The Clinch. I have already said that in usual sparring no such thing as hugging, holding, wrestling, or kicking should be permitted:, but taking it for granted that having made yourself thoroughly at home with the regular methods, you are naturally anxious to know something about modes of fighting that are confined, I am happy to say, only to the prize ring proper, and the knowledge of which will often stand you in good stead at a pinch, I will lay them before you. The clinch is often resorted to when one of the antagonists has suffered severe punishment at infighting, and wishes to get away by closing and then pushing free. Or sometimes both are anxious to get a breathing-spell after a fierce give and take, and lock to gain support and a moment or twos respite from hitting or being hit. Again, when a man has led and passed over his opponents left shoulder, he will effect a clinch rather than incur the punishment he has laid himself open to. When you want to clinch, get very close in to your adversary in fact, throw yourself bodily upon his chest, grasp his left elbow with your hand and hold it firmly against your body, or press it strongly against his. Hug him as closely as you can round the neck or body with the right, and above all, dont give him an opportunity to hit you with either hand. To break away from this contact, place your forearm against your adversarys throat and force back his head, at the same time freeing your other arm from his grasp, and plying him lustily with heavy body-blows. After you get him at arms length, dont let him have time to recover himself, but press him vigorously, and dont give him the chance to close again. This content is protected This content is protected In Chancery. I pity the poor wight that is so unfortunate as to get caught in such a predicament, but how to get him there I know not. No rule can be laid down, but in close quarters and at in-fighting, opportunities present themselves, and the expert takes advantage of them. If you get the chance, fling your left arm round your adversarys neck, pull his head downward against your left side, hold him there and pummel away to your hearts content as long as he will let you. If you are fairly caught in chancery, dont struggle to free yourself by pulling away, for by so doing you will only get strangled worse and worse but push your opponent back with all your might, at the same time strike out vigorously with both hands, and try to trip him up by locking your leg behind his. When you think your opponent intends attempting chancery, strike up his forearm under the elbow, at the same time ducking freely and breaking ground out of his reach. This content is protected This content is protected Back-Heeling. The two previous manceuvres together with the two that follow, are admissible under the London Prize Ring Rules, but opportunities for making use of them are of very rare occurrence. Back-heeling, as the name implies, is a method of throwing your antagonist by the aid of tripping him over your heels. It differs but little from another method of throwing. This content is protected This content is protected Cross-Buttock, in which case the hip is used as the fulcrum upon which you lever over the body of your adversary. If ever you are caught in any of these traps, look rather to your tumble than struggle to prevent it, for, the more desperate your efforts, so much the more severe will be your fall, because of the great strain and tension on all muscles at the moment of impact with the hard ground but if you let yourself go limp, and rather assist than ****** your fall, you are not liable to sustain half some much injury as when you fall while struggling to prevent it. Much, very much, has been said against this truly manly and athletic exercise, but if the science of boxing was more generally practiced throughout the country, and the various contests were governed by a set of rules that strictly and strongly precluded even the possibility of anything like brutality, I think that sparring would soon become as popular and universal as it is useful and beneficial to the development of the best faculties of the body. This content is protected