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.
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.
Linkage, Pop culture, Sherlock Holmes | James Monday, 1st February 2010 | 
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