Let’s start here… Jack “The Manassa Mauler” Dempsey, ran a hard training camp, one reflective of his already hard life in logging camps. Amongst lumberjacks he picked up the habit of chewing pine-resin, the sap from certain coniferous trees. These loggers, a rambunctious bunch who loved their set-to’s swore by it—said it made your jaw strong, increased your ability to take a punch. A young Dempsey, had plenty of opportunity to see fellow resin-chewers at work in a tussle and decided, “ Yeah, seems to work .” He carried the practice into his training camps. Dempsey was not alone in this resin-chewing practice, many an early pugilist, an early wrestler, an early physical culturist [the drug-free bodybuilders of yore] adopted this practice. All purported it to be a good jaw-strengthener to take a punch, or in the case of the physical culturists they chewed resin to sleep better and to improve posture. Now, perhaps we can get out heads around a little jaw-strengthening,...
A Little Historical Digression Behind the Clip [Read Part 1 Here .] Again, I turn it over to Joseph D. Pistone [the real-life Donnie Brasco,] a man who went deep undercover with the Mob. A brave man who knows of what he speaks. “One thing I knew not to do was go looking for a street fight. Why provoke a fight when the guy might have a knife or a gun? If, however, you sense that a fight is inevitable, you must make sure you get in the first punch. Once I started hanging out with wiseguys, though, I was surprised at how they went around almost eager to mix it up. They knew they had a tremendous advantage over almost everyone who crossed their paths: an utter fearlessness about fighting. Wiseguys do everything with their fists: fighting is a way to negotiate, send a message, settle a debt, even have a little fun on a slow night. I saw wiseguys beat up waiters, shopkeepers, cab drivers, you name it. And I never saw a wiseguy lose a fight. If you ever have the misfortune to be p...