Author Archives: BartitsuSociety

A Photo Gallery from Day 2 of BartitsuCon 2018

Originally published on the Bartitsu.org site on Friday, 30th November 2018

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Another Video of Pugilistic Sparring in the 19th Century Style

Originally published on the Bartitsu.org site on Saturday, 8th December 2018 Here’s another take on “classic pugilism” sparring, this time by participants at the 2018 HEMAC event in Dijon, France.  In contrast to the recently-posted video of a generic mid-late 19th … Continue reading

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“The Art of Self-Defence by Jiu-Jitsu Methods” (1918)

Originally published on the Bartitsu.org site on Thursday, 13th December 2018 A full-page, colour ad for a 1918 film starring the notorious Captain Leopold McLaglen, whose martial arts misadventures are detailed in this article (note that his name was frequently spelled “McLaglan” … Continue reading

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“The Mechanical Prizefighter” (1906)

Originally published on the Bartitsu.org site on Thursday, 13th December 2018 An ingenious solution to the problem of finding (or simply wearing out) sparring partners is detailed in this short article from the Scientific American of July 7, 1906. To … Continue reading

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“Bartitsu: Historical Self-Defence with a Walking Stick” DVD Now Available in English!

Originally published on the Bartitsu.org site on Thursday, 20th December 2018 An English-language version of the instructional DVD Bartitsu: Historical Self-Defence with a Walking Stick is now available via this link and will become available to the US market via the Freelance Academy Press.  The … Continue reading

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The Tactics of Bartitsu (Kick)Boxing

Originally published on the Bartitsu.org site on Friday, 18th November 2016 E.W. Barton-Wright was fulsome in his praise of boxing, which was virtually synonymous with the idea of “self defence” in London at the turn of the 20th century. In introducing … Continue reading

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“Let’s See Him!” (1901)

Originally published on the Bartitsu.org site on Thursday, 27th December 2018 Even by September of 1901, with the Bartitsu Club in Shaftesbury Avenue well-established and Bartitsu itself the subject of much media attention, E.W. Barton-Wright suffered ongoing frustrations in persuading European wrestlers … Continue reading

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“I Look Forward to the Debate, Sir!” – a Bartitsuesque Fight Scene from “Q.E.D.” (1982)

Originally published on the Bartitsu.org site on Tuesday, 19th January 2016 Readers of a certain age may fondly recall the short-lived TV series Q.E.D. (also titled The Mastermind), which screened during the early 1980s. The show featured Sam Waterston as the eccentric former Ivy … Continue reading

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“A Novel Ju Jitsu Demonstration” (1904)

Originally published on the Bartitsu.org site on Sunday, 20th January 2019 This article from the Sporting Life of 21 December, 1904 includes a possibly-unique report of former Bartitsu Club instructors Yukio Tani and Sadakazu Uyenishi working together again during the years following the … Continue reading

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“British Pickpockets and Their French Brethren” (1897)

Originally published on the Bartitsu.org site on Thursday, 24th January 2019 This article from the Dublin Evening Herald of 22 December, 1897 reveals a number of the ingenious mugging and pickpocketing tricks developed by French street criminals.  A few years … Continue reading

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