The Tupelo journal., 1908-04-24
Athletic Exercises
and Sports for Boys

ment house without losing breath. In
the first place. keep the body as erect
as when walking on level ground.
Keep the shoulders squared, the mouth
shut; breathe regularly, raise each
foot to the next stair as If walking on
a floor, rising on the ball of the foot,
and not bending the legs any nor
than necessary. Let the arms hang
loose at the side or clasped loosely be-
hind you. Lift the foot no higher than
is necessary in order to reach the next
step.
Climb stairs In this fashion and you
will help heart, lungs and muscles, in
stead of putting an undue strain on
all three. This caution as to stair
climbing is less trivial than it may ap-
pear. More than one person climbing
a long flight of stairs has dropped dead
at the top.
| come now to somewhat more adj
vanced athletics, the sort that no boy
can safely take up to any extent until
he Is at least "A.
l refer to boxing, bag-punching,
fencing, football, etc.
These are all exercises within the
reach of every healthy boy. A lad need
weight and hard muscle to excel in
them.
Boys Should Learn Boxing.
The first three-boXing, fencing and
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS be made a part
of every boys education. They not
only bring strength, endurance and
activity, but they teach a boy to think.
They teach him to use his brain as
well as his body.
Parents whose boys come home
from school with black eyes, bleeding
lips and torn clothes are wont to think
the injuries are due to boXing-or
fighting, which in many persons minds
means the anne thing. Now those
boys have not been boxing at all.
They've been in a rough and tumble
fight. Between "s%crapping' and box
ing there is as much difference as be-
tween a three-year-old baby's strum-
ming on the piano and Paderewski's
playing of the same instrument.
Instead of being a vent for i'll tenn
per and quarrelsome disposition, box
ing is the best method I know of for
teaching a boy self-control. More
over, the skilled boxer is usually the
last person to look for a fight. Conf
dent-in his superior skill and prowess,
he generally avoids a quarrel as long
as possible.
The boxer, too, learns to take heavy
blows without flinching, and gains
therefrom rot only endurance but in.
creased good temper. The boxer who
loses his temper is universally scorned
and is as thoroughly sent to Coven.
try" as though he were caught steal
ing. S%elf-control and fair play are the
keynotes of this firest of exercises.
What l have said of the mental ad.
vantages of boxing will be borne out
by all persons who have given it a fair
trial. The mother who forbids he.
boy to box because it is brutal is de.
frauding him of one of the greatest ad.
vantages he could possibly have.
So much for the mental side of the
manly art" From a merely physical
standpoint boxing develops every mus
Gle of the body as does no other exer-
else; makes a boy quick on his feet;
parts of the frame into better CO
ordination.
The main thing for boys to remem-
beS in handling gloves is that quick
ness counts for everything, and that Il
merely heavy blow counts for moth.
ing. Smuggling is not boxing. The
trained boxer can easily beat the mere
slugger. Moreover, you are boxing
with the idea of self-improvement; not
in the hope of hurting your opponent.
or course, now and then a heavy blow
cannot be avoided. The recipient
should understand that it was acct
dental and should bear no malice nor
turn a friendly bout into a slugging
match.
Never box longer than three minutes
at most without stopping to rest for at
least Il minute. Don't box in a dila-
tory fashion, but keep at it quickly and
steadily as long as the round lasts. In
the rests" no matter how warm you
may be, put a coat or sweater on and
keep out of draughts. 1t is after the
real work is over that the average
athlete is most often injured. It Is at
such times q fatally easy matter to
catch a severe cold or to acquire rheu-
matism.
Get a Punching Bag.
Bag punching is inseparably linked
to boxing. Every boy who can do so
should save up" to buy a punching
bag. If possible. hang it in your room
and, as part of your morning and
evening exercise, punch it.
Punch it in three-minute rounds,
resting n minute between rounds.
If three minutes is too long at first,
begin with one-minute rounds. Try
three rounds morning and evening.
That is enough for any boy. Practice,
on the bag, the blows ,,,u use in box
ing, and learn the simple tattoo" and
! right and left shifts" Keep your