Category Archives: Edwardiana

“A New Uniform Inspired by Uko-Tani”

Posted on December 11, 2020 by BartitsuSociety

Originally published on the Bartitsu.org site on Sunday, 21st January 2018 The notion of London bobbies studying the newfangled Japanese art of self-defence clearly intrigued Edwardian cartoonists.  The Penny Illustrated Paper of March 4, 1905 imagined that a new police uniform inspired … Continue reading →

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Yukio Tani vs. the Masked Wrestler (April, 1909)

Posted on December 11, 2020 by BartitsuSociety

Originally published on the Bartitsu.org site on Saturday, 10th November 2018 Still popular today in Mexican and Japanese pro-wrestling circles, the “masked wrestler” gimmick originated in Paris during the year 1867.  The original “Lutteur Masqué” was rumoured to be an … Continue reading →

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“Ju-Jitsu Vs. Boxing”: Yukio Tani takes on “Young Joseph” (From The Sporting Life, 13 April 1908)

Posted on December 11, 2020 by BartitsuSociety

Originally published on the Bartitsu.org site on February 10th, 2017 In a 1950 interview conducted by jiujitsu sensei Gunji Koizumi, Bartitsu founder E.W. Barton-Wright reminisced about trying to teach Yukio Tani to box, noting that Tani had “no aptitude for … Continue reading →

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Inside Edith Garrud’s dojo (1910-11)

Posted on December 11, 2020 by BartitsuSociety

Originally published on the Bartitsu.org site on Sunday, 1st January 2017 By March of 1910,  jiujitsu instructor Edith Garrud was becoming increasingly involved with the radical women’s rights movement, teaching her “Suffragettes Self-Defence” classes at Leighton Lodge in Edwardes Square, Kensington and performing politically … Continue reading →

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The “Great Anglo-Japanese Tournament” at the Adelphi Theatre in Liverpool

Posted on December 11, 2020 by BartitsuSociety

Originally published on the Bartitsu.org site on November 6th, 2018 The “last hurrah” of the Bartitsu Club as a corporate entity was the ambitious and largely successful “Great Anglo-Japanese Tournament” tour during early-mid 1902.   We’ve previously detailed these provincial Bartitsu … Continue reading →

Posted in Academia, Bartitsu School of Arms, Canonical Bartitsu, E. W. Barton-Wright, Edwardiana, Jiujitsu, Wrestling | Comments Off on The “Great Anglo-Japanese Tournament” at the Adelphi Theatre in Liverpool

The “Dwarf of Blood” on Bartitsu (June-October, 1900)

Posted on December 11, 2020 by BartitsuSociety

The following accounts were written for the Sporting Times by a journalist styling himself as “The Dwarf of Blood”.  Many Sporting Times columnists used similarly colourful pseudonyms – “The Pitcher”, “The Shifter”, “The Master”, et al. The author of these articles was … Continue reading →

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Velo-Boxe (“Bike-Boxing”) Cartoons by Marius Rossillon

Posted on December 11, 2020 by BartitsuSociety

Originally published on the Bartitsu.org site on Thursday, 10th January 2019 The French painter and cartoonist Marius Rossillon (1867-1946), under the pseudonym “O’Galop”, invents a bizarre new hybrid combat sport in this 1895 sketch series, which originally appeared in Le Rire. … Continue reading →

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Keeping a Safe Distance in Victorian London

Posted on December 11, 2020 by BartitsuSociety

The mid-19th century moral panic over garroting gangs (urban street muggers) reached its absurdist conclusion in this Punch Magazine cartoon, suggesting the invention of a reinforced hoop skirt frame to keep garroters at a safe distance. Sadly, while scholars agree … Continue reading →

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The 1910 French Craze for “Secret Weapon” Walking Sticks

Posted on December 10, 2020 by BartitsuSociety

Originally published on the Bartitsu.org site on Wednesday, 5th July 2017 By 1910, the mystique of the Parisian “apache” street gangsters had fully piqued the curiosity of the bourgeoisie via works of tabloid journalism and popular fiction. Middle- and upper-class … Continue reading →

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Yukio Tani at the Royal Albert Hall (1904)

Posted on December 10, 2020 by BartitsuSociety

Originally published on the Bartitsu.org site on Thursday, 17th January 2019 This sketch series by Percy F.S. Spence records moments from former Bartitsu Club instructor Yukio Tani’s matches at the Royal Albert Hall on July 2, 1904.  The sketches were originally published … Continue reading →

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