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Martin J Austwick 7 Secrets of Bareknuckle Prizefighters © 2014 Martin J Austwick A pugilism.org publication http://www.pugilism.org

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. This book contains material protected under United Kingdom and International Copyright Laws and Treaties. Any unauthorized reprint or use of this material is prohibited. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system without express written permission from the author.

7 Secrets of Bareknuckle Prizefighters

Introduction

It is very easy to look back at the pugilistic era and consider it to be populated by unskilled fighters who would not stand a chance against modern boxers. To consider their fights to be unscientific and lacking in skill.

Nothing however could be further from the truth.

Classical Pugilism is a highly scientific system of combat that follows a significantly different rule-set to modern boxing. Highly effective methods of fighting evolved over many hundreds of years, and it is only since the introduction of the Marquess of Queensberry’s rules in 1867 that many of the techniques and methods of fighting have fallen out of favour. This book is a quick look at seven aspects of Classical Pugilism that are no longer part of modern fighting.

1) Gloves change the way you fight

It seems like a simple thing to say, but it is the very foundation of the art of classical pugilism. If you’re wearing gloves you can get away with things you can’t when you don’t have gloves on. That’s why a fracture of the fifth metacarpal (the knuckle of the little finger) is called a boxer’s fracture. Sparring with Mufflers

If you train to fight with

gloves on you’ll always fight as if you have them on

whether you do or not. If you train as if you aren’t wearing them, then when you have to fight without gloves you won’t break your hand.

The greatest Pugilists knew this, which is why when the great Jack Broughton introduced “mufflers”, a prototype form of sparring glove, he did so only for sparring. When things were serious the gloves came off. The ultimate goal was always to fight without gloves, and the style of fighting reflected this. Once gloves were made compulsory for competition by the introduction of the Marquess of Queensberry’s rules there was little point in training the way no-one fought, and so the art of pugilism was no more.

2) Chancery changes the game

One of the things about trying to punch someone in the face really hard is that they tend not to want you to. They’ll do the most unfair things like move out of the way. That is exactly why bareknuckle prizefighters developed an entire system of holding their opponent’s heads in order to make hitting them easier. Chancery refers to this securing of the head of your opponent and can be divided into three different forms. Each form has its own numerous setups and escapes.

Standing Chancery is carried out by placing on hand on the back of your opponent’s neck and pulling down. Your elbow should be pushing on their chest to stop them closing.

This is easily performed when

your opponent slips inside a straight punch. Side Chancery is the classic headlock all school Standing Chancery

children are familiar with. It is the perfect set up for a cross buttock throw and is easily moved into from a

standing chancery.

Reverse chancery is the mirror image of side chancery. The arm is around the opponent’s neck holding them at your side, but instead of them facing the same way as you they are facing towards you. It is the perfect set up for any number of chokes and facelocks and can be performed when your opponent slips outside a straight punch.

3) Straight beats Round

Thomas Fewterell said it best in 1790 so rather than try to paraphrase him I’ll give you his exact words.

“Straight blows are preferable to all others, they are stronger, because they come directly from the centre of the power, and quicker, because they describe less space in the attainment of the object, it therefore follows, that it is more difficult to parry them than any others. Round Thomas Fewterell - Boxer & Author

striking is now universally exploded; it is condemned by the same reasons which recommend straight blows, for it is directly contrary to them”

Allanson-Winn mirrored Fewterell’s words over 100 years later. He said.

“One sometimes reads of a fight in which the winner has vanquished his man by using swinging circular hits, but it is important not to be misled by the apparent significance of the result; for it simply means that success has been achieved through good fortune, superior strength, endurance or training.

Never lose sight of the fact that there is no nearer way between any two points than a straight line. The points in this case are your hand and some part of your opponent's anatomy, and there is no quicker line of route than the straight line lying between them.”

4) Single time counters

When James Figg became the first ever champion of all England he did it by doing something no-one had ever done. He took the principles of swordsmanship, of which he was a master, and applied them to pugilism.

One of the most

important aspects of this was that of the single time counter. Blocking your opponent’s attack in such a way as to allow you to hit them as you do it doesn’t sound like it should be revolutionary, but it was. It allowed Figg to go through his James Figg

entire career with only one ever loss, a loss he claimed was due

to him not being well, a loss he avenged as soon as he could. Captain Godfrey, a student of Figg’s wrote this about him.

“Figg was the Atlas of the Sword, and may he remain the gladiating Statue! In him, Strength, Resolution, and unparalleled Judgement conspired to form a matchless Master. There was a Majesty shone in his Countenance, and blazed in all his Actions, beyond all I ever saw. His right Leg bold and firm, and his left which could hardly ever be disturbed, gave him the surprising Advantage already proved, and struck his Adversary with Despair and Panic. He had that peculiar way of stepping in, I spoke of, in a Parry; he knew his Arm and its just time of moving, put a firm Faith in that, and never let his Adversary escape his Parry. He was just as much a greater MASTER, than any other I ever saw, as he was the greater Judge of Time and Measure.”

5) A Cross Buttock Beats a Cross

When hitting your opponent as hard as possible with your fists isn’t advisable then knocking them to the floor becomes a much trickier task. However the rules of the pugilistic ring were much more broad than current modern boxing rules. It was perfectly acceptable to close to grapple and to throw your opponent to the ground and thereby ending the round. A Cross Buttock Throw

The cross buttock is a form of hip throw that was generally considered to be a staple of the pugilist’s armoury, and in the early days it was more common to see rounds being won by the use of the throw than by striking alone. Certain boxers specialised more in throws than in striking and did remarkably well. Captain Godfrey tells us of George Taylor, a fighter who beat everyone bar the great Broughton. He managed this because of his “remarkable knowledge of the cross-buttock fall”.

Taylor was not the only fighter to specialise in throws. Godfrey says this about a pugilist called Whittaker “He was a very strong Fellow, but a clumsy Boxer. He had two Qualifications, very much contributing to help him out. He was very extraordinary for his throwing, and contriving to pitch his weighty Body on the fallen Man. The other was, that he was a hardy Fellow, and would bear a deal of Beating.”

Anyway you look at it, being able to hurt your opponent within the rules of the fight was a valuable skill, and throws regularly beat strikes.

6) Get your Bodyweight Behind your Hand

Dempsey called it a falling step, Allanson-Winn called in leading off, the early pugilists simply called it a punch. Getting the bodyweight falling behind a straight, lead hand punch allows you to change it from a simple range finding jab, used to set up a proper punch from the rear hand to a knock out blow in its own right. It allows you to take a fast, accurate, punch that is almost impossible to see coming and make it powerful enough to cause serious damage. Here is Allanson-Winn’s

description

of

it.

R.G. Allanson-Winn

“slightly raise the left foot and advance it along the line for a couple of feet, simultaneously hitting out straight at the enemy's head. In doing this remember that there must be no previous indication of the movement either by shuffling the feet or drawing back the hand and so showing the hit. The body should be well thrown forward at the same time with a good spring from the right foot, which should not, however, leave the ground. Be careful not to over-reach yourself, and let the weight of the body fully enter into the hit.”

7) Power isn’t everything

Hitting someone as hard as you can isn’t always the best idea. Half of the force goes into them, the other half into your hand, and so you risk causing yourself serious damage if power is your only criteria for striking. More important is accuracy, precision, and speed. The greatest fighters can be floored by a middling strength blow if it hits them just right. When gloves aren’t an option the only way to protect your A fracture of the 5th Metacarpal otherwise known as a Boxer's Fracture

hands is by using them correctly.

Not by using great

swinging circular blows, but by precise, straight punches, thrown accurately at the correct time. The pugilists of old knew this, and now so do you!

Thank You

Thank you for taking the time to read this. If you’ve enjoyed this brief look into the world of Classical Pugilism then why not take a look at the rest of the resources available at http://www.pugilism.org There are numerous e-books, audio-books, articles, and videos. There

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