The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, November 9, 1902, Page 13

'THE SUNDAY CALL. 13 BY “JIMMY” BRITT. HE first thing to pick up about box- ing is the proper method of stand- ing. This is called position. A beginner should rest his weight on the ball of his foot, the right leg about two feet be- hind the left, which always must be put forward toward an opponent. Allow the v to take the natural angle that this position throws it into. The left hand should be outstretched toward an oppo- nent at an angle to suit his height and s directly under the chin. eft hand up and the right hand gives a boxer a corkscrew to his blows, because in punch- hands are supposed to be twisted T rd just before they reach an in- ed mark. The common blows such as leads for the body or head are too well known to need mention. The best offset n opponent’s left lead is him with a left counter, a blow to a left lead, only it is used in If an opponent is longer in the way to offset his lead is cross over his left shoul- right aiming at the point comes proficient in the sume what is termed a nat- boxing position. He will gradually drift into & style of his own that will be a puzzie 1c ponent. The crouch which I ral position of my own. I find that I can protect myself better, puzzie my opponent more and strike a harder blow while in that atti- which is shown in one of the illus- ing this article might say that my and head look open for any kind left hook, but, quite to the contrary, affords almost certain protection from species of a hook. The stomach and an body is well out of range and the right glove kept well up under the chin and the left in front of the face give ample protection from almost any kind of a blow. Of course. when a boxer lashes out from t position he must remove some of the protection he has. but there is scarcely & time when he tries to hit an opponent that he does not leave the latter an opportunity to counter. I am convinged by my personal experi- ence that the crouch if properly used af- fords a boxer more protection than any THE O E other style.. In allowing the body its full range in boxing always be careful to judge the other fellow's blows and sheer out of range. A boxer does not have to duck eway to do this. If he keeps his body protected all he has to do is to In- cline his head and shoulders backward THER FOOL (With apologies to Mr. Rudyard Kipling.) 4 fool there was To a selfish, corpulent, masculine bear, and she made her prayer \ We called him the fellocv with roors to spgre. But she called him her hero beyond compare, Even as you and 1. Oh, the years we waste, and the tears we waste, And the meals we have left on hand, HAwaiting the husband who never comes home, ‘And now we know that he wouldn't come home, As long as he could stand. A fool there was and her stere she spent— Even as you and I— Purity youth and the p::ce of the rent, Till she’d threaten to leave, and then he'd repent, When the fool in her heart would grow kind and relen:. Even as you and I. Oh, the pain he cost, and the gain he cost— For she turned down houses and land— To marry a beggar who couldn’t come home, And now we know that he wouldn’t core home As long as he could stand. The fool cried on till her eyes were red— Even as you and I— Which she might have seen as she put him to bed, But there isn’t on record a word that he said. She kept up pretense, bul her anger was dead. Even as you anc I. And it isn’t the loss and it isn’t the cross Of waiting with meals on hand. s It’s coming to know he was talking of home, Hearing from others he started for home When he was unalle to stand. ~—CLAY CLEMENT, in October 19 Story Book. DELIWVERING A "KNOCKOO'K BLOW o 2 sufficlent distance to make the other fellow miss and then he is in shape to come back with all the power that the increased distance gives him.. This is dangerous work, however, if you are not a good judge of distance, but if yoy are and your opponent misses you two or three times and you reach him hard while he Is overbalanced he will be less likely to press you trying to land dare- devilblows, The illustrations on this page if studied out will give one an idea of the principal positions that two boxers assume in a contest. The easy grace and accuracy in delivering them will come only after hard practice and constant boxing. Once your muscles become accustomed to the strain that boxing produces upon them the various blows generally used in box+ ing are easy to master. Much of the art of boxing is in learn- ing how to deliver a blow. You must first get your muscles to work like a spring- board and to do this a pupil must prac- tice boxing in any old manner that he sees fit. It Is not necessary to start right in learning jabs and cross-counters. You might do that for years and never catch the.idea of the punch. The best way to become adept in the science of boxing is to box with any and every body who comes along. Clinching and dancing around the floor, even in an ungraceful way, will get your muscles and power turned in the right direction. The same motion that a footracer uses when he starts to get off the mark in a foot race is the motion needed to develop a punch in one who enjoys boxing. punch is nothing more than a spring un- der control. A clever boxer can gauge the distance he wants to travel or the power he wants to or can safely afford to exert when he strikes out just as a photographer can gauge the distance at which he sets his camera in taking a picture. As the pho- tographer judges the various effects that the distance, background and lights will have on his picture so does the boxer gauge the chances he takes In overreach- ing himself with his punch. Hard blows can be delivered at close quarters, but the damaging ones are those that land at or- dinary range and go through an unob- structed course and are propelled by grit and confidence. Sometimes in a boxing match a boxer will start a blow that would bring mat- ters to a close right then and there and a defensive or aggressive motion from the other fellow will often cause the box- er attempting to deliver it to pull back or let it spend itself weakly on its in- tended mark. New blows are being invented from time to time and the tendency of the better boxers of this particular time is J running to short arm swings rather than to straight punching. Even at long range the short arm swing now so popu- lar with most good boxers is becoming eftective. The famous right cross that has laid many a boxer hors de combat is now being used in a sort of a combina- tion straight and swing motion that has added much to its power and effective- ness, 3 The straight method of punching is the best way to learn to box. It is the best way because once having become used to the short arm swing a boxer can nevet become handy with a straight blow, but A let him first get used to punching straight from the shoulder and it is then an easy matter to develop the short arm swing which has enough of the straight motion in it to make the blow fast and effective. Work slowly at first and when your eye becomes trained to gauge distance properly and your muscles become more active speed will come to you naturally. In the beginning let all your blows come clos@ from your body. That is, don't give them too wide a latitude. If you try a stralght left for the face or head of an cpponent don’t ralse your arm too high or too low and don't try to land it at too long a range Get as close as possible to your opponent and then let it go. ‘This practice will teach you to be always ready to defend yourself from a counter and it lessens the danger of overbal- ancing, Straight clean work done in a confident way will gradually drift you Into an easy graceful style. If you are boxing with an opponent who has ‘a_troublesome left hook, that is, a blow delivered with the arm bowed and brought from behind the body, step in ciose to hijm when he starts the blow, and, covering your head with. your left, shoot the right to the point of his chin and If you land your blow before his swinging left reaches you he is not likely to try it again in a hurry. Another way to parry Yhis blow is to shape yourself quickly to deliver the same kind of a punch, step well to the right, and, guard- ing your head with your right, let your left go for his head and take chances on your blow landing first. See that it gets there first and if you guard well and you are the hardest puncher you will score the advantage. % L3 “The Octopus,” by the late Frank Norris, has justly been considered the nearest ap- proach to the “great American novel” ever written. As a novel dealing with California life and scenes it is undoubtedly the best in print. This splendid story is now running in The Sunday Call— FREE! NO EXTRA EX- PENSE! ' - Stepping In with the right, however, Is the safest and most éffective way to beat another boxer's left hook. If he pos- sesses a good right cress—that is a blow that shoots over your left shoulder when you are boring in or trying to land a straight left to head or body—simply coyer your chin with your left shoulder, and when you get within range turn your head slightly over toward your right shoulder and throw your right glove un- der your chin and you will generally be safe from the cross. Whenever you slip or lose your balance or over-reach your- self ‘in boxing put beth gloves in front of your face, crouch your body slightly to ~protect your stomach and then straighten up. Never attempt to straight- en yourself out until you are protected. In clinching, If possible keep your arms 8o that when you break away you can feel your way out of the knet with both hands ready to protect yourself. Never let your body relax in a clinch. Then is when you need all your alertness and strength. If you do you will come out of your clinch limp and before you can continue you will have to get set and ready for action again. Always watch an opponent’s eyes. It will seem awkward at first, but after you get used to it you will do so naturally and without pretending to do s0. A boxer generally betrays his irtend- ed mark by his eyes. You will get so ac- customed to watching him, that both his eyes and his movements will be taken in at a glance. If you crouch you can watch both together. At close quarters always keep your right and left sawing away un- til you back your opponent up or yuu go into a clinch. In learning your first lessons never in- dulge in the practice called tapping. There {8 as much difference between tap- ping and boxing, that is touching an opponent with the open glove, as there is between boxing and riding a bicycle. If you indulge in tapping you can never learn to strike a hard blow and you can never drop into the essential curves and movements that boxing requires. For instance, to tap an opponent with the left a hoxer will invariably slap his gloved hand downward on an opponent’'s face, or in tapping the body he will swing his arm glose to the body and then use a wrist movement to deliver the slag. This practice will ruin a promising boxer and strange to say the biggest “dub” in the world can usually tap better than a finished boxer. There is as much differ- ence between the movements, power and energy used in tapping and those used in boxing as there is between night and . S Sw, Vs AABM BY BUSHNELL. READY TFOR RIGHT CCOONTER2 AFTER SIDESTEZ- day. While you are picking up the rudi- ments of boxing never attempt to spar with the open hands or match some other fellow knocking off hats. He has just as good a chance knocking off hats or sparring with the open hands as you have and when he demonstrates it you mright. become discouraged. This statement may fact. You can’'t use the power ana mo= tion that your boxing has given you In any way .but the stiff, straight, jolty manner. The art of boxing, when once mastered, gives a person a self-confldence that is particularly gratifying, and on more than one occasion on his journey through life seem strange, but it {s nevertheless a he will find it particularly useful. THE TEA-TASTER HE lot of the tea-taster, says a writer in Tit-Bits, is far from a happy one. For although his pro- fession is one of the very few which are not overcrowded, and he s, in consequence, able to command a good salary, the work of deciding the quality of tea by tasting has many drawbacks, not the least of which is that after a time it utterly destroys the nerves and shatters the digestive organs. And yet there are many gentlemen who pursue this remarkable avocation in the great tea centers of the world. In Lon- don, of course, tea-tasters abound. It is in and about Mincing Lane where they are to be found in the greatest numbers, and these men “often sample no fewer than between three and four hundred cups of tea during the course of a Adys This, of course, necessitates the drink- ing of an enormous quantity. For even if they only take the smallest spoonful of liquid from each cup, the number of spoonfuls is so great that were they placed together for even one day they would form a cup of tea which few peo- ple would care to drink. And as the con- dition of the digestive organs and nerves i{s never improved even when tea is taken in small quantities, the effect on the con- stitution through taking three or four hundred .spoonfuls a day Is particularly disastrous. It often:happens that a tea-taster at the end of a day's work has to indulge in a coplous fit of weeping brought about by the overwrought state of his nerves. The injury to the system, however, is by no means the only drawback to the work of the tea-taster. He has to pay the strictest attention to his mode of living. Certain articles of food and particular drinks have to be avoided, while above all he must never smoke more than one mild cigar or pipe of tobacco in twenty- four hours, and that always at night time. b But in spite of all this. men who find that they possess the recessary qualities rarely hesitate to become tea-tasters, the handsome salaries which are paid no doubt being a great inducement to many. It is not every man, however, who can earn his living as a tea-taster. In the ' first place, the tea-taster, like the poet, is born, not made; for it is practically impossible to acquire the delicacy of taste and smell which is necessary for the work. Tea-tasting s a talent which comes with birth and cannot be learned. And not only must a tea-tastey possess an extremely susceptible palate, but his sense of smell must also be particularly keea. . Smelling, in fact, plays almost as im- portant part in the work as tasting. By simply handling and applying to the nos- trils a pinch of tea from a dozen separate chests an expert can often teil the quai- ity of each and the price it is worth. And when it is mentioned that tea can be bought in Mincing Lane at from 6% cenis to about $175 per pound it will be readily understood that it requires no little skiil in order to determine the various quai~ ities. Tasting, however, is resorted to in or- der to make quite sure. ‘A small quantity will be taken from, say a dozen packag-s of tea, and after each sample has been carefuily_weighed will be placed if a tiny teapot. When the bolling water has been poured in the tea has to stand for. ex- actly six minutes—which is the proper time it should be allowed to brew. It is then poured into cups and milk added, but no sugar. Taking a peculiarly shaped silver spoon, the taster, when the tea is sufficientiy cool, will proceed to taste each cupful. and’ esth packet from which the sample has been taken will be marked accord- ing to the judgment pronounced. Some- tinies the taster has to take two or three spoonfuls from each cup in order to make quite sure that his judgment is not at fault. Angd even then it is sometimes con- sidered necess: to have his opinion confirmed by one or two other experts. A tea-taster, however, is seldom at fauit. 2nd seme of them are so skilled that by merely tasting a sample of tea In this manner they can immediately tell where and when it was grown, as well as its value. The tea leaves, too. are often taken from the pots and duly examined. For al- though it is not considered an infallible test. yet good tea is often determined by the rich brown color of its infused leaves., It-is also a peculiar fact that a taster can often tell from the size and shape of & broken tea leaf the size of the original perfect leaf. and in that way come to & glecludlan regarding the quality of the end.