FORCING THE BOXER TO FEND HIS OWN BLOW

THE FALL THAT FOLLOWS—THE NEAR. EST THAT THE "JIU-JITSU" ADEPT COMES TO OUR STYLE OF BOXING—GUARDING AGAINST THE THROAT BLOW AND THE SOLAR-PLEXUS JAB

Thereis something well-nigh humorous 1 in the style of combat that is shown in photograph No. 19. It is worthy of the best traditions of Oriental subtlety and ingenuity that the boxer should be forced to defeat himself.

During the study of this text and the first practising of the feat it will be well to make frequent reference to the illustration. The pose is so perfect that it offers answers to many of the questions that the student will ask of himself.

In this particular bit of work a well-trained eye and vimful agility are all-important. The trick is worthless as a means of actual defence until all the requirements of speed have been brought out by frequent and all but unremit­ting practice.

The feat begins with a defence against the boxer's left-hand blow. The man on the de­fensive must shoot both of his hands forward and upward at the coming left hand of the op­ponent. The hands of the man on the defen­sive are well together, very much in the form of a "V," although the heels of the hands do not quite touch. It is this "V " that is shot up to catch and encircle the boxer's fist—not his wrist! At the instant that the assailant's fist is caught in this "V" the man on the de­fensive wraps his fingers around the captured fist.

Reference to the photograph will show just how this encircling of the attacking fist is ac­complished. One point the illustration does not show exactly, and no amount of author's text can explain it fully; and that is just how to hold the attacking fist so that its owner cannot wrench it free. But such a hold can be taken and the student, by a little patient experimenting, can learn just how to get this hold of the fist, and—better still—how to re­tain it. All through the work with this trick it must be remembered that the man on the defensive has the resources of two hands to employ against the power of one fist.

Now, the man who has captured his adver­sary's fist must be prepared to move that fist wherever he wants it to go in front or at the side of the owner's body. It may seem that the owner of the captured fist can block this movement by exerting the muscles of his left arm to their utmost, but again it is to be pointed out that the man on the defensive has all the strength of two arms with which to op­pose whatever strength his opponent can put into one arm.

"But when the fellow's left fist is caught what will he do with that idle right fist?" is a question that the reader will be sure to ask.
The answer is a simple one: "The fellow will do nothing of any importance with his idle right fist."

It is here that the essence of the trick comes in. Let the man strike out with his right fist.

The man on the defensive brings that captured fist and its arm swiftly down, crossing the fore­arm of that captured fist over the fore-arm of the opponent's assailing right. It is a com­plete block, stopping the boxer's blow. And the same manoeuvre will stop any blow that the boxer can try to deliver with his right. Wherever the right fist tries to land it is blocked by contact with the fore-arm behind the captured fist. It is impossible to make any striking blow with the right that cannot be stopped by swift contact with the captured left.

Always the man on the defensive forces, up or down, the boxer's left arm so that it is made to cross the boxer's right, the point of contact being in the fore-arms of the boxer. There is no escape for the boxer, and he is made to submit to the humiliation of practically ward­ing off his own blows.

And not only are the blows stopped, but there is actual mischief in this style of defence, for the boxer's fore-arms are brought together so sharply that each concussion causes pain, and three or four sharp impacts leave the boxer very sick of this style of defeat. His arms are badly lamed, and he is not likely to care for any more boxing for a few hours.

No. 22. A "rlOLD FROM THE REAR THAT PRECEDES A THROW

NO. 23 A SIMPLE HOLD THAT RENDERS AN ASSAILANT HELPLESS.

But there is still more mischief in this de­fence, for, at any time, at the pleasure of the man on the defensive, he can throw his adver­sary and thus put an end to tactics that have furnished sport but for one. And the throw is accomplished very easily. Bring the boxer's left arm down to ward off a blow from his right. At the instant of impact wrench that captured left arm up smartly so that the fist is brought higher than the boxer's head. Do not hold it there, but carry on the movement so that the left arm of the boxer is forced far out to his left side and down with a wrench. At the same time something of a twist is given to the wrist behind the captured fist, and the whole movement wrenches the boxer off his balance and sends him to the ground. Once he is there, he may be left to regain his foot­ing, or he may be effectually subdued by any of the tricks already described that have that end in view.

This is the whole combination of the clever movement—catching the fist as it is struck out, forcing the arm down to parry a blow by the right hand, and then instantly forcing the cap­tured fist up, over to the left, way out at the side and down toward the ground, throwing the boxer. From the instant that the fist is captured to the instant when the boxer is down should not take up more than three seconds. This speed is easily acquired with practice.

The first thing to learn to do well is to catch the boxer's left fist. At first the practice should not go beyond this point. Using the ward-off against the boxer's right is a matter so simple as to require but a small amount of practice, and the same may be said of the arm-wrench that accomplishes the throw. So that the only points in this work calling for assidu­ous practice are the catching of the fist and mastering the way of holding it so that the boxer cannot yank his fist free.

Boxing is so natural a method of personal combat that it is not to be supposed that the ancient Japanese never thought of employing it. But the Japanese has improved upon our method of striking with the clenched fist. He found out, some twenty-five hundred years ago, that far more damaging blows may be struck with the sharp, hardened edge of the hand than are possible with the blunt, wide-surfaced fist.

And this work with the edge of the hand is the nearest approach to boxing that jiu-jitsu offers. The movements of the arms are very similar to those of the boxer, but the blows with the edge of the hand are sharp and sting­ing, and often break one of the adversary's bones. The work shown in photograph No. 20 gives an excellent idea of this work. Each contestant has tried to land an edge-of-the-hand blow on his adversary's neck or throat, and each has parried with the edge of the hand on guard. Neither man has succeeded in registering, and both are open for the next move of attack or of defence.

In photograph No. 21, one man is shown striking for the side of the neck, while the other endeavours to land a finger-tip jab in the solar plexus. Both attacks are defeated by an edge-of-the-hand guard. In this work, as in boxing, feinting is resorted to as a means of landing a blow, but jiu-jitsians are so agile and so quick of eye that a feinted jab or blow is followed rarely by one that registers. As a rule, when this hand-work imitation of boxing is attempted it is carried on merely as a sort of "sparring for wind," each antagonist being keenly on the alert for an opening that shall make it possible to secure one of the holds that are so much more effective.

Always in the clinch that follows this ad-interim sparring the jiu-jitsian tries for an opportunity to bring the edge of his hand sharply against the opponent's collar-bone, causing great pain there, or even fracturing the bone.

In clinches, and, in fact, in any position where one of the men has the point of his elbow close to the ribs, or to the soft parts of the trunk, he gives a sharp jab with the elbow, the blow having much the same effect that would result from the blow of the boxer's fist.

A blow that is peculiarly annoying to the op­ponent is one that is struck slantingly across the forehead with the edge of the hand. If this blow be landed three or four times during a bout of combat, the man who is punished will be certain of a spell of headache. There is no actual danger from this blow if it is struck temperately, but of course it becomes highly dangerous when struck with great force.

Edge-of-the-hand blows may be practised lightly across the temples, and just over the ears. In fact these blows should be frequently employed — lightly — in practice bouts. In actual combat, however, these two blows should never be brought into use unless it is absolutely necessary, in a position of great danger, to employ them, for both are more than ordinarily dangerous.

The true jiu-jitsian is never a bully. He never strikes a dangerous blow with anything like full force unless he believes himself to be justified by extreme necessity. The aim is not to disable needlessly, but to convince an adversary of the folly of carrying the fight further. A nd it is the height of the chivalry of jiu-jitsu to end the fight the instant that the defeated combatant betrays the fact that he has had punishment enough.

Extreme consideration for the physical pains and the mental feelings of an enemy should lie at the foundation of jiu-jitsu. In feudal Japan the law dealt severely with an adept who used his knowledge of the art for bullying or other improper purposes.

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