Here is Chapter 4 of Jack Dempsey's Championship Fighting written by Jack Dempsey in 1950.
"Naturally, I didnt' make the detailed exploration of my fighting past all at one sitting. I'm a restless guy; I don't like to sit long in one place. But I became so interested in the work that sometimes I'd spend an hour or two hours at it I did it on trains, in planes, in hotel rooms and at home.
Max Waxman, my business manager, used to say, "For cryin' out loud, Jack, what are you writin' down all this junk for? You're supoosed to be a memeory expert. You must have all that dope about fightin' right in your own head. Seems silly to see you sweatin' and fumin' and writin' notes aout stuff you got at your finger tips."
Well, the log of my mental journey from Manassa to Toledo, filled "384 pages" with closely written notes in long hand. I'm confident those 384 pages represented the most thourough study ever made by any prominent fighter of his own technique and of the pointers he had received first hand from others.
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"But my job had only begun. I spent several months studying that mass of information and separating it into the different departments of "self - defense" - under sections, sub sections, sub sub sections, etc,. I waded through it again and again. I combed it; I sieved it; I sluice boxed it for details I needed in each smallest sub sub section. And then, into each slot I dropped any additional knowledge I had gained since Toledo. Those different departments, with their various minor brackets, gave me for the first time a clear panorama of "self - defense"
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"I was pretty pound of my panorama. I was confident at last that I could take the rawest beginner, or even an experienced fighter, and teach him exactly what "self-defense" was all about. Then I became curious to compare my panorama with those of other men in boxing. I talked to many fighters, trainers and instructors; and read every book on boxing I could buy. My conversations and my reading left me utterly amazed at the hazy, incomplete and distorted conceptions of "self-defense" possessed by many who are supposed to be experts. Perhaps I was unjustly critical. Perhaps none of them had had my unusal opportunities to get a blueprint that mapped all the fundamentals, at least. Or perhaps, theytook many fundamentals for granted and did not include them in their explanations."
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"At any rate, I came to the conclusion that "self-defense" is being taught wrong nearly everywhere, for the following reasons:
1. Beginners are not grounded in the four principles methods of putting the body weight in fast motion: (a) FALLING STEP (b) LEG SPRING (c) SHOULDER WHIRL (d) UPWARD SURGE.
2. The extremely important POWERLINE in punching seems to have been forgotten.
3. The wholesale failure of instructors and trainers to appreciate the close cooperation necessary between the POWERLINE and WEIGHT-MOTION results generally in IMPURE PUNCHING - weak hitting.
4. Explosive straight punching has almost become a lost art because instructors place so much "emphasis on shoulder whirl" that beginners are taught wrongfully to punch straight "without stepping" whenever possible.
5. Failure to teach the FALLING STEP (TRIGGER STEP) for straight punching has resulted in the "Left Jab" being used generally as a light, auxiliary weapon for making opening and "setting up," instead of as a "stunning blow."
6. Beginners are not shown the difference between SHOVEL HOOKS and UPPERCUTS.
7. Beginners are not warned that taking "long steps" with hooks open those hooks into "swings"
8. The BOB-WEAVE rarely is explained properly.
9. Necessity for the THREE KNUCKLE LANDING is never pointed out.
10. It is my personal belief that "beginners should be taught all types of punches before being instructed in defensive moves", for nearly every defensive move should be accompanied by a simultaneous or delayed counterpunch. You MUST know how to punch and you must have punching confidence before you can learn aggresive defense.
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"My dissatisfaction with current methods of teaching self-defense was the principle reason why I decided to put my panorama into a book. I realized, too, that my explosive performance and big gates in the "Golden Decade" were indircetly responsible for current unsatistfactory methods; so it was my duty to lend a helping hand. Moreover, it's my impression now that thousands of boys and men throughout the world would grasp eagerly at the chance to learn how to use their fist - how to become knockout punchers in a hurry.
Never before has ther been such a need for self-defense among fellows everywhere as there is today. Populations increase so rapidly during the past quarter century, while improved methods in transportation shrank the globle, that there is much crowding now. Also the pace of living has been so stepped up that ther is much more tension in nearly every activivty than there was in the old days.
Crowding, pace and tension cause friction, flare-ups, angry words and blows. That unprecedented friction can be noted in particularly in cities, where tempers are shortened by traffic jams, sidewalk bumpings, crowding in subways and on buses and jostlings in theatres, saloons and nightclubs."
Next time: Chapter 5 Difference Between Fist Fighting and Boxing.
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I hope some publishing company will reprint this soon!
Well I'm hoping that someone benefits from the chapters of this book that I'll be posting for the next few weeks. I'm sure alot of people will.
I think the info Dempsey writes about is very useful and practical. It is some what different from how boxing is taught today.
I think Dempsey's views will change some peoples idea about Boxing (more specifically Punching) technique and mechanics.
m.g,
are you typing this up or have you scanned in the text with an OCR?
i for one thank you tremendously for undertaking this.
I developed a new found appreciation for Dempsey upon reading this book. If you are a true boxing fan, this book is a must read!
Stickgrappler,
I'm typing it.
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Does anybody have detailed descriptions of Falling Step, Leg Spring, Shoulder Whirl and Upward Surge?
check out from my site:lefthooker on falling stepbruce lee student patrick strong on pole principle (relates to falling step)
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