Freelance journalist and martial artist Nick Mamatas has produced a tongue-in-cheek article on Bartitsu for issue #39 of Clarkesworld Magazine.
As well as historical research, Mamatas attended a Bartitsu class hosted by the Botta Secreta Productions historical fencing school in San Francisco, who have adopted the apt motto, “the recreation of Bartitsu is its re-creation”.
Sherlock Holmes movie trailer
The first official trailer for the upcoming Holmes movie, evidently calculated to outrage purists and attract the attention of a younger audience.
Holmes’ “baritsu” is not identical to E.W. Barton-Wright’s Bartitsu, but still, the trailer shows us bare-knuckle boxing, stick fighting, a jiujitsu-like throw and a savate-like kick. By establishing the equation of “Victorian London” and “martial arts”, the new movie risks making Bartitsu cool ..
Sherlock Holmes (Robert Downey, Jr.) fends off two ruffians.
According to USA Today:
“It’s a kind of Japanese street fighting,” explains director Guy Ritchie. “It uses walking sticks, bowler hats, choke holds to put people to sleep – any means possible.” The form of martial arts was invented in England in the late 1800s and was mentioned by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (he used the term “baritsu”) in one of his stories.
This image from the upcoming Sherlock Holmes movie shows a bloodied Holmes (Robert Downey, Jr.) standing in what may be a dog-fighting arena. Bare-knuckle boxing, perhaps?
Linkage, Movie, Pop culture, Steampunk | Bartitsu Society Tuesday, 1st December 2009 | 
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