Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1910-05-27
Miseellaneuus R@ains.
HISTORY OF THE PRIZE RING.
Evolution of Self Defense Game, Be-
onnina With Bare Fists.

ginning WIKI Dare FlShS'
During the last few years there has
been a notable increase of interest in
boxing; and, as invariably happens in
such a case, many innovations have
been introduced to the disgust of the
laudator temporis acti, who cannot or
will not see that these are merely
transitory symptoms of a process Of
evolution. If he who thinks that the
methods of self-defense (when the
gloves are on, of course) which were
good enough for his father should be
good enough for his son who had STU
died the history Of the art, its theory
and its practice, he would not be so
ready to condemn the new practices
as unsportsmanlike, says the London
Times. In point of fact there exists
no scientific history Of fisticuffs, and
1t is likely to remain in the category
Of tall books that ought to be, but
never will be, written. seeing that the
writing Of it would involve lifelong
searching and sitting of the chronicles
of the old prize ring.
When the not ignoble (because es-
sentially English) sport of fighting
with the naked fists was in its heyday,
the task of reporting the great con-
tests fell into the hands of uncritical
scribes who gave their patrons an in
tolerable deal of professional rhetoric to
one ha'penny's worth or less of vital
observation. They tell Us only the OBJ
vious incidents of those historic strug-
gles-who was the first to draw blood,
the first to score a knock-down blow,
and so on and so forth. OF course, 1t
was their duty to record these incl
dents over which many an honorable
guinea changed pockets. But they
never notice the less obvious but more
significant matters-for example. the
slight involuntary movement of pugi-
lists right foot, which shows that hit
has Jared his spine-they never COM
pare and contrast tine methods Of out
fighting and infighting practiced by the
rivals, they leave their readers In iS-
norance as to how and when the more
dangerous but less picturesque blows
were delivered and what were the
physical, moral and intellectual effects
thereof Actually 1t is impossible to
learn from their records whether or not
the solar plexus was regarded by the
old-fangled pugilists as more than an
1o,1 %, t,t,N
Gewis Carols wordD on the face. A
laborious instigation undertaken at
the suggestion of the late w. E. Hene-
ly left me still in doubt as to whether
the knock-ou blow to the point of the
chin was appraised at its true value
in the old prize ring. On the other
hand they wallow in professional rhe-
toric being always ready to tell us now
so-and-so visited the kissing trap"
or disturbed the olfactory organ" or
"elicited the ruby from the proboscis"
of his opponent
It is q relief to turn from their lu-
cubrations to the accounts of prize
fights given by Virgil or even Homer.
Except that he calls such a contest
alegeine (distressing) and so seems to
recognize that the issue of such affairs
is generally determined by exhaustion
rather than by the mere pain Of hard
hits, Homers account Is vague and un-
satisfactory-which is really an arsu-
ment in favor of the pious creed that
the "Illiad" was written by blind man.
On the other hand, Virgirs picture of
the contest between Dares and the old
man who had been the pet pupil Of
King EryX is clearly the work Of poet
who was man Of the world enough to go
and watch priZefighters in the arena.
Dares, after issuing his challenge and
waiting awhile for an opponent, says
what any professional boxer would say
in such circumstances. His words
have been aptly translated as follows:
BEG pardon, m lord. but If no one
haven't the pluck to put 'em on with
me, what's the use of me standing
ere? l can't stop ere for ever ye know.
Hand over that there prize" Then
Entcllus throws his hat-I mean his old
blood stained appalling gloves-into the
ring, and a fight is arranged eventual
ly with equal mitts. Aeneas himself
fastens them on: the American device
of wearing bandages which harden as
the hands get hot and not then been in
vented so the delay which occurred the
other night when the French bantam
weight champion was about to box
with Curran at the National Sporting
club did not take place on that Occa-
sion. When the fight begins each man
makes the most Of his height-they
stand on tiptoe, which is a mistake
on their part-and spar for an opening.
Many blows fall short, the men being
out of distance, and others go home
on the body with q hollow sound lin
the account of the Savers Heenan bat
tie in this journal the sound of bit on
Heenans ribs is compared with that
of the breaking in of box) and the
jaws Of the fighters clatter under the
well directed swings. Entellus, who
had not been taught how to manage his
feet by his royal coach, leads with his
uplifted right after the invariable GUS
tom Of the ancients, misses his shifty
opponent, and topples over. He is
helped to his legs, rusnes at his OppO-
nent. and Furnishes MIN with both
hands 0ike an American boxer who
is good at two-handed in-fighting),
and drives him round the ring, so to
speak, until the master of the cere-
monial games, the referee. stops the
unequal contest. Here is Roman form
at n glance, and 1t is clear that such
rustical performers (the country nov
ice always gets up on mis- toes) would
have soon been knocked out by mod
ern expert
1t is highly probable, however, that
the forefatners of our old prize ring,
Figg and Broughton and the rest. were
not much more scientific in their meth =
ods than the Virgilian heroes. Dimly
through the mists of conventional ver-
biage one sees that the practice OF
DugiliSm advanced by slow degrees In