mbs 111

MY BREATHING SYSTEM

practised until it can be periormcd unconsciously. I havc never seen this fact mentioned or explained anywherc, bul I supposc there arc, or have been, champions who quite instinctively did this. I do not think I can better illustrate the importance of this method than by giving an account of my lirst meeting with Bombardier Wells. Tt was a short time after his defeat by Carpentier that the English champion called upon me, accompanicd by a mutual friend. They were somewhat depressed, and they wanted me to try to find out what really was amiss with the Bombardier. They told me that one expert had said that he suffered from a sort of nervous indigestion, that somebody elsc had told them about a mysterious disease in the region of the solar plexus, with morę of that sort of thing.

I asked him to strip. I have seen and studied thousands of men naked— for thirty years it has been one of my hobbics. The numerous sea-bathing places of Scandinavia and the crowdcd air-baths of the Continent, where pcople do not wear any clothing, havc given me rich opportunities. At the lirst glance I saw what nonsense had been written about the Bombardier’s famous waist-line. How often have I not read that this part of his body was too long, or that it was too weak for a boxer. But now I was able to ascertain for myself that his waist and trunk are unusually short It is bis very long thighs which make liim so tali. As to the imaginary weakness of the Bombardier’s waist-line, I can assure my readers that only once in my life havc I seen a man with stronger or morę beautiful muscles round the waist.

I examined him, let him breathe fully, etc. I saw he could bracc his abdominal muscles until they were as hard as Steel, but I also saw that he was holding his breath while doing so. Here was the Bombardier’s weak point, then; he admitted that he was soon out of breath if he braced these

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