A Few Techniques of French Boxing (second and final part)
From “Le Plein Air”, 6th Jan. 1911, by Max Spitzer.
Due to the real danger there is in using it, the toe kick[1] is absolutely prohibited in all sporting encounters: friendly or polite sparring, or competition!
By the description of this kick and by examining the figures one can easily understand its dangerous effects.
We say, furthermore, that there are two principal methods of delivering the toe kick. One may deliver it with the leg that is closest to the adversary, i.e. the front leg, or yet launch it with the leg that is furthest from the enemy, i.e. the rear leg.
For good theoretical comprehension the boxers who we see in the photographs have “broken down” one movement which, in reality, is executed without the least stopping, and our figures 1 and 2 indicate the two successive “times” of this movement.
In the first time (Fig. 1) the boxer who is in a left guard has bent his right leg, i.e. the rear leg, placing his right knee at the height of the belt, the toes directed well towards the ground.
In the second time (Fig. 2) the boxer has done no more than extend his right leg in the direction of the lower abdomen of his adversary, at the exact height that the figure indicates, in such a clear manner that it appears superfluous for us to describe further. In launching the leg, it is necessary to keep the toes well extended.
The second manner of delivering the toe kick is not recommended except because of the distance at which the boxer finds himself from his adversary, for being too far from him, the kick with the rear leg is impossible to land whilst the kick with the “front” leg is recommended.
To execute it, one must, if one is in a left guard, lift the left knee to the height of the belt, as we have previously explained, and extend the thus bended leg in an identical manner to the movement already described.
One can also double the kick when the first has missed its mark or struck thin air; for this, one needs but to return the leg to the “time” indicated in fig. 1 and deliver it again (fig. 2).
It is useful to be familiar with the parries which can be usefully employed to combat the all too real effectiveness of this kick.
If one is in false guard against one's adversary, it will be necessary to parry with the arm placed in front, i.e. the right arm if one is in a right guard, striking vigorously against the adversary's leg such that it is thrown outside your guard. If he attacks with the left leg, strike towards the left; if he attacks with the right leg, strike towards the right!
One may equally try a seizing of the leg, but it is essential, beforehand, to put oneself out of range of the kick by means of a withdrawal backwards; fig. 3 shows us this manner of executing the parry of the toe kick.
With the “chassé to the body” we are going to examine a kick with is one of the nicest “sparring” kicks in French boxing. Its effectiveness from the special point of view of combat is, in our opinion, less real that the “low chassé”. Besides, for the “high” kicks which characterise French boxing, we will make the same and important reservation in the matter of their combative value.
For the “chassé to the body” one proceeds in a manner almost identical as for the “low chassé” which we have described in our last installment; but to facilitate good comprehension one can break down the chassé to the body into three successive “times”. Figures 4 and 5 indicate the second and the third times, for the first shows no appreciable difference to the corresponding time of the low chassé!
We explain, however, this preliminary movement. In the first time, if one is in a left guard, it is necessary to pass the right foot in front of the left foot, the toes of the right foot being directed to the rear; in the second time it is necessary to support oneself on the right leg, taking all the weight of the body on this leg, and bend the left leg bringing the knee to the height of the waist, as we show in fig. 4.
In the third time one has but to extend the left leg, conserving a strict balance, striking one's adversary above the waist, as we show in fig. 5. One may strike indifferently with the toes or with the heel; that depends at the point aimed at.
As we have already seen with the low chassé, which has many parries, the chassé to the body also has many means of avoiding this attack.
When the kick is given with the heel, the two boxers being in a true guard to the left, it is good to parry with the left arm in order to drive the leg from right to left; but if the kick is thrown with the toes it is preferable to parry with the right arm, displacing the opposing leg from left to right.
If one is in a left guard and the adversary in a right guard, it is necessary to parry the kick he launches with his right leg by pushing this from right to left, the hand seizing the instep.
One can equally avoid the chassé to the body by means of a withdrawal backwards.
One can also slide to the side and advance on a momentarily unbalanced adversary!
With fig. 6. we have an excellent demonstration of the parry of the chassé to the body by a seizing of the leg executed by both hands.
As we have already seen with the low chassé, which has many parries, the chassé to the body also has many means of avoiding this attack.
When the kick is given with the heel, the two boxers being in a true guard to the left, it is good to parry with the left arm in order to drive the leg from right to left; but if the kick is thrown with the toes it is preferable to parry with the right arm, displacing the opposing leg from left to right.
The series of “chassé” is not exhausted with the “low chassé” and the “chassé to the body”, for there is still the “chassé to the face”.
The chassé to the face is executed in an identical manner to the chassé at the body; but the kick is directed higher and is more frequently delivered with the toes than with the heel, unless having a height greater than that of one's adversary. The best way of parrying this chassé to the face is to advance on one's adversary, which is for the purpose of passing the blow and putting the enemy at your disposal, since one has kept the use of both arms and it is difficult for your rival to disengage his leg.
To finish this cursory study of French boxing, we are going to describe some combined kicks which constitute easily-performed exercises. Thus: deliver a low kick[2]; if it is parried, return quickly to guard and deliver a low chassé. Put yourself in a left guard; launch a straight left punch; if it is parried, return on guard and launch a low kick[2].
MAX SPITZER
[1] The original name is “le coup de pied de pointe”. My translation is “toe kick” as “pointe” refers to the toe of a boot. This appears to be the same kick referred to by Charlemont as “le coup de pied direct”.
[2] Specifically, the “coup de pied bas”, a particular variety of low kick.
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