Page:Athletics and Manly Sport (1890).djvu/34

Rh ward, ignorant man would strike, and thereby disable himself—for the round blow, wrongly delivered, is far more terrible to the giver than to the receiver.

Formerly, boxers delivered the round blow almost with a straight-arm swing, some with the rVont knuckles leading, and some with the back, and some again with the thumb knuckle, or with the palm or "heel of the fist." But most of

these came off with sprained joints or broken wrists, while their opponents easily escaped the slow swing by "ducking," or threw up the elbow at an acute angle and smashed the delicate bone of the strikers forearm.

The secret of striking the round blow safely lies in the position of the knuckles. Just as in