Category Archives: Antagonistics

The Gentlemanly Art of 19th Century Cane Fighting in … 1990s Russia!?

Originally published on the Bartitsu.org site on Wednesday, 6th September 2017 The 1990 Russian sociopolitical satire Bakenbardy (“Side-whiskers”) is distinguished as the only feature film in which walking stick fighting serves as a crucial plot device.  It’s also a pertinent warning as … Continue reading

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“How Sir Hiram Maxim Met the Hooligan” (St James’s Gazette, 24 June 1902)

Originally published on the Bartitsu.org site on Friday, 8th September 2017 In which the estimable inventor Hiram Maxim, best-remembered today for devising the world’s first portable machine gun, tells of how he fended off a London hooligan with his fists and … Continue reading

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How To Make A Kingsman-Style Gunbrella (Sort Of)

Originally published on the Bartitsu.org site on Wednesday, 13th September 2017 In honour of (and to help promote) the upcoming release of Kingsman: The Golden Circle, The Hacksmith YouTube channel has been challenged to create a Kingsman-style weaponised umbrella: In the pedantic interests … Continue reading

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“John Steed’s Sword-Stick”: an Umbrella Fighting Tutorial from The Avengers Annual of 1967

Originally published on the Bartitsu.org site on Tuesday, 2nd January 2018 Having already addressed the umbrella combat of debonair super-spy John Steed in general terms, our attention now turns to some of the specifics, as delineated in The Avengers Annual of … Continue reading

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Adam Adamant: an Edwardian Gentleman-Adventurer in Swinging ’60s London

Originally published on the Bartitsu.org site on Tuesday, 2nd January 2018 Popular enough in its day but almost forgotten over the past four decades, the mystery/adventure TV series Adam Adamant Lives! was intended as the BBC’s answer to The Avengers.  Both series featured … Continue reading

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“To Defy the Hooligan: Advice to Ladies” (1905)

Originally published on the Bartitsu.org site on Saturday, 6th January 2018 A satirical self-defence article from the Bristol Magpie of February 2, 1905: NOTWITHSTANDING there are already numberless systems of self defence extensively advertised and practiced, Magpie hopes to be … Continue reading

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“I’m Teaching the Police to Fight” (1911)

Originally published on the Bartitsu.org site on Saturday, 10th February 2018 The following article describing a Bartitsu-like method of self-defence was first published in Pearson’s Weekly of January 26, 1911. The author’s name is given as Baron Albrecht von Knobelsdorff-Brenkenhoff, … Continue reading

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“Self Defence for Ladies and Gentlemen” Seminar in Bavaria, Germany

Originally published on the Bartitsu.org site on Saturday, 3rd March 2018 Bartitsu instructor Alex Kiermayer (above) and pugilist Christoph Reinberger are teaming up for a seminar in Victorian and Edwardian antagonistics. The two-day event will cover fisticuffs, jiujitsu, Bartitsu stick … Continue reading

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Antagnonistics V in NYC

Originally published on the Bartitsu.org site on Sunday, 18th March 2018 Antagonistics V – Tactical Principles of Victorian Self-Defense with Professor Mark P. Donnelly Saturday, April 21, 2018,  1:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m. 440 Lafayette Street, Room 3D New York, … Continue reading

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“Stick Fighting in Trinidad” (Diss Express – 14 March, 1919)

Originally published on the Bartitsu.org site on Sunday, 18th March 2018 The following short article is notable for its reference to the Trinidadian stick fighting style of “playing bois”, which is closely cognate to the Grenadian bois stick style that … Continue reading

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