“Stopping” comes in where this parry is impracticable. If your adversary strikes at your body you must either get away, stop, or suffer the blow in hopes of being able to hit him in return. In stopping you receive the blow on your arm, and break its force.
CHAPTER VII.
ON THE ICE
Figure Skating.—As soon as the skater has gained confidence and can skate in the ordinary way, he should begin to master the art of skating upon the outside edge. Put upon the ice a small stone, piece of wood, or any other object to serve for a centre. From this stand three yards with your right side towards it. Leaning a little in the direction of this centre and pressing your weight upon the outer edge of the blade of the skate, push yourself round and round the centre with your left foot. Then practise going round on the outside edge of your left skate in a similar way. Difficult as these movements will be at first, they become easy like other hard tasks by practice, and they open the way to graceful figure skating.
When the two circles have been mastered it is quite easy to cut a figure 3 upon the ice. Begin on the outside edge of the right skate as though you meant to go in a circle, but allow your left foot to hang behind your right foot. There it will act as a kind of weight, your body will tend to swing round and you will cut the second part of the 3 travelling backwards, and upon the inner edge of the skate. The impetus gained in cutting the first part of the figure will carry you to the end. Going in the other direction cut another Ɛ with your left foot, and when you can do these you are on the high road to complete success as a skater.
Fig. 1. and Fig. 2.
Sailing on Skates.—Boys who are so fortunate as to live where there is a large sheet of ice will find much fun in sailing. If you have the money the draper will supply you with calico, or sheeting, or other similar material, two yards wide, and a journey to the joiner will be necessary, as we shall see. A B in Figure 1 is the yard made of wood, one and a half inches thick in the middle, tapering to each end to five-eighths of an inch. At C and D holes are bored for the lashings of the sail. E F is the sprit, and we get its length by measuring the boy who is going to use the sail from his neck to his ankles. This gives the length of the sprit, and the yard should be made twice as long. We have given the longest that the sprit should be. It may be shorter, and then, of course, the yard would be shortened in proportion. The sprit is tapered towards F and a hole is bored at G for lashings. The sprit is connected with the yard by what sailors call a crotch. We have given a representation of it in Fig. 2. The cord is used to lash the sprit to the yard. C D G in Fig. 1 shows the sail. It is cut to allow a broad hem, and may be sewn rapidly with a sewing machine. A strong loop of tape or cord should be sewed at each corner of the sail C D G, and at the head of the sail, that is from C to D, eyelets should be made six inches apart. At each of these the sail is tied to the yard and also at G. A reference to Figures 3, 4 and 5 will show how the sail is used, but practice will be needed and much studying of the effect of wind upon the sail before the art of sailing on skates has been mastered. A wooden rod may be attached to F, Fig. 1. This will aid in the management of the sail, as is shown in Figures 4 and 5.
