. Athletics and manly sport . n Figgs day (1719-34) boxing had evi-dently not been reduced to any intelligent rules,thouirh his cards professed to teach defencescientifically. Figg himself was so famous for^ stops and parries/ that he is mentioned in theTatler, Guardian and ^ Craftsman, theforemost literary papers of the time. He is de-scribed by Capt. Godfrey, a famous patron of theathletes of his day, as a matchless was a majesty shone in his counte-nance, says Godfrey, and blazed in all his ac-tions bevond all I ever saw. His rio-ht leg boldand firm, and his left, ichich could
. Athletics and manly sport . n Figgs day (1719-34) boxing had evi-dently not been reduced to any intelligent rules,thouirh his cards professed to teach defencescientifically. Figg himself was so famous for^ stops and parries/ that he is mentioned in theTatler, Guardian and ^ Craftsman, theforemost literary papers of the time. He is de-scribed by Capt. Godfrey, a famous patron of theathletes of his day, as a matchless was a majesty shone in his counte-nance, says Godfrey, and blazed in all his ac-tions bevond all I ever saw. His rio-ht leg boldand firm, and his left, ichich could hardhj everhe disturbed, gave him surprising advantage, andstruck his adversary with despair and backsword of Fioirs time still remains THE FIRST MODERN CHAMPION BOXER. 45 a fovorite exercise in Enaland. It is a rudesword-exercise, all cuts and parries, as if thesword had no point. One of the mysteries of sword-knowledsfe isthe ]eno;th of time which some nations took tolearn that the eftective part of the weapon was. SET-TO. the point and not the edge. The point of asword, durino^ an eno:aoement, is never more thantwo feet from an opponents body, while the edgefor a cuttino:-blow is from four to seven feet (insweeping cuts, for instance). 46 ETHICS OF B(3X1XG AND MANLY SPOUT. Besides the advantage in space and time, thewound of the point is apt to pierce the vitals,while the wound of the ed2:e is a mere surfacecut or bruise. And yet, how few nations have straightenedtheir sabres and sharpened their points ! The absurd old backsword play, with a hano-ino; o:uard, is the onlv exercise safe forthe vile, curved sabres that even American cav-alry are equipped with to-day. But in Fia2s time, the professional fiohtino-man was really a master-of-weapons. Here, forinstance, is a specimen of the usual method ofadvertising: a coming: fiaht:— At the Bear Garden in Hockley on the trial of skill to be performed between two profoundMasters of the Xobie Science of Defence, o
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1890, booksubjectgames, bookyear1890
