Author Archives: BartitsuSociety

“Charley Smiler” Suffrajitsu Footage Added to “No Man Shall Protect Us” Documentary

Posted on June 3, 2021 by BartitsuSociety

The “Suffrajitsu” scene from the recently rediscovered 1911 movie Charley Smiler Takes Up Ju-jitsu has been edited into the 2018 documentary No Man Shall Protect Us, which illuminates the role of the secret society of martial arts-trained female bodyguards who … Continue reading →

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Academic Boxing 101 with Tommy Joe Moore

Posted on June 1, 2021 by BartitsuSociety

The prolific Tommy Joe Moore offers a concise lesson in basic academic boxing, in an aggregative style that represents the baseline of gentlemanly fisticuffs circa 1900. In combination with the destructive guards advocated by Edward Barton-Wright and Pierre Vigny, these … Continue reading →

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More on the Bartitsu Club’s 1902 Exhibition at Oxford

Posted on May 31, 2021 by BartitsuSociety

Our 2017 article on the Bartitsu Club’s “grand tour” of exhibitions during early-mid 1902 included several detailed reports on the event staged at the Oxford Town Hall. One of those reports offered the intriguing detail that a Mr. Whittle, who … Continue reading →

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American Jiu-Jitsu in the “Walled City”

Posted on May 27, 2021 by BartitsuSociety

The following passage is excerpted from “The Walled City: a Story of the Criminal Insane”, written by Edward Huntington Williams and originally published in 1913. It describes an apparently un-named, but at least partially codified system of self defence and … Continue reading →

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“New” Canonical Bartitsu Technique Discovered

Posted on May 26, 2021 by BartitsuSociety

Originally published on the Bartitsu.org site on Friday, 16th April 2010 The Bartitsu Society conceptually divides practical Bartitsu into two related areas. Canonical Bartitsu is the art as we know it was; the specific self defence techniques detailed by E.W. … Continue reading →

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Amalia True’s Parasol of Fury: Did Late Victorian-Era Women Really Use Weaponized Umbrellas?

Posted on April 12, 2021 by BartitsuSociety

In the alternate history of Joss Whedon’s new TV series The Nevers, a mysterious event in the skies over London during 1896 leaves a minority of the population endowed with bizarre, apparently supernatural powers. Three years later, the sociopolitical establishment … Continue reading →

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Jiujitsu versus Boxing in Paris: When Yukio Tani Took On Marc Gaucher

Posted on April 8, 2021 by BartitsuSociety

As detailed in the second volume of the Bartitsu Compendium, the year 1906 saw a vehement “boxing versus jiujitsu” debate played out in the pages of some British sporting journals. Many participants were essentially armchair quarterbacks, including a number who … Continue reading →

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“Suffragettes to Learn the Art of Jiu-Jitsu” (1909)

Posted on March 31, 2021 by BartitsuSociety

These photographs of Edith Garrud in action were originally published in the Daily Mirror of April 13, 1909. At that time, Garrud was inaugurating her “Suffragettes Self-Defence Club” as a separate concern from the Golden Square School of Jujitsu, where … Continue reading →

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“Charley Smiler Takes Up Ju-Jitsu” (1911): a Unique Filmic Glimpse Back Into British Jujitsu and Suffrajitsu History!

Posted on March 29, 2021 by BartitsuSociety

A number of short silent films featuring jujutsu were produced and/or screened in London during the very early 20th century. The intriguing list of titles includes: Unfortunately, aside from their titles and scattered items of production information, these films have … Continue reading →

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Walking Stick Sparring in Chile

Posted on March 26, 2021 by BartitsuSociety

Members of the Santiago Stickfighters club exhibit their Integrated Method of stick-fighting, inspired largely by a combination of the Vigny/Bartitsu and Bonafont methods. The sparring canes are made of a hard polymer composite material, tipped with rubber ball handles. This … Continue reading →

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