The second reason why a boy should learn to box is because boxing not only teaches him how to utilize the strength that he has, but before long it tremendously increases that same strength. Nearly every muscle of the body is brought into play. The triceps, or pushing muscles on the back of the arm, the shoulder and back muscles, are the ones especially developed in boxing. The bare back of a boxer is a perfect mass of muscle. Great knots and coils appear between and across the shoulders with every movement, while the ridges stand out clear down to the base of the spine. Let a boy practise a single left-hand lead in front of a mirror in gymnastic costume, and note how many muscles are used. Besides the above-mentioned ones, the leg, thigh, fore-arm, stomach, and breast muscles are all called upon indirectly. Besides strengthening all the muscles, boxing trains the eye, gives quickness and a lithe, easy carriage, broadens and deepens the chest, and enlarges the lungs, and, best of all, teaches self-control, and gives a certain indefinable feeling of strength and safety that comes only with a strong well-trained body.
So much for the advantages of boxing. It is not the writer's purpose in this article to do more than give the most general hints in regard to the actual blows and parries. Boxing cannot be taught on paper, and a boy can learn more in one lesson from a good teacher than by reading volumes. But a few brief hints may aid those who are not fortunate enough to be under an instructor.
And first, as to the selection of a teacher. Above all things, get one that is a scientific boxer, not some strapping bruiser that will knock you around at so much an hour. Every town has some veteran boxer who will be glad to give boys a start in sparring. The first principles should be learned thoroughly and correctly, or the pupil will always be bothered by some clumsy habit picked up as a beginner. It was only this winter that the writer broke his thumb by a wrong blow learned ten years back from his first teacher, and which, in the excitement of a hard-fought bout, is only too apt to crop out in spite of years of warning from half a dozen instructors.
The first important thing to learn in boxing is the position. Figure 1. represents what the writer considers an ideal position. The left foot should be in front, with the right foot from fifteen to eighteen inches in the rear and from six to eight inches to the right. The left hip should point nearly front. By that position the whole body can be protected from any right-hand blows by simply dropping the left arm as shown in illustration No. 2. The right arm should rest across the chest, with the glove on the left nipple, while the left arm should be held as in the illustration. In connection with the subject of position comes the management of the feet. The weight should rest equally on both feet, and in breaking ground, as movement to one side or the other is termed, or in advancing or retreating, the feet should never be raised from the ground as in walking. Advance first the front foot some six inches, and then the back foot, so as to always keep the same relative distance between them.