Myths about Early English Boxing

There are a few things that are commonly thought to be true about early boxing that are in fact myths. So here we try to put them right.
Seminar booking link: malinmartialarts.com/josh

[@Stephen_Curtin]

I can indeed confirm that I have not lost a single sock since subscribing to this channel, coincidence I think not.

[@PierreSpake]

Well done - so pleased that you have pointed out a least 4 important boxing fallacies. So often ‘myths’ keep being repeated. The early years of the prize fight are very difficult to research as there are few contemporary books. And the newspaper accounts, which admittedly do come into their own in the second half of the eighteenth century, in the first half nearly always only announce upcoming fights - rarely post fight commentary or even results.

[@fletchkeilman2205]

again. Glad you are back. Hope all is weel,btw! post script....i am very close to finding pictures in my family's possession of Gentleman Jim in regards to my relation to him. My grandmother hid hundreds of old photos in the walls of the house before she passed (she was suffering from dementia), and many were over 90 to 120 years old. her relatives always wrote on the back who the person in the photo was, and what family they came from, etc, etc.. i am actually quite excited.

[@fighting.words.ma.library]

I know it's in no way a scientific measurement, but I can't recall any of my socks going missing since I've subscribed. I really liked this. Probably going to make a short little recommendation video about it soon.

[@EnglishMartialArts]

Because of the socks right?

[@Dillon1099]

I can confirm that my socks have stopped going missing from the laundry machine since subscribing to this channel.

[@johnstuartkeller5244]

Oh, the joy of clearing up folklore that has become so fun to tell that it is now taken as historical fact. Good for you, boss. Fight team (the good fight!)

[@AidanLawrence-um2bs]

Maybe one day we’ll get that next part for Mendozas story 😂- amazing video, I’ve also been guilty of believing Broughton had killed Stevenson.

[@EnglishMartialArts]

One day!

[@ahmedsameh4408]

Awesome video. I can't wait for English Martial Arts History Part 2

[@ruiseartalcorn]

Great stuff! Many thanks :) Oh... re the socks thing - I have been watching your videos for a very long time and I am sorry to report that my socks are still disappearing!

[@ignitionfrn2223]

0:25 - "Boxing requires no skills" 1:40 - "James Figg was a boxer" 2:55 - "Jack broughton kill a man in the ring" 4:30 - "Broughton rules" 6:15 - Seminar

[@andrewalexander1086]

52 blocks would be nice to learn

[@PhysicalCultureHistorians]

Perfection.

[@jrlito2777]

Actually the first one is totally true! Subscribing does make you a better boxer! I just wished you would come to the USA and host a seminar on boxing!

[@EnglishMartialArts]

I'd love to, if you're serious let's talk...

[@jaydaniel2145]

Yooo, i have a Catch Wrestling based mma style that is very effective in street fighting/self defense and also mma. I'm in the UK and happy to talk more. I use moves which have now been forgotten like the standing Full Nelson Neck crank (it makes EVERYONE tap out in 3 seconds no matter their size or strength), also the modified single leg boston crab (from top wristlock style leg grab). I wear a mask and I'm about to change grappling in mma and streetfighting, i need a few ideas as i know you're the man as I've watched your videos for years now. My influences are Billy Riley, Billy Robinson, Kiyoshi Tamura, Billy Joyce, Sam Kressin, Funaki.

[@dhalav]

one I dislike is the one stating that pugilists did not punch but rather used the votton part of their palm to strike with their fingers completly contracted. If i remember correctly you correctly Shane from FightTips about this but I still see it popping up from time to time.

[@dhalav]

Btw will you add more content to the members only suscription ? I believe you mentioned it few videos ago

[@NDOhioan]

Shane Fazen didn't create the myth, though he did reference it. We have a couple of "sources" from various self-defense instructors that claimed the same thing. Personally, I think it's a "proof by assertion" created to support the "palms over punches" argument, which seems to be a recurring theme for that crowd (muh Mike Tyson, muh Bas Rutten, fortune-cookie sayings about "hard" and "soft," etc.)

[@JaxenChaz]

Good to know about Broughton's rules, I had accepted the "death in the ring" story as fact. Really wish I was in the UK for the Josh Barnett seminar! Any chance y'all want to hop a flight to Tennessee? 😂

[@jonathanwaswrong3917]

I havent lost a sock since subscribing. It must be true! FIGHT TEAM!

[@vercingetorixwulf9298]

Really liking historical boxing .......

[@lastmanstanding5423]

ummmm.... I have tickets for the Catch Championship on the 28th and I'm flying to UK on the 25th... literally one day late for the seminar. :( do you think Josh will have another seminar between 25th and 29th somewhere up north? Maybe Wigan, Manchester or Liverpool?

[@asa-punkatsouthvinland7145]

I was surprised to learn that Broughton hadn't killed anyone especially since you yourself had said he had in a previous video.

[@EnglishMartialArts]

It was really disappointing to find I'd regurgitated a story that was in fact based on nothing more than imagination.

[@asa-punkatsouthvinland7145]

@@EnglishMartialArts fair enough, but professionals in many areas often unwittingly repeat things assumed to be facts that are not. No worries & good on you for admitting to it! The only other myth is I could think of was too easy. That of people claiming or believing that boxing was the same I the bare knuckle era as today. In other words b-k didn't have grappling or other techniques not allowed today.

[@ironmikehallowween]

Boxing was fighting. Plain and simple.

[@zwinmar21]

Just because you aint in a ring don't mean it isnt a real fight.

[@darklegionnaire8304]

was the shield

[@KrisVic91]

Have you any idea of anywhere that trains pugilism/bare knuckle boxing in the uk? Thanks

[@shitmemedankpost5926]

I keep hearing that boxers from the bare knuckle era were only allowed to punch with the front of the fist when that rule was introduced at the turn of the 20th centry. Even marquis of Queensbury doesn't say anything about that.

[@Serahpin]

I've never heard that boxing was just two people punching each other. How is that supposed to work? Would they take turns? Or is it like a slap fight where they just hit each other as fast as they can?

[@EnglishMartialArts]

I genuinely don't know how it's supposed to work, but I've come across it several times. Usually when announcing that one specific boxer that the writer or presenter thinks is great was the first person to introduce any form of science to boxing...

[@bolieve603]

Josh Barnett? Isn't that the guy who makes the badass Spotify playlists for lifting at the gym? No, seriously. Look it up

[@FilthyBoxingHipster]

Unfortunately older boxers, whether from the bare knuckle or gloved eras, will always be looked down upon by modern fans as crude, technically inefficient and just all around inferior to modern boxers. This is probably due to the habit humans have of looking down on the generations that preceded them. I've even read a report from the Mendoza era critiquing the Broughton era as less technical and more primitive. Who knows how true that is, but what it does prove is how little things have changed!

[@BuJammy]

Yes, it's common for people to say that the fighters of the 50s were not as tough as those today, although they fought far more often, for far less money, with poorer nutrition and training, and larger weight classes.

[@vercingetorixwulf9298]

First but I'll comment later

[@bubbagump2341]

Stevenson could have been a zombie boxer after Broughton killed him . . . lol

[@zachleprieur2871]

Those queensberry farts always talk like it was the first boxing rules and style. We here know better

[@EnglishMartialArts]

🤣