
that the top knuckles will strike.
While you are striking you must not forget
that your opponent may strike you at the same
time. Therefore, you must learn how to prevent
him. I will tell you how to do this in a future lesson.

Will Confuse a Boxer, The straight lead has many uses. It will
confuse a boxer so that he cannot tell what to do. A good time to send in this blow is when your opponent starts a swing at you.
A straight lead in the face will stop many a
hard swing before it can land. It will also go
through an open guard when a swing would be
warded off.
The best time to send in a straight blow is
when your opponent is coming toward you.
This lends added force to the stroke. Beside,
it may stop the other’s rush.
In landing this blow I told you to send the
arm out in a straight line. I do not mean that
you should straighten the arm entirely. Have
the elbow bent a little, as this prevents a strain
at this point. If the arm be straightened out
there may be a snap at the elbow, and an
injury there is almost impossible to cure.
Always be careful not to injure your arms or
hands when striking. It sometimes happens
that a blow does more harm to the boxer who
delivers it than to the one who receives it.
A straight right lead is like one with the left
hand, only, of course, the right is used. In this
lead the right leg is brought a little forward,
adding its swing to the force of the blow. This
stroke is not so often used as the left lead.The reason for this is that the right glove is
so much further away from its intended mark.
Then, again, the right arm is used more for
a guard and for heavy swinging. Now we
come to the swing. One of the Best Blows
The right hand swing, when rightly delivered,
is one of the best blows in boxing. It is
hard to land, as it travels in a half circle and
has a long distance to go. This makes it easy to avoid or stop.
In landing this punch wait until you get your
opponent’s guard low. You can do this by
making believe to hit him in the body. Then,
when you think you have the opening, drop
your right hand down and back with the elbow
bent so that the forearm and upper arm are
almost at right angles. From this position
throw your arm in a half circle up and over to
the side of your opponent’s head.
Close your fist while the blow is travelling.
Keep the palm of the glove up and down in a
line with the body. As the blow starts swing
the right leg and all the right side of the body
with it. Just as it is landing stiffen the armand push the shoulder forward, turning the body at the hips. The force of the blow should
not be ended the moment it lands. Keep it
going: it will have more effect that way.
The first two knuckles of the hand should
land the blow. If you throw your palm down
and hit with the thumb you are liable to break
it even with the protection of a glove.
The left swing is made with the left hand in
the same manner as the right swing, only the
position of the legs is not changed. It does
not have as much force as the right swing,
because it does not get a like shift of the body
with it. But it is easier to land, as it travels
a shorter distance.

 

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Lack of Self confidence
Often Contributes to the
Defeat of a Good Fighter
THIS is a lesson on courage. There is no
trait of character which a boxer needs more
than this. Courage of the highest order—not
only physically, but morally—is essential to
success as a pugilist. I say “as a pugilist,”
because it is in that direction that my experience
lies. However, I have learned that this
question of moral as well as physical courage
is really the keynote to success.
There never was a boxing champion, or a
champion, in fact, in any line of sports, who was
a coward. They have all been fearless, and in
nearly every instance morally superior men.
Their sense of right and wrong has been as
keenly developed as has their physical superiority.
They have not only felt their power of mastery over their less fortunate fellowmen,
but they have been possessed of the moral
courage that comes with the knowledge of right.
It is courage that tells in every walk of life.
This it is that leads the gallant soldier to
victory; that carries the stouthearted cycle
champion under the wire. a winner. The
courageous man knows not the word “failure.”
His password is “victory,” and his golden rule
reads, “Be sure you are right, then go ahead.”
The boy who is learning to box must be
courageous. He must not know the word
fear. It is not physical strength, or even the
cleverness that comes to an expert boxer, that
wins battles. It is moral courage. If a boxer
be ever so clever, be he ever so strong, he
cannot win battles unless he is courageous.
And he cannot be courageous unless he has
the moral strength of “right.”
Take “Right” and pit it against “Might,”
and in nine instances out of ten “Right” will
score the victory. So be sure you are right
before you go ahead.
Another element that contributes largely to
the success of a boxer is self confidence.
If a man is not self confident he cannot hope to
win battles. I have noticed in my experience
in the ring how often a boxer will be defeated
simply owing to lack of self confidence.
Men whom I have met and defeated in a round or
two have gone out a few weeks or months
later and put up wonderful fights.

Won in Other Battles
These men have taken blows and received
punishment which I never dreamed of inflicting
upon them, and come out of those battles
victorious. In their contests with me they
simply lacked confidence. I had gained a
reputation as a hard hitter and winner of
battles, and it was therefore lack of moral self reliance
that defeated these men as soon as
landed a few blows. The blows I gave them
had neither the speed nor the force of those
which the same men took unflinchingly from
men of no reputation. Therefore, do not forget
that you must be morally courageous
before you can hope to win battles in the
struggle of life. There is no better moral in
the world to follow than this, “Be sure you
are right, then go ahead.