About 1830 Irish immigrants introduce collar-and-elbow wrestling into New
England. The style was often used by the Irish to settle argu-
ments, and was known as “collar-and-elbow” after the initial
stances taken as defenses against kicking, punching, and rush-
ing. The style became widely known during the American Civil
War and formed the basis for the American professional
wrestling techniques of the 1870s and 1880s.
1832 Jean Antoine Charles Lecour combines English prizefighting
with French savateto create Boxe Française(French boxing).
Lecour’s brother Hubert starts introducing the methods into the
French music halls, often to the accompaniment of comic songs
and similar acts.
1834 Johann Werner introduces Turnento his School for Female
Children in Germany; girls in Magdeburg begin to be taught
gymnastics in 1843, as are adult women in Mannheim in 1847.
Competition was discouraged as “unwomanly,” and exercises
such as the horizontal bar and the balance beam were prohib-
ited as indecent.
1835 James Gordon Bennett stimulates sales for the New York Her-
aldby adding coverage of footraces and prizefights.
1837 The Highland Games are introduced at Braemar, Scotland.
These games were the progenitors of modern track-and-field,
and of professional sports in general. They also helped popular-
ize Cumberland wrestling, which previously had been popular
mainly in northern England.
1837 Japanese soldiers use gunfire to prevent a United States ship
from landing missionaries at Naha, Okinawa. This said, it took
the naval bombardment of some Satsuma and Choshu forts in
1863 to start the Japanese thinking about reorganizing their
forces after European models. Armed with rifles and drilled as
disciplined tactical units, the Choshu armies defeated much
larger shogunate forces in pitched battle in 1866, which in turn
led the shogunate to seek French military assistance in 1867. In
other words, it was internal politics, not Commodore Perry’s
Black Ships, that caused the Meiji Restoration and the subse-
quent militarization of Japan.
1838 Wealthy New Yorkers begin frequenting “concert saloons,” the
first modern nightclubs, where the entertainment includes
dance revues, comedy acts, and prizefights.
1838 London Prize Ring Rules replace Broughton’s Rules in English
prizefighting.
1842 According to tradition, a Chinese man named Gou Zi creates
Da Xing Quan(Monkey Boxing) after spending several
months watching monkeys cavorting outside his prison cell.
Romance aside, the name probably refers to the dramatic
sword dances done by Shandong peasants possessed by the
spirit of the Monkey King, a Chinese literary hero renowned
for always being one step ahead of his adversaries. The word
the Chinese used for this spirit possession, ma bi,means
“horse,” and the phenomenon probably bears comparison to
the similar spirit-possessions reported in the Haitian vodou
religion.818 Chronological History of the Martial Arts