Author Archives: BartitsuSociety

“The Attila Gym, Volume One”

Author David Naimowicz’s book The Attila Gym Volume 1: Reconstructing the Original Method of Professor Louis Attila is currently available via Amazon: This volume is the author’s best attempt to assemble the light and heavy system, its principles, mechanics, repetitions … Continue reading

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“The British Jujitsu Society and the influence of Kodokan Judo on early jujutsu in the UK”

Volume 13 of the Martial Arts Studies journal offers this well-researched piece on the history of the still little-known British Ju-jitsu Society. Along with the London Budokwai, the BJJS fostered the continued study of Japanese martial arts in England during … Continue reading

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Some “new” and unusual snippets of Bartitsu history

According to an item in the Morning Leader of Tuesday, 29 November 1898, the entertainments for an upcoming charity bazaar were scheduled to include: Mr. E. W. Barton- Wright (who) will on Friday and Saturday give a demonstration of Bartitsu, … Continue reading

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“The Brutal World Of Bare-Knuckle Boxing In Victorian Britain”

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Bartitsu and early British jujitsu with Tony Wolf

Martial arts podcasters Gavin Davies and David Brough interview Tony Wolf on the past and future of Bartitsu, with a bonus pro-wrestling anecdote.

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The Bartitsu Compendium, Volume III reviewed by the Martial History Team

After buying and surveying the first two volumes in this series, I had to buy volume III when it arrived in 2022. My copy of The Bartitsu Compendium, Volume 3: What Bartitsu Was and What it Can Be is a massive paperback measuring 8 … Continue reading

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“What is the mysterious Western martial art Bartitsu, used by Sherlock Holmes?”

Martial artist Niimi Satoshi offers some creative interpretations of neo-Bartitsu techniques.

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“The Police (of the Future)”, 1886

The letter to the editor of the Daily Chronicle that inspired this cartoon referred to the advantages of wicker-work shields (which actually were in use by some police departments during the late 1880s) and noted that the quarterstaff should be … Continue reading

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Light Unarmed Sparring

Some more light, speculative Bartitsu-style unarmed sparring from the Highland Broadsword Society. Note the savate inflections and the moment of standing grappling. Milling the fists and destructive elbow blocks are characteristic of the “secret style of boxing” believed to have … Continue reading

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“Bartitsu” in Street Fighter 6

The incursion of Edward Barton-Wright’s New Art of Self Defence into modern pop-culture continues via the new Street Fighter 6 fighting game, in which the main villain, known as “JP”, is portrayed as a Bartitsu expert. This isn’t the first … Continue reading

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