Figure 1.--These american boys are staging a mock boxing match in their backyard. Notice the screen door. The boys are wearing knickers, long stockings, and tennis shoes.

oxing isa sport of ancient origins. We note Minoan boys in the 16th century show boxing in wall paintings. Curiously they are shown with only one glove. Boxing in modern times became a sport in the 19th after the Marquis of Queensberry developed rules for fighting. Boxing used to be a sport promoted at schools in America, England, and other countries, although I do not have a complete list. The sport was persued by many children beginning in primary school. European schools had more limited athletic programs, but boxing was popular in many Europen countries, often persued at athletic clubs. It was practiced at many British private boarding schools as part of the sports and competitive ethos of the schools. It was also a popular activity at YMCAs in American and Europe. Through the 1940s boxing gloves were given as Christmas or birthday dufts. It was gradually phased out as being too brutal. Here both the image of boxing and possible neurological damage were factors. Medical evidence demonstated that it was a dangeous sport, especially for developing children. I do not have a definitive chronology on when boxing was phased out of schools. I do not recall it in my American school in the 1950s. A British reader reports that boxing had disappeared from English schools by the early 70s.

Created: February 10, 2004
Last updated: March 30, 2004