"BAG PUNCHING" FOR WOMEN.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 123, 17 February 1908, Page 3

"BAG PUNCHING" FOR WOMEN.

The, athletic instructors now are, advising bag punching as an excellent indoor exerciso for women, particularly for." women* who have to solve; the ever-present. problems of; how! to grow thin. A well-known writer on athletics ' insists thn.t bv .""aching a ten minutes p.

day for a week a woman' can do .more to reduce her weight and preserve a good figure than by observing a rigid diet for six months.-

;Bag punching develops . the chest, neck, and shoulders, and reduces the waist. It oxcrciscs every nnisclo, 'gives' thin_ ! women curves, and makes stout women thin. If a woman has a poor complexion the exercise will give her the tints of peaches and cream, if anything will. The object of allexerciso is to mako the blood circulato rapidly and well, and bag punching does that to perfection.

.Unlike fencing, bag punching requires no instructor, yet its advocates say it will make a woman just as graceful and as light on her feet as the other exorcise. She will learn to poiso and balance herself, and this will give her a springy step, and an easy and graceful carriage. Unlike foncing, t00,.n0 antagonist is required. That is another strong point in favour of bag punching.- •

.Last of , all, tho outfit is inexpensive. Something under a sovereign will buy a firstclass light punching bag with framework support; a fairly -good one may. be. had for evon less.. The only other thing necessary is a pair of light-weight boxing .gloves, which can be bought for about-ss. Tho. exorcises can be taken in any costume just as well as in tho' inost up-to-date gymnasium garments.. And a woman will derive almost as much benefit from awkward bag punching, if she keeps at it, as sho jvill from the real scientific kind.

Theso are the rules of the punching contest as laid down by an authority Suspend the bag bn a level with tho shoulders and strike straight out from the shoulder. This stroke brings into play a greater number of muscles than any other, tends to-expand tho chest, and gives a 'good poise to the neck. Ten minutes a day is long- enough for the average woman, but . twenty minutes will bo betterjif sho wants to reduce weight rapidly. Punch' tho bag twenty-five times with tho right arm swing, rest a few* moments, and. twenty-fivo strokes with the left hand. ■

. Strike with tlio' greatest •'regularity possible. .Then . alternato one punch -with tho right and another with the left. Don't exercise an hour one day and then forget all about it for a week.

There are other fancy ; strokes,-and these may bo learned in time, as, for installed, punching tho bag .with the right elbow, alternating punches from the left fist, and vice versa. Another, a little more difficult, is the elbow punch with alternating'upper arm and under arm thrusts with the fists.- .

, Still other combinations .will. suggest-them-selves. Gradually the punches can be made faster and-faster, till tlio bag will beat a regular.tattoo on the top.of the framework overhead;

Practice only makes perfect,' and a practised puncher, enjoys the exercise thoroughly. It - is different from, handling dumb-bells, which to: most folks is a stupid : business. Bag ■ punching is exhilarating.—''Chronicle.''