Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1889-05-19
TRAINING A BIG 'UN.
John L. Sullivan Tells How he Pre-
pares to Fight a Battle.
FOOD AND EXERCISE TAKEN.
A Fighters Feelings After Receiving
Punishment.
WHY PUGILISM HAS LOST ITS REPUTE

| WHY PUGlulpM mao LVoI I'D hEE UIG
IAN authorized shorthand interview, revised
and signed by John L Sullivan.l
For my coming fight with Kilrain, until
very lately, had intended to train at a lit
tie place not far from New Orleans. That
section of the country is very familiar to
me- for it was at the same place 1 trained
for my fight with Ryan. some six years ago.
The climate there is good, the ground is
dry, the place free from malarial affections
and the thermometer seldom ranges above
80 degrees or goes below 80. But I have
lately changed my mind, and ! shall train
nearer home.
will give as careful description of my
course of training as can. Here is what 1
60 throughevery day from the 18th of May
until the day of the fight:
get up about o'clock and start out on
a five-mile walk. When return from that
exercise am rubbed down with coarse
towel and rest for about half an hour; then
am ready for breakfast. That meal con-
sists of chops or beefsteak and cup of weak
tea am not allowed to drink coffee, be-
cause coffee has tendency to make man
bilious. Tea, if it is not too strong, and you
don't drink too much of it, is good for the
nerves. Did you ever notice that nearly all
people who have grown to an old age have
been very fond of their cup OF tea? think
that fact proves that tea is good thing for
the human system.
After breakfast sit around awhile, read
the newspaper or chat with my trainer, and
then for half an hour I exercise with two
!, 4. la1l. III ,f
Indian clubs. / also skip q rope. That
may seem a very womanish exercise and the
statement may make some people smile, but
the fact is that skipping the rope is an ex-
cellent exercise for limbering up the joints,
most every joint in your body receives bene-
fit. believe that such exercise is excellent
for young girls, though they have tendency
to overdo it, in which case, of course, it is
very harmful. Another exercise 1 indulge
in at this time is punching the football,
which is suspended by rope from the cell
ing. All these exertions occupy the time
until the dinner hour. They are continued
pretty constantly one after the other, slowly
and easily, and not to the degree of fatigue.
A TRAINING DINNER.
For dinner / eat roast mutton, roast beef
or roast chicken. / eat only the lean of the
meat at this or any meal; the fat is cut off
and thrown aside. Iconsider chicken, broiled
or roasted, good food; the meat is dry and
somewhat strengthening. There is no choice
between roast beet and mutton, one is as
good as the other. After resting while
after dinner go out on my long walk and
run-for distance of 20 miles I walk and
run, alternately. This is the most severe
exercise of the day and has for its object the
strengthening of the legs and the wind.
When 1 come in from the long run am
rubbed down with a coarse towel, after
which jump into b. thtub with salt in
the water, or, if am in a neighborhood
where there is sea-bathing, I take the ben
eft of that; also let the water run over me
in shower. Then am rubbed dry with
coarse hand towel, after which my trainer
rubs me down with his bands-always rub
bing in a downward direction, not both
ways. The object of this rubbing
is to harden the flesh; if you rubbed both
ways instead of one it would have q ten
dency to make the flesh sore. because under
this high training the flesh becomes very
sensitive until, under proper treatment, it
begins to harden. By this time it is 6
o'clock. After dressing myself in ordinary
costume I pass away the time for an hour in
reading or chatting, and then have good
appetite for supper. That is not such a
heavy meal as breakfast or dinner. I gen.
orally eat little cold chicken, some dry
bread q always eat the bread dry) and
drink bowl of weak tea. As a rule eat
no dessert, though 1 am sometimes allowed
a little rice pudding. 1 don't smoke or
drink any kind OF liquor, though for dinner
I sometimes take bottle of Bass ale. That
drink, taken in a very moderate quantity at
the noon meal, l consider beneficial; it is,
to a certain extent, strengthening. 1 90 to
bed at 9 o'clock and, it is almost needless to
say, enjoy good nights rest.
Now the reason don't eat fat is because
fat makes it. The object of training is to
get rid of your surplus fat, to develop your
muscles and to harden your flesh, and to get
what fighters call your "wind" all right.
An ordinary man cannot run up a fight of
stairs, or three or four blocks, without being
''winded." 1t makes no difference how
strong a man may be, if his ''wind" gives
out easily he is powerless. A man can re-
duce his weight by sweating, but the proper
way is to reduce your weight by exercise
and harden your flesh by rubbing. Of
course it is necessary to take sweats; they
help man; but you cannot rely upon them
altogether.
THREE GOOD MEALS.
Again, as to eating, do not eat a large
quantity of food, but eat three good meals
adapted.to make strength. don't indulge
in what the cooks call palate ticklers." 1
suppose many business men eat more than
1 do. but don't think their appetite can be
a healthy one. Then, again, they eat
light breakfast, moderate lunch and con-
sumo large meal at the close of day.
People sometimes express surprise that
prIze-1ghters recover so quickly from the
punishment they receive in a fight. After
the fight is over the fighter is given hot
bath, that takes the soreness out of him and
keeps the blood in circulation. If he has
bruises the blood hasn't. time to CONCEAL.
For very bad swelllngs the tincture of
iodine is used. II your eyes are all bungeG
up you simply apply hot water, Just as hot
as you can bear, and that will soon reduce
them to their natural state. 1 suppose the
great secret of the fighters quick recovery
is the fact that he is in such high state of
health; nature does most of the work. They
say if you cut an Indian with a hatchet-I
mean a strong, healthy Indian that hasn't
been soaked in bad whisky-the wound will
heal of it itself in few days. Give white
man the same kind of blow and it will kill
him.
A fighter don't feel so bad while battling;
he is in state of activity and the excite
ment helps to keep him up. After the fight
he feels stiff and sore. Between the rounds
his mouth is sponged out to prevent saliva
from gathering and sticking in his throat;
he is freshened up by ice water applied to
his head just behind the ears with a sponge;
this is very sensitive part of the head and
there the application is especially benef-
cial. Stimulants are sometimes given, but
it depends on the condition of the man. If
L =. l. L