International Concourse in the Arts of Self Defence (1902)

A pictorial report on a Bartitsu Club exhibition from Caras y caretas (1902)

The Spanish text reads:

International Concourse in the Arts of Self Defence

On the 23rd of November was held in the School of Arms in London an interesting tournament and demonstration of the various self defence methods that have been adapted into the “Bartitsu” system which has, as with many other Japanese trends, been adopted easily in Europe.

The Japanese champions were there along with wrestlers and boxers from Britain and from the European continent. Part of what one might describe as a match of over-riding interest was an encounter between a professional wrestler who represented the Cornish and Devonshire style and a champion of Osaka (Japan) named Uyenishi. The Japanese wrestler won each of the three rounds of this contest.

A professional boxer contended against the school’s champion of the French savate, and the result was indecisive. Several of the competitors explained aspects of the Bartitsu system, and through their exhibitions much interest was sown in the employment of the walking stick as a defensive weapon.

Our pictures reproduce the main scenes of this interesting tournament in which, overall, the Japanese dominated, and if partially, in some of the European exercises, failed, they were not truly defeated since with the methods of their own country they were victorious against all attempts to dominate them.

New Bartitsu course @ Academie Duello

One of the world’s premiere Western martial arts schools, the Academie Duello in Vancouver, Canada, is now offering regular classes in E.W. Barton-Wright’s “New Art of Self Defence”.

There will be purely historical techniques, as well as modern variations for realistic self-defense. Drills are designed for accuracy as well as the ability to think while fighting. To test your skills, part of the class time will feature sparring. This is really the first Western mixed martial art, combining kickboxing with jiujitsu and cane fighting… not for the ring, but for ultimate self-defense.

Click here to read more about the Academie’s Bartitsu programme.

We wish our Canadian colleagues all success in this new venture!

A battle royale

A cartoon from the Libertarian political satire blog lampoonthesystem.com stages the rivalry between France and England as a savate vs. Bartitsu battle royale.

This is the second time in over a hundred years that humourists have referenced Bartitsu to make a political point. In a 1904 article poking fun at the customs of hereditary peerage for Punch’s Almanack, writer, war-games enthusiast and fervent socialist H.G. Wells wrote:

Next in importance to pronunciation and recitation in building up the mental and moral equipment of our ideal Duke, I would place the handling of toy soldiers, with this proviso, that every army corps should be provided with a section of cyclist volunteers. At the age of ten the Duke should himself be instructed in the use of the bicycle (preferably a Bantam), the Mauser pistol, and the Bartitsu method of self-defence, a mode of fighting rendered indispensable by the Anglo-Japanese alliance.

Bartitsu and historical fencing

“The fence of the case of rapiers, as of all the other Elizabethan weapons, is much in vogue at the present time at the Bartitsu Club, now the headquarters of ancient swordplay in this country …”
- Captain Alfred Hutton, “The Sword and the Centuries” (1902)

Alfred Hutton was at the centre of the late-Victorian revival of “ancient swordplay”, or historical fencing styles including the use of the raper and dagger, sword and handbuckler and two-handed sword. Beginning in the 1880s he had tutored a small but enthusiastic group of students, most initially in their young teens, via a boys’ club attached to the School of Arms of the London Rifle Brigade.

Hutton and his colleague, the novelist Egerton Castle, organised a number of historical fencing exhibitions during the 1890s. By 1900 Hutton’s cadre of Elizabethan swordsmen had performed throughout the city of London and had even been invited to demonstrate their skills at a grand “Festival of Historical Swordplay” in Belgium.

Shortly after E.W. Barton-Wright returned to London from Japan and started promoting his new Bartitsu method, he joined Hutton on the lecture/demonstration circuit. Mixed Bartitsu and historical fencing exhibitions were held, most notably at the exclusive Bath Club and at a fund-raising event for Guy’s Hospital.

Hutton joined a number of notables, including politicians and minor nobility, in supporting Barton-Wright’s desire to establish a permanent training academy. When B-W opened his Bartitsu Club in Soho, Hutton began holding historical fencing classes there as well. His students included some prominent London actors, who studied historical fencing for use in stage combat, as well as young men from the L.R.B. School of Arms. Hutton also served on the Club’s Committee, which approved or declined applications from would-be Bartitsu Club members.

Given Barton-Wright’s emphasis on Bartitsu as practical self defence, it’s unlikely that historical fencing per se was considered to be a formal part of the Bartitsu curriculum. It is evident, however, that informal cross-training did take place; Hutton offered a glowing review of Pierre Vigny’s method of self defence with a walking stick, and even demonstrated that method during a 1902 newspaper interview. It’s also likely that he took some jiujitsu lessons at the Club, either with Barton-Wright or with instructors Yukio Tani or Sadakazu Uyenishi. Hutton produced a monograph on jiujitsu techniques for schoolboys and later offered a jiujitsu-based class in humane control and restraint techniques for doctors working in London psychiatric hospitals.

Sadly, the untimely closure of the Bartitsu Club seems to have brought an end to the collaborations between Barton-Wright and Hutton. But during the year 1901, when the Club was a hive of activity, one might have signed up for classes in recreational rapier or longsword fencing alongside jiujitsu, boxing, wrestling and walking stick defence. It must have been quite the scene.

The BBC’s new “Sherlock”

A heads-up and thumbs-up for the BBC’s new series updating Sherlock Holmes for the 21st century.

According to the official website:

Co-created by Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss, Sherlock stars Benedict Cumberbatch as the new Sherlock Holmes and Martin Freeman as his loyal friend, Doctor John Watson. Rupert Graves plays Inspector Lestrade.

The iconic details from Conan Doyle’s original books remain – they live at the same address of 221b Baker Street, have the same names and, somewhere out there, Moriarty is waiting for them.

Steven Moffat says: “Conan Doyle’s stories were never about frock coats and gas light; they’re about brilliant detection, dreadful villains and blood-curdling crimes – and frankly, to hell with the crinoline. Other detectives have cases, Sherlock Holmes has adventures, and that’s what matters.”

The first three ninety-minute episodes of what seems certain to become a long-running series screened in the UK over the past three weeks and are available online in various formats. The series is recommended especially for its deft conjuring of a slightly fantastical but recognisable modern London. Episodes two and three, The Blind Banker and The Great Game, feature some exciting fight scenes. No word yet on the origins or nature of the contemporary Holmes’ baritsu skills …