Little Falls weekly transcript. (Little Falls, Morrison Co., Minn.) 1894-19??, 1900-08-28

mostly made up of Migrants who infest
!, all Chinese villages. a few were old
Black Flags, and these men had infused
much of the real military spirit into the
rabble that made up their following.
Many of these raw recruits were armed
with repeating rifles. while others had
old fashioned muskets which still seemed
effective. About half the force had guns
Of one kind or another. The remainder
had spears, tridents and long knives.
They looked hungry and eager for any
kind of looting or deviltry.
The native Christian who had been to
Shanghai and who had seen foreign
troops drill was surprised at the prof.
cheney Of these men in the manual of
arms and could only attribute their skill
to training by French and German army
officers. These leaders appeared to be
indefatigable, and they drilled their men
several times day.
In one part Of the camp this native
Christian saw a number Of Boxers sur
rounded by ring of gaping countrymen.
They were indulging in a number of GYM
nastic feats which excited great admira-
ton. Then they would so through incan-
tations and, rising, would ask any man
in the crowd to step forth and test their
invulnerability to blows.
One big Boxer, after many contortions,
declared he was willing that any one
should strike him in the chest, for no hui
man being could hurt him. The native
Christian. who was very powerful man
and had once been IN assistant in q for
eign gymnasium, accepted the Boxers
defiance and hit him blow in the chest
which knocked all Of the wind out Of the
braggart and put him out of action.
The blow was SO powerful that the
Boxer began to spit blood, though he as
sured the crowd that his injury was due
to the fact that he had omitted a certain
part of the necessary ritual. The crowd
actually accepted this absurd excuse and
made threats against the Christian who
expressed doubts Of the mans powers.
+ An Americanized Chinese, who lives in
San Francisco, and who claimed to have
belonged to the society Of Boxers, re-
Gently gave an interesting account Of the
Boxer drill, which, he says, begins In
youth. II began" he says, when was
IL years Of age. The first course OF
training which was given was a series
Of quick. progressive gestures, to accustom
the muscles to intensely rapid changes,
ending with rigid poses. After the mus
cles have been trained In this way we
then start In on a method Of weaponless
fighting, which Ii a union Of boxing,
wrestling and Of those other unknown
and unnamed grips and holds which give
US the ability to render an opponent
powerless by single grasp on him with
the hands, or, BY grasping in another
way, to end his life.
AFTER the drill in purely manual exer.
cises comes the training with the double
knives. This Is the art Of lifetime
in itself. The knives are nearly two
feet long, and are made in pairs, with the
blades and handles fattened so that both
knives fit in the one sheath. The vari-
GUS evolutions of this drill make it much
more complex and also more interesting
to the onlooker than Indian club prac-
tice. Two expert knife swingers. drill
ing face to face, make one Of the most
dramatic scenes that can be witnessed;
much more so than when there is real
fight on. because then things are slow.
both sides holding off or looking for an
opening"