THE GEOGRAPHY OF GAMES 



125 



■ 



Photograph from Mabel D. Merrill 



PERSIAN WRESTLERS 



From the Xilesian country, where tombs bear pictures of ancient wrestling, this patriarch 

 of sports spread to many lands, and varies in its style and rules from the jiu-jitsu of Japan 

 to the "catch-as-catch-can" mode, as reported by that veteran sporting writer, Homer, when 

 he wrote, "He lifts Ulysses, who, having now recourse to his extraordinary skill, kicks Ajax 

 in the hamstring and makes him bend the knee. Ajax falls upon his back, dragging with 

 him his adversary." 



dates back to remote antiquity. Prob- 

 ably the French were the pioneers in turf 

 sport as practiced in modern times, but 

 it was natural that the English, with 

 their love of outdoors and of animals, 

 should have cultivated the horse for the 

 race as they did the dog for the hunt. 

 James I seems to have been the first 

 royal patron of racing and Queen Anne 

 further encouraged it. 



Even the austere Cromwell could not 

 part with his brood mares. One of them 

 was concealed in a vault by the court 

 master of the stud at the time of the 

 Restoration, when diligent search was 

 made to confiscate the Protector's per- 

 sonal property. Thus the animal became 

 known in tradition and picture as the 

 "coffin mare." 



Boxing and wrestling are the more 

 humanized forms of individual contests 

 of strength. Naturally the programs of 

 the Olympic games, veritable encyclope- 



dias of ancient sports, included boxing 

 and wrestling. Moreover the Greeks had 

 one game, the pancrace, which combined 

 both. 



Wrestling, at least, is much older than 

 Greece, as indicated by the bouts pic- 

 tured on tombs along the Nile. 



In Greece, boxing fell into disfavor 

 in Sparta for an unusual reason. The 

 Greeks had developed sportsmanlike rules 

 for the game, eliminating kicking, biting, 

 and ear-pulling, and the bout closed when 

 one boxer admitted his defeat. Lycur- 

 gus held it improper for any Spartan to 

 acknowledge defeat, even in a game ! 



The Japanese have been devoted to 

 both sports for ages. Sukune, Tiacken- 

 schmidt of Nippon, in the days when 

 John was foretelling the coming of 

 Christ, was deified, and from wrestling 

 jiu-jitsu evolved. Boxing today is ex- 

 tremely popular throughout the empire. 



Jack Broughton, English "father of 



