Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1910-06-19
TRAINING FIGHTERS
IN THE 0LDEN DAYS
Many Different Plans EN-
pIoyed From the Mod
ern System.

1
| Reports from the Jeffries training camp
as we'll as those which come from other
| places where fighters are getting into
shape for a glove bout under modern
conditions. read somewhat as if the mer
in question were enjoying an outing and
| having a royal good time instead Of un'
| dergoing some strenuous operation tc
shape them up for a severe physical eff
| fort. run of few miles in the morn
| ing, a couple hours light exercising in
| the gymnasium in the afternoon, theaters
and boxing shows in the evening, II the
| training quarters are near big city. JOY
rides in big autos if the training quarter
| Of the camp is in the country. This with
| liberty to eat whatever one fancies, and
| the privilege to do just about what the
| pugilist is inclined to, seems to be about
the program followed out in preparing a
| man nowadays for glove bout. This
sort OF thing is in marked contrast to the
lines laid down by oldtime trainers when
| they were preparing man to meet an
opponent in the ring. The first thing
those old fellows used to do when they
had matched man for a night was to
give him a cleaning out as 1t was called.
Idea being that the system must be got
ten in shape for the building up which 1t
would undergo in the period OF severe
work which was to follow.
This purging in order to be as thorough
as possible was made by means of the
trainers. Billy Mclean used to have a
receipt for a purgative which consisted
Of mixture Of rhubarb, ipecac. SIENNA,
mama, Rochelle salts. licorice and the
juice of figs. This medicine was given
to the fighter the night before the train
ing was to start, just previous to his go
ing to bed. The effect OF this purging
would last sometimes for several days,
and would leave the victim as weak and
limp as a dishrag and unable to do
much work for the next couple OF days.
Used Heavy Weights.
1t was probably true that in many cases
this purging was too severe and often
dangerous. but, on the other hand. it was
good thing for a pugilist who had not
been careful in his habits Of living. AS
soon as the man was able to get about he
was started to work. walk of several
miles before breakfast, which consisted
Of steak or chops, toast and tea, was the
hrst performance Then a short rest and
a run of five miles or more, increasing
little very day. After the run. II the
siderable reduction was necessary, the
pugilist was laid on a mattress and COW
cred with blankets and given good
sweating. He was thoroughly dried on
and dinner followed The afternoons
work consisted of several hours hard
work In the gymnasium, punching a
heavy bag filled with sand other ma
terial, boxing. wrestling and other exer-
cises were kept up for several hours with
little intermission
IN vroS
the sacrifice Of speed and fighter was
considered to be a man who must show
great muscular development, and he had
to exercise till the muscles stood like
whipcords. Heavy weights, big dumb
bells and Indian clubs were the things
used to bring about this development OF
muscle, and the result was that after six
weeks or longer OF this sort Of thing the
pugilist was rugged, strong fellow, slow
as q cart horse. whose speed and consid-
cradle of his natural strength had been
used up in the training stunts. But his
wind was good and his stomach right and
he was able to stand long time on his
feet and take a lot of pounding, which
was thought to be the thing a fighter
ought to be able to do In those times.
The boxer nowadays who uses pair OF
one-pound dumb-bells and does a lot OF
dancing around gymnasium floor In
shadow boxing would be astounded IL he
was asked to use pair Of ten-pound
dumb-bells in his work or to punch bag
filled with sand which would weigh as
much as he did himself, varying the work
with seeing how often he could push up
to arms length a dumb-bell weighing
fifty pounds. and yet that was the sort of
thing which the old-time fighters used to
do regularly in their training.
Getting Off the Weight.
In getting off the weight many methods
were resorted to. The purging or clean
ing OUT was the first thing done. and
no training was complete without that as
starter. Then the sweating processes
were varied. and each trainer had a
method of his own, which was thought
to be better than any other. Running
many miles on the road with several suits
Of flannel underwear was one method.
Others used the plan OF steam baths:
fire and pile him with blankets, feather
beds. etc. Still another and a rather dis
agreeable process, but one which certainly
brought out the perspiration, was to wrap
a man in a big blanket and stand him UP
to his neck for hours in a manure pile.
1t Is reported that the first man to advise
the pugilistic fraternity against the ad-
visibility of using big dumb bells and
other heavy weights in training was Ed
ward Hanlon. one of the famous acrobats
and pantomimists of that name, who was
q follower of old-itme pugilism and a
lover Of boxing. He was powerful fell
low. very quick and agile in his move
ments and he never used anything but
light dumb-bells in his exercise. many
Of which were on the order of modern
calisthenics, and in which he used no
weights of any kind.
Hanlon showed the fighters and their
trainers that in using the heavy clubs