The first of the Pacific Northwest Bartitsu seminars was held over the past weekend in Seattle, Washington. The venue was the SANCA school of circus arts and the seminars attracted an enthusiastic group of fencers, boxers, martial artists and interested bystanders.
Led by Tony Wolf, day one included a three hour introductory class covering each of the core skills of the Bartitsu repertoire and day two followed that theme into the “Bartitsu blend” process of spontaneously combining jiujitsu, low kicking, fisticuffs and walking stick fighting.
Some pictures from Ran Braun’s recent Bartitsu workshop in Milan, Italy. Forty participants signed up and there was only room for twenty, so there are plans to repeat the seminar for those who missed out!
The next seminar in Milan will be in collaboration with a savate instructor.
A blend of the “Antagonistics” of Europe (Boxing, Savate and Walking Stick Fighting) with the JiuJitsu of Japan, Edward William Barton-Wright’s Bartitsu was a surprisingly modern approach to personal protection created in 1898. For today’s mainstream martial artist, the idea of being functional at all ranges and cross-training in different systems may seem like “old news”. However, these ideas are old – much older than commonly thought today and Barton Wright’s system provides great insight into just how old.
In this section we will explore the rudiments of unarmed striking from period Boxing (and possibly Savate) and basic techniques of JiuJitsu from the Bartitsu Club (1899-1902), with an eye towards integrating these systems based on underlying mechanical concepts of movement/body-mechanics. “Translations” of these techniques will also be presented for use with the walking-stick or cane. The emphasis in this section will be on Bartitsu as a personal protection system, as opposed to other sportive/recreational applications.
Equipment: Mask, 36″ training dowel, cane, or walking-stick.
The Academie Duello historical fencing and martial arts school will host Tony Wolf teaching a two-day Bartitsu intensive on March 27th and 28th, 2010.
Each class will include 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.
Details are available here at the Academie Duello website and prospective attendees can make inquiries and bookings via this page.
On March 21st I’ll be starting a 6 week beginners’ course in Modern Bartitsu. Details can be found here.The course will run every Sunday for 6 weeks, and will cover the basics of punching, kicking, grappling and stick work, as well as some skills for dealing with aggressive behaviour and looking at the historical context of the art.
The Botta Secreta historical martial arts school will be hosting a Bartitsu seminar in San Francisco from 6:30 PM to 9:30PM on Thursday, March 18, 2010. The venue will be at Lowell High School:
This seminar, taught by Tony Wolf, is open to both beginners and advanced martial artists and will introduce the study of both canonical and neo-Bartitsu. The canonical material is based on E.W. Barton-Wright’s classic c1900 articles, “The New Art of Self Defence” and “Self Defence with a Walking Stick”. These sequences provide 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.
Equipment: Please bring suitable exercise clothing, including shoes, and a sturdy cane (crook handle preferred), or strong, smooth dowel approx. 36″ long.
Fencing masks, boxing gloves and judogi jackets are useful, but are
not required.
Please contact bottasecretaproductions@yahoo.com for all other details.
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).
Training sessions are planned for Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and Haifa with courses given in both Hebrew and English. There will be an introductory class offered on the 13th of March in Tel Aviv.
For background information on the historical links between the Vigny method of stick fighting and close-combat training in Israel, please see Noah’s article, The Walking Stick in Madatory Palestine and Israel.
The seminar will focus on the self defence applications of Bartitsu and the skill of spontaneously transitioning between techniques and styles as required by the needs of the moment.
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.
Events, Training | Bartitsu Society Monday, 8th March 2010 | 
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