Next weekend I am teaching a short Bartitsu class at the Swordfish event in Gothenburg. There’s a fair bit of interest, including this article in a Swedish MMA magazine.
Here it is in English, courtesy of Tony Wolf
Bartitsu is particularly exciting, because had it not been for the
books about Sherlock Holmes, we would most likely not know anything about
the first time western martial arts where mixed with Japanese
jiu-jiutsu,” explains, Annika Corneliusson, head of GHFS.
Sherlock Holmes and the suffragettes
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle mentions “Baritsu” in one of his books, when the
famous detective tells of his knowledge in self defense. Bartitsu, which
is the real name, was created as a hybrid between jiu-jiutsu, western
wrestling, boxing, savate (French kickboxing) and cane fighting by the
english engineer Edward William Barton-Wright, who had spent a few years
working with railways in Japan. Now these techniques are taught for the
first time in Sweden by self defence instructor James Marwood from
London, UK.
“This is actually a very important part of the European history, not
just because of Sherlock Holmes, but also because the suffragette
movement trained Bartitsu to be able to defend themselves against
attacks by the police,” says Annika Corneliusson.
There is a tendency for those looking at Bartitsu to pay especial attention to the jiu-jitsu parts of it, and to discount the necessity of both boxing and savate skills. As Tony reminded us in a recent post to the mailing list, Barton-Wright’s lecture to the Japan Society raised this very point:
In order to ensure as far as it was possible immunity against injury in cowardly attacks or quarrels, they must understand boxing in order to thoroughly appreciate the danger and rapidity of a well-directed blow, and the particular parts of the body which were scientifically attacked. The same, of course, applied to the use of the foot or the stick.
The Gothenburg Historical Fencing Society is hosting it’s 3rd annual Swordfish event, bringing together instructors in Western Martial Arts from across Europe. For the first time this will include a Bartitsu class taught by me, James Marwood. As far as I know this is also the first time Bartitsu will have been taught in Sweden. The previous events hosted by the GHFS have been very well received and I am looking forward to training with these guys.
Last summer I taught at an ‘experience day’ held by The Grange, near Birmingham in the UK. They videoed the event and put up a short clip on youtube.
Whilst this was just a taster day for those new to martial arts and bartitsu in particular, as well as being somewhat tongue-in-cheek it does show some basic elements of Bartitsu and it’s contemporary antagonistic arts.
By contrast here is a link to Craig Gemeiner’s excellent Vigny La Canne video, also on youtube.
After a long hiatus I am pleased to welcome you to the revamped webpage for the Bartitsu Society.
If you are new to Bartitsu then please browse the pages on the right or feel free to join in the discussions on the email list.
This new site is basically a blog, and to keep it current and vibrant it needs your input. Initially feel free to email me any queries, although I hope to add to the site team soon. Please do comment on any articles and if you have anything you feel should be up here then please do let me know.
I know the site layout is currently very basic, and I would appreciate any feedback on suitable wordpress themes. Do you know of a good theme that is evocative of the Edwardian era or fin de siecle martial arts? Are you a whiz with css? Do you have a great idea for a site logo? Please do let me know.
Finally, thanks for taking the time to stop by. Come back soon!
Welcome to the website of the Bartitsu Society!
If you are new to Bartitsu then you can learn more from the pages below, or feel free to join in the discussions on the email list, or even consider the Society's 2 books on Bartitsu. This is a community blog so please jump in with comments and feedback. If you have anything you would like to add here, like a video or an article then leave a comment letting us know.
