Theme for 2011 - The Milling Science
This year, for the first time the English Martial Arts Academy will have a theme for training. This theme is not intended to replace the standard curriculum, simply to give us a specific focus on one aspect of what we do to allow us to study it in more depth. This year's theme will be "The Milling Science". For those of you who are not familiar with the term it describes the practice of pugilism. For centuries unarmed combat was a brutal affair. Strength and power accounted for much, three hundred years ago however all that changed.
In the year 1695 in a small Oxfordshire town a boy was born who was to alter the face of English Martial Arts more than anyone else. That boy was James Figg. In his youth he fought at The Greyhound Inn in his home town and rapidly developed a reputation as an accomplished pugilist. He was brought to London by the Earl of Peterborough who recognised his immense talent as a fighter. However Figg was more than just a boxer. He was a skilled swordsman with both the backsword and the smallsword and was equally at home with the cudgel. What Figg did which was to revolutionise the world of boxing was to make it a Science. It was well established that swordplay was best carried out along scientific guidelines, many treatises had been published espousing this very thing. Jemmy Figg from Thame took these scientific principles and applied them to his pugilism. He defeated Ned Sutton, his greatest challenger, not only in the ring, but also with the cudgel and sword besides. He defeated a famed boxer from Venice who travelled to London to fight him and at the age of twenty six he was widely acknowledged as Champion of All England.
Not content with revolutionising the practice of pugilism inside the ring, Figg also changed the way boxing was taught. He opened a school of combat in London and students came from all over the country to learn the science that he popularised with his many successful fights. Even at the height of his fame he would still attend Southwark Fair and offer an open challenge to face all comers. More than anyone else Figg truly deserves the title of "Father of Boxing". He died in 1734 aged 39 but left us a stunning legacy. Jack Broughton took Figg's science and continued to develop it, after him Mendoza, Jackson and many others continued to study the milling science. Over the next few months this site will play host to a series of articles looking at famous pugilists, their lives, their exploits and the part they played in the development of English Martial Arts.
The next article will look at the life and times of John "Gentleman" Jackson.
James Figg 1695 - 1734
