Originally Posted by
Pork Chop
Dempsey's Championship Fighting book is available out there on the net- people basically transcribed it because hard copies were so rare & expensive. That book does a decent job of collecting the body of knowledge existing in his lifetime. Dempsey did Judo, wrestling and some JJ, so I think he woulda been cool with MMA. There are a few camps training old school bareknuckle methods but I can't really comment on their quality. The book can definitely give you the basics.
EDIT: Just wanted to add that what made dempsey great was that he could knock folks out with almost anything. He still has the highest KO percentage in boxing, even better than prime Tyson. His shots at 4 to 6 inches were just as deadly as his long hooks and his straight jolts. People tried to cry foul in his destruction of Jess Willard, but the guy's sparring partner (boxing hall of famer Big Bill Tate) was 6'7 and arguably bigger than the klitschkos.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3wxHY3p9DiQ
Dempsey's book is great. I swear the man was practicing a front-weighted variant on xingyi.
Brian
"I will annihilate you using a combination of martial taiji, bagua, and krav maga. Now grab my arm with one hand on my wrist and the other one on my elbow... it has to be right on the elbow or it won't work." -Dale Gribble