Listmembers,

There's a fellow over in England, Iain Abernathy, who teachs/promotes
"Applied Karate", who also has somewhat of an interest in Classic
Pugilsm. I received his monthly newsletter yesterday, to find it was a
special edition with an emphasis on Old Boxing, with free downloads of
two of our own Kirk Lawson's recent transcription efforts. As they
were given to Mister Abernathy "second hand" he was un-aware of Kirk's
storefront at Lulu.com. I contacted him via e-mail, and within the
hour he wrote back, wanted more info. Long story not quite so long,
his next newsletter will have a plug of Kirk's work, and hopefully the
"Classic Pugilism" movement as well. He also bought Kirk's book.

This month's installment of Mister Abernathy's podcast, was a brief
history of James Figg, and the simple overview of the evolution of
boxing. Thought it might be interesting to share. Here is the link:
http://blog.iainabernethy.com/?p=150

and here is the blurb:

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James Figg and the Evolution of Boxing (Podcast)

Dec 3rd, 2008 by iain

James FiggThis month we will be covering the history and evolution of
modern boxing. In particular we will be focusing on the life and times
of James Figg (1695 - 1734); who is regarded as the father of modern
boxing. As we will see, the boxing that Figg practised and taught was
quite different from the boxing of today. Old style boxing included
punching, kicking, grappling, throwing, weapons, etc. Indeed, the
evolution of boxing has a great deal in common with the evolution of
karate. Both arts were originally brutal and holistic, but became more
and more specialised as time passed. These parallels are also explored
in the podcast.

To illustrate how boxing was originally practiced, the podcast
describes Figg's bout with Ned Sutton in 1727. This bout included
punching, throwing, ground-fighting, cudgels and swords! We also cover
how Jack Broughton - Figg's student and boxing champion for 20 years -
introduced the rules that saw the banning of gouging and kicking a man
when he was down.

Modern boxing has also had a strong influence on the way eastern
martial arts are practised in the west. This is how it should be and
is indeed the traditional way. Chinese systems were influenced by
Okinawan culture and indigenous Okinawan fighting systems. That is how
karate came into being. Japanese culture and its indigenous arts
further influenced karate when it moved from Okinawan to Japan. It is
only right and traditional that western culture and the indigenous
western fighting arts also had an impact when the karate reached the
west. The influence of western boxing on karate is also discussed in
the podcast.

I hope you enjoy what will be the last podcast of 2008. This year has
seen a huge number of people listen in and I'd like to express my
sincere thanks to our long time supporters and those who have recently
joined us. I'll be back with another podcast in the early part of
January 2009! Happy Holidays!

All the best,

Iain

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All the Best,

Chris Amendola