Right or Left?

 For killing boredom, I started to be a left-hander four years ago.

“There are many boxers who are pretending to be left-handers.”

A friend of mine who played amateur boxing taught me about this.

 Boxing is a strange kind of sport. Most boxers need to use mainly their non-dominant hand. Left jab, short quick punch. It is said that “If you control the left jab well, you can be a world class boxer.” The left jab is important.

 Because of this, some boxers pretend to be left-handers. They jab with their right hand. This can give those advantages in a match because the right hand is easy to control. Furthermore, it could be a bluff. One’s right jab is so strong that left straight (long punch) is stronger.

I asked my friend this question:

“But actually one’s straight punch is not strong, so is that not a disadvantage?”

He answered:

”Basically, a straight punch is hardly direct hit. In most of case there is no disadvantage.”

 Right or left? After I heard this information, I have thought up a new theory.

 The theory is about two famous fighters in history, the legendary gunman, Billy the Kid (1859-1881) and one of the strongest samurai, Hajime Saito (1859-1915). In both cases, no-one knows what their dominant hands were. Some people say it was the left, while others say it was the right. The arguments are inconclusive.

 The truth about their dominant hands must have been their most closely guarded secrets. No one knew about it except themselves and their close supporters. It is possible to imagine that the secret could have been the key to their strength.

 In both cases of using a gun and using a sword, the combatants needed to pay attention to their opponent’s dominant hand. Life or death depended on the judgement of a moment. If the opponents didn’t know if the deadly attack would come from the right or left, they would be in great danger.

 Even I can eat a meal with my left hand. It was possible they ate with their non-dominant hands to trick their opponents.

 Actually I am not familiar with either of these fighters but it is interesting to think about their strategy, isn’t it?

 

Photo from Wikipedia