NEW SCHOOL 
OF 
PHYSICAL CULTURE How to Box to Win 
How to Build Muscle 
How to Breathe, Stand, Walk, or Run 
How to Punch the Bag 
A BOOK OF HEALTH AND STRENGTH 
BY 
TERRY McGOVERN 
JAMES J. CORBETT 
J. GARDNER SMITH, M. D. 
GUS E. and ARTHUR R. KEELEY 
FULLY ILLUSTRATED 
Reprinted by permission of New York Evening World 
NEW YORK and LONDON 
ROHDE & HASKINS 
9 CORTLANDT STREET Copyright, 1899, 
BY 
NEW YORK EVENING WORLD. 
Copyright, 1900, 
BY 
ROHDE & HASKINS. 
THE MERSHON COMPANY PRESS, 
RAHWAY, N. J. CONTENTS. 
First Lesson, 
page 
/he Right Way to Live-How to Become Strong, . . 7 
Second Lesson. 
*he Home Gymnasium-First Steps in Boxing, . . .16 
Third Lesson. 
Sow to Lead and Get Away-Body Blows-Counter 
Swings, 24 
Fourth Lesson. 
bucking-Side-Stepping-Gymnasium Work, . . .31 
Fifth Lesson. 
How to Take Care of Yourself in a Street Fight, . . .40 
Sixth Lesson. 
Dangers to be Avoided-Supplementary Points-General 
Advice, . . • 49 
McGovern Answers Letters, 56 
McGovern Explains His Knock-out Blow 60 
McGovern's own Story of His Start in Life, . . . .64 
HOW TO BOX TO WIN. 
HOW TO BUILD MUSCLE. 
I. Getting Ready-Preparing the Inner Man, ... 79 
II. First Months of Training, . 87 
HI Heavier Work Begun 94 
IV. Fresh Air a Muscle Builder 100 
V. Renew Your Strength ! 107 
VI. Now Women May Grow Strong and Beautiful, . . 115 
III IV 
CONTENTS. 
HOW TO BREATHE, STAND, WALK, OR RUN. 
PAGE 
I. Knowing how to Breathe Means Knowing How to Live 
in Perfect Health-Special Training Insures Strong 
Lungs and Develops Grace of Action, . . .125 
II. Stand like a Soldier for Strength and Grace-Lack of 
Energy and Ambition Shown in the Manner a Man 
Holds Himself, 131 
III. Heel-and-Toe Action First Rule in Walking-Natural 
Swing of Body and Feet Gives Health and Grace of 
Movement-Waddling Is Impossible when Head Is 
Held Erect, Chest Out, and Arms Follow Legs- 
Full Advantage to Fat and Lean Who Practice 
Nose Breathing and Follow Rule 137 
IV. All May Run Who Learn the Rules of Leg Speed- 
Catching Cars Will Be a Task of Joy and an Act of 
Graceful Motion-Old as well as Young Should Sprint 
and None Feel the Need to Puff and Blow-In Run- 
ning Spring from the Toe and Let Ankle, Knee, and 
Body Bend Freely 142 
I. Useful Exercise Will Develop Your Muscles and Im- 
prove Your Health 151 
II. First Blow to Learn in Punching the Bag-Champion 
Keeley Brothers, in Second Lesson, Tell Beginner 
the Correct Position to Assume and how to Properly 
Strike the First Blow, 157 
III. Tattoo and Hook Blows for the Bag-Puncher-How 
to Become Proficient in the Art of Landing Blows 
Quickly and Correctly, Explained by the Champion 
Keeley Brothers, 163 
IV. How to Become Fancy in Punching the Bag-Right 
and Left Elbow Blows aid a New and Pretty 
Tattoo, 169 
V. Hitting Bag with Head Strengthens the Neck, . .175 
VI. Roll Blows and Training Pointers for Bag-Pun- 
ohers 181 
HOW TO PUNCH THE BAG. HOW TO BOX TO WIN. HOW TO BOX TO WIN. 
By Terry McGovern, Bantam- and Feather-weight 
Champion. 
FIRST LESSON. 
THE RIGHT WAY TO LIVE-HOW TO BECOME STRONG. 
How many of you boys would know what to do if a 
larger fellow walked up to you and struck you ? 
No doubt you are already thinking how you would sail 
into him and win. But stop a minute and think it over. 
Suppose he should be a fairly good boxer. What earthly 
chance would you have against him ? 
Or even if he knew no more about handling his hands 
than you do, and yet happened to be a trifle stronger and 
quicker? You would be helpless against him. 
Now, this is not right. No boy (or man, for that mat- 
ter) ought to wantonly seek a fight, or bully a smaller 
chap. Still everybody ought to understand how to pro- 
tect himself. That is not only a convenience, but a duty. 
Governor Roosevelt said in a speech the other day: 
" If any of you mothers have a boy who will not fight, 8 
HOW TO BOX TO WIN. 
on good provocation, that boy is not worth his salt. He 
is a coward. Train your boy to use his fighting instincts 
on the side of righteousness. But punish anything like 
cruelty. Punish him when he abuses his strength." 
Now Governor Roosevelt himself is a fighter from the 
ground up, as his grateful country has cause to remem- 
ber, and he knows what he is talking about. 
A lot of you will say: 
"How can we learn to fight or to box? We are in 
school or college all day. What time do we get for such 
things ? " 
Now that is the very thing I am here to answer. In 
the first place, you are not in school all day. Only from 
nine to three. If you study in the evenings, that still 
leaves you the best hours of the day for exercise. Be- 
sides, you must remember you are not training for the 
prize ring, but simply learning to take care of yourselves 
and to become proficient at the finest, most useful exercise 
in the world, an exercise which will give you strength, 
health, self-confidence, and amusement. 
" We can't afford an expensive course of boxing les- 
sons under a skilled instructor," someone else says. 
But you can. It shall cost you almost nothing, and I 
will be your instructor. Such skill as I have is at your 
service. And as that skill has enabled me to win fifty-five 
ring battles and rise to the rank of champion bantam- 
weight boxer of the world, it may also help you. 
Moreover, I am not an old fogy, but a boy like your- THE RIGHT WAY TO LIVE. 
9 
selves. I am barely twenty, and have been in the ring 
ever since I was seventeen. 
Here then are some pointers which will enable any 
schoolboy or newsboy or office boy either, to learn box- 
ing at home. Let me say here that if there is anything 
about the following lessons that you want made plainer, 
or any point on boxing about which you are doubtful, 
write to me, care Rohde & Haskins, 9 Cortlandt Street, 
New York City, and I shall be glad to explain. 
In the first place take care of your general health. No 
man can neglect that and become a crack boxer. As well 
expect a race horse to make good time over a plowed 
field, or Dewey to conquer Manila with a rotten, leaky 
fleet. 
The greatest evils to be avoided are liquor, tobacco, 
and late hours. I have steered clear of all three, and 
I owe my success mainly to that fact. Drink especially 
has ruined more good athletes than has anything else. 
It ruins the wind and damages the whole system. So 
does tobacco. 
See that all your habits are regular and good. Keep 
your digestion in order, eat wholesome food, and be care- 
ful in no way to weaken or injure yourself. 
" Early to bed and early to rise," too, is a maxim as 
old as the hills, but as good as gold. 
Don't begin to box regularly until you are at least four- 
teen. Before that the body is not usually strong enough 
to stand the strain. 10 
HOW TO BOX TO WIN. 
I will map out a daily routine for you to start ©m 
before I begin giving you regular lessons. 
Rise at seven. 
Before you begin to dress, lie flat on your back on the 
floor. Rise to a sitting posture, with arms folded across 
To strengthen the muscles of the back 
and abdomen. 
the chest, not touching the ground with hands or arms, 
nor bending the legs. This will strengthen the muscles 
of the back and abdomen as well as those of the legs. 
Try this five times the first morning. 
Increase it by one each morning. 
When you can do it more easily, try with the arms 
held straight above the head instead of across the chest. 
Bring the arms down to the sides every other time. 
When you have learned to do this, go through the same 
motions each morning, holding a half-pound dumb-bell 
in each hand. EARLY MORNING EXERCISE. 
11 
Then stand up, hold the legs rigid, not bending the 
knees. Stoop over and try to touch the ground in front 
of you with the tips of your fingers. You will be able 
to do this in a day or two, even if you fail the first time. 
Then throw the arms above the head and bend back- 
ward as far as you can. In both the forward and back- 
To strengthen back and. thigh muscles. 
ward motions move slowly, both in the bend and in the 
recover. Jerkiness is to be avoided. 
Do each of these last-named exercises five times the 
first morning, increasing it by one each day. 
Then go through the same movements with the half- 
pound dumb-bells. 12 
HOW TO BOX TO WIN. 
All this should not take you over ten minutes. 
Dress and go out for a brisk half-mile walk before 
breakfast. 
You will come in hungry, of course, but eat slowly. 
Don't bolt your food or gobble it half-chewed. If you 
do this the stomach will sooner or later revolt. And 
To develop shoulders. 
when the stomach goes back on a man he is useless as 
an athlete until it returns to health and duty. 
After breakfast (after all meals in fact) take no vio- 
lent exercise for half an hour. The stomach also de- 
mands this, and the stomach must always be obeyed. 
For if the stomach goes on strike you're a goner till it 
can be coaxed back to work. HOW TO WALK. 
13 
After breakfast do no more exercising until work is 
over, unless, indeed, you can arrange to walk to and 
from the schoolhouse or business-not rapidly, but 
steadily. - 
When in school put behind you all memory of athletics 
The way to walk. 
and study or work like a man. For that is the main 
thing- after all, and it is what you're there for. A man 
who studies faithfully will generally exercise faithfully. 
When work is over you can begin exercising again. 
After work take a brisk walk of one and one-half or 
two miles. Keep the head back, chest well out, and 14 
HOW TO BOX TO WIN. 
mouth closed in walking. Walking is the cheapest, best 
exercise known, and every prize-fighter now counts it as 
a regular part of his daily training. It strengthens the 
leg and back muscles, besides affording general exercise 
for the whole body. 
After you return from this second walk do your hour's 
gymnastic and boxing work in the way I shall teach you 
in the following lessons. 
After that take a bath. Begin by bathing in lukewarm 
water, gradually, day after day, getting the water a little 
colder, but never ice-cold. Don't stay in the bath more 
than three minutes at most. Two minutes is better. A 
long soaking weakens one. 
When you get out of the tub rub yourself down hard 
and rapidly with a rough crash towel. As you go on, 
and begin regular boxing, rub yourself down, after that, 
with witch-hazel or alcohol. Both are cheap and a little 
of either goes a long way. 
Eat dinner or supper and rest in the evening, for 
you've had exercise enough for one day. 
Go to bed at nine, if you can. No later than 9.30 at 
any rate. 
Sleep in a well-ventilated room. 
The only cost of the ensuing lessons will be the pur- 
chase of the following articles: 
One set of eight-ounce boxing gloves. 
Two punching bags (one heavy and one light). 
One pair of half-pound dumb-bells. THINGS NEEDED. 
15 
One elastic " exerciser." 
All these things can be bought cheaply, most of them 
second-hand. Your parents will probably help you buy 
them. If not club in with some other fellow who also 
wants to learn boxing, and buy them between you. You 
can soon do it on the money you now spend on cigarettes, 
candy, or theater tickets. 
And every cent you put into such an investment will 
return you one thousand per cent, interest in the shape 
of an accomplishment that may one day save your life 
and which will certainly make a genuine man of you. SECOND LESSON. 
THE HOME GYMNASIUM-FIRST STEPS IN BOXING. 
First of all find some other boy to box with. 
He should be somewhere near your own size and build; 
for it is not good to begin by boxing with a person much 
larger, heavier, and cleverer, or smaller, weaker, and 
slower than yourself. 
You and your opponent should start about equal. As 
you learn to box better you can begin to box with men 
a little more expert than yourself, in order to improve 
your skill; but don't do it at first. 
While I believe that the best fighters are men of the 
John L. Sullivan type-" natural " fighters who trust to 
nature rather than to science-yet it is important for an 
amateur to learn the old rules and motions of regular 
boxing. Stand up in front of me now, put on your 
eight-ounce gloves, and I'll give you your first lesson. 
Wait a minute, though. 
Push back the bed, table, and chairs against the wall 
and leave as much free space to move about in as possi- 
ble. You should box, if you can, in a large, empty 
room. 
If you don't care to buy a boxing suit, wear a pair of 
16 LEG POSITIONS IN BOXING. 
17 
old trousers with a belt, rubber-soled slippers or shoes, 
and an undershirt. 
And don't use your teeth to pull on your boxing gloves. 
Your teeth are good, useful things, but they weren't made 
for that purpose. Pull on your gloves carefully and 
don't leave them knocking around the floor after you're 
through with them. It is such rough usage, and not 
boxing, that wears out gloves and spoils their shape. 
Now, then, come to guard! 
Stand with the left foot advanced about fifteen or 
eighteen inches in front of the right. Don't spoil your 
balance by holding your feet a yard or so apart, as 
people do in fancy boxing pictures. 
Rest the weight on the ball of the foot. Rest most 
of it on the left foot in advancing. This not only braces 
you to resist a blow, but adds force to your own blows, 
and enables you to throw more strength into back, arms, 
and shoulders. 
The toes of the left foot should be straight in front, 
not turned out or in. Turn the right foot out at an angle 
of about 450, as a rule, though you will soon learn by 
experience at what angle you can most conveniently hold 
it. When standing on guard keep the knees unbent and 
the legs straight. Stand so that your weight can be 
readily shifted from foot to foot. Practise this until it 
becomes natural. The right heel should be on line with 
the left. 
Now that disposes of the body below the waist. Be- 18 
HOW TO BOX TO WIN. 
fore we go higher let me impress on you the absolute 
need of learning how to use the feet and legs in boxing. 
They are well-nigh as important as the hands. Work 
hard to gain a " boxing balance " by constantly shifting 
the weight from foot to foot, by jumping backward, for- 
ward, and sideways, always coming down in position, but 
On guard. 
with the knees slightly bent to avoid any jar. Do this 
in the course of your before-breakfast gymnastics, hold- 
ing a half-pound dumb-bell in each hand; also moving 
about the floor quickly and striking, guarding, and duck- 
ing (still with the dumb-bells) as if you had a real op- 
ponent instead of empty air in front of you. Jumping 
about the room this way, making warlike gyrations with BODY POSITION. 
19 
the dumb-bells, is not only first-rate exercise, but quickly 
teaches you your balance. 
Hold the body upright, above the hips, not bending for- 
ward or leaning too far back. Keep the chest out and the 
shoulders back, when on guard. Bend back very slightly, 
but not enough to injure your balance or to prevent you 
Attitude on guard. 
from changing position or iom hitting with quickness. 
Hold the right arm partly across the body with the 
right glove in the center to guard the wind. The glove 
should be held only about six inches or so from the body. 
The right glove should usually be held (while at guard) 
at about the height of the solar plexus. The solar plexus 
is the nerve center situated just below the point where the 20 
HOW TO BOX TO WIN. 
ribs begin to diverge into a letter A. It is about here that 
many a man has been struck, with the effect of losing the 
bout, or, at the very least, having his wind badly dam- 
aged. It is an important point to guard. 
The left arm should be extended somewhat further, 
but not so far that it cannot guard the heart in a close- 
quarter scrimmage. It is with the left arm, remember, 
Left lead for face, showing change of position. 
that you do most of your leading, while the right should 
be reserved for close-quarter work and for guarding. 
After you become proficient you can change this guard 
to suit yourself, but it is well to begin in this way. 
Turn the head a little more to the right, not too far, 
but enough to avoid offering a full face to your oppo- 
nent's attack. THE STRAIGHT LEFT LEAD. 
21 
The first move in boxing (as taught in many good 
schools) is the straight left lead. 
Hit out with your left for my face. Don't haul your 
arm away back before hitting. If you did that in a real 
fight I would not only know just what you were about 
to do, but, while your arm was going so far back, mine 
would be shooting forward. 
Just hit out straight for my face with your left; not 
stiffly, but letting the shoulder go with the blow, and at 
the same time not twisting the body out of position, but 
bending slightly forward to give weight to the blow. 
The moment the blow has fairly landed get your arm 
back to position. Be sure not to lower your right-hand 
guard when hitting thus with the left. If you do you 
have both heart and wind exposed. 
Next lead with the right for my face in the same 
manner, avoiding the same mistakes. 
Get back on guard. Lead for my face with the left 
and bring it back to guard. Then lead for my face with 
the right, bringing that back, too. Repeat this several 
times. Don't bend the knees when leading for the face. 
These two simple blows are among the first principles 
of boxing, and, easy as they seem, they need a lot of 
practice. 
Now let me show you how to parry those two straight 
leads. 
I will lead at you, and you can parry. When I lead 
with the left for your face raise your right arm obliquely, 22 
HOW TO BOX TO WIN. 
keeping the wrist well above the elbows, so that my blow 
will slant off your arm and not jar it too hard. Be sure 
to throw the forearm upward and outward with the hands 
turned out, so as to catch the blow on the fleshy part of 
the arm. 
Raise the arm in time to stop my blow. Catch the 
Left lead for face and right guard for it. 
blow on the arm, if possible, and not on the glove. In 
a bare fist encounter you would have no pillow-like glove 
to trust to. 
Now I'll lead with my right for your face. Put up 
your left arm in the same manner to parry the blow. 
Now I will lead with left and then right. Parry both 
in succession, dropping each hand back to position as soon 
as you have parried with it. BLOWS AND PARRIES. 
23 
You boys can practice these two blows and parries to- 
gether now until our next lesson. Let one of you lead 
while the other parries; then turn about and keep it up 
until you get it correctly. If you bear in mind what I 
have said about the position of the body and the mistakes 
to be avoided, you will find this quite enough for your 
first lesson. 
Get two punching bags for gymnasium work if you 
can, one heavy, one light. Use the heavy one at first 
to teach you how to hit. Practice on it each blow as 
I teach it to you. The lighter bag can be used later to 
make you quick in leading, ducking, and getting out of 
the way. Hit out hard and from the shoulder at the 
bag, not little, half-hearted blows. It won't hit back. 
In the next lesson I'll show you some good body blows 
and how to use your feet. THIRD LESSON. 
HOW TO LEAD AND GET AWAY-BODY BLOWS-COUNTER 
SWINGS. 
By the way, before we begin this second lesson of ours, 
I want to make one or two suggestions. 
In the first place don't imagine for a moment that you 
can learn each day's lesson thoroughly on the very day 
you read it. 
Boxing, like everything else worth doing, can't be 
learned in a day. Study these lessons carefully and 
practice each point with the boy you've chosen as spar- 
ring partner. 
And that brings me to the subject of that very boy: 
Don't try to gain the mastery over him or to learn more 
quickly than he. Be as careful in helping him, in cor- 
recting his mistakes, and in all your boxing with him as 
you would wish him to be to you. 
I mean this for both of you alike. You will both learn 
much more quickly if you help and correct each other. 
One more point, while we are drawing on the gloves: 
In boxing with each other, you and your sparring 
partner must remember that you are in merely friendly 
rivalry and are not enemies. Don't 9 slug," don't try to 
24 LEARNING TO COUNTER. 
25 
knock each other down or disfigure each other's faces. 
All such hard hitting proves nothing, and you have not 
yet reached the point where you can do it without injury 
to your boxing. 
Go lightly. Strive to conquer by skill, not by slug- 
ging. You are in a friendly bout, not a prize-fight. 
Be a gentleman. If you are hit a little harder than 
usual, keep your temper. No one but a baby gets mad 
at an accidental hurt. Remember your opponent is your 
friend. Treat him as such. You would not knock down 
an opponent in baseball or try to blacken his eyes. Don't 
try it, then, in friendly boxing. 
So much for my lecture. Now let's stop jabbering 
and begin jabbing. 
Come to guard. Remember the points I gave you in 
the preceding lesson about position, etc. Now, let's 
practice the right- and left-hand leads for the face and 
their parries. Good! You do it a little awkwardly, but 
you'll soon get the idea. Now for the counters. 
I'll lead for your face with my left. Move your head 
quickly to the right. Not too far. Just far enough to 
avoid my blow. At the same time lead with your left 
for my face. Good! You landed square in my mouth, 
while my blow passed harmlessly over your shoulder. 
That is the left counter for the face. It's very easy. 
Don't bend the knees. Be sure to move the head and 
lead at the same time. 
Now for the right counter. I'll lead for your face 26 
HOW TO BOX TO WIN. 
again with my left. Move your head again-to the left 
this time-and lead for my face with your right. Your 
right arm passes outside of my left and lands on my jaw. 
A dangerous blow in a fight is that cross counter. 
Left counter for face. 
Practice both those counters carefully. They've 
knocked thousands of men out. 
Now for the body blows: In these you bend the left 
knee and throw the body forward to the blow. 
Bend the knee and hit out for my wind with your left. 
Throw the left shoulder into it and hit straight out. Re- 
cover. Then, bending the left knee slightly again, hit in 
the same way with your right hand for my heart. 
Those are the two principal body blows. 
To guard the blow for the wind, beat aside your oppo- BODY COUNTERS. 
27 
nent's glove with the right forearm, turning down the 
palm. The right hand being already across the stomach 
will make this easier. 
To guard the blow for the heart, put the left arm 
partly across your body in a V shape; elbow down, hand 
at height of throat. Catch the heart blow on your elbow 
or thereabouts. 
Now I'll lead for your face again with my left. Throw 
your head to the left, so my fist will pass to the right of it, 
Right cross counter for jaw. 
at the same time bending your left knee and hitting with 
yotir right for my heart, as I've just shown. Thus my 
blow passes you and I run squarely onto your fist. 
Let me lead again for your face with my left. 28 
HOW TO BOX TO WIN. 
Move your head to the right this time, bending the left 
knee and leading for my wind with your left. 
These are two good body-counters. 
Now, if you've done as I suggested about the gym- 
nasium, using the dumb-bells and practicing blows and 
Right counter for the heart. 
footwork, you will soon catch the next point. Hereto- 
fore we have stood perfectly still. But that is just what 
boxers don't do. 
To lead and then to get out of the way before an oppo- 
nent can return your blow is of the greatest importance. 
Let us go through all our blows and parries again, only 
after delivering each blow step back out of reach. Do 
it quickly, for as soon as your blow lands I am going to JUDGING STRIKING DISTzVNCE. 
29 
hit out at you, and unless you're out of reach in time you 
are liable to get hit. 
Now, then, lead a straight left for my face, then get 
back out of reach. Now come on again and lead with 
your right. Judge for yourself when you're within strik- 
ing distance. You'll make fearful blunders at first in 
calculating the distance your reach will extend, but you'll 
soon learn it and it's a necessary thing to know. 
And so we go through the different blows; leading, 
Left counter for the wind. 
getting quickly out of reach, getting back again, deliver- 
ing your blow and getting out of the way once more. 
Practice at this, you two boys, until it becomes natural 
to you. You can't afford to neglect this. 
And now we come to swings. Personally I don't care 30 
HOW TO BOX TO WIN. 
much for them. In all my fifty-five battles I never used 
a single swing nor saw the especial need of one. 
However, others don't agree with me in that view; so 
I will show you how the thing is done, and let you use it 
or not, as you choose. 
Come to guard. Drop the right arm to the side. 
Then bring it around, still extended to almost its full 
length, in a semicircle far enough away from the body to 
give it good leverage and to avoid your opponent's shoul- 
der, turning the hand as you do so, so that the thumb 
will be downward and the back of the hand-at the 
knuckles, of course-will strike your opponent. Throw 
the right shoulder well into the swing. It must be de- 
livered with speed and accuracy to be at all effective. 
I will lead for your face with my left. Move your head 
to the left and swing with your right for my jaw. It is a 
terrific blow when well struck. A left-hand swing is 
managed in the same fashion as a right-hand swing. 
When I lead for your face with my left, move your head 
to tile right and swing with your left for my jaw. 
To guard or block a swing, bring up your arm parallel 
with the body, so that your wrist is on a level with your 
ear. Turn the palm outward, and catch the swing, if you 
can, on the fleshy part of the forearm. 
That's enough for this lesson. In Lesson IV. we'll try 
a little ducking, side-stepping, and some more blows and 
counters. FOURTH LESSON. 
DUCKING-SIDE-STEPPING-IN-FIGHTING GYM- 
NASIUM WORK. 
For the sake of convenience it might be well for you 
to cut out one of the pictures that accompany this les- 
son and paste it up in your room where you can consult 
it from day to day. I mean the picture of the two chaps 
who look as though they have five arms apiece. (What 
a boxer a five-armed man would be!) The five arms on 
each man represent good and much-used arm defenses 
for any blow that can be struck. They are worth study- 
ing. AA is the right-hand parry for face blows; BB is 
left-hand parry for the face. C is left-hand guard for a 
left-hand body blow aimed at the heart or at the wind. 
D is a right-hand body guard, and E and F are left-hand 
guards for the body. A A and BB are also good guards 
for swings for the face, as F and G are good guards for 
body swings. G is also a good guard for blows aimed 
at wind or heart. 
I have now taught you the primary blows of boxing. 
All the others are more or less variations of these. 
For instance, the celebrated half hook is a short-arm 
swing delivered at close quarters with the arm crooked 
31 HOW TO BOX TO WIN. 
32 
at the elbow instead of extended as in a swing, and the 
hand landing on the thick portion just below the thumb 
instead of the back of the knuckles. 
A jolt is a blow delivered at close quarters, the arm 
Arm parries for all blows. 
being bent and almost rigid and most of the force derived 
by " throwing your body into the blow." 
An uppercut is really a vertical half hook or swing. 
When an opponent in rushing you or in close-quarters 
work leaves chest and jaw sufficiently exposed, bring 
your left arm up in a sort of swing, which should travel 
upward in a straight line, landing, if possible, under his 
chin. If you can't land there, hit his face. Throw the 
shoulder and body into this blow, getting in as much of 
a swinging motion as you can. If the blow lands QUICKNESS THE KEYNOTE. 
33 
squarely and with much force just under the chin it will 
probably floor him. It is better for fighting than for a 
friendly bout. 
Remember that quickness-both of brain, eye, and 
muscle-is the very keynote of boxing. Train yourself 
to observe possible openings, and when you think you 
see your chance hit like lightning, for in a fraction of a 
second that chance will probably be gone. 
The uppercut is best used, perhaps, when your oppo- 
Uppercut. 
nent leads with his left, and in doing so chances to throw 
the head somewhat forward. The uppercut is really a 
sort of counter. To guard against it throw the head 
back out of reach or to one side and lead at the same 34 
HOW TO BOX TO WIN. 
time for his face with your left, or at his heart with your 
right. 
A cross parry is another old, but good, trick. I will 
lead for your face with my left. Catch my blow in such 
fashion with your left arm that the left side of your wrist 
is against the left side of mine. Manage to do this when 
my arm is extended as nearly as possible to the full and 
when you are far enough away to avoid the blow by 
bending back. Throw your left arm sharply to the left, 
carrying mine before it. This (if I'm far forward and 
thus shaky iu my balance for the moment) will twist my 
whole body sideways. Take advantage of the moment 
before I can recover and bring your right glove across to 
my unprotected jaw. Your right will land on the left 
side of my face, and the blow is a good one. 
Now we will try a little ducking. 
The straight duck is most often used. Stand in your 
usual position. When I lead for your face with either 
right or left hand, bend your head forward and to the 
left, moving it in a sort of half circle far enough to let the 
blow pass over your head. As you do this you can 
either take a step backward with your right foot, follow- 
ing it with the left, and thus getting out of reach, or you 
can step in with the left foot and land on heart or wind. 
In the straight ducking keep your knees rigid and your 
left arm in such a position that your adversary cannot 
uppercut you. 
'Ducking to the side is also useful at times. When I DUCKING AND IN-FIGHTING. 
35 
lead for you with my left turn your left shoulder forward 
and to the left, letting the head and the rest of the body 
above the waist move naturally with the gesture. Turn 
until your shoulders are about at right angles to their 
Straight duck, right-hand counter. 
former position, at the same time bending the left knee. 
This will usually take you out of the way of your oppo- 
nent's blow. You may at the same time lead for his body 
with your left hand. 
When at close quarters try to get your arms inside 
your opponent's and deliver as many blows as you can for 
heart, wind, and face before he can retaliate. When, for 
instance, he swings or leads straight fer your face with 
either hand, block his blow and while your glove is still 
between his right guard and his face, strike a short-arm 36 
HOW TO BOX TO WIN. 
blow for whatever portion of his anatomy is nearest you. 
When you can get both arms at the same time into this 
enviable position you can have a really delightful time 
with him. This is known as in-fighting. In such cases 
don't draw your arms back in order to deliver the blow, 
but make your shoulders supply the force. 
Remember in all sorts of boxing that the whole body 
must do its share and that the shoulders are an important 
factor. 
A good way to avoid a rush is by " slipping." (Prac- 
In-fighting. 
tice this also with dumb-bells in the gymnasium.) When 
a man rushes you duck to the side and step out with the 
left foot at right angles to your regular position. Then 
turning sharply to the left and bringing your right foot AVOIDING A "RUSH." 
37 
around at the same time you can easily fall into position 
facing your opponent, wherever he may happen to be. 
All depends on absolute quickness. If you are rapid 
enough in this maneuver you may even be able to get 
back at him before he recovers from his futile rush. 
Side-stepping is a similar trick. To do this, wait till 
your opponent leads heavily for your face. Then bring 
back the left foot alongside of the right, move the right 
foot quickly to the right, following it with the body and 
with your left foot, and falling into position so that you 
can, if possible, get in a blow at your opponent before he 
recovers his balance. 
There is one evil you must avoid. Don't allow your- 
self to get overtired or to box too long in a single day. 
As soon as you feel fatigued stop. 
At most you must only box about six rounds of two 
minutes apiece each day. Take a minute's rest between 
each two rounds. 
I also advise you to avoid swings until you become a 
good enough boxer to decide for yourself whether or not 
they are of any use. Personally I never use them, as I 
have said before. I think they leave a man too much 
exposed. I am always glad when an opponent swings 
for me, for then I am sure to find he has left some open- 
ing that I can take advantage of. 
Here is the daily routine I advise: 
Go through the morning exercises I described in my 
first lesson with you, not forgetting to jump, sidestep, 38 
HOW TO BOX TO WIN. 
etc., with the dumb-bells and to spar with them at an 
imaginary opponent. Then, after school or business put 
on your boxing clothes and do the following gymnastic 
work. 
First punch the bag. Punch it two minutes, then rest 
a minute. Do this four times. Use the heavy bag alone 
in the beginning. That will teach you hard hitting. 
Later on use the light bag as well, to teach you fast hit- 
ting and footwork. Don't stand up and slug the bags. 
Go at them as if they were real enemies. Hit; get out of 
the way; get back with another blow, calculating your 
distance; and practice on them all the blows I have 
taught you. 
Then rest while your sparring partner tries his hand 
at the bag, or else take a turn or two at the elastic 
" exercise strap." This strap is useful in developing the 
arms, chest, and shoulders. Stretch it to its full extent, 
first with both arms stretched far apart in front of you, 
then behind you; then one arm up and one down, then 
both over your head; then one before and one behind. 
Don't overdo this. Three times for each movement is 
enough for the first day. Increase by one each day. 
Then, when you are both rested, begin to box. Don't 
go over six rounds of two minutes each. Try to help 
each other, correcting each other's mistakes and going 
over difficult points again and again until both have mas- 
tered them. Before beginning the regular boxing each 
day, go through the various points I have shown you GYMNASIUM WORK. 
39 
(blows, counters, footwork, parries, etc.); first one of 
you acting as teacher and then the other. 
If either of you tire stop until rested. If very tired 
stop for the day. 
After the boxing take a bath, dry with a coarse crash 
towel, rubbing the flesh into a glow; then rub down with 
alcohol or witch-hazel, and knead the various muscles, 
suppling them and pinching them gently with the fingers. 
Wrestling is also good exercise, if you have any 
strength left over after your daily gymnasium work. 
But if you wrestle at all do it in moderation, and avoid 
straining yourself. Also avoid too much work on hori- 
zontal bars, or swinging from rings by the arms. 
Too much of such work is liable to make you muscle- 
bound and destroy your hitting powers. In all your 
athletic work employ swift movements; don't loaf or go 
slowly. Any carthorse can do that. You lose by it. 
Skipping the rope may be added to this course of 
exercise. Skip twenty times the first day, adding five or 
ten per day till you reach two hundred. Don't skip the 
rope more often than two hundred times a day at most. 
If this entire course is too much for you at first, cut it 
down, increasing it slowly as your strength increases. 
In the next lesson I will teach you how to take care of 
yourself in a street fight, and a trick or two which will 
make you victorious. FIFTH LESSON. 
HOW TO TAKE CARE OF YOURSELF IN A STREET FIGHT. 
No matter how peaceable and well-behaved you may 
be, the time may come (it may come within the next 
twenty-four hours) when you will find it necessary to 
fight. 
It is always best to avoid a street fight whenever you 
can, and to do nothing to bring it on. But if such a fight 
is forced on you, don't give up as long as you have a 
particle of life left in you. 
If some fellow bigger than yourself attacks you the 
chances are three to one that you can beat him if only 
you understand boxing and keep cool. 
In the first place, a man who seeks a fight with you on 
the street may be more or less drunk; in which case he 
cannot do himself justice and you will find him an easier 
foe than you expect. Drink makes many men quarrel- 
some, but at the same time it lessens their fighting 
powers. 
Then again your street fighter is seldom in condition. 
The man who trains conscientiously and who has a work- 
ing knowledge of boxing is not the sort of fellow, as a 
rule, who provokes street fights. It is more often a 
40 ADVANTAGE IN THE FIRST BLOW. 
41 
drink-soaked loafer or tough, who is soft and untrained, 
or else some wharf workman who, while strong, is slow 
and doesn't understand how to use his muscles. 
Thus far the chances are in your favor. 
Another thing that will help you, too, is the grand old 
American game of " bluff." 
For instance, you know in a general way, what sort of 
man your opponent is. But he has no idea whether you 
are a pugilist or a consumptive bank clerk. 
If you can impress him at the outset with an idea of 
your superior strength and skill the battle is half won. 
When, for example, you see the fight is inevitable, 
don't wait for him to get into position or attack you. 
Always strike the first blow, and strike hard and 
skillfully. Aim for the point of the jaw when you can. 
If not, for some other part of the face. Then, don't let 
up, but keep right on throwing in blow after blow, with- 
out giving him a chance to recover from his surprise. 
Don't hit wildly, but with strength and cleverness, as 
your gymnasium practice with dumb-bells and punching 
bags will have taught you to do. Make each blow tell, 
and deliver each blow with full force. 
Be careful, though, not to be over-confident or to place 
yourself where he can retaliate too easily. Remember 
that a street loafer won't fight fair, but will use every foul 
tactic to win. There will be no referee there, you know, 
to disqualify him. Make your superior quickness counl 
in your favor, as well as your boxing skill. While de- 42 
HOW TO BOX TO WIN. 
fending yourself carefully, keep attacking him all the 
time. Give him no chance to attack you or to try any 
of his unfair methods. Thus steady, quick, aggressive 
work is often the best way to defend yourself. 
The chances are, moreover, that a street tough's de- 
fense is far weaker than his attack, and that is in your 
favor, too, as long as you keep on attacking. 
Don't get rattled. If you do your skill and knowledge 
of boxing will desert you and leave you almost helpless. 
As long as you remain cool and keep your wits about 
you you increase your chances of victory tenfold. 
Let me say right here (to qualify my remark a little 
way back about not shirking a fight), if four or five men 
tackle you at once, don't be ashamed to run for your life. 
There is mo cowardice in this, for it is only in dime novels 
that one man can thrash a whole gang. In such circum- 
stances escape while you can, for it is not a fair fight, but 
a brutal, hopeless beating you're running from. 
If, however, you are surrounded by such a crowd with 
no chance for escape, fight to the last gasp, taking the 
aggressive and using all the quickness and skill you 
have. 
There is something magnificent in the thought of a 
man battling gallantly and single-handed in a contest he 
knows to be hopeless. The increased respect of all who 
know you will compensate for such a defeat. 
And mow let us get back to the point again. I am 
more used to fighting than to writing, so I must ask your YOUR SKILL MAY SAVE YOU. 
43 
forgiveness and indulgence for any digressions, as well 
as for any awkwardly expressed phrases. 
In a street fight your opponent will usually try to rush 
you and knock your head off. His rushes are apt to be 
" Slipping." 
as clumsy as they are formidable. Here is where side- 
stepping, " slipping," and other forms of getting out of 
the way come in handy. If you can avoid one of his 
rushes and before he recovers his balance can land a stiff 
blow on his jaw or under his ear, you will make an excel- 
lent impression on him. 
Another point: As I said, the tough is apt to be out of 
condition. In no place is lack of training so manifest 
as in the state of the muscles, tissues, etc., covering the 
stomach. 44 
HOW TO BOX TO WIN. 
By following out a gymnastic course you can make the 
muscles and flesh from chest to waist nearly as hard as 
iron. But an untrained man has no such protection. 
Therefore, if you can manage to land a few heavy 
punches on his wind you may finish him up. A stiff 
blow on his wind will at least bend him over far enough 
for you to land your other hand heavily on his jaw. Re- 
member this. 
And now, one more point. The man, as I've told you, 
won't fight fair. If you once get within his grasp it may 
Side-stepping. 
go hard with you unless you know a trick or two to block 
him. 
He may go even further and kick. If you are sure 
enough of your ability to cope with him at close quarters TRICKS FOR CLOSE QUARTERS. 
45 
jump in at him when he starts to kick and get too close 
for the kick to land hard. 
Or else side-step or get out of the way in some other 
Throw across the hip. 
fashion, and, if possible, grab his foot or leg before he 
can bring it back to the ground, and throw him. 
Some good tricks at close quarters are as follows: 
Suppose for the moment that I am your opponent in a 
street fight. I hit out for you wildly with my right hand. 
As I do so seize my right wrist with your left hand, bend 
your left knee and pull my right arm over your head 
until your left hand, which holds my wrist, is behind your 
own neck. At the same time seize my right leg just 
above the knee with your right hand. Give your body a 
twist that will bring the back of your shoulders under my 46 
HOW TC BOX TO WIN. 
waist. Then rise to your full height, swinging my body 
up, as you go, my stomach resting across your shoulders, 
my right hand and leg imprisoned by your left and right 
hands. The impetus, the way my body is balanced, and 
the momentum of the rise are such that a small man can, 
in this fashion, lift a man who weighs two hundred. Be 
sure my body is well balanced (like a see-saw board) 
across your shoulders, as this lessens the difficulty of lift- 
ing me. When an opponent is once up in the air hurl 
him head downward, or any way you like, to the ground. 
Hip fall. 
It is needless to say that this maneuver must be executed 
with lightning quickness. It is far easier than it sounds. 
Another: When an opponent leads for your face, 
counter with the right, sending your right hand beyond HIP FALL AND BLOCKING IT. 
47 
his face, so that your arm can encircle his neck. Swing 
your body around so that your right leg is just in front 
of his right; catch his right forearm, if possible, with your 
left hand; then, with a quick motion, bend sharply for- 
Back fall. 
ward from the waist, using the right hip as a lever, and 
throw him thus over your hip to the ground. 
Again: When he leads with his left, duck, rush in, 
throw your left arm about his waist, get your left leg be- 
yond his and just behind it, catch him under the chin 
with your right hand, and, using your left hip as a lever, 
throw him backward to the ground. This is the hip fall. 
When a man tries this on you move your left leg sharply 
fifteen, eighteen inches to the left, planting the left foot 
firmly there before his left leg can get behind you. This 
will block the trick. 48 
HOW TO BOX TO WIN. 
The back fall is also of use at times. Rush in as be- 
fore, throwing left arm around opponent's waist, placing 
your left leg behind his right leg and pressing your right 
forearm under his chin. Pull his waist toward you with 
your left arm, and at the same time shove his head and 
neck violently back with your right arm. If you do this 
quickly and hard enough he will fall. There are many 
more such tricks, but these seem to me the more im 
portant. 
So much for street fighting. In the next lesson we 
will go back to the gymnasium for some more advanced 
boxing and calisthenics. SIXTH LESSON. 
DANGERS TO BE AVOIDED SUPPLEMENTARY POINTS- 
GENERAL ADVICE. 
The easiest thing in all boxing is the facility for mak- 
ing mistakes. A blunder persisted in will become so 
much a habit as to spoil your whole boxing. 
For instance, I know a man who might be among our 
best fighters to-day but for one fault: In his eagerness 
to get out of the way quickly after delivering a blow 
he fell into a way of " snapping back." Snapping back 
is leading for an opponent, and then jerking back the 
arm before the blow has had a chance to land prop- 
erly. He has become set in the way of doing this, 
and it mars many a fine boxer. His best blows thus fall 
short, simply because he himself will not allow them 
to land with full force, but instinctively checks them. 
Now this often has its rise in a form of timidity-a 
desire to hit an opponent, yet fearing the other's return 
blow. 
Now this is wrong. Of course you ought to try your 
best to deliver your blow and then get out of reach, but 
never do it until your blow is fairly landed. 
Moreover, don't be afraid of your opponent. 
49 50 
HOW TO BOX TO WIN. 
It is all right for you to parry, duck, and otherwise 
avoid his blows, but do this only because you want to 
outpoint him in skill and not because you are afraid of 
him. 
Don't flinch from blows. In fact, there are many 
Getting out of reach. 
times when it is well to allow your opponent to land on 
you for the sake of getting a better chance of retaliating 
with a more skillful or heavier blow. 
If you are afraid of the possibility of getting slightly 
hurt you would better not box at all, for I can tell you 
now you will never succeed at it. 
Outsiders have foolish ideas of the pain a blow will 
cause. But if you are in good athletic condition the aver- 
age blow will hurt you no more than would a feather. ACQUIRING PLUCK. 
51 
The worst it can do is to give you a nosebleed, and a 
nosebleed is often a good thing for a man. It certainly 
cannot harm him. 
That is where boxing teaches you courage. A man 
who can stand up unflinchingly before a good boxer, giv- 
ing and taking blows, will acquire pluck that will help 
him in other walks of life. 
When you have boxed long enough with your sparring 
partner to become somewhat proficient, begin sparring 
now and then with some man who is a better boxer than 
Forestalling a clinch by an uppercut. 
yourself. This will teach you new points and accustom 
you to guarding against all styles of attack. For each 
boxer has a style of his own; and after you master the 
rudiments it will do you good to box with a number of 52 
HOW TO BOX TO WIN. 
other people beside the one boy whose style you are ac- 
customed to. 
As I say, each boxer has his especial style. My own 
way is to keep attacking my opponent constantly, trying 
to keep him from forming or executing any plan of attack 
against me. Aggression is often the best sort of defense. 
I never swing, but confine myself to straight blows. I 
keep my feet going constantly, rushing, retreating, side- 
stepping, etc. 
In a fight I generally attack my opponent from the 
waist up. In other words, I begin hammering at him 
just above the belt, and work upward toward the face 
until I find his weakest spot, and then I bang away at 
that until I get him groggy or prepare him for a blow 
that will put him to sleep. 
When you become a fairly good boxer you can find out 
by experience what form of guard, attack, etc., is best 
suited to you. Until then stick to the set rules I have 
given you, and work faithfully at them and at the gym- 
nasium exercises. 
Exercising many hours one day and then no more for 
a week is worse than useless. Never shirk your daily 
routine of exercise that I have described. Go through it 
conscientiously, and in the course of a month or so you 
will find that you feel uncomfortable if you omit it. 
Nothing else in life gives a man the self-assurance and the 
sense of security that is imparted by the fact that he is 
in splendid physical condition and that he understands STEADY EXERCISE. 
53 
how to defend himself in case he gets into an alterca- 
tion. 
When you have worked long enough to make your 
daily exercise easy for you there is another item that you 
Face counter for a heart blow. 
may add, if you care to. During the last half or three- 
quarters of a mile of your long daily walk you may run. 
Don't go as fast as you can, but at an easy, fairly rapid 
pace, and then sprint for the last one hundred yards. 
Begin by running a quarter-mile, and gradually in- 
crease it by a block a day until you get up to three- 
quarters of a mile. 
A quarter-mile is about five city blocks (running north 
and south) and three-quarters of a mile is about fifteen 
such blocks. 54 
HOW TO BOX TO WIN. 
Be very careful not to stand or sit in a draught while 
heated from exercise. Let the gymnasium be well ven- 
tilated, but avoid draughts and don't let yourself get cool 
too suddenly. It is better to endure a little discomfort 
while cooling off than to risk pneumonia or rheumatism. 
Rest on Sunday. Your body needs at least one day 
a week to recuperate after the week-day training. Six 
days a week is ample for all exercise. 
If you have not time enough in your early morning 
exercise to use the dumb-bells use them for ten minutes 
after the punching-bag work is over, during your after- 
noon exercise. 
A man who gets used to sparring rapidly with the 
punching-bag will usually find he takes naturally to real 
boxing. 
Watch others box. It will improve your style. 
In ordinary quick sparring, rest the weight of the 
body mainly on the ball of the left foot. This not only 
makes you quicker, but adds to the weight of your blows. 
Remember, too, that your brain is an important factor 
in boxing. Plan out your next move when you can, but 
let your actions be largely guided by those of your op- 
ponent, and be quick to see an opening for a blow. 
When you hit, hit out from the shoulder; don't jab 
weakly at an opponent. Go lightly in a friendly bout, but 
always hit in such a manner that you could, if you chose 
to, make the blow tell. 
Feinting is a useful trick in boxing. It consists in lead- FEINTING. 
55 
ing your opponent to think you are going to do one thing 
when in reality you intend to do another. For instance, 
start to lead for his face with the left. Up goes his right 
arm to guard his face. This leaves his heart unprotected 
and you can land on it with your right. Quickness is, of 
course, necessary, as your right-hand blow must be 
landed before he has time to find out that your left-hand 
blow is not really going as far as his face. 
Or again, pretend to strike for the wind with your left. 
Your opponent may drop his guard to parry the blow. 
Then suddenly change the direction of your hand and hit 
his unprotected face. 
There are scores of such feints, any of which you can 
quickly plan out for yourself. Be careful, however, not 
to be deceived by your opponent's feints. 
Now take off the gloves, shake hands with me, and say 
good-by. 
It has been a pleasure to me to give you these lessons, 
and I know you will obey all my advice faithfully. If 
you do, I prophesy you will in time become a good boxer 
and a splendidly developed man. 
Don't get discouraged, whatever you do. You can't 
learn to box in a day any more than you could learn the 
whole arithmetic in that time. Like all useful things, it 
requires long, faithful practice. 
Practice in that fashion and there is no doubt as to the 
result. 
Let me answer one or two questions from correspond- 
ents and the bout will be over. McGovern answers letters. 
SOME SPECIAL INFORMATION AT THE REQUEST OF 
YOUNG BOXERS. 
William Davis-A boy that is as eager about spar- 
ring as you seem to be is pretty sure, sooner or later, to 
become a good boxer. But eleven is too early an age to 
begin systematic training. Be careful about diet, exer- 
cise, etc., and in three years begin boxing. 
C. V. H.-To drive your heel down on an antagonist's 
instep is good tactics in a street fight where " everything 
goes," and if you do it hard enough he will probably be 
helpless. But never, under any consideration, do such 
a thing in a fair fight or in a friendly bout. 
Harry McCall-Shaking hands before beginning a 
bout may not be absolutely necessary, but it is customary 
and is done as an evidence of friendly feeling. 
Michael F.-Hitting below the belt is never allowed. 
Any point above that may be hit-if you are clever 
enough. 
E. R.-You say you can't control your temper in box- 
ing. In that case either cure yourself of such a wretched 
trait or box with some man who is strong and clever 
enough to get the better of you and punish you when you 
56 SPECIAL INFORMATION. 
57 
get angry. Whenever you feel yourself getting too much 
excited or feel that your temper is getting away from 
you during a bout, stop boxing at once. 
P. C. Paul-I am twenty. I fought first at seventeen. 
I have been in fifty-five battles. I weigh 115 pounds. 
E. H.-Box with him by all means. Even if he de- 
feats you, you will gain practice and experience by the 
bout. Leave drink alone in future and you will find your 
health and strength much improved. 
L. H. and A. W.-It is better in the beginning to walk 
rather than to run. Later on you may try running, as 
advised in Lesson VI. The correct weight of a fourteen- 
year-old boy depends largely on his height. 
A Worker-You say you are at work from 6 A. M. 
until 6 P. M. This should not prevent you taking the 
early morning exercises I advised in Lesson I. You 
should also be able to walk either to or from work, or, 
perhaps, both ways, if the distance is not too great. Half 
an hour during the evening (an hour if it doesn't tire 
you too much) could easily be spared for the indoor work 
I suggested. You should go to bed by 9, or 9.30 at the 
latest. 
Reader-You say your room is too small for the exer- 
cises I advise. Have you no friend who is willing to be 
your sparring partner and whose house or flat has a room 
large enough? The apparatus I named will not take up 
very much space. 
G. L.-They can be bought at any sporting-goods 58 
HOW TO BOX TO WIN. 
store, or at some second-hand shop, or even at a pawn- 
broker's. 
Edward McCoy, Norfolk, Va.-If yowr health and 
strength are satisfactory, why should you wish to increase 
your weight just yet? You are still young, and, by the 
time you are twenty or twenty-one, you will probably have 
gained considerably in weight. Use no " medicine " or 
" drug " to induce flesh. Wholesome food and plenty of 
it, combined with the course I have prescribed, are all you 
need. 
M. B. Lewis, Greenwich, Conn.-Thank you for your 
kind words concerning the good my lessons are doing. 
Yes, knowledge of wrestling will help you much in a 
street fight, but a knowledge of boxing is better. Why 
not combine the two? 
F. W. K.-The advice I gave to " A Worker " in this 
chapter will also be of service to you. The exercises I 
have described in these lessons will cause the " improved 
wind, flexibility, shiftiness, and strength " you wish. If 
you can find no sparring partner, practice on the punch- 
ing-bag the tricks I have taught you, and go through the 
rest of the course. You can, however, easily find some- 
one to box with you. 
An Admirer-There is no reason why you should 
not become a first-rate boxer and all-around athlete, if you 
follow all the advice given in my lessons. 
Cesws -No. In a street fight your opponent will, 
three times out of four, lead first with his right hand SPECIAL INFORMATION. 
59 
instead of his left. The knowledge of this should be of 
help to you. It is the instinct of the average man who 
does not understand boxing to lead with his right. 
J. McG.-A " wrist machine " is excellent for develop- 
ing strength in wrists and fingers. Holding the arms 
extended and the fists clenched, and then moving the fist 
in a circle, or up and down without moving the arm, is 
also good wrist practice. Holding the arms thus extended 
and opening the fingers to their widest extent, then clos- 
ing the fist tight and opening the fingers again and repeat- 
ing both exercises rapidly one hundred times a day, will 
strengthen both wrists and fingers. The elastic exerciser 
or the old-time " chest weights " will strengthen and en- 
large the chest. So will boxing. 
W. J. Ferrick-The " exerciser " I speak of in my les- 
sons is a simple elastic strap with two handles, such as 
can be bought at any sporting-goods store. 
A. J. E. C.-Avoid drink and tobacco, don't eat starchy 
foods or pastry. Eat sparingly of sweets, and chew your 
food carefully. 
Bellboys-If you cannot get regular hours each day 
to exercise, regulate your time so as to give you an hour 
for exercise during some part of the days, as well as 
taking the early morning exercise advised in Lesson I. 
And now good-by and good luck to you all. 
Terry McGovern. McGovern explains his knockout 
BLOW. 
Terry McGovern's ability to knock out opponents in 
quick time has been the cause of wonder not alone among 
followers of pugilism, but among the public in general. 
Here is a lad not yet twenty-one years old, weighing 
115 pounds, yet he has the punch of a light-weight. 
When he uses it properly it almost always takes immedi- 
ate effect. The blow has made McGovern champion. 
It was in a great measure responsible for all of his vic- 
tories. George Dixon couldn't stand it* Pedlar Palmer 
fell before it; it put Sammy Kelly out; Jack Ward was 
hastened to dreamland by it; Eddie Santry collapsed after 
it had spent its force, as have dozens of others. 
McGovern has a knack of delivering his knockout blow, 
and he gets it in without wasting time. 
Here is his explanation of his knockout blow: 
" Of course if I can finish him in one round I'll do it 
in a second. That's what I did with Palmer, and we were 
offered a chance to make $50,000 to let it go for ten 
rounds for the pictures. I wasn't taking any chances, 
and let it go when I got him right. The same way with 
Ward. I got him in the corner and got a chance to let 
that right short-arm jolt go in, and up she went." 
60 McGovern's great right hook. A KNOCK-OUT BLOW. 
63 
" Didn't move any more than eight inches," says May- 
wood. 
" That's right," confirms Terry, " very short." 
" What do you do when you are close in that way ? 
come up on the toes to send in the short jolt? " 
" Yes," says Terry, " if you stand flat-footed there's no 
force in it, but coming up on the toes you can get all the 
body into the short punch, and that does the business. I 
always do that when I get the chance. 
" My hands are as perfect as when I started fighting, 
I never hurt them. I may bruise the thumb joints a little 
and get them sore on a fellow's head, but that's all. I 
always fought straight when I first started. It comes 
natural to me." McGOVERN'S OWN STORY OF HIS START IN 
LIFE. 
This is a story about Terry McGovern, the South 
Brooklyn boy, whose performances in the ring in the com- 
paratively short space of two years prove him to be a 
phenomenon. He has beaten all who have faced him in 
battle, and to-day is the holder of the bantam- and 
feather-weight championships of the world by virtue of 
his recent knockout of Pedlar Palmer, the English cham- 
pion, in one round on September 12 at Tuckahoe, and his 
victory over George Dixon, feather-weight champion, on 
January 9, 1900. 
The former was his first really great accomplishment, 
though previous to that he had knocked out Sam Kelly, 
conqueror of Billy Plimmer. 
Since his defeat of Palmer, McGovern has toured the 
country, meeting all comers, knocking them out with al- 
most incredible ease. 
CAREER FROM START. 
McGovern's career from the start is most interesting. 
He tells of part of it in his own language. It really 
began after the lumber firm by which he was employed 
64 m'govern's early days. 
65 
failed. If it hadn't Terry to-day might have been a lum- 
berman instead of a champion pugilist. McGovern is 
nineteen years old-nearly twenty. He was born in 
Johnstown, Pa., but his parents moved to Brooklyn when 
Moves to Brooklyn. 
he was six months old. His father died several years 
ago, and his widowed mother was left on her own re- 
sources, which little Terry made up his mind to increase. 
He sought employment in a lumber yard, and the ship- 
ping clerk-Charlie May wood-gave him a job as stencil 
boy. Eighteen months after the firm failed in business, 
and, like Othello, they found their occupations gone. 
Like many other boys they vowed to stick to each other 
and, to show how well they have kept their promise, 
Terry and Charlie are to-day as inseparable as they were 66 
HOW TO BOX TO WIN. 
when the shipping clerk bossed the stencil-marker. Now 
conditions are changed, and the former stencil boy is a 
world's champion, while the erstwhile boss is his trainer, 
adviser, and general factotum. 
McGovern and Maywood are both members of St. 
John's Catholic Church in Brooklyn, and they are as 
familiar with dieir catechism as with the Marquis of 
Queensberry rules. If one swears the other checks him, 
and vice versa, with the result that their language is sin- 
In the lumber yard. 
gularly free from the usual expressions heard around 
prize-fighting headquarters and on the golf links. 
After leaving the lumber business Terry joined a boys' 
organization known as the Jackson Athletic Club of 67 
MAKES MONEY. 
Brooklyn. In the annual fistic tournament he defeated 
five opponents and a sixth forfeited-in two nights, and 
he won a gold watch-his first prize, which he proudly 
wears to-day as a memento of his initial victory. 
TERENCE A FINANCIER. 
McGovern is intuitively a financier. He says: " Since 
I started fighting, two and one-half years ago, I have 
May and Terry friends. 
made $25,000, and am worth $18,000 to-day. Out of my 
winnings I have provided a home for my mother and 
my two brothers and I have recently purchased a home 
for my wife in Brooklyn, where my aunt keeps house for 
us. Of course I have made much of that money betting 
on myself, and whenever my manager, Mr. Harris, makes 
a winning on me he gives me half, I am making from 68 
HOW TO BOX TO WIN. 
$400 to $500 a week giving exhibitions with this show, and 
I have an arrangement with the management to get off 
every two weeks, when I get a chance to pick up $1200 
or $1500 by putting out or getting the decision over a 
couple of fellows in a certain number of rounds. 
" I know the time will come when I shall be beaten, 
and I am making the most of my present opportunities. 
I want to provide for my family. You know I have 
a sweet little wife and a six-months-old boy, the cutest 
you ever saw. Well, I don't want them to want, and 
they get what I make. I'm not extravagant. I never 
At the Jackson club. 
smoked, drank, nor chewed, and I have a boy who doesn't 
either," he added with a smile. 
Since his marriage eighteen months ago Terry has not NEVER OVERCONFIDENT. 
69 
had much time to spend at his home, 205 Eighteenth 
Street, South Brooklyn. His wife traveled with the 
theatrical company, but he did not think the surround- 
ings desirable for her, and she returned to Brooklyn. 
Since he started fighting, nearly three years ago, Terry 
He buys a house. 
has never had an interval of rest longer than three weeks. 
He has fought sixty-eight battles and scored twenty-two 
knockouts. 
NEVER HOLDS A MAN CHEAPLY, 
McGovern's earnestness is a marked characteristic of 
his. He trains equally for all, and says he never holds 
a man cheaply. He is absolutely cool and collected, and 
the one occasion when he lost his head resulted in the 
only adverse decision which was ever given him. 70 
HOW TO BOX TO WIN. 
It was in his first fight after becoming a professional, 
when he met Jack Snay before the Greenwood Athletic 
Club of Brooklyn. 
This is how Terry tells it: " I had matters all my own 
way, and I was getting hotter all the time, on account of 
the dirty names he was calling me. I suppose he saw 
the only way he could get the decision over me was on 
a foul, and he got it. I had him over the ropes one time, 
Gets married. 
and I was going to let him recover, but he hissed at 
me: 
" ' You bloody A. P. A.' 
" That was more than I could stand. Me an A. P. A., 
with my green tights on and ' Erin Go Bragh ' around 
my waist. Well, sir, I couldn't stand that, so I held him 
over the ropes and was beating the lie out of his mouth, HIS STYLE OF TRAINING. 
71 
when the police jumped in and the referee gave the de- 
cision against me. Jack Snay never fought since." 
In his fight with Pedlar Palmer recently Terry's Hi- 
bernian anti-English feeling was the cause of a loss of 
Mrs. McGovern. 
probably twenty-five thousand dollars to the little cham- 
pion. He knocked Palmer out in the first round, while, if 
he had permitted the contest to last six rounds, it was 
expected that the income from the exhibition of the pic- 
tures would realize him that sum. 
m'govern's training. 
McGovern's style of training is as unique as his 
method of fighting. It is customary in preparation for 
their battles for pugilists to adjourn to country training 
quarters, rig up boxing paraphernalia, and employ an 72 
HOW TO BOX TO WIN. 
energetic press agent to circulate columns of " dope " 
about their form and prospects. 
Not so with Terry. Establishment of training quar- 
ters means additional expense, and occupation of them 
a loss of income to the miniature pugilistic capitalist. So 
he decided to train while on the road, and to show how 
faithful his work has been he now weighs 119 pounds in 
ring costume. 
The little champion takes a spin of from eight to ten 
miles each morning while on the road with the theatrical 
company, and on his return is rubbed down by Maywood. 
He rests until the afternoon, when he spars against all 
The baby. 
comers at the matinee. When the show is over he spars 
and wrestles with Maywood, and puts in the balance of 
an hour skipping the rope. At io o'clock P. M. he 
meets all comers again at the theatre. FIGHTS FROM THE START. 
73 
There is nothing suggestive of the prize-fighter about 
McGovern-a fact of which he is very proud. He says 
he does not care for pugilism or pugilists, and fights sim- 
ply because it brings him an income which he could not 
command in any other occupation. He does not seek to 
elevate the stage, and is content with doing his " turn," 
which consists in meeting all comers up to a certain limit 
in weight, and stopping them inside of four rounds or 
forfeiting fifty dollars. 
FIGHTS FROM START. 
As a civilian McGovern is a typical Dr. Jekyll; as a 
pugilist, a veritable Mr. Hyde. When he dons his green 
uniform and faces an opponent the modest smiles fades 
into a look of seriousness which later on is superseded 
by a defiant expression of grim determination. He wastes 
no time in uppercutting the atmosphere or dancing jigs. 
He goes for his man from the start and mercilessly 
belabors him-particularly at close range, when his fists 
land on his opponent's ribs as if they were propelled by 
the piston rods of a high-pressure engine. He stands up 
to his man, and is invariably the aggressor. When the 
time comes to deliver his habitual knockout blow, it in- 
variably comes so quickly that opponent and spectators 
are equally taken by surprise. 
The little chap is very fastidious about his appearance, 
and, unlike most followers of the ring, wears his hair long 74 
HOW TO BOX TO WIN. 
and parted in the center. " I wear my hair like that be- 
cause I think it is the more gentlemanly, and I imagine 
as long as I make a neat appearance and so conduct myself 
I will be considered so. I hope that when my time comes 
Meets all comers. 
to retire no one can ever say that I was dishonest, dis- 
honorable, or ungentlemanly during my ring career." 
A pugilist's future at best is very uncertain, and ex- 
perience has shown that the majority of them are unable 
to stand success. There is always an exception, and 
Terry McGovern seems to be the exception in this in- 
stance. He views pugilism as he would a business. He 
is simply a human fighting machine, in charge of a capa- 
ble engineer. He is immune to flattery, and has sense 
enough to know that so long as he keeps in condition m'govern's personality. 
75 
and makes a creditable showing he can reap in the public 
shekels. 
McGovern is a grateful son, a loving husband, and an 
affectionate father, and if charitable acts and good inten- 
tions avail aught toward prosperity the little bantam 
champion should continue to be successful in his chosen 
profession. HOW TO BUILD MUSCLE. HOW TO BUILD MUSCLE; 
OR, 
HOW I MADE MYSELF OVER INTO A NEW MAN. 
By James J. Corbett. 
CHAPTER I. 
GETTING READY-PREPARING THE INNER MAN. 
Rise at 7.30 a. m., Exercise, Take Care of Your Food-Retire at 
11 p . m., and Do Not Dissipate if You Want to be Strong. 
Some months ago the world at large looked on me 
as a back number-a " dead one," wrecked by high living 
and altogether unworthy of consideration. 
Since then I fought for twenty-three rounds against 
the strongest pugilist on earth, and had strength enough 
in me to go any number of rounds more. 
To-day people are talking about miracles and telling 
of the " dead man " restored to life. 
As a matter of fact there was no miracle about it. 
What I did was perfectly natural and can be done by any 
man, 
79 80 
HOW TO BUILD MUSCLE. 
Now that the fight is over I will tell the secret of my 
rejuvenation and explain every detail of the process that 
brought me out of the line of back numbers into the fore- 
most rank of living pugilists. 
This I do not tell in a spirit of boastfulness, but in order 
to help other men whose systems are considered on the 
wane. 
Men foolishly try to coax back health, strength, and 
nerve by means of injurious medicines or by courses 
of treatment that only serve to shatter what is left of 
their constitutions. 
I will describe my own regimen in every particular, 
and I believe any man who follows it will recover 
strength and general tone as completely as I have 
done it. 
After I lost the championship I went on the road 
as an actor. Then I opened my saloon in New 
York. 
Now neither of these professions is conducive to per- 
fect physical condition. 
My friends believed my days as an athlete were 
over. 
I did not agree with them. 
I knew that I could once more place myself where I 
was before. 
So I challenged Jeffries, confident that I would be fit to 
meet him. 
The challenge was sneered at by most people. That PREPARING THE INNER MAN. 
81 
made me all the more determined to recover my old 
form. 
That was last September. Let me describe in a few 
words my condition at that time: 
My muscles lacked their old-time size and hard- 
ness. 
My liver and stomach were in wretched condition. My 
nerves left much to be desired. 
Now that is no sort of a shape for an athlete to be in. 
I set about changing it for the better. 
I figured out a plan of my own which I followed re- 
ligiously. 
In the first place the human frame is made up of two 
separate organisms, each distinct, although each is de- 
pendent on the other. 
There is the outer man-the bones, flesh, and net- 
work of muscle. There is also the inner man-the 
heart, stomach, liver, lungs, and other organs. Then 
there are the nerves, which form the keynote of the whole 
outer and inner structure. 
I was always quick to find out an opponent's weak 
points. I was no slower in discovering my own. 
I set about first getting my stomach, liver, and nerves 
into shape. The outer man could wait. 
Accordingly, as soon as the Jeffries match was made 
(September, 1899) I mapped out my plan of campaign 
and started to work. 
Here is a summary of my daily routine during the next 82 
HOW TO BUILD MUSCLE. 
four months. I needed all that time to put liver, stom- 
ach, and nerves into proper condition: 
DAILY ROUTINE. 
For First Four Months. 
Rise at 7.30 a. m. 
Breakfast at 8. 
Rest for one hour. 
At 11 walk half a mile to the gymnasium. 
Work at gymnasium for one hour. 
Walk back home. 
Lunch at 2. 
Rest until 4. 
Walk four miles. 
Dine at 8. 
Retire at 11. 
This, of course, was subject to slight changes. 
My gymnastic work was arranged with a special pur- 
pose. This was to tone up the system and cause enough 
perspiration to force the poisonous humors in my blood 
to escape by means of perspiration. 
My gymnastic work was all to this end. On reach- 
ing the gymnasium I went through the following- 
exercise : SETTING STOMACH AND LIVER RIGHT. 
83 
GYMNASIUM WORK. 
Fifteen minutes of postures and motions to strengthen 
muscles of liver and stomach. 
Fifteen minutes' work with the pulley weights. 
Fifteen minutes' steady boxing. 
Strip and take a medium shower bath, followed by 
rubdown. 
The body motions consisted in bending forward until 
the fingers touched the ground (the knees rigid) and in 
bending back as far as possible (each motion repeated ten 
times the first day and twice more each succeeding day). 
This is to strengthen the stomach. 
Then I would bend to the right, keeping the legs rigid, 
and bending as far to the right as possible without losing 
my balance, recovering and doing it again, the same num- 
ber of times as I tried the front and back bending. These 
side motions were for my liver. 
The pulley weights (ten pounds to each pulley) were 
for these organs also. I went through the regular pulley 
motions, both forward and back. 
My boxing was hot by rounds nor with a regular spar- 
ring partner. I simply boxed lightly and steadily until 
I Was tired. This made me perspire profusely and made 
me quite ready for the refreshing shower and rubdown. 
To increase perspiration and further expel through the 84 
HOW TO BUILD MUSCLE. 
pores all poisonous germs I hit on a sort of cold-water 
cure. Midway between breakfast and lunch, as well as 
midway between lunch and dinner, I drank a quart of 
cold water (not ice-water, mind you; nor did I gulp it 
down; but drank it quietly). I found that this quantity 
of water, drunk between meals, was of great advantage to 
me in every way. It was good for both liver and stom- 
ach and seemed to strengthen my nerves as well. 
The water I drank midway between meals, usually after 
my gymnasium work and after my afternoon walk. 
As a special treatment for the nerves I tried a sort of 
rest cure. I always remained in bed from nine to eleven 
hours. Even when, at first, I could not sleep all the time 
I lay still and thought of nothing, and the rest quieted 
and strengthened my nerves greatly. Of course a strictly 
temperate life along every line is necessary to the success 
of this nerve treatment. 
To help all the inner man I dieted from the very first. 
My daily bill of fare was somewhat as follows (of course 
varying, but always of the same general nature) : 
BREAKFAST. 
An orange or an apple. 
Oatmeal. 
A cup of coffee, with sugar and cream. 
Two medium boiled eggs. 
Dry toast. IN PRAISE OF APPLES. 
85 
I ate a light breakfast, but a heavier lunch. 
LUNCHEON. 
Steak or chop. 
Baked potatoes. 
Bread and butter. 
Rice pudding. 
My evening meal was almost as plain: 
DINNER. 
Rare roast beef. 
Mashed potatoes. 
Spinach. 
Bread and butter. 
Calf's-foot jelly. 
I had my meat rather rare. I care little for sweets, so 
the lack of variety in desserts did not trouble me. 
I always arranged my meals so that six hours inter- 
vened between them. This allows time for perfect diges- 
tion and also gives the stomach a chance to rest. 
Just before going to bed I always ate a baked apple or 
a plate of apple sauce or else a raw apple. This I found 
excellent for the whole system. Apples are a splendid 
tonic and medicine if people did but know it. 86 
HOW TO BUILD MUSCLE. 
Such was my daily work for the first four months of 
my training. 
In the next chapter I will tell you how this regimen 
affected me, as well as my next steps in the process of 
making a new man of myself. CHAPTER II. 
FIRST MONTHS OF TRAINING. 
Keep Your Nerves, Liver, and Stomach in the Best Possible 
Shape as the First Principle to Work On to Get into Con- 
dition. 
I have described my methods for putting the " inner 
man " into shape. 
The process was not immediate; indeed, at times I was 
heartily discouraged; but I persevered, and at last success 
crowned my work. 
Gradually the unstrung nerves grew strong and sound. 
The tortured liver and the ill-treated stomach responded 
also to the tender care I was bestowing on them. 
By the first of January I felt better than for years be- 
fore. I was a new man. 
When nerves, liver, and stomach go back on a man life 
seems not worth living. When they are in perfect con- 
dition it is hard to be blue or distressed about anything. 
In all this time, mind you, I had not been training, but 
merely getting my system into shape for training, as an 
artist prepares his canvas for a picture. 
I had tried the aforenamed treatment for just one 
month when I first felt any decided effect. The first re- 
sult was that I went to sleep almost as soon as my head 
87 88 
HOW TO BUILD MUSCLE. 
touched the pillow at night, and that I slept soundly until 
morning, waking clear-headed and refreshed instead of 
feeling the dead-beat lassitude of the man whose nerves 
are on bad terms with him. 
The next result followed about a month afterward. 
My food no longer distressed me. I was healthily hun- 
gry for the plain good fare I allowed myself, and felt bet- 
ter after each meal. Dyspepsia symptoms had vanished. 
Last of all, the yellow bilious tint left my eyes and skin. 
My eyes grew clear, my complexion healthy. This I 
took as an outward sign that my liver had surrendered 
and was prepared to do its duty once more. 
I realized, of course, that unless I continued along the 
course I had mapped out, these cures would be merely 
temporary. The routine must be kept up until all the 
organs were perfectly sound once more. 
By the middle of January I was ready to begin active 
work, and began looking about for a good place to train. 
I went-and still go-on the idea that the nerves are 
an all-important factor in a pugilist's success. Whether 
a man will prove a hero or a coward depends mainly on 
the condition of his nerves at the time he is called on to 
rise to some emergency. 
In pursuance of this idea I decided to choose a place 
where I could be in the open air all the time. There is 
nothing like fresh air, and lots of it, to tone up the nerves 
and keep them in perfect condition. 
I knew Lakewood was a spot where consumptives UP AGAINST A NEW PROPOSITION. 
89 
went because the air was such as to allow one to live most 
of the time out of doors. 
This was the place for me, and I went there. 
Once there, I settled down to regular training, but of 
a sort no other pugilist has ever tried. 
I have trained for many a big fight, and in the old days 
I thought I understood how to do it. But I see now I 
was wrong. 
This time I not only had my muscles to strengthen, 
but my whole system to tone up. I was up against a 
thoroughly new proposition, and one that required lots 
of thought. 
The average fighter, in training, follows certain cast- 
iron rules of diet, and works like a plow-horse from 
morning to night. In order to bring his strength and 
endurance to the highest pitch he taxes that strength 
and endurance to the utmost every day, and goes into 
the ring nervously exhausted, overtrained, and (uncon- 
sciously) tired out. 
One might just as well try to tune a piano up to con- 
cert pifch by banging out noisy marches on it all day. 
The piano-tuner keys up each string carefully, testing 
every move and noting its effect before trying another. 
This is what I did at Lakewood. 
While training my muscles I also kept in mind the im- 
provement of the inner man. 
Fresh air and outdoor life, combined with ten hours' 
sleep out of the twenty-four, braced up my nerves. 90 
HOW TO BUILD MUSCLE. 
Careful diet and pulley-weight exercises strengthened 
my stomach. 
Horseback exercise-two hours a day-kept my liver 
in perfect condition. 
My daily routine for the first two months was as 
follows: 
FIRST TWO MONTHS. 
Rise at 8 a. m. 
Breakfast at 8.30. 
Walk one mile to gymnasium. 
Work there from 10 to 12. 
Walk back to cottage. 
Lunch at 2. 
Loaf about in open air until 4. 
Ride horseback from 4 to 6. 
Dine at 8. 
Refire at 10. 
My gymnasium work for the first two months at 
Lakewood was very light. 
It was of a nature to strengthen my muscles slowly, 
to wake up sleeping muscles and sinews and to gradually 
tone up the entire body for the harder work that was to 
come. 
For instance, my morning's gymnastic practice was 
somewhat like this: BAG EXERCISE. 
91 
GYMNASIUM WORK. 
Fifteen minutes' exercise with four-pound dumb-bells. 
Twenty minutes with pulley-weights (ten pounds each). 
Body motions for stomach and liver 
Stand on hands,, feet resting against wall. 
Punch light bag for five minutes. 
Spar lightly for fifteen minutes. 
Shower bath and rubdown. 
Standing on the hands strengthens the wrist and fore- 
arm, besides bringing other muscles into play. I would 
only continue it as long as I could do so without dis- 
comfort. 
I began by punching the light bag for five minutes a 
day, increasing this gradually, until in a few weeks I 
could keep it up with perfect ease. Then I would punch- 
it for five " rounds " of three minutes each, with one 
minute's rest between times. 
I did not try " elbow movements " with the bag, nor 
did I butt it with my head or work the " double roll " or 
anything of that sort. I do not recommend such motions 
for boxers. They are all right for mere exercise, I sup- 
pose. But I fancy they tend to injure the reach, to ac- 
custom the eye and arm to motions that can be of no use 
in sparring or fighting, and to strengthen certain muscles 
at the expense of other and more needful ones. 92 
HOW TO BUILD MUSCLE. 
I hit the bag only straight punches and such blows as 
are used in boxing. 
That is the only sensible way for a boxer to use the 
bag. If you want to be merely a fancy bag-puncher 
that is another matter. 
My sparring at that time was simply to keep me in 
practice, to strengthen the muscles mildly and to slowly 
build up my wind. 
It was not until later that Gus Ruhlin and I began our 
heavy boxing. 
My diet during these months was almost similar to 
that of the previous four months. My day's food was 
somewhat on this order: 
BREAKFAST. 
Saucer of rhubarb or apple sauce. 
Two medium-boiled eggs. 
Coffee. 
Dry toast. 
I would sometimes substitute a rare chop for the eggs, 
and later I let up on coffee. 
Then for the somewhat heavier noonday meal: 
LUNCHEON. 
Three-quarters of a pound of tender steak, medium 
rare. 
A baked potato. 
Bread and butter. . REDUCING WEIGHT. 
93 
I had my steaks especially prepared. They were thick 
and from two to three weeks old. This made them easy 
of digestion, more than usually nutritious, and giving the 
stomach little work. 
DINNER. 
Rare roast beef or mutton. 
Potatoes, turnips, and spinach. 
Bread and butter. 
Rice pudding. 
Once a week I would eat ice cream for dinner. Occa- 
sionally I would also eat jelly instead of rice pudding. 
When I went to Lakewood I weighed 196. 
This meant I had superfluous flesh which needed 
changing into muscle. I resolved to take off this flesh 
and later build up new and better tissue. 
The course I followed at Lakewood made me lose 
three and a half pounds the first week, two and a half the 
second, and two the third. Thus at the end of three 
weeks I was down to 188. 
While my muscles had not yet increased perceptibly 
in size I could feel myself stronger. 
Then I started in to build up on weight and to further 
enlarge and strengthen my muscles. CHAPTER III. 
HEAVIER WORK BEGUN. 
Training You Will Find that the Muscles Harden and the Di- 
gestive Organs Become Perfect. 
The work I had done up to this point put me into the 
condition of a young and perfectly healthy man whose 
whole body is in absolute health, who is as yet uninjured 
by dissipation, late hours, or indigestion. 
In fact, I think I was, physically, such a man as men 
were originally intended to be before civilization and its 
attendant evils marred us. 
My nerves were as quiet and firm as those of an ox. 
My whole digestive system was flawless. My appetite 
was keen; my sleep natural and refreshing; my muscles 
those of a strong man in normal condition. 
But fighting calls for abnormal strength and endur- 
ance. And this is what I now had to produce; taking 
care, meantime, in no way to injure the system I had so 
carefully wooed back to health. 
In old times, under such circumstances, I should have 
set to work as follows: 
Put myself on some diet which my trainer had found 
beneficial to other men (whose systems may have thrived 
94 WORKING THE GRIP. 
95 
on what might have wrecked mine), and worked like a 
horse all day. 
I should have played handball until my strength was 
exhausted; tossed the heavy medicine ball until my arms 
ached with the strain; punched the bag for a record, 
and taken a dozen other forms of exercise that would 
have strained-or maybe snapped-my newly-acquired 
health. 
All this was not in my line. Certain people may 
thrive on it, but I believe my course to be by far the bet- 
ter and less perilous. 
My plan was to increase my strength and endurance 
in a perfectly natural way. 
I had, ever since I began to train, carried constantly 
with me a grip machine, consisting of two cylindrical bits 
of wood, working on an elastic spring. This I held in 
one hand or the other, all the time, while walking, rest- 
ing, or riding. I pressed it constantly, until it became a 
second nature to me to do so, and at last I did so un- 
consciously. I thus worked the grip machine thou- 
sands of times a day without the slightest trouble. 
This strengthened the muscles of hands, wrists, and 
forearm to an incredible extent and without putting me 
to the least inconvenience. 
I began now to increase my gymnasium work. I 
realized that I was training to fight a man far heavier than 
I, and I knew how much it jars and tires a man to hit a 
heavier opponent. To hit such a man hard and fre- 96 
HOW TO BUILD MUSCLE. 
quently takes more out of one than to receive an almost 
equal number of blows. I studied the thing out and 
found that, while the hitting of blows like that against an 
unyielding, massive surface jars the whole body, yet the 
principal strain comes on the thighs. 
The thighs then must be strengthened to withstand 
the shock, as must the whole body. 
But how? 
Few people realize that the reason a tired fighter's legs 
begin to wabble is usually because his thigh muscles are 
exhausted. Yet it is true. 
Here is the plan I adopted to strengthen these: 
I procured an eighty-five-pound punching bag. 
This bag was of much the same size, shape, and gen- 
eral appearance as a leather mail pouch. I began punch- 
ing it regularly, every other day. 
I used on it the blows I would use in a fight; hitting 
heavily and only keeping up this work until slightly 
tired, never allowing myself to become exhausted. I 
gradually increased the length of time of punching this 
bag, as my muscles grew more and more accustomed to 
standing such violent work. 
At last I could punch it any number of rounds without 
fatigue or ache. 
But first it was anything but easy. The exercise 
" caught " me in the legs and thighs. It didn't bother 
the upper part of my body to any extent. This proved 
my theory as to the effect on the thighs of heavy hitting. CHOOSING A SPARRING PARTNER. 
97 
I kept it up, and found my thighs increased an inch in 
girth during a single month. Moreover, the old-time 
jar and fatigue were utterly absent. 
Punching the eighty-five-pound bag had another bene- 
ficial result. It helped my footwork along and made me 
cleverer in ducking and side-stepping. 
When you punch a bag it naturally comes back at you 
-and comes back with express-train speed. That's all 
right when it's a light bag, and an occasional tap on the 
face from it doesn't matter. 
But an eighty-five-pound bag traveling at that rate is 
a different proposition. It forces you to be quick as 
lightning keeping out of its way. Thus my work with it 
served a double purpose. 
When I met Jeffries I hit him throughout the fight 
without once feeling the old-time weariness and wabbly 
tendency of the legs. Moreover, I kept out of his way, 
for the most part, just as I had avoided the terrible recoil 
of the eighty-five-pound bag. 
I continued, of course, along the former lines of gym- 
nastic work as well while using this bag. 
Next came the question of a sparring partner. 
I was, as I have said, to fight a big and powerful man. 
Hence a man as nearly as possible his weight and gen- 
eral make-up was the best sort of sparring partner for 
me. 
I chose big Gus Ruhlin. 
Now Ruhlin is a man of enormous strength, unhurt- 98 
HOW TO BUILD MUSCLE. 
able, a skilled boxer, tireless, and was in every respect the 
very man for my purpose. 
I paid him one thousand dollars to join me at Lake- 
wood; and I also engaged Leo Pardella, a 190-pound 
wrestler. 
I did not wrestle to excess, or risk a wrench or strain. 
Merely enough to supple up my muscles and add to my 
agility and my quickness of eye. 
I would box with Ruhlin, not by rounds at first, but 
until we tired. 
And very different bouts they were from my former 
light sparring. Ruhlin had fought a draw with Jeffries 
and knew the man's style. Gus and I fought rather 
than boxed. We used eight-ounce gloves and never got 
over-excited, but we went in for it for all we were worth. 
It was great practice for me, as it gave me many lines on 
Jeff's work. Here and there we would stop a moment, 
while Ruhlin would explain to me some favorite device 
of Jeff's, or make some suggestion. 
We did not box until worn out; only till a little tired. 
Then we would stop. My gymnastic work was kept up 
every other morning. Next I'll tell how I employed the 
" off " mornings, and what grand benefit I derived from 
them. Here is an idea of my routine of gymnasium 
work after I got down to really heavy training. 
Owing to the careful preliminary steps and the care 
I still took of myself, it did not even tire me after a 
while. DOING THE HEAVY WORK. 
99 
GYMNASIUM WORK. 
Half an hour with dumb-bells, pulley-weights, and body 
postures. 
Fifteen minutes with the eighty-five-pound bag. 
Fifteen minutes wrestling with Pardella. 
Fifteen minutes punching light bag. 
Half an hour boxing with Ruhlin. 
Bath and rubdown. 
Then I would walk back home (one mile) and, after a 
short rest on the piazza or anywhere in the open air, eat 
some such lunch as this: 
LUNCHEON. 
Rare steak (half pound to one pound) or 
four medium-cooked chops. 
Baked potatoes. 
Bread and butter. 
Saucer of apple sauce. 
After lunch I would sit on the piazza or stroll idly 
about the streets or cottage grounds until about four, and 
would then take my daily two-hours' horseback ride. 
On all afternoons this was my programme. But the 
gymnasium, work I did only every other day. CHAPTER IV. 
FRESH AIR A MUSCLE-BUILDER. 
Fresh Air and Cold Water Will Build Up a Man Better than 
Any Medicine. 
I am something of a crank on the subject of fresh 
air. 
I believe fresh air and plenty of pure, cold water will 
build a man up better than all the medicines on 
earth. 
Except for the two hours every other day spent in my 
well-ventilated gymnasium, and the time I spent at 
meals, I was in the open air from 8 a. m. until io p. m. 
every day for the last four months of my training. I 
slept always in a room whose windows were wide 
open. 
All this was of inestimable benefit to my nerves, mak- 
ing them like iron, and hence toned up my entire 
system. 
On " off " mornings I would leave my cottage at about 
9.30 and would start off with my collie, Saddle, at my 
heels for a tramp. 
The roads about Lakewood are pretty good, and the 
land lies level, permitting cross-country running. 
100 ROAD AND CROSS-COUNTRY RUNNING. 
101 
I chose a different route every day. 
I would begin the morning exercise by walking a mile 
at an ordinary gait at first, then hitting up the pace to a 
brisk stride. 
At the end of a mile I would sprint at top speed for a 
furlong, then slow down to a second mile of quick walk- 
ing, followed by another 220-yard sprint. 
Then I would follow the next mile of walking by a 
quarter-mile jog trot, covering the quarter in about 58 or 
60 seconds. 
I would keep up these pedestrian feats for about six 
miles and would then turn back, returning home in the 
same fashion, covering twelve miles in all. 
Of course, I did not take such long walks at first, but 
started with four miles, increasing by half a mile a day, 
until I could do the entire twelve miles without turning 
a hair. 
While thus exercising I kept the lips closed, breathing 
through the nose, holding the shoulders well back and 
the chest out, though not unnaturally so. 
I ran on the ball of the foot. Never flat-footed. This 
strengthened the whole leg, from ankle to thigh. 
Occasionally I varied road work by cross-country run- 
ning, taking a bee-line through wood and meadow, vault- 
ing the fences in my way. 
I would return from my walk, take a bath and rub- 
down, and be ready to eat everything in sight. 
The routine for my " off days " was as follows: 102 
HOW TO BUILD MUiCLE. 
ROUTINE FOR OFF DAYS. 
Rise at 8. 
Breakfast at 8.30. 
Take the road at 9.30. 
Walk one mile. 
Sprint one furlong. 
Walk one mile. 
Jog one quarter-mile. 
And so on for twelve miles. 
Bath and rubdown. 
Rest on piazza until 2. 
Lunch. 
Loaf about (out of doors) till 4. 
Ride horseback till 6. 
Dine at 8. 
Retire at 10. 
By taking one morning for gymnastic work and the 
next for outdoor exercise, I varied the monotony of train- 
ing which tells so heavily on a man of nervous tempera- 
ment, besides avoiding all strain on my nerves by stick- 
ing too constantly to any one pursuit. 
Another strong factor in my success was the fact that, 
outside of work hours, I lived my usual home life. The 
average pugilist, on going into training, leaves home and 
home comforts, and takes up quarters with a crowd of ALL THE COMFORTS OF HOME. 
103 
men who may or may not be congenial to him. He has 
no home life; he is separated from friends and kindred. 
With me it was different. 
I rented a pleasant cottage in the residence part of 
Lakewood, furnished it to suit my own tastes, and lived 
there with my wife and our own servants throughout my 
training course. I had friends run down to visit us, and 
in every way kept up the pleasant home life that my 
domestic tastes render so delightful to me. 
I consider this a prominent item in the success of my 
training. 
By the first of April I felt fit to put up the battle of 
my life. 
My " inner man " was sound as a bell. My nerves 
had never in all my life been in such magnificent condi- 
tion. My muscles were flexible steel. I was agile, 
powerful; capable of greater endurance than ever 
before. 
Yet my training had been ridiculously light, compared 
to that taken by the average pugilist. 
I now began cautiously to test my endurance and 
strength. 
For instance, I twice boxed twenty-five-round bouts 
with Gus Ruhlin. And they were no play bouts, either. 
We both went at it for all we were worth. Between 
rounds we had no one to fan us, spurt water over us, or 
perform any of the kind offices of second. We stood 
up, too, in the interval of rest, 104 
HOW TO BUILD MUSCLE. 
Neither bout exhausted me. And that strikes me as 
about the best possible proof of my great condition. If 
you had ever stood before Ruhlin for twenty-five rounds 
you would understand what I mean. 
Heretofore I have wasted much time and energy in 
worrying over the prospects of a fight-in making and 
unmaking plans of action. Now, that was pure ner- 
vousness. 
Also, in all my other fights I went to the ringside ner- 
vous from head to foot. Not in the very least fright- 
ened, you understand, but terribly nervous as to the 
result-even as a Wall Street man is when he awaits the 
whir of the ticker which is to tell him whether he is a 
millionaire or a pauper. Such nervousness weakens a 
fighter. 
This time it was all different. 
I laid out a plan of action as coolly and dispassionately 
as if for some other person. That once done, I gave the 
matter no further worry. 
When the day of the fight came I can truthfully say I 
felt no more nervousness than if I were going into a 
friendly boxing match. I was perfectly cool, and not a 
tremor or qualm of nervousness troubled me. 
Moreover, I found I could endure with perfect ease 
blows and rushes that would in the old time have worn 
me out. The blows Jeffries planted on my stomach 
(thinking it, no doubt, my weak point) did not bother 
me in the very least. The stomach I had so tenderly THE FOUR THINGS THAT COUNT. 
105 
nursed back to health stood by me nobly in my hour of 
need. 
The blows I struck never jarred me as of yore. 
My thighs and legs were strong enough to avert 
that. 
As for endurance, everyone knows I was perfectly 
fresh and strong at the beginning of the twenty-third 
round. I was strong enough to have gone on for any 
number of additional rounds. 
If I were asked to what I owe my rehabilitation and 
my creditable showing, I should say: 
First and foremost, to regular, normal living. 
Second, to fresh air (the athlete's best assistant). 
Third, to absence of worry. 
Fourth, to my moderate, easy, long training. 
Any run-down, exhausted, or over-worked man can 
rejuvenate himself and restore his entire system as easily 
as I did. From a hygienic point of view it pays better 
than any other investment on earth. 
Now, I have talked enough about myself, and' I am 
going to venture upon the role of physical instructor. 
Will you take lessons from me? 
If so, I will devote an article in the next chapter telling 
men who lead a sedentary or dissipated life how to make 
over their systems as good as new and how to become 
athletes without in the very least neglecting their busi- 
ness or profession. 
In the sixth chapter I will tell women how to build up 106 
HOW TO BUILD MUSCLE. 
constitutions shattered by the hard work of a New York 
society season or by overwork in factory, store, or office. 
I will also teach them how to improve the figure, to 
strengthen flaccid muscles, and to renew health, com- 
plexion, and vivacity. CHAPTER V. 
RENEW YOUR STRENGTH* 
How to Make Over Your System as Good as New, and How to 
Become an Athlete Without Neglecting Business. 
" How many men, do you suppose, are in perfect 
health? 
" Scarcely one-half," perhaps you say. I teM* you not 
one in ten. 
These men are not actually ill, for the most part. But 
few of them could run three blocks without puffing; sel- 
dom they awake full of energy and free from stupidity Or 
lassitude. 
Let them take violent exercise one day, and the next 
morning they will be stiff and sore from head to foot. 
Let them be subjected to some sudden excitement and 
they will flush or turn pale or tremble. 
Do you call all that being in good health? 
I don't. 
Muscles, nerves, and internal apparatus are out of gear 
to produce such results. 
Are you content to remain like that? If so, don't read 
this lesson. It isn't intended for you. 
Or rather do you say: 
107 108 
HOW TO BUILD MUSCLE. 
" I'd like to be in sound physical shape; but I don't 
know how to accomplish it. I'm too busy to spare time 
on athletics. I'm too poor to join a gymnasium; but if 
you'll teach me how to get well and strong, I'll follow 
your instructions, even at the cost of a certain amount of 
inconvenience." 
If you belong to this latter class of men, it is to you 
I'm writing. And when you're in good shape once more 
you can say, if you care to: 
" Jim Corbett was my physical instructor." 
I'll stand for it. 
In the first place, I'll give you no advice that I myself 
have not tried and found to be good. 
I am supposing you are a business or professional man, 
or perhaps a working man. 
I was a bank clerk for years, and I know how hard it 
is for a man leading such a sedentary life to follow 
athletics, but it isn't impossible. 
I did it. So can you. 
Let me map out your daily programme. 
We will suppose you have to reach your place of busi- 
ness by nine. (If earlier or later, arrange your pro- 
gramme in the desired hours, keeping the same ratio I 
shall suggest for the nine-o'clock basis.) 
Get up at seven. Strip and take up a pair of one or 
two-pound dumb-bells (no heavier). Practice with them, 
using the regular simple motions as described in any 
manual or as the man at the sporting store where you MORNING EXERCISE. 
109 
buy the bells will show you. Keep this up steadily and 
briskly for fifteen minutes. 
Then stand with legs rigid, bending over forward and 
touching the floor with the tips of your fingers. You 
may not be able to do this just at first; but you can very 
soon. Do it five times the first morning, increasing by 
two each day till you get to twenty-five. Then keep it 
at that. 
Bend slowly backward as far as you can without strain- 
ing yourself; then return slowly to an upright posture. 
Do this the same number of times as the forward 
motion. 
Next lie flat on your back on the floor, your arms 
crossed on your chest. Rise to a sitting posture with- 
out bending the legs or uncrossing the arms. Then sink 
back, and repeat as often as the bending forward and 
back motions. 
These moves strengthen the whole body, notably the 
stomach, back, and legs. 
Then stand up and draw, slowly, a long breath, until 
the lungs are full. Let out the breath just as slowly. 
Repeat this ten times. 'The lungs are thus expanded, 
cleared of poisonous gases, and strengthened. 
Now jump into a cold bath. Have the bath prepared 
the night before, throwing into it two or three handfuls 
of sea salt and allowing it to soak all night. This sea 
salt can be bought cheap at any drug store. Jump into 
the bath, wash as quickly as you can, and jump out again. 110 
HOW TO BUILD MUSCLE. 
Then rub yourself dry with a rough bath towel and dress. 
After bathing drink a glass of water. 
If you have any heart trouble, let the bath be slightly 
warmed; otherwise not. 
By the time you reach the dining room you will prob- 
ably be very hungry. 
But eat lightly. We Americans eat too much anyway. 
A heavy meat breakfast is almost as bad for one as no 
breakfast at all. It clogs the system, causes lassitude, 
and overworks the stomach before that organ is toned 
up for its daily toil. 
Let your breakfast be somewhat as follows: 
BREAKFAST. 
Fruit. 
Oatmeal. 
Two medium-boiled eggs. 
One cup of coffee. 
Dry toast. 
A man needs less variety at breakfast than at other 
meals. Substitute hominy or any other cereal for oat- 
meal, if you like; or tea or coffee. If you can it is a 
little better to do without either of the latter. At most 
never drink more than one cup. Don't bolt your food 
at any meal. We are a race of dyspeptics because we 
gulp down our food like wild beasts. Take half an hour 
for both breakfast and lunch and an hour for dinner. BRISK WALKING AS A TONIC. 
111 
Now start for your office. If you live within a mile or 
so of your place of business, always walk to and from 
work. If you live far uptown take the cars part of the 
way; then, a mile above your office, get out and walk the 
rest of the way. This walk is necessary. While walk- 
ing keep erect, chest thrown .out, lips closed, breathing 
through the nose. 
Don't loaf along, but walk briskly. This walk gives 
your lungs plenty of pure, fresh air, and thus acts as a 
tonic for the whole body. It also strengthens the leg 
muscles. 
If possible go out for lunch. You need the change of 
air. Don't eat pastry or other indigestible food at this 
meal. Here is a good lunch diet: 
LUNCHEON. 
Two chops or a portion of stew or cold meat. 
Potatoes. 
Spinach. 
Pudding or ice-cream. 
If your work keeps you indoors all day a lighter lunch 
will serve. Cut off dessert and one vegetable. 
When through work walk at least a mile on your home- 
ward way. 
Then, if you can possibly arrange time, take an hour 
before dinner for gymnastic work. You will feel too 112 
HOW TO BUILD MUSCLE. 
tired to do this at first; but force yourself, and it will soon 
come natural and will be of inestimable benefit. 
New York is full of good gymnasiums both for rich 
and poor. If you cannot afford one of the private gym- 
nasiums, attend one of those belonging to the Y. M. C. A. 
There take fifteen minutes' exercise with the pulley- 
weights, punch the bag for five minutes, get someone, if 
possible, to box or wrestle with you (not too violently) 
for ten minutes. If there is a running track there, try a 
few laps on it. If there is a handball court use it, but in 
moderation. Never keep on when really exhausted, but 
stop and rest. If you don't get rested soon, leave off 
until the next day. 
At dinner you may, if you choose, eat more heartily. 
Here is a pretty good dinner for a man in light training: 
DINNER. 
Soup. 
Boiled, broiled, or baked fish. 
Roast beef, mutton, or chicken. 
Potatoes, rice, spinach, peas. 
Tomato salad. 
Ice-cream, jelly, or pudding, and cake. 
Take an hour for dinner. Eat slowly. Chew your 
food well. Steer clear of pastry and fried foods. Never POINTS TO REMEMBER. 
113 
eat a mouthful after you cease to be hungry. Never 
force yourself to eat more just because the meal is not yet 
over. 
Go to bed between io and n p. m. When un- 
dressed take another cold bath and rub down, jumping 
into the water and straight out again. 
Then, just before getting to bed (after the bath) eat, 
with a wafer or cracker and a glass of water, a saucer of 
stewed prunes, rhubarb, or apple sauce. 
Sleep in a well-ventilated room with only enough 
covers to keep you comfortable. 
Now for some additional points: 
Be sure to drink plenty of cold water (not iced) and be 
sure it is filtered free of disease germs. The more water 
you drink the better it will be for you. Water and exer- 
cise bring on perspiration, and this draws away the 
poisons of the blood and renews health. 
Keep every function of the body in regular and perfect 
condition. This is all-important. 
Get all the sleep you can. The more nervous a man 
is the more sleep he needs. 
Let up as much as possible on drink and tobacco. If 
you are accustomed to both and dependent on them, a 
glass of claret with dinner and a single cigar or a pipe 
afterward will do you no great harm. Leave cigarettes 
alone. 
Lead a straight, normal life. Try not to worry. 
Banish blues by exercise and healthy thoughts. 114 
HOW TO BUILD MUSCLE. 
By work and water-drinking force yourself to perspire. 
No man can be well otherwise. 
If you can afford it, brace up the liver by horseback 
riding. If not, take long tramps. 
Bicycling is also good, but too smooth an exercise to 
shake up the liver to any extent. 
Follow every one of the above rules, and (unless you 
have some serious disease) you will find yourself in time 
healthy in body, strong in muscle, clear and vigorous in 
brain. 
Don't imagine, however, that any of those results will 
come in a day, or at all, for that matter, unless you fol- 
low the course of training faithfully. Never skip a day, 
no matter how many other things may demand your 
time, but always follow the programme I have laid down. 
It made me over again. 
It will do the same for you. CHAPTER VI. 
HOW WOMEN MAY GROW STRONG AND BEAUTIFUL. 
Mild Exercise, Careful Diet, and Simple Rules of Hygiene Pre- 
scribed for All Classes of Women. 
I am not a beauty expert nor a specialist. So don't 
expect too much from me. 
But I am a man who has made a long and successful 
study of health; of the human system, and of the best 
ways to restore it to perfect condition. 
The hints I shall give to women are not those of a 
physician, but of an ordinary man. Don't disregard 
them on that account. Give them a trial. I shall ad- 
vise nothing that can possibly injure you; and if you 
follow my instructions faithfully I can promise that you 
will be stronger, healthier, and sounder in every respect. 
ADVICE TO WOMEN. 
In the first place, the rules of training that benefit men 
cannot be used in most cases for women. 
Let me therefore map out a separate day's programme 
for women, just as I did for men in the last chapter; and 
add some beneficial suggestions. 
115 116 
HOW TO BUILD MUSCLE. 
We will suppose you have worn yourself out by late 
hours, by dancing, by eating incongruous, murderous 
combinations of food at the wrong time of day, and by 
lack of exercise. 
Or else that you are employed in some office, store, or 
factory where you get to work early, toil indoors all day 
in a badly ventilated room, and go home exhausted. 
Your recreations are often as tiring as your work. 
Your lunch consists largely of pie or some other form of 
pastry. Your other meals are bolted in order to get to 
work or to some place of amusement. 
Yet you wonder why you feel badly; why your head 
aches; why you tire so easily; why your fresh, girlish 
complexion is growing coarse and muddy. 
Men may knock out their stomachs by drink, tobacco, 
and a dozen other forms of dissipation, but I'll venture 
to assert that the most dissipated man takes better care of 
his stomach than the average carefully nurtured woman. 
Don't laugh at this statement just yet, please. 
A man is hungry, we will say. He goes to a 
restaurant and orders a steak, a chop, or some roast 
beef. He drinks beer with it, and potatoes are his only 
vegetable. 
WHAT NOT TO EAT. 
A woman, on the other hand, will feel hungry while 
out shopping. She will go to the nearest lunch-room HOW A WOMAN ORDERS SUPPER. 
117 
and order fried oysters and ice-cream. Now, isn't that 
a combination to make the gods weep? Or else, if not 
very hungry, a bit of pastry and a glass of soda water 
suffice her. Going home after lunch she will sit around 
and eat candy. If she is thirsty while out of doors she 
stops and buys a glass of ice-cream soda-on an empty 
stomach, too! 
Then she wonders why her complexion is so bad, why 
she tires easily, why her digestion is in ruin, and why 
her head aches. 
Woman as a rule do not know how to order a dinner. 
Men do. I went to an after-theater supper once. There 
were three women in the party. Here is what they 
ordered: 
No. i-Lobster salad and ice-cream. 
No. 2-Welsh rarebit and a glass of lemonade. 
No. 3-Chicken croquettes and a tart. 
While at supper they fell to bemoaning the fate of a 
man who was ruining his system by smoking too much. 
Had I dared I should have said: 
" My dear ladies, he is not killing himself half so fast 
as you are. One of you has mixed milk with lobster, a 
combination nearly as deadly as prussic acid. Another 
has mingled melted cheese with lemon juice, by way of 
allaying hunger. A third has prepared her stomach for 
a night's rest by filling it with fried, greasy, viscid cro- 
quettes and rich pastry. What victim to tobacco, or 
even drink, could do himself worse damage? " 118 
HOW TO BUILD MUSCLE. 
A DAILY PROGRAMME. 
But I am wandering from our daily programme. 
If you are a woman of leisure, rise at 7 or 7.30. If in 
business, rise two hours before work begins. 
Start the day by standing straight and taking in succes- 
sion ten long, deep breaths, drawing in and expelling the 
breath very slowly. Then, keeping the knees rigid, bend 
forward and try to touch the floor with your fingers. 
Try this twice the first morning, increasing by one a 
day till you reach ten times. Move slowly, not with 
sudden twists of the body. 
Do not try the backward bending I advised for men in 
the last chapter. 
Then go through certain motions of the arms (still 
standing erect, with chest thrown out). Raise the arms 
straight out at each side, keeping elbows rigid, until the 
fingers meet over your head. Then bring the arms to 
the side again and repeat ten times. Then bring the 
arms up in front until the fingers touch (as in diving 
position), bringing the arms down again and backward 
(elbows still rigid) until the fingers meet behind the body. 
Do each of these ten times. 
Then rise twenty times on the toes. 
Don't use dumb-bells, Indian clubs, or pulley-weights 
unless your doctor recommends them. They are, I 
think, too violent a form of exercise for women. MORNING WORK. 
119 
BATHING AND WALKING. 
After these calisthenics take a plunge bath. If your 
heart is not affected, take a cold bath, into which, the 
night before, three handfuls of sea salt have been thrown. 
If you cannot take a cold bath, take one from which the 
chill has just been removed by a little hot water. 
Rub yourself dry with a rough towel. 
Eat a breakfast similar to that I recommended, in the 
last chapter, for men-fruit, cereals, two medium-boiled 
eggs, toast, and a cup of tea or coffee. Better leave off 
tea and coffee if you possibly can. 
Soon after breakfast (which must NOT be bolted, but 
which must last at least half an hour), if you are a woman 
of leisure, take a brisk walk for one mile. If you have 
to go to work, walk one mile on your way there. People 
often say: " I live too far uptown to walk to the 
office." 
It never seems to occur to them that they can ride to 
within a mile of the office, then get off and walk the rest 
of the way. 
If a Brooklynite, walk across the bridge. If a com- 
muter, walk up from the ferry. 
When lunch-time comes shut your eyes to the allure- 
ments of pie, tart, salad with mayonnaise, fried food, and 
such-like horrors. 
Eat any kind of meat or vegetable you choose, if it 120 
HOW TO BUILD MUSCLE. 
isn't fried. Take some dessert that is not pastry. Avoid 
heavy, cloying foods. 
Walk home from work (or one mile of the distance), 
and if you can get time walk an extra mile, or else try 
some mild form of athletics. Go to a women's gym- 
nasium, where the instructor will see that you don't 
overdo exercise, or else take a spin on your wheel (not a 
long, tiresome ride nor a " scorch," but an easy jaunt, 
stopping as soon as you are tired). 
AVOID PASTRY. 
If you can afford it, ride horseback. That is still bet- 
ter than cycling. 
Join a fencing class, if you can. Fencing is not only 
the most beautiful exercise on earth, but one of the most 
beneficial. It is also within the physical capabilities of 
women. 
It strengthens the whole body, steadies the nerves, im- 
proves the figure, imparts quickness, and does more than 
any other exercise to make one graceful. 
Rest a while before dinner. Don't eat while ex- 
hausted. Take at least an hour for the meal. 
Be careful to eat only such foods as are free from 
grease and other indigestible properties. Avoid pastry, 
fried things, and especially incongruous mixtures. 
Many foods which, taken separately, are perfectly harm- 
less become murderous taken in combination. THE RIGHT AMOUNT OF SLEEP. 
121 
To illustrate: My wife and I dined at a restaurant the 
evening after my fight with Jeffries. I ordered the meal, 
which began as follows: 
Oysters, cream celery soup, brook trout, etc. I also 
ordered a bottle of claret. 
My wife, while eating her soup, told the waiter to fill 
her claret glass. 
I interposed. 
" Better wait till you eat some fish," I said. " If you 
think cream celery soup and claret go well together just 
mix cream and vinegar in the same cup some day and 
watch the result. That is just the combination this soup 
and claret will form if you take them at the same time." 
Yet how many people stop to think of that? 
Retire as early after io p. m. as possible. 
Just before getting into bed drink a glass of ale. Eat 
a wafer or cracker with it. You will sleep better for this, 
and it will strengthen your whole system. See that your 
room is well ventilated. 
Women are, as a rule, more nervous than men, and thus 
require more sleep. 
NINE HOURS' SLEEP. 
Never spend less than eight hours in bed. Nine is 
still better-or even ten. 
The more sleep a nervous person gets the better. The 
ale will make you sleep well. 122 
HOW TO BUILD MUSCLE. 
The wholesome diet and steady exercise will benefit 
the digestion and thus improve your complexion. The 
exercise, plenty of fresh air, and long sleep will quiet your 
nerves and add muscle and energy to your body. Your 
figure will also grow better for the athletic work and 
good diet. 
In other respects follow the hygienic rules I laid down 
for men in yesterday's lesson. 
Keep up this course of treatment steadily. 
Avoid late suppers. Choose your food carefully. If 
you must eat candy and drink ice-cream soda, do so in 
moderation and soon after meals. NEVER on an 
empty stomach. 
Get an hour's rest in the afternoon if you are a woman 
of leisure. If you work for your living you can always 
arrange your leisure hours so as to get time for the exer- 
cise I have prescribed. 
It costs no more to live healthfully than to live on bad 
terms with your muscles, nerves, and stomach. 
Remember: mild exercise, good diet, lots of fresh air, 
and plenty of water are Nature's grandest remedies for 
all ills. 
Try my plan for six months. 
If you do, you will try it for the rest of your life. HOW TO BREATHE, STAND, 
WALK, OR RUN. HOW TO BREATHE, STAND, 
WALK, OR RUN. 
J. Gardner Smith, M. D. 
CHAPTER I. 
KNOWING HOW TO BREATHE MEANS KNOWING HOW TO 
LIVE IN PERFECT HEALTH-SPECIAL TRAINING IN- 
SURES STRONG LUNGS AND DEVELOPS GRACE OF ACTION. 
Dr. J. Gardner Smith, formerly special instructor in 
physical training in the New York public schools and 
at present physical director of the Harlem Branch 
Y. M. C. A. and President of the Harlem Medical As- 
sociation, has written this series of four articles on the 
need of outdoor exercise and the best methods to fol- 
low to obtain beneficial results in breathing, carriage of 
the body, zvalking, and running. 
The necessity for outdoor exercise is becoming more 
appreciated every day. Many instructors, while admit- 
ting the good done by gymnasium practice, advise open- 
air stimulation. How many of the thousands of persons 
on our streets know how to carry themselves properly? 
125 126 
HOW TO BREATHE, STAND, WALK, OR RUN. 
To economize energy in order to obtain best results with 
minimum efforts? 
To walk properly, to run properly, to stand properly, 
are natural outcomes of proper breathing. The last 
helps to aid the others. Without natural breathing the 
attainment of graceful movement in these exercises is 
impossible. 
Respiratory practice should be begun early in life and 
continued late. The capacity of the lungs may be thus 
Upper chest breathing. 
increased. Intelligent breathing does much not only to 
facilitate walking and running, but to guard against dis- 
ease. 
Bodily demands, of course, depend upon physical exer- 
tion. The man who never makes much physical effort 
may live to a good old age, but he is never prepared for THREE TYPES OF BREATHING. 
127 
an emergency, such as injury or disease of a portion 
of the lung, nor can he undergo any violent effort with 
safety. 
CHEST BREATHING. 
There are three types of breathing-upper chest, ab- 
dominal, and lower chest breathing. An active chest 
should be always maintained. No effort should be neces- 
sary to accomplish this. The muscles should keep it in 
Abdominal respiration. 
position. In proper respiration the upper chest ought to 
remain quiet. 
Upper chest breathing may be practiced by raising the 
upper chest upward and forward to the fullest extent. 
Do not raise the shoulders. Inhale while counting " one, 128 
HOW TO BREATHE, STAND, WALK, OR RUN. 
two." Exhale on " three, four." In exhaling the chest 
should recede and the head should remain erect. Ex- 
hale through the nostrils. 
In abdominal respiration do not move the chest wall 
or bend the body. On " one, two," or inhalation, the ab- 
Abdominal exhalation. 
domen protrudes. At " three, four " it recedes. Press 
the upper chest with the left hand and place the right 
palm just below the lower end of the sternum. At every 
inhalation the right hand should be pushed forward, and LOWER CHEST BREATHING. 
129 
on exhalation the abdomen should recede underneath the 
hand. 
The best singers have almost complete control of the 
lower chest and diaphragm, and breathe little with the 
upper chest. In lower chest breathing inhale at " one, 
two," and on " three, four " exhale, distend, and con- 
tract the lower chest laterally. 
On " one, two " the ribs are rotated outward and raised 
laterally. Thus the broadest part of the chest is enlarged 
and much air inhaled. On " three, four," or exhale, 
expel the air by contracting the lower chest. The upper 
chest and diaphragm should remain passive. The backs 
of the fingers or points of index fingers pressing lightly 
at about the ninth rib will help one to understand this 
exercise. 
A DOZEN A DAY. 
In these exercises it is important that there be no com 
striction about the waist or lower chest. Many women 
cannot breathe vigorously because of such constriction. 
Practice in the open air should be sought. Even a dozen 
deep breaths a day, properly taken, will do much toward 
strengthening the lungs and getting them in proper con- 
dition to bear the strain incidental to walking and run- 
ning. 
The individual who understands how to use his chest is 
able to meet the strain more readily. In the person who 130 
HOW TO BREATHE, STAND, WALK, OR RUN. 
knows how to breathe, shortness of breath is seldom 
seen. 
The effects of proper breathing are better development 
of and control of the chest muscles, more power in speak- 
ing and singing, healthier lung conditions, improved cir- 
culation, and better general health. CHAPTER II. 
STAND LIKE A SOLDIER FOR HEALTH AND GRACE-LACK 
OF ENERGY AND AMBITION SHOWN IN THE MANNER 
A MAN HOLDS HIMSELF. 
Dr. I. Gardner Smith has explained how proper breath- 
ing insures strength and prolongs life. The good ef- 
fect on the lungs and voice zvas pointed out, and the 
rules governing natural respiration given. To breathe 
properly one must stand properly. So in this chapter 
Dr. Smith's hints on how to acquire grace of carriage 
are published. 
Having observed the exercises on how to breathe prop- 
erly, and practiced them gradually and conscientiously, 
the next step presented is how to stand properly. It is 
true that these are closely related. To breathe properly 
one must stand properly. To stand properly one must 
breathe properly. 
The position of the soldier at " Attention ! " gives a clear 
idea of how to stand properly. He is seen with his heels 
on the same line and as near each other as the conforma- 
tion permits. His feet are turned out equally and form 
with each other an angle of about sixty degrees. The 
knees are straight without stiffness and the body erect 
131 132 
HOW TO BREATHE, STAND, WALK, OR RUN. 
on the hips, inclining a little forward, while the shoulders 
are square and fall equally. His arms and hands hang 
naturally, the backs of the hands being turned outward 
Correct position for standing, 
and the elbows held near the body. The soldier's head 
is always held erect and squarely to the front, the chin 
being slightly drawn in, without constraint, while the 
eyes are straight to the front. 
It is essential that the person who would stand prop- 
erly endeavor at all times to hold the upper chest forward 
and never assume a stiff attitude. FAULTY MODES OF STANDING. 
133 
Many persons appear with chest sunken and shoulders 
doubled. They can be seen bv hundreds every dav. 
They stand in slouchy attitudes as if they were in danger 
of falling to pieces. These persons lack life, energy, and 
ambition. Why? Because they neglect to exercise their 
LACK AMBITION. 
Upper chest exhalation. 
lungs. They cannot expect to stand properly if they do 
not breathe properly. 
The reason for the failure to hold the body erect is 134 
HOW TO BREATHE, STAND, WALK, OR RUN. 
traceable to laziness. The muscles of the chest, when 
trained by proper respiration, hold that part of the body 
in natural position. 
The appearance of a West Point cadet before and after 
his course at the Military Academy is worthy of notice. 
His four years make such a change that his best friends 
fail to recognize him. He stands erect. His hands are 
Side action in breathing. 
not swinging here, there, and everywhere, neither is he 
obliged to put them in his pockets. His elbows are not 
pointing at different angles, but hang gracefully near the 
body. He does not appear to be stiff-legged, yet his 
knees are straight. 
His feet do not shift from one position to another, but 
are turned out equally and naturally. His body does not 
sway this way and that, in embarrassment at not know- THE WAY A WEST-POINTER STANDS. 
135 
ing how to hold it. It is inclined a little forward, erect on 
the hips. One shoulder is not higher than the other and 
constantly shifting. They fall gracefully and equally. 
PERFECT REPOSE. 
He does not twist his head and neck on to his chin. 
He looks straight ahead, with chin a little drawn in, and 
Body in repose. 
he holds his upper chest out. As a whole he presents 
the acme of grace and mobility. He has acquired in 136 
HOW TO BREATHE, STAND, WALK, OR RUN. 
standing that most difficult acquirement-repose of 
manner. 
It is not too much to say that knowledge of how to 
stand properly is an art. Notice the attitudes assumed by 
persons who pay no attention to this. How awkward and 
ill at ease they appear when addressing others. They 
cannot analyze this awkwardness. But a little practice 
each day in simple exercises, a little thoughtfulness on the 
subject would do much to obviate the difficulty. All are 
given the proper facilities. It rests with the individual 
to improve them. 
Proper resting and proper standing are preliminary 
steps to proper walking and proper running. All are 
steps toward maintenance of rugged health. CHAPTER HI. 
HEEL-AND-TOE ACTION FIRST RULE IN WALKING--NAT- 
URAL SWING OF BODY AND FEET GIVES HEALTH AND 
GRACE OF MOVEMENT WADDLING IS IMPOSSIBLE WHEN 
HEAD IS HELD ERECT, CHEST OUT, AND ARMS PILLOW 
LEGS-FULL ADVANTAGE TO FAT AND LEAN WHQ PRAC- 
TICE NOSE BREATHING AND FOLLOW RULES. 
To zvalk correctly is as essential to health as proper 
breathing. Dr. J. Gardner Smith, who has told how 
to attain full benefit from natriral respiration and the 
maintenance of the right posture in standing, tells how 
to carry the body in zvalking. 
Walking, as practiced by most persons, is neither 
graceful nor healthful. The fat man puffs and waddles 
and the thin man goes by jerks. The graceful walker 
is the exception, but there is no reason why every man 
and woman should not carry himself or herself as nature 
intended. Having mastered the proper method of breath- 
ing and learned how to stand correctly, walking for health 
becomes easy. 
In walking the heel and toe always strike the ground 
and at times both feet are on the ground. The graceful 
137 138 
HOW TO BREATHE, STAND, WALK, OR RUN. 
walker springs from the toe at the end of each step or 
the beginning of the new step. 
The arms should be a little bent at the elbows, chest 
out, and head erect. All breathing should be through the 
Both feet on the ground. 
nose, never through the mouth. If a man cannot breathe 
through the nose something is wrong with lungs or heart. 
In walking no tight clothing should constrict the chest. 
The skin ought to be covered with light covering. HOW FAR TO WALK. 
139 
A healthful amount of walking depends on individual 
conditions. The large man can and ought to walk half 
a mile (ten city blocks) before breakfast at first, and 
gradually increase this distance to one mile at the end 
of a month. Superfluous fat will be reduced and he will 
Legs like pendulums. 
feel better. The thin, nervous man, on the contrary, 
ought not to walk before eating, as he has no tissue to 
lose. 
In all cases if a person does not walk properly he gains 140 
HOW TO BREATHE, STAND, WALK, OR RUN. 
small benefit from the exercise. The foot is often ham- 
pered by narrow shoes, and the spreading action of the 
toes prevented. The heel first touches and leaves the 
Arms follow legs. 
ground. The body is alternately supported by first the 
right and then the left leg. 
The legs are like pendulums, and when one leg is put 
forward and the body assumes an almost vertical posi- 
tion, the other leg is bent, raised, and the body bends for- 
ward again. Thus is seen the swinging movement in ARM MOVEMENTS IN WALKING. 
141 
walking, the bending at the beginning of each step, and 
the forward inclination and straightening at the end of 
each step. 
In the arms similar movements are noticeable. The 
right leg and left arm advance simultaneously, as do the 
left leg and right arm. The leg always swings in the 
opposite direction to the arm on its own side. When the 
curves formed by the right and left legs or the right and 
left arms are joined, they form waved tracks symmetri- 
cally arranged on either side of a given line. 
The number of steps a person can take in a given time 
depends on the length of the leg. Everyone has a meas- 
ure for his steps, which, in walking naturally, he cannot 
exceed. A tall man will thus take fewer steps in a given 
time than a short man. In the natural walk all com- 
plementary body motions assist. 
Many men and women complain that they get out of 
breath climbing stairs in the city, but they go to the 
country and climb hills without difficulty. The trouble 
is that they do not practice walking in town. Women 
should go upstairs slowly, putting the whole foot on each 
stair. Climbing stairs is good exercise, and ought to be 
accomplished without loss of breath. CHAPTER IV. 
ALL MAY RUN WHO LEARN THE RULES OF LEG SPEED- 
CATCHING CARS WILL BE A TASK OF JOY AND AN ACT 
OF GRACEFUL MOTION OLD AS WELL AS YOUNG 
SHOULD SPRINT AND NONE FEEL THE NEED TO PUFF 
AND BLOW-IN RUNNING SPRING FROM THE TOE AND 
LET ANKLE, KNEE, AND BODY BEND FREELY. 
In running, if certain natural rules are not observed, in- 
jury or, at least, discomfort will result. Dr. J. Gard- 
ner Smith points out all of these and tells how young 
or old may run and cut a graceful figure. 
Running, which is accelerated walking, presents more 
ridiculous spectacles than almost any other exercise. The 
man or woman dashing for a car is often a most undig- 
nified sight. Such persons expend a needless amount of 
nervous and muscular energy in accomplishing some- 
thing which ought not to even put them out of breath. 
Age ought not to interfere with running. An old man 
ought not to get out of breath any sooner than a young 
one. But there is one thing to be guarded against. That 
is heart trouble. All men and women should be exam- 
ined, for the victim of heart disease never realizes his 
142 PROPER ATTITUDE FOR RUNNING. 
143 
affliction till too late. The lack of pain in initial stages 
of the disease makes it dangerous. 
In running, unlike walking, the heel never strikes the 
ground, the toe always does. In walking there is a time 
Springing from toes. 
when both feet are on the ground, in running there is a 
time when both feet are off the ground. To run grace- 
fully spring from the toe and let ankle, knee, and hip 
bend freely. The whole body should be in an easy, not 
a stiff, position. 144 
HOW TO BREATHE, STAND, WALK, OR RUN. 
" When running, no matter what the distance, the arms, 
or more properly speaking the upper extremities, should 
be used chiefly from the shoulder, with precision, and 
Figure always erect. 
should swing in harmony with the legs or lower ex- 
tremities. The right arm should move with the left leg, 
and the left arm with the right leg, in order to maintain 
perfect balance and to gain greater speed. The trunk 
and head should be allowed to assume their natural posi- 
tion which, if a person carries himself properly, will be in 
the erect posture or nearly so. The runner ought never 
to lean forward. 
" All distances under and including one mile should be PROPER LENGTH OF STRIDE. 
145 
run upon the toes, while distances over one mile should 
be run upon the ball of the foot, or the part just back 
of the toes. 
" Runners should put their feet out in front of them 
in a perfectly straight line, making the advanced step 
Sprinter's action. 
with one foot when the other is directly beneath the body, 
keeping each arm in its relative position and the legs close 
together, in order to concentrate energy. 
" A good stride will cover about 7 feet, 7 feet 2 inches, 
7 feet 4 inches, or 7 feet 6 inches. It is a great mistake 
to overstride, because in so doing an unnecessary amount 146 
HOW TO BREATHE, STAND, WALK, OR RUN. 
of energy is wasted, and fatigue comes on more quickly. 
If one is able to stride 7 feet at first he is doing well. 
It is best to increase the stride by inches. In this way 
Long-distance gait. 
a good stride may be obtained without unduly taxing the 
muscles. 
" Never kick your heels up behind you-that is, behind 
the axis of the body-because it will cause a loss of 
locomotion and also of time by making the legs trail 
through a greater space unnecessarily. As one pro- 
gresses, alighting first upon one set of toes and then upon 
the other, or ball of the foot, as the case may be. great USUAL VELOCITY IN RUNNING. 
147 
care should be exercised in coming down upon the ground 
lightly. If attention be paid to this the body will escape 
much jarring, which is important to the muscles and 
nerves." 
The time of a step in quick running, as compared to 
that in quick walking, is nearly as two to three, while 
the length of the steps is as two to one. Hence a person 
can run in a given time three times as fast as he can walk. 
The velocity in running is usually at a rate of about ten 
miles an hour. HOW TO PUNCH THE BAG. HOW TO PUNCH THE BAG. 
By Gus E. Keeley and Artie R. Keeley, Champion 
Bag-Punchers of the World. 
CHAPTER I. 
USEFUL EXERCISE WILL DEVELOP YOUR MUSCLES AND 
IMPROVE YOUR HEALTH. 
This series of lessons in bag-punching shows how 
your physical condition may be improved, with but little 
trouble; how at a comparatively small expense you may 
rig up a bag-punching apparatus in a corner of a small 
room and how to acquire a knowledge sufficient to make 
you an expert at the art. 
There is no exercise more beneficial to the human sys- 
tem than bag-punching. It is not hard, by any means. 
Read the lessons, the first of which appears in this chap- 
ter, and see the benefits that may be acquired from a 
regular course of bag-punching. 
THE FIRST LESSON. 
In the first place, bag-punching is the cheapest, best, 
most useful exercise in the world. 
151 152 
HOW TO PUNCH THE BAG. 
Do you want to learn to " handle your hands " in a 
fight-to make yourself strong, quick, and accurate-and 
to learn how to hit blows that will send the average man 
to sleep? The punching-bag will teach you all that. 
Do you want to become easy and graceful in carriage; 
to develop each muscle; to improve your health, your fig- 
ure, and your whole make-up? The punching-bag will 
do it. 
There are other exercises, of course, that will teach you 
some of these things, but none so effectively and cheaply. 
The very cheapness of the exercise commends it. No 
other good form of calisthenics is half as cheap. 
There is a right and wrong way of learning, of course, 
and we will undertake to teach you the right way. 
Let us introduce ourselves. We are the Keeley 
brothers, champion bag-punchers of the world. We 
taught ourselves the art, and we are here to teach you. 
Follow out our instructions faithfully, and in a few 
months you will be experts. 
THE OUTFIT FIRST. 
First of all, let us take up the question of an outfit. 
Of course, if you are rich and have lots of room at your 
disposal, there need be no bother about that. But we 
will suppose, just for the time, that you are not over- 
burdened either with money or space. These lessons are 
mainly for such people. ABOUT THE BAG. 
153 
If possible, it is well to have a bag that swings from 
a " platform " or " ceiling." If that is not possible, get 
The "double-ender." 
a " double-ender " (one that fastens from floor to ceil- 
ing). 
Such a bag runs in price from ninety-eight cents to two 
dollars. It has a rubber elastic on one end, a rope on the 
other. Screws and staples come with it. 154 
HOW TO PUNCH THE BAG. 
Screw one staple into the top of the doorway of your 
room; the other into the bottom. Do so in such a way 
as not to prevent the opening or closing of the door. 
Fasten the elastic to the top staple and the rope end 
to the bottom, adjusting them so that the bottom of the 
bag is at about the height of your throat. 
Be sure the rope and rubber are taut, so the bag will 
have plenty of spring when you hit it. 
You can inflate the bag either by blowing into it or 
with a bicycle pump, which you can buy for twenty-five 
cents. Have the bag well inflated. It must not be 
flabby. 
THE " PLATFORM " BAG. 
Should you get a " platform " you will, of course, only 
need a " single-end " bag. The " ring platform " is 
cheapest and best for home use. This consists of a 
wooden or iron ring, from the center of which the bag 
hangs. The rope from which the bag is suspended 
should be long enough to allow the center (or the lower 
part of the bag, just beneath the center) to touch the 
ring. Supports come with these " platforms," and they 
can be screwed up with ease against the wall at what- 
ever height you require. 
The ring platforms are better for ring amateur work 
than the flat " ceilings," and are not nearly so noisy. 
Hence they are better for home use, especially if the peo- 
ple in the flat below happen to be cranks. WHAT THE OUTFIT COSTS. 
155 
Sash cord is the best, strongest, most durable sort of 
rope for punching-bags. See that it is renewed as soon 
The ' ' platform " bag. 
as it shows signs of wear. If you don't, the bag is liable 
to fly off under some particularly heavy blow and smash 
something. 
COST OF APPARATUS. 
The apparatus needed for the " platform " bag is as 
follows (the prices being put at the lowest possible esti- 
mate) : 
One punching-bag, about, . . . $1.00 
One platform, about, . . . .5.00 
Sash cord, 25 
One pair of striking gloves, . . . .50 
Total cost, . . •. . . $6.75 156 
HOW TO PUNCH THE BAG. 
The striking gloves (a sort of cross between leather 
mittens and boxing gloves) are used to prevent the hands 
from becoming sore and to obviate sprains and bruises. 
As for costume, wear an old pair of trousers, an under- 
shirt, and a pair of rubber-so!ed, no-heel shoes. These 
shoes can be bought for fifty cents a pair. CHAPTER II. 
FIRST BLOW TO LEARN IN PUNCHING THE BAG-CHAM- 
PION KEELEY BROTHERS, IN SECOND LESSON, TELL BE- 
GINNER THE CORRECT POSITION TO ASSUME AND HOW 
TO PROPERLY STRIKE THE FIRST BLOW. 
These lessons in bag-punching are intended to show 
how the physical condition may be improved by this light 
exercise without a great expense of time or money. The 
first lesson told how easily the apparatus may be ar- 
ranged in one's room, the small cost of same, and the 
costume that might be worn during the exercise. The 
second lesson in this chapter explains the correct position 
for the beginner to assume, how to lead properly and 
strike the first blow, and when to stop. 
SECOND LESSON-PROPER POSITION-LEFT- AND RIGHT- 
HAND LEADS-GENERAL ADVICE. 
Now that you have your apparatus and costume ready, 
let us begin our first lesson. 
When you take up your first position, stand much as 
you would if you were sparring-that is, stand with the 
left foot about eighteen inches in front of the right, the 
157 158 
HOW TO PUNCH THE BAG. 
toes of each foot turned slightly outward, the right toe 
being turned out farther than the left, the balance being 
kept perfect. 
Keep the knees unbent. 
Hold shoulders slightly back and head erect. Keep 
the right hand (when not hitting with it) across the wind 
and slightly in advance of the body. Let the left arm be 
half extended, the elbow a little forward of the hip, the 
forearm straight ahead. 
Don't stand too close to the bag. If you do it may 
cramp your motions, and besides you are more apt to hurt 
your face. Do not, on the other hand, stand so far 
away from the bag that your elbow will not easily touch 
it when the bag is not in motion. 
HOW TO STRIKE THE FIRST BLOW. 
Now for the first blow. 
Hit out straight from the shoulder with your left hand, 
striking the ball as near the center (between top and bot- 
tom) as possible, and throwing the weight of the left 
shoulder and the upper part of the body into the blow. 
The bag will hit the ring of the platform and rebound. 
Be careful that it does not hit your face in doing so. 
Either move the face to the right to avoid it or else step 
back out of reach. 
The bag will, of course, fly off at wrong angles at first, 
for it is not as easy as it looks to hit it in just the right The correct position at the start. ALTERNATE LEADS. 
161 
way to insure its striking the ring and returning to you 
just where you expect it. But a very little practice will 
teach you the knack. 
The bag, as we said, will hit the ring, fly back to the 
opposite side, and again strike the side it hit first, swing- 
ing once more toward you. 
As it returns this second time, hit it again with the 
left, making it go through the same evolutions as 
before, and, as it comes back the second time, repeat 
the blow. 
Keep this up until you can do it fairly well and can 
judge as to the strength of the blow necessary. 
THE RIGHT LEAD. 
When you have mastered this (it isn't quite as easy as 
it sounds, just at first) lead with the right instead of the 
left, making the bag go through the same evolutions as 
before, only using the right hand instead of the left. 
When you have mastered this, try it with alternate 
hands. Hit it with the left, let it strike the ring in front 
of you (then the opposite side of the ring and the first 
spot again) ; then, as it comes back, hit it with the right 
and let it swing as before. 
Get so you can hit it with precision with alternate hands 
without missing, without losing your balance, or getting 
rattled. 
These are the first and fundamental motions of bag- 162 
HOW TO PUNCH THE BAG. 
punching. Until you learn them thoroughly you can 
never master the rest. 
Take great care to hit the bag square; not with a twist- 
ing or downward or upward blow. Such blows spoil ac- 
curacy, weaken hitting powers, and may sprain the arm. 
WHEN TO STOP. 
Never punch the bag after it begins to tire you. As 
soon as you get tired rest. Punch it at first for three 
minutes steadily. Then rest. Then, when rested, try 
three more minutes of punching. Only as soon as you 
become really fatigued be sure to stop for the day. In- 
crease the time of punching little by little as you find you 
can stand it. 
We have gotten so now that we can punch it for over 
an hour without tiring at all. CHAPTER III. 
TATTOO AND HOOK BLOWS FOR THE BAG-PUNCHER- 
HOW TO BECOME PROFICIENT IN THE ART OF LANDING 
BLOWS QUICKLY AND CORRECTLY, EXPLAINED BY THE 
CHAMPION KEELEY BROTHERS. 
That bag-punching is a most beneficial exercise there 
is no doubt, and these lessons should make it easier for 
a beginner. 
The first lesson told how easily the apparatus may be 
arranged in one's room, the small cost of same, and the 
costume that might be worn during the exercise. The 
second lesson explains the correct position for the be- 
ginner to assume, how to lead properly and strike the 
first blow, and when to stop. In this chapter the tattoo, 
swings, and half-hooks are explained. 
Now that you have learned to hit the bag on the third 
rebound with alternate hands, try the next step. 
Stand as before. Lead with the left for the bag, hit- 
ting it with just enough force to drive it against the ring 
and back against your fist. Don't let it rebound to the 
opposite side of the ring this time, but hit it as it comes 
back from its first contact with the ring, and drive it 
back again, repeating this process until you have gauged 
163 164 
HOW TO PUNCH THE BAG. 
the force and direction of the blow correctly and have 
learned to hit the bag rapidly this way. 
Then go through the same motions with the right 
hand, until fairly proficient. 
When you have mastered the trick with each hand, 
try both. 
Hit the bag with the left fist, driving it against the ring. 
As it bounds back hit it with the right and so on as long 
as possible. 
You cannot do this quickly at first, but in a very few 
days you can do it with lightning speed, making the ball 
rattle continuously against the ring like a roll of a drum 
beating the tattoo. 
THE ^TATTOO" PUNCH. 
This motion is known among bag-punchers as the 
" tattoo," because of its resemblance to the roll of a 
drum. 
Practice it in this way until proficient. 
Then try the tattoo with the hands over-lapping, in 
much the same motion as if rolling up a ball of twine on 
the hands. You can reach great speed this way. Be 
sure, however, not to let the hands hit or brush against 
each other while doing this tattoo. The two different 
modes of working the tattoo, described above, bring 
out different muscles. 
Now stand in position again. Drop the left arm to LEFT- AND RIGHT-ARM SWINGS. 
165 
the side. Bring it around in a semicircle, throwing the 
shoulder with it, keeping the arm almost rigid and turn- 
ing the forearm so that the back of the knuckles will 
Straight tattoo. 
strike the bag. This is a left-arm swing and can be 
delivered with terrific force. 
Do the same with the right. Then alternately, allow- 
ing the bag to hit the sides of the ring three or perhaps 
four times between your blows. 
Judging direction and distance in such a move is not 
as easy as you may think. Much depends on hitting the 
bag at the proper angle and at the proper time. It 166 
HOW TO PUNCH THE BAG. 
should be hit as it is swinging toward you and while it is 
as nearly in the center of the ring as possible. 
SOME LEFT HOOKS. 
Next we'll try some half-hooks. 
Bend the left arm at an angle of almost ninety degrees. 
Then drop the fist to the level of the thigh and bring the 
Overhand tattoo. 
arm around with the same motion as in a swing (not, 
however, turning the hand as in the swing), and throw 
your shoulder with the blow. Hit the bag square, not 
slantingly nor in such fashion as to throw it out of line. AVOIDING THE REBOUND. 
167 
Hit it so it will strike the ring and rebound straight, as 
usual. Most of the effectiveness of a half-hook depends 
on the quickness and accuracy with which it is delivered 
Left-hand half hook, 
and the weight of shoulder and body that is thrown into 
the blow. 
Next try right-hand half-hooks, and then alternate 
from left to right and right to left. 
In striking these heavy blows great care must be taken 
not to stand too close to the bag or to let it hit you on 
the rebound. Learn to judge by experience the distance 
at which you can best land such blows. 
TO AVOID THE BAG. 
As for avoiding the rebound of the bag, a good way to 
learn that is to lead a straight left-hand blow (not too 168 
HOW TO PUNCH THE BAG. 
hard) at close quarters, then duck the bag as it comes 
back or else shift the head and shoulders to right or to 
left so as to avoid it. This is easily learned and will 
Right-hand half hook. 
prove of the greatest value to you in avoiding the blows 
of a real adversary. 
Indeed, the swings and half-hooks we have taught you 
are among the deadliest blows used by pugilists. 
While it is well to keep out of fights, yet it is also well 
to learn how to strike a good blow in case you are ever 
forced into one. This is one of the grand advantages of 
the punching-bag. CHAPTER IV. 
HOW TO BECOME FANCY IN PUNCHING THE BAG 
RIGHT AND LEFT ELBOW BLOWS AND A NEW AND 
PRETTY TATTOO. 
The first lesson told how easily the apparatus may be 
arranged in one's room, the small cost of same, and the 
costume that might be worn during the exercise. The 
second lesson explained the correct position for the be- 
ginner to assume, how to lead properly and strike the 
first blow, and when to stop. In the last chapter the 
tattoo, swings, and half-hooks were explained. Elbow 
blows and elbow tattoos are the subjects in this chapter. 
Now let us come to elbow work. 
This is hard and awkward, just at first, but if you work 
at it faithfully you will soon get the hang of it. When 
you do, the thing will be very easy. 
A good deal depends on proper balance. Your own 
instinct and a little practice will soon teach you this, just 
as it taught you to judge distance in hitting. 
One point more before we come down to our next 
lesson: A lot of fellows when they find they can't pick up 
the whole science of bag-punching in a week, get dis- 
couraged and quit. It is not to such men that we are 
169 170 
HOW TO PUNCH THE BAG. 
talking. The chances are ten to one that they will never 
make a success of anything in life, having so little perse- 
verance. But there is another class-men who lose their 
tempers (" get mad," to use a schoolboy term) when the 
bag does not behave just as they expect it to. They 
either stop then, or hammer the bag angrily and wildly, 
spoiling any good effect the exercise might bring. 
MUST HAVE PATIENCE. 
Such men must remember the fault is not with the bag, 
but with their own awkwardness. Nothing but patience 
and perseverance will overcome the difficulty. 
As a " temper-improver " the punching-bag is a win- 
ner. 
Now for the elbow work. Stand in position, throw the 
left arm out, the arm from shoulder to elbow being al- 
most parallel with the shoulder, the arm from elbow to 
wrist being bent at right angles to the rest of the arm. 
By turning the left arm and shoulder hit the bag with 
the elbow, driving the bag against the ring, letting it re- 
bound to the other side of the ring and back again, and 
hitting it with the elbow once more on the third rebound. 
The blow is not nearly as easy to do accurately as when 
delivered with the fist, for the simple reason that you are 
not accustomed to use the elbow for that purpose, and 
are inclined to be awkward at it just at first. But prac- 
tice will soon make you familiar with it. FORWARD ELBOW BLOW. 
171 
RIGHT ELBOW BLOW. 
Let the right side of the left elbow (when forearm is 
turned downward) hit the bag. When hitting a " back 
Forward elbow blow. 
elbow blow" (which will come later) hit with the other 
side of the elbow. For the sake of convenience we will 
call the present elbow blow (and all elbow blows that 
drive the bag in front of you rather than behind) " for- 
ward elbow blows." 172 
HOW TO PUNCH THE BAG. 
After learning the forward elbow blow with the left 
arm, try it with the right. 
In the right-arm work keep the left foot still advanced, 
but turn the right shoulder further forward so that the 
Right fist and elbow tattoo. 
chest is flush with the bag, and at the necessary distance 
from it. You will soon learn the distance as well as the 
required balance and motion for hips and shoulders. 
After learning to hit the bag with the elbow on the 
third rebound try it on the first rebound. BACK ELBOW BLOW. 
173 
After that hit it with the left elbow and on the third 
rebound hit it with the right, alternating. Then with 
left and right on first rebound as in tattoo. 
A NEW TATTOO. 
Next we will try a new and pretty tattoo, which is 
really not so very hard: 
Back elbow blow. 
Hit the bag with the left elbow. On the rebound hit 
it with the right fist. Let it strike the ring, and as it 
comes back hit it again with the left elbow, driving it 174 
HOW TO PUNCH THE BAG. 
against the ring and tapping it once more with the right 
fist as it comes back, keeping this up as long as you can. 
You will in time learn to do it almost as quickly as you 
can now work the regular fist tattoo. No shift of shoul- 
ders and chest is necessary when working from left elbow 
to right fist in this tattoo. 
After mastering this try the same thing with right 
elbow and left fist. 
Now we'll practice some back elbow blows. 
Hold the left arm as when dealing a forward elbow 
blow; but hit the bag with the opposite side of the elbow. 
This will drive it to the ring somewhat behind you, mak- 
ing it more difficult to hit it again on the third or even 
the first rebound. Practice it faithfully, going slow at 
first, and in time you can acquire it. 
Then try it with the right elbow in the same way. 
This lesson has been anything but easy. Still it is im- 
portant, and can be learned with a little patience. In the 
next chapter we will .go still further into fancy work. CHAPTER V. 
HITTING BAG WITH HEAD STRENGTHENS THE NECK. 
Head blows, double, triple, and quadruple rolls are 
explained in this lesson in bag-punching. 
The first lesson told how easily the apparatus may be 
arranged in one's room, the small cost of same, and the 
costume that might be worn during the exercise. The 
second lesson explained the correct position for the be- 
ginner to assume, how to lead properly and strike the 
first blow, and when to stop. Next the tattoo, swings, 
and half-hooks were explained. Elbow blows and elbow 
tattoos were the subjects of the last lesson. 
Having mastered the single back elbow blows, try a 
variation or two on them: Stand with your back to the 
bag, being careful to judge the proper distance. Hit 
a back blow with the left elbow, and on the first rebound 
hit the bag a back blow with the right elbow, keeping up 
the motion in a sort of tattoo. This is very hard. Great 
care and patience must be used in striking the bag so as 
to make it rebound in such a way as to bring it in reach 
of the other elbow. When you have learned this thor- 
oughly try another move, which you are to use later in 
conjunction with this back elbow tattoo. 
175 176 
HOW TO PUNCH THE BAG. 
Stand with the back to the bag. Bend backward 
slightly so as to hit the bag with the back of the head. 
Do not butt it hard; only hard enough to make it hit the 
One of the head blows. 
ring and rebound. As it rebounds butt it once more 
with the back of the head. This is not hard, the 
direction and necessary force. being soon acquired. 
Do not bend too far back for this, so as to lose the 
balance. BUTTING THE BAG. 
177 
The movement looks ridiculous, but it is not. It not 
only strengthens the muscles of the neck, but it is an im- 
portant part of an intricate maneuver which we will now 
come to. 
Stand with the back to the bag as before. Hit the 
Right elbow punch. 
bag lightly with the left elbow, so that on the rebound it 
will hit the head. 
Butt it back against the ring with the head, giving it 178 
HOW TO PUNCH THE BAG. 
a slight tendency to the right, and on the rebound hit it 
with the right elbow, knocking it to the left, so that it 
will hit the head on the rebound. 
The left elbow blow. 
With the head butt it so that it will rebound to the 
left elbow. 
Repeat as before in the following order: 
Left elbow, head, right elbow; right elbow, head, left 
elbow. 
You will easily get the hang of this intricate and seem- THE " QUADRUPLE " AND " TRIPLE " ROLLS. 
179 
ingly difficult motion when once you have mastered the 
elbow blows from behind, described in the first part of 
this chapter. 
This head and elbow motion is known as the " triple 
back roll." 
Now turn around and face the bag once more, stand- 
ing as in other lessons. 
Hit the bag a " forward elbow blow " with the left 
elbow. Let it strike the ring; and on the first rebound 
hit it with the left fist. Let it hit the ring and on the 
first rebound hit it with the left elbow again, working 
thus a sort of one-arm tattoo. 
Then do the same with the right elbow and fist. 
Having mastered both of these, try the following com- 
bination of the two: 
Hit the bag with the left elbow, let it rebound. Then 
hit it (on first rebound) with the left fist. Then on the 
first rebound hit it with the right fist. On the first re- 
bound hit it with the right elbow. On the first rebound, 
then, hit it with the right fist. So on to the left fist and 
left elbow in the same fashion and back again. 
This is soon learned and is a very pretty maneuver. 
It is called the " quadruple roll." 
The " triple roll " is still easier and is merely a simpler 
form of the " quadruple." To work it, hit the bag with 
the left elbow. On the first rebound hit it with the left 
fist. On first rebound hit it with right fist, then with 
left elbow, left fist, and right fist again. The same 180 
HOW TO PUNCH THE BAG. 
" triple roll " may be worked from the right (that is: right 
elbow, right fist, left fist). 
Next try the head blow from in front, just as you 
learned it from the rear. It will be useful in a new ma- 
neuver explained in the next chapter. CHAPTER VI. 
ROLL BLOWS AND TRAINING POINTERS FOR BAG- 
PUNCHERS. 
The Keeley brothers, the champion bag-punchers of 
the world, complete their lessons in bag-punching in this 
chapter with the circular roll and training suggestions as 
the subjects. 
The first lesson told how easily the apparatus may be 
arranged in one's room, the small cost of same, and the 
costume that might be worn during the exercise. The 
second lesson explained the correct position for the be- 
ginner to assume, how to lead properly and strike the first 
blow, and when to stop. Next the tattoo, swings, and 
half-hooks were explained. Elbow blows and elbow 
tattoos, head blows, double, triple, and -quadruple rolls 
have also been explained. 
Now we come to an intricate and pretty maneuver that 
combines all the moves taught in the fifth lesson. 
Stand facing the bag. Hit it with the left fist; hit with 
the front of the head on the first rebound, and then with 
the right fist, and so on to the right elbow. Thus far the 
maneuver is simply the quadruple roll and the head blow. 
But this is only part of it. 
181 182 
HOW TO PUNCH THE BAG. 
After hitting the bag a forward blow with the right 
elbow let it rebound twice, catching it a back elbow blow 
with the right elbow on the second rebound. 
Circular roll, first blow. 
Let the bag rebound once from this blow, hitting it 
with the back of the head on the first rebound. Then 
a back elbow blow with the left elbow, letting it rebound A COURSE OF MILD TRAINING. 
183 
twice and catching it a forward elbow blow with the left 
elbow on the second rebound, thus completing the circle. 
Start it along as before. 
Hard as this sounds, it is really easy if you have mas- 
tered the various moves that go to make it up. 
It is a maneuver that brings almost every muscle of the 
body into play, and requires a quick eye and a cool brain. 
The motions requiring circular evolutions of the bag 
can, of course, only be used on " platform " punching- 
bags, as the " double-enders " are not capable of such 
movements. 
With double-ender bags you may use all the blows of a 
pugilist, however, and they are as good for developing 
your hitting powers, balance, and reach as are the plat- 
form bags. 
The double-ender bag may be rigged up in the door- 
way of even the smallest hall bedroom. It won't inter- 
fere with the opening and closing of the door, and can 
be taken down or put up in less than one minute. 
You can use straight leads, hooks, swings, and even 
upper-cuts on it, and can work the tattoo as well, either 
with both hands or with fist and elbow. 
We would suggest the following course of mild 
training: 
Sleep at least eight hours. Rise at seven. Before 
dressing, punch the bag briskly for three minutes-don't 
punch it too long or too hard at that time; it is bad for 
you to become overtired before breakfast. Then bathe in 184 
HOW TO PUNCH THE BAG. 
a tub, or, if this is not convenient, take a cold sponge 
bath, rubbing yourself hard with a rough towel. Dress, 
Circular roll, halfway round. 
and, if you have time, walk briskly for five or six blocks 
(not too far) before breakfast. 
You'll come in hungry, but don't overeat, and, above 
all, don't bolt your food. THE QUESTIONS OF SLEEP AND DIET. 
185 
When possible take most of your punching-bag exer- 
cise in afternoon or evening rather than in the forenoon. 
Punch the bag until you are tired and then stop for the 
day. Either punch it, not too violently, for fifteen min- 
utes, or else for a few hard three-minute rounds, taking 
one minute's rest between rounds. 
As for diet, avoid too many sweets, pastry, and starchy 
foods, if you wish to keep your weight down. Eat 
heartily, and learn by experience what sort of food best 
agrees with you. Keep your digestion good; don't sit up 
late. Steer clear of drink and tobacco: Nothing else so 
soon queers the nerves and breaks up the constitution. 
Inside of three months you can become fairly proficient 
at bag-punching. From that time on you will steadily 
improve for about two years, until you reach the limit of 
proficiency.