Having got our attitude and doubled our fist, we now learn to strike. Deliver your blow straight and from the shoulder, not merely with the arm. Put all your body into the stroke, and aid it with the spring of the right foot against the ground. Thus you add to the blow the force of a kick, and the stroke comes with such terrific force that I have seen a tall man lifted fairly off the ground and deposited on his back by a straight shoulder-hit, even though the two were merely sparring with the gloves.
Never draw back your hand before you strike, as that tells your opponent what you are contemplating. Your stroke should flash out like the lightning, without warning and straight to the mark. You cannot strike too rapidly, and you cannot recover yourself too quickly. Practise this repeatedly before a glass, and note the length of your reach, for in a knowledge of distance lies half the art of boxing. As a general rule, if you can get your left toe on a level with your antagonist’s heel, you have your proper distance. This rule, however, is necessarily variable, as in the case of the contest to which allusion has just been made, where one party could reach a full foot beyond the other, and had, in consequence, the advantage of twelve inches of space at his disposal.
Now that we have practised the left hand and arm, let us turn to the right. Except when striking, you need not trouble yourself to close the fist very tightly, but may let the hand lie in an easy and unconstrained position across the chest, ready for use in any direction that may be required.
The chief use of the right hand and arm are for parrying and stopping, which are thus achieved:—
If your opponent delivers a blow at the face or upper part of the chest, and you find yourself in a good position, do not retreat from it, but fling your right arm sharply outwards and upwards, catching the opponent’s arm by the wrist, and throwing it out of the direction in which it was aimed. The effect of the parry is very powerful, as it mostly lays open the antagonist’s head, and gives opportunity for a smart return blow with the left hand; it is then near the opponent’s head, and has only a short distance to traverse. This return blow is technically called the “counter,” and is usually very effective, as it takes effect just at the moment when the antagonist is expecting his own blow to strike, and turns the tables on him after a rather discouraging fashion.
Practise this also before the glass, parrying an imaginary blow from the opponent, and simultaneously shooting your own left hand against the spot where your antagonist’s head ought to be. I have often found that a quick double blow when countering is very embarrassing, and gives an opportunity of stepping in and planting your right hand after your left with enormous effect.
Stopping is performed in another manner, and must often be used where the parry is impracticable. For example, if your antagonist strikes at the body the parry cannot be accomplished, and you must either get away, stop, or take the blow in hopes of retaliation. In stopping you receive the blow on your arm, and thereby break its force, while, unless your opponent is possessed of herculean strength, the arm scarcely feels the stroke, yielding before the assault and acting like the cotton bales that have saved many a ship from the enemy’s cannon.
If you are fortunate enough to find a good boxer, get him to give you a few lessons in the practical department of the art, and in all cases be careful to keep your temper. I know that few things are more annoying than when you have made a telling plan of attack, and are just about to begin its execution, to be checked by a short dab on the nose, which makes your eyes water and the lids blink, and forces you to act on the defensive for the next few minutes, while the tears are streaming down your cheeks, and you cannot use a handkerchief by reason of the gloves.
Remember that there are two golden rules for a boxer, namely, hit straight and keep your temper. Fail in either of these requisites, and you will probably come off second best; fail in both, and you will certainly do so. Listen to an account of a battle where strength and weight and anger were overmatched by skill and coolness:—“As the assailant rushed in he ran a prominent feature of his face against a fist which was travelling in another direction, and immediately after struck the knuckles of the young man’s other fist a severe blow with the part of his person known as the epigastrium to one branch of science, and the bread-basket to another. This second round closed the battle.”
So we say again, keep your temper and hit straight. You see a circular blow takes more time to deliver than a straight one, and if your opponent swings his arm round at you, while you dart out your own fist at him, your blow will have taken effect long before his clumsy circumgyratory attempt has completed its journey.