Author Archives: BartitsuSociety

“We don’t strictly train in Bartitsu – can we still enter the sparring video contest?”

Originally published on the Bartitsu.org site on Tuesday, 8th November 2016 Feedback in the wake of our announcement of the international Bartitsu sparring video contest has included this question, both from groups who practice their own forms of neo-Bartitsu and from groups … Continue reading

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The Bartitsu Pronunciation Guide

Originally published on the Bartitsu.org site on Thursday, 10th November 2016 Because Bartitsu is a culturally eclectic, Edwardian-era self defence system, revivalists are faced with a variety of words that have fallen out of fashion over the past century or simply … Continue reading

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Bartitsu Gift Ideas

Originally published on the Bartitsu.org site on Saturday, 17th December 2016 The Bartitsu Compendium, Volume 1: History and the Canonical Syllabus (2005) and The Bartitsu Compendium Volume II: Antagonistics (2008) Compiled by members of the Bartitsu Society, volumes 1 and 2 of the … Continue reading

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“As Active as a Wild Cat” (Dublin Daily Express – 17 March, 1899)

Originally published on the Bartitsu.org site on Monday, 19th December 2016 “Bartitsu.”  We have not had time to visit the National Library or T.C.D. in order to look up the derivation of this uncanny word, but we are assured that … Continue reading

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“The Game of Bartitsu” (Illustrated Sporting and Dramatic News, 12 October, 1901)

Originally published on the Bartitsu.org site on Sunday, 18th December 2016 In the game of Bartitsu, or Japanese self-defence, the other person tempts you to engage him, and then by apt manipulation deftly twists and twirls you to your mother … Continue reading

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“Making the ‘Knock-Out’ Safe” (The Sketch, September 18, 1907)

Originally published on the Bartitsu.org site on Tuesday, 20th December 2016 In 1907 this unusual ring design – equipped with nets reminiscent of the safety equipment used in circus acts – was tested as a way to reduce the danger … Continue reading

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“Schools Where Men Are Taught to Defend Themselves Against the Attacks of Steet Rowdies” (Illustrated London News/The Chicago Inter-Ocean/New York Tribune, August-September 1903)

Originally published on the Bartitsu.org site on Thursday, 22nd December 2016 The following composite article features a number of little-known techniques from the Vigny method of walking stick self defence, which was a major aspect of E.W. Barton-Wright’s Bartitsu system. … Continue reading

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Happy Holidays

Originally published on the Bartitsu.org site on Sunday, 25th December 2016

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“La Defense dans la Rue” in English

Originally published on the Bartitsu.org site on Tuesday, 27th December 2016 La Defense dans la Rue, Jean Joseph Renaud’s classic work on self defence is now available in English translation from Lulu.com. During 1905-6 Renaud (1873-1953) became one of the first … Continue reading

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John Steed’s Gentlemanly Art of Umbrella Fighting

Originally published on the Bartitsu.org site on Wednesday, 28th December 2016 The recent blockbuster successes of the Kingsman movie and of Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows have firmly re-established umbrellas as the signature weapons of gentlemen-adventurers.  This article pays tribute to the trope-setter, debonair … Continue reading

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