THE NEATEST OF ALL " JIU-JITSU" WAYS OF STOPPING A BOXER

FLOORING AND HOLDING HIM HELPLESS WITHOUT DOING HIM DAMAGE—ANOTHER EFFECTIVE WAY OF HOLDING A VICTIM IN SUBJECTION AFTER HAVING THROWN HIM EITHER IN BOXING OR IN WRESTLING

Exponentsof the Ten-jin school of jiu-' jitsu have developed in all its possible perfection a style of stopping the boxer's blow that cannot be surpassed for neatness of exe­cution, effectiveness, and swiftness. It is a feat that applies only to stopping a left-hand blow by the boxer.
This trick of defence may be taken up in three stages, and I shall describe each stage by itself. After the student has mastered all three of the stages he can combine them all in rapid succession, with the result that he is able to stop the blow and to have his opponent on the floor, helpless, but not in any way disabled. The entire length of time employed in this feat should not exceed four or five seconds.

Just as the boxer launches his left fist "duck" quickly to his left, taking your own head and upper trunk out of danger. At the same time strike the outer bend of his left elbow with the open palm of the right hand. The manner of dodging and of striking the assailant's elbow is shown clearly in photo­graph No. 16.

Always strike the adversary's elbow with a smart, forceful blow. The effect will be to send him spinning around to his own right. The very momentum that the boxer gives him­self in striking forward will aid in swinging him around.

This ward-off at the elbow must be practised over and over again. It is easy to give this fend-off with fair speed, but this will not meet the demands of actual combat. Extreme speed must be developed, and this is why the trick must be practised for a long time, and with very patient attention to gaining speed.

Both the dodging and the striking of the elbow are to be persisted in until nothing is left to be desired in the performance. And try to swing the assailant farther and farther around.

In actual combat the effect of this first stage of the trick is amusing on the assailant who knows nothing of jiu-jitsu, and who is not pre­pared to receive such a fend-off. When he finds that he cannot land his blow, and that he is sent spinning around as often as he tries it, he loses confidence in himself. He realises that he is at the mercy of his opponent.

Now comes the second stage of the trick, the throw. This must be begun the instant that the adversary has been fended off and sent spinning around to his right. Clap your right hand smartly over his right kidney. At the same time your left arm goes up under his ex­tended left. Your left hand must rest on his right shoulder, taking a quick grip there, and the length of your left arm, of course, is across his chest.

Just the instant that this hold has been ob­tained—and it must be while your assailant is still spinning to his right—force him over back­ward to the ground. It will not be at all difficult, for his own momentum in his forced swing around will help carry him as you wish him to go. And thus the second stage of the trick ends with the assailant lying on the ground.

Now, this second part of the feat is to be acquired very painstakingly. Practise over and over again the getting of the hold with each hand just as it has been described. Remem­ber, too, that the right hand on the adversary's kidney should press him forward, while the left arm across his chest should force him over backward. And be sure that the left hand always grips at the right shoulder of your an­tagonist. Make sure, also, that you strike him so smartly over the kidney as to cause pain and weakness there. Having gotten hold just right with each of your hands, the matter of throw­ing does not require such close attention. The antagonist is thrown to the ground with no trouble whatever if the holds are taken properly and if the backward pressure is used without an instant's delay.

The thrown opponent will land either on his back, or on his right side. This depends much upon the way the pressure against him is applied. It depends to some extent, also, on the nature of the resistance that he makes against being thrown.

NO. 20. THE NEAREST JIU-JITSU APPROACH TO BOXINQ.

Wo. 21. GUARDING AGAINST NECK BLOW AND SOLAR-PLEXUS JAB.

In photograph No. 17 the defeated man is shown lying on his right side. His head is held firmly to the ground by his victorious antagonist's left hand. The victor's left knee has been jabbed into the victim's short ribs as the victor fell a-top of him. This has driven the breath out of the defeated man. But the victor does not stop here, for the prostrate man will have his breath soon, and will be able to re­new the contest. It is necessary, therefore, to reduce the victim to complete submission.

The victor's right hand has clutched the victim's left wrist. The captured left arm is held across the victor's right knee, which is under the upper half of the captured arm. The inside of the victim's wrist is upward, and the victor is pressing the wrist down forcibly. The effect of this is to make the captured arm bend over the victor's knee, and to bend in just the opposite way from that which Nature in­tended. If this pressure be given hard enough the effect will be to break the bone of the left upper arm. But, instead, the victor contents himself with straining the captured arm with somewhat rapidly increasing severity until the pain in that arm becomes so intense that the defeated man signifies his complete surrender.

Here is the trick, now, in its three stages, and the whole combination, from the first "duck" to the straining of the defeated man's left arm, should be performed in about four or five seconds. It should be practised and prac­tised until this speed has been reached, for this feat offers the best all-around defence against the boxer that is known to the jiu-jitsian.

When the man who is thrown lands on his back, the left knee of the victor is planted at the left edge of the abdomen. It is important for the victor to remember to employ his left hand in forcing the head of his fallen antagonist to the floor, as otherwise the latter will be able to secure some purchase for rising, or will be able to lift his head sufficiently to inflict, pos­sibly, a disconcerting bite—for biting is em­ployed, as a last resort, in jiu-jitsu, as in all other styles of fighting the world over.

It is worth while to call attention again to the theory of breaking the arm. The Japanese call it "breaking," even when nothing more than straining the arm is attempted. The in­side of the wrist must be upward, and the pressure against the upper bone of the arm applied in the opposite direction to that in which the arm was made by Nature to bend. This would bring the knee under the back of the upper arm.

With one experiment it will be seen that if the straining of the arm is applied with the in­side of the wrist downward the only effect will be to bend the arm in the natural way and the victim will not be hurt thereby.

A very clear idea of how the arm is strained or broken is afforded by photograph No. 18. This illustrates, also, a hold that is employed with advantage when an opponent has been thrown after either boxing or wrestling.

The victor has his right arm under the vic­tim's left. The victor's right hand clutches at the shirt (or vest or coat) of the fallen man, and in such manner that the knuckles of the hand press severely against the ribs close to the right shoulder.

Careful study of the illustration will show that the victim's captured left arm is held over the straight, rigid right arm of the victor, and that it is the back of the victim's left arm that is pressed against the other's arm. Now, by applying downward pressure at the captured left wrist the victor is able to cause a great deal of pain, and, if he makes the downward pres­sure a vicious one, the assailant is able to break his opponent's arm above the elbow.

Note that the fulcrum applied by the assail­ant to the back of the victim's arm, whether that fulcrum be an arm or a knee, is always ap­plied well above the elbow. A little experi­menting with this straining of the arm will show why this should be so.

More is to be said, later on, about this work of straining a victim's arm, or breaking it if need be, and in the meantime the student is advised to give some study to the positions of the contestants as shown in photographs Nos. 23 to 25, in which other feats are shown where the same principle of attack or defence is employed.

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