BOXING

Greymouth Evening Star, 1 April 1920, Page 6

BOXING

*_ — (By "Looker-on.") The one topic of conversation in town, yesterday and to-day is in : relation to the meeting between Frank : O'Neill and Havilah Uren, and opinion is very divided as to the result. &ince the arrival of Havilah on Tuesday 'he has come strongly into favour, duo m the first place to his fine physical stamp and the great condition in which ho stripped in a training bout yesterday afternoon. He will enter the ring on Saturday night in as great a form as "ever a boy has entered a .ring, and will be seconded in his corner by his brothers Tom and Ted. Frank O'Neill lias finished his training out at Dunollie, and according to word over the 'phone this morning, is in the acme of condition. With Frank at his best —and that a little better than we have ever seen him in the past —West Coasters know what to expect from their young anil right royally they will roll up to witness- him against the Sydney lad on Saturday night. As I stated yesterday, champion Tommy Uren has agreed to give an exhibition of skipping and a short spar on the night of the fight. Austral'.-in and New Zealand papers have spoken in the highest terms of praise of his prowess with the rope, and this item alone should be worth going a long way to witness.

The Gus Venn —Frank O'Neill bout '•at ITokit.ika 'on Tuesday night is also creating its shai-e of interest, and indications all point to a large number n F Oreymouth, R.unanga and Blackball fins making the journey on Saturday night A Westport paper states tint Mr. 0. Martin, th" Wolch boxer who hurt hind badlv in his encounter last F 1 idnv with Joe G-arvev. has been' suffevincr mifh n'aiti. and the dismembered Joint has had to be X-rayed. HOW I KEEP FIT. (By Georges Carpentior.) The exercises which I do are the result of close- study spread over many years. I have always vnade it a point to'shun all exercises that are merely violent, for that which is physically hard to do hurts and tires; it is harmful.

fill. For instance, of the prolonged swinging of Indian clubs or dumb-bells, < r muscle-making exercises, 1 do not approve. A man who claims perfect; physical fitness because his body is bunched with muscle, 1 would not pass as the ideal or perfectly trained athlete. The severely muscular man is strong only in a given test of strength ; he may lift a tremendous dead weight; he is imposing 1o look at; but lie lacks elasticity, quick-footed ness ; oftener than not lie lias an indifferent carriage ; he lias made no special study of deportment. As a man who lias embraced fighting as a profession, it may seem strange - when I say that I attach the utmost importance to "how to walk." Perfect carriage—the knowledge that you possess a full share of that poetry of movement which we call deportment—has

a wonderful effect upon the mind, and as I hold that it is absolutely necessary in the striving after physical fitness first to have a regard for your mentality, I would put deportment down as the beginning of the alphabet i;l physical culture. Having learned to walk correctly, the desire for complete physical proficiency is irresistible, for you have mastered one of the hardest and most exacting lessons of your athletic curriculum ; you then know all. about poise, balance: and awkwardness will not seize hold of you. A shyness to engage in physical culture comes from a suspicion that it means hard work. I grant that training as training—a species of mechanics I would call ;: —is as appalling as it is and soul-destroying. Whil" the practice of physical cul-

hive on tails much self-denial. I am convinced by experience that it is not necpssarv to spurn all natural likings Mid thus pursue a course which reduces the athlete to an abnormally selfsacrificing person. For instance, a Her lunch the other day. one of my visitors was obviously amazed when he saw me take and light a cigarette. <it i i _ r; ,_i. j- „..,.!...

I have never known a fighter smoke when in training," lie declared. But that declaration, T. felt, could only have come because he belonged to til at school which, having set up certain principles, would not depart from thorn in any circumstances. I take and smoke a cigarette because T And it comforting. It is distracting : it helps me to hold fast to the hehet that I may live the life of an ordinary, everyday man. In training, the grand principle should, and must, be moderation in all things. Blind, obstinate abstention from this and that is as harmful as is over-indulgence. The popular impression when I came to Stanmore was that I would work all the day long and every day, and I have found that not a few people have been astonished when, upon arrival at mv training quarters, they have been told that 1 did not propose to do any work on that particular day. It is not uncommon to find the average trainer insisting noon his man working full steam until the very eye of a fight. There is nothing, in my opinion, move harmful than to drill into a pugilist that he is just a fighting machine, to be wound up and set working al will. Now this is what I did when I wis .given leave by the Army authorities of my country so that I might prepare to have my first boxing match for five years. First, I\ learned to walk naturally again, and not after the manner of a drill sergeant. Having . accomplished that, I took to running and skipping on the roads, not with an idea of seeing what distance I could cover or how fast I could run, but to develop and strengthen my breathing organs; but the most important of all, to acquire springiness of limb, to get hold of that feeling which suggests, and is, in fact,

Jilce treading on air. If you want to be happy, seek to obtain that rave and invigorating feeling. It is indescribably beautiful. Before I put the gloves on to do battle vith my sparring partners I spent days on the roads. I had for my companions sweet-singing birds; I knew all the cattle and horses round about the countryside; I hunted, and went shooting and fishing. I made myself believe that the beginning of

my training was a holiday, so that I was happy when I took up the boxing gloves again, for I then knew I had begun to byild up fighting fitness on if sound and rational basis. I could no more have begun fighting in the gymnasium immediately upon my release from the Army than a bull • could fly, for then I had not acquired the mentality to enjoy fighting. Now. boys who would equip themselves for boxing must force themselves to enjoy every minute of their training. Let us begin with road work. Do not go running and tearing along. First walk, then run; again, do shadowboxing, skip; if you have a companion play leap-frog, or jump a five-barred-gate, and, at intervals, swing your arms and legs'; strive always for elasticity in all your limbs,. And when you return from tjie road, and there is skip-

ping to be done, fashion for yourself some fantastic steps; try to do a double shuffle, the while you twirl and skip over the rope. • You will make those who look on smile, and you yourself will smile and be happy. • When you spar, coijtjure up in your mind's eye the type of man your prospective opponent is. Set your jaw tight, and keep your eye steady. Get your trainer to behave as if he was refereeing an actual fight. Imagine that you have your man with his oack against the ropes; punch so that, you feel you are winning; wriggle out ol„ as many imaginary difficulties as you can ; try to think that the fight is going 'against you; think, think, think all the time how to turn the fight in your favor; always be stern, severe, merciless in your shadow-boxing; never make it mere feinting, dodging, and skipping around. Then shadow-box-ing will be a pleasure and a joy. There is one exercise I would commend. Lie on your back and hold your body rigid. Bring your legs up and touch the floor at the back of your head with your toes ; then let the legs go back to their original position, leaving them stiff. Slowly bring your body up and strike an upright pose, and then bend as if you would touch your toes with the tips of your fingers, but instead, stand on your hands for a second or two before slowly resuming a lying position on your back.