Author Archives: BartitsuSociety

John Steed’s Umbrella-Fu

Originally published on the Bartitsu.org site on Saturday, 2nd September 2017 Secret agent John Steed (Ralph Fiennes) wields a mean brolly in this training sequence from The Avengers (1998). Choreographed by the great English fight director William Hobbs, Steed’s impeccable umbrella-fu was … Continue reading

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“Victory of the Foreigner”: Pierre Vigny vs. Professor Perkins (May, 1899)

Originally published on the Bartitsu.org site on Saturday, 2nd September 2017 This newly-discovered article from the Sporting Life of 24 May, 1899 records one of Pierre Vigny’s first public forays into the London antagonistics scene.   Professor Perkins (England) vs. Professor Vigny (Switzerland) … Continue reading

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Who Was the Bartitsu Club’s Mysterious “Instructor Hubert”?

Originally published on the Bartitsu.org site on Friday, 1st September 2017 The roster of instructors at E.W. Barton-Wright’s Bartitsu School of Arms included Pierre Vigny (savate and walking stick defence), Yukio Tani and Sadakazu Uyenishi (jiujitsu), Armand Cherpillod (wrestling and … Continue reading

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“Le Jiu-jitsu” (11 November, 1905)

Originally published on the Bartitsu.org site on Thursday, 3rd August 2017 A gallery of cartoons from the Parisian magazine Le Rire, imagining the impact of jiu-jitsu upon French society in the wake of jiujitsuka Ernest Regnier’s victory over savateur Georges Dubois.

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“Tani, the Japanese Wrestler” (1905)

Originally published on the Bartitsu.org site on Tuesday, 11th July 2017 From the 1905 omnibus edition of Mind and Body: A Monthly Journal Devoted to Physical Education: JIU-JITSU HAS 300 MOVES THAT AN EXPERT MUST KNOW, AND HE CAN THEN DEFEAT ANY … Continue reading

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Baritsu Demo at Sherlockon 2017 (Warsaw, Poland)

Originally published on the Bartitsu.org site on Thursday, 6th July 2017

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The Rear Guard and the Guard by Distance

Originally published on the Bartitsu.org site on Wednesday, 5th July 2017 The rear guard, also referred to by E.W. Barton-Wright as the “left guard”, is one of the signature defensive stances of the Vigny style of stick fighting. It was … Continue reading

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“Clever and Adroit”: More on the 1902 Nottingham Bartitsu Exhibitions

Originally published on the Bartitsu.org site on Wednesday, 5th April 2017 The following article from the Tuesday, 25 March 1902 edition of the Nottingham Journal is the most detailed report yet discovered on the short series of Bartitsu exhibitions held in … Continue reading

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Bartitsu Sparring Compilation

Originally published on the Bartitsu.org site on Monday, 3rd April 2017 … by engaging toughs I trained myself until I was satisfied in practical application. – E.W. Barton-Wright, 1950

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“Jiu-Jitsu in the Navy” (1907)

Originally published on the Bartitsu.org site on Monday, 3rd April 2017 From the Illustrated Sporting and Dramatic News – Saturday 21 September, 1907: Jiu-Jitsu was first taught in the Navy officially about a year ago to a selected number of … Continue reading

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