Lecture/demo in St. Petersburg, Russia

On March 12th, Russian Bartitsu enthusiast Sergei Mishenev was a morning guest on Radio Baltica, a popular North-Western Russian FM station with 5 million listeners. His 20-minute talk about Bartitsu was followed by calls and text messages to the station.

That afternoon, Sergei gave a lecture about Bartitsu at the Maiakovsky Library in the centre of St. Petersburg. The lecture-hall was full. The most exiting moment was the arrival of Nikolai Vashilin, the old master of combat scenes of Soviet cinema, who had devised the fight choreography for the famous “baritsu” encounter between Holmes and Moriarty in the Russian “Sherlock Holmes” telemovie (1979). The old master told about the production of that movie, and said he was surprised that so many people were still interested in his work.

Sergei then demonstrated a variety of Bartitsu walking stick self defence defence techniques against a “hooligan”.

“Bartitsu: the Lost Martial Art of Sherlock Holmes” update

After experiencing some delays in January due to technical difficulties and the vagaries of the international mail system, we are now back on track with post-production of the upcoming Bartitsu documentary. 99% of the necessary footage is now in the hands of our editors, the Digital Room in Rome.

Also in the Italian connection, our colleagues in the Nova Scrimia organisation will be collaborating with documentary co-producer/director Ran Braun to shoot some additional footage of full-contact neo-Bartitsu stick fighting. The shoot is scheduled to take place in the town of Brescia on February 27th and will co-incide with another Bartitsu-themed collaboration between stick fighting and boxing instructors.

More from Bartitsu Club Russia

Two new articles published in the January and February issues of Kalashnikov Magazine, courtesy of our colleagues in Bartitsu Club Russia. The first article details an introductory training session led by Ran Braun in November of 2009, and the second is on Bartitsu with particular reference to the Sherlock Holmes connection.

Bartitsu Club Russia is planning another seminar in April of 2010.

Click on the images below to view the articles (in the Russian language).

Bartitsu in Martial Arts Illustrated

Earlier, we mentioned that the UK’s leading martial arts magazine Martial Arts Illustrated have published an article on Bartitsu. Thanks to the kindness of the author Nick Collins and the publisher Bob Sykes you can now read the article here. Thanks also go to Bartitsu Society member Terry Butler, whose work made this available.

Note that copyright for the original article resides with Nick Collins and the published version with MAI.

Bartitsu seminar in Eugene, Oregon

Maestro Sean Hayes will be hosting a two-day Bartitsu seminar with Tony Wolf at the Northwest Academy of Arms on Saturday, March 13 and Sunday, March 14, 2010.

Both days will begin with training in the Wolf System, an integrated progression of competitive and co-operative combat biomechanics exercises. These challenging exercises foster the balance, improvisational ability, physical confidence and related skills that are fundamental to the study of any martial art.

The classes will then segue into the study of both canonical and neo-Bartitsu. The canonical material is based on E.W. Barton-Wright’s classic 1900 articles, “The New Art of Self Defence” and “Self Defence with a Walking Stick” and provides a platform for training in neo-Bartitsu, continuing Barton-Wright’s experiments in cross-training between jiujitsu, fisticuffs, low kicking and the Vigny system of walking stick fighting.

When: Saturday March 13 and Sunday March 14, 2010 at the Academy. 9 am to 5 pm each day, with lunch from 12 – 1 pm.

Space is limited!

Where: The Northwest Academy of Arms, Eugene, Oregon

Cost: Two Days – $75 One Day – $50 At the Door – add $20

Lunch: $12 additional for cold cuts, good bread, apples, coffee and tea ($8 for one day)

Equipment: Suitable exercise clothing, including shoes (we have a textured wooden floor). Sturdy cane (crook handle preferred), or strong, smooth dowel approx. 36″ long. We will have some training canes for a minimal cost at the seminar.

Fencing masks, boxing gloves and judogi jackets are useful, but are
not required. The Academy has some masks for loan, but bring your own if you can.

Water bottle (refills from on-site fountain).

Registration form PDF: Downloadable here.

Bartitsu featured in “Martial Arts Illustrated”

Nick Collins’ feature article on Bartitsu appears in the February, 2010 issue of Martial Arts Illustrated magazine, on sale now.

Bartitsu in Seattle

Tony Wolf will be teaching two public martial arts seminars on Saturday, 6 March 2010 at SANCA, the School of Acrobatics and New Circus Arts .

Classes

The first Saturday seminar will run from 9 a.m -12 a.m. and will be an introduction to the Wolf System, an integrated progression of both co-operative and competitive partnered combat movement exercises. In combination, these challenging exercises foster the balance, improvisational ability, “physical confidence” and related skills that are fundamental to the study of virtually any martial art.

The second Saturday seminar will run from 1:30 p.m. – 4:30 p.m. and will be an introduction to Bartitsu, the “martial art of Sherlock Holmes”. Founded in London in the year 1899, Bartitsu is a cross-training system between pre-WW1 “British jiujitsu”, fisticuffs, low kicking and the Vigny method of self defence with a walking stick. Although dormant throughout most of the 20th century, Bartitsu has been experiencing a revival since 2002.

On Sunday, 7 March from 8-11, Tony will be teaching an invitation-only Bartitsu class for members of a local group who are already familiar with the basic material.

The fee for one class is $30 and for two classes, $50.

What to bring

A crook-handled walking stick (preferably rattan) is recommended. Straight rattan sticks will be available for purchase on the day of the seminar for $10. Participants are also asked to bring plastic water bottles and to wear comfortable exercise clothing, including dance or martial arts slippers for active work on the SANCA training mats.

Fencing masks, boxing gloves and judo gi jackets will be useful, but are not required.

All participants will be asked to sign a waiver.

How to get there
View Larger Map.

Booking and further information

Please address any further inquiries to wolfclass@lonin.org for updates, etc. Please do not contact SANCA directly with regards to these seminars, as the front office staff will not have any useful information about the event.

Thanks again for your interest, and we look forward to seeing you at the seminars!

Pacific Northwest Bartitsu seminar tour

Advance notice of a series of Bartitsu seminars to be held in the Pacific Northwest (USA) between March 6-28, 2010.

Each seminar will begin with warm-up exercises taken from the 19th century “physical culture” repertoire before exploring the underlying principles, skills and tactics of Bartitsu, via lessons in the unique combination of fighting styles that made up E.W. Barton-Wright’s arsenal of tricks.

Classes to include:

• a selection of the canonical combat sequences represented in Barton-Wright’s classic article series, “The New Art of Self Defence” and “Self Defence with a Walking Stick”

• experimental neo-Bartitsu drills blending 19th century jiujitsu, scientific boxing, street savate and walking stick defence

• discussions on the fascinating history and revival of Barton-Wright’s New Art of Self Defence; the “hold-up” tactics of 19th century street gangsters, and the counters developed by self defence masters of the period, and the jiujitsu training of the Bodyguards of the radical Suffragette movement.

Tutor: Tony Wolf

The itinerary includes:

March 6th and 7th in Seattle, Washington at the SANCA school of circus arts – contact wolfclass@lonin.org .

March 13th and 14th in Eugene, Oregon at the Northwest Academy of Arms – contact info@fencingacademy.net

March 17th and 18th in San Francisco, California hosted by the Botta Secreta historical fencing school – contact bottasecretaproductions@yahoo.com

March 20th and 21st in Portland, Oregon, hosted by the Academia Duellatoria fencing school – contact jeffery@mind.net

March 27th and 28th in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, at the Academie Duello historical fencing and stage combat school – contact info@academieduello.com