- Originally published on the Bartitsu.org site on Friday, 28th July 2017
In 1902, Bartitsu Club member Captain F.C. Laing wrote an article titled The ‘Bartitsu’ Method of Self-Defence for the Journal of the United Service Institution.Captain Laing’s sequence of set-plays such as “Attacked by a man with a stick in his hand” and “A man without a stick rushes at you with his fist” offers a unique canonical supplement to E.W. Barton-Wright’s Self-Defence with a Walking Stick (1901) and also includes some basic technical drills which B-W did not record. Laing’s article is reproduced in full in the second volume of the Bartitsu Compendium (2008).
Although Captain Laing produced some simple sketch illustrations of basic techniques, most of his sets were only described in a few lines of text. The following is the first of a series of interpretations of Laing’s “Practices”, illustrated using modified photographs from Barton-Wright’s articles, which will appear on this website over the coming weeks.
“1st Practice” #1 is a foundational drill teaching a high strike, guard and riposte.
