Category Archives: Fencing

“The New Art of Self Defence: How Bartitsu Reimagined ‘Antagonistics’ in Edwardian England”

Posted on February 16, 2026 by BartitsuSociety

Now available from Amazon, this new book is a revised, updated and significantly expanded version of the “Bartitsu Story” section of The Bartitsu Compendium, Vol. III (2022). As the third volume of the Compendium was a bookshelf-busting 629 large-format pages, … Continue reading →

Posted in Academia, Antagonistics, Biography, Boxing, Canonical Bartitsu, E. W. Barton-Wright, Edwardiana, Exhibitions, Fencing, Hooliganism, Jiujitsu, Physical Culture, Pop-culture, Savate, Vigny stick fighting, Wrestling | Comments Off on “The New Art of Self Defence: How Bartitsu Reimagined ‘Antagonistics’ in Edwardian England”

“Dague et Rapiere”: a gallery of images of the brief double-weapon fencing revival in 1920s France

Posted on December 29, 2025 by BartitsuSociety

Selected images from the brief but interesting double-weapon fencing revival spearheaded by Maitres Albert Lacaze and Georges Dubois during the 1920s. Like the modern HEMA revival, the French dague et rapiere style referred to many combat treatises of the 1500s … Continue reading →

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Announcing The Bartitsu Compendium, Volume III

Posted on December 7, 2022 by BartitsuSociety

Published 120 years after the Bartitsu School of Arms in London closed its doors for the last time and marking the 20th anniversary of the modern Bartitsu revival movement, the Bartitsu Compendium, Volume III is now available from Amazon. Over … Continue reading →

Posted in Antagonistics, Baritsu, Bartitsu School of Arms, Biography, Boxing, Canonical Bartitsu, E. W. Barton-Wright, Editorial, Edwardiana, Fencing, Fiction, Hooliganism, Humour, In Memoriam, Instruction, Interviews, Jiujitsu, Mysteries, Physical Culture, Pop-culture, Reviews, Savate, Seminars, Sherlock Holmes, Sparring, Suffrajitsu, Vigny stick fighting, Wrestling | Comments Off on Announcing The Bartitsu Compendium, Volume III

“The King’s Man” Trailer Promises a Melange of Gentlemanly Mayhem

Posted on June 5, 2021 by BartitsuSociety

Delayed several times due to the pandemic, The King’s Man – a prequel to the popular Kingsman series – is currently set for release in December of 2021. As this trailer demonstrates, alongside copious sword, knife and gun-play, the suave … Continue reading →

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“In the Ju Jitsu Hall” (1911)

Posted on March 24, 2021 by BartitsuSociety

These cartoons from the June 17, 1911 issue of the Illustrated Sporting and Dramatic News illustrate Japanese martial arts displays in the “Ju Jitsu Hall” of London’s Coronation Exhibition. The same venue had also hosted martial arts displays about a … Continue reading →

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“A Hove Gymnasium: Mr. Percy S. Rolt’s Successful System” (Brighton Gazette, September 21, 1912)

Posted on February 8, 2021 by BartitsuSociety

In December of 2017 we were pleased to publish an article confirming former Bartitsu Club member Percy Rolt as the “missing link” between the Bartitsu Club and Indian Police Superintendant Herbert Gordon Lang’s 1923 book “The ‘Walking Stick’ Method of … Continue reading →

Posted in Antagonistics, Bartitsu School of Arms, Boxing, Canonical Bartitsu, Editorial, Fencing, Jiujitsu, Mysteries, Physical Culture, Savate, Vigny stick fighting | Comments Off on “A Hove Gymnasium: Mr. Percy S. Rolt’s Successful System” (Brighton Gazette, September 21, 1912)

Third Annual Victorian Martial Arts Symposium (Portland, Oregon)

Posted on December 29, 2020 by BartitsuSociety

Originally published on the Bartitsu.org site on Tuesday, 19th May 2015 Once again Portland, Oregon’s Historic European Martial Arts school Academia Duellatoria is teaming up with GearCon to bring you a full weekend symposium on Victorian Age Martial Arts. The event happens … Continue reading →

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The Redoubtable Baron Desborough (July 17, 1909)

Posted on December 29, 2020 by BartitsuSociety

William Henry Grenfell, the 1st Baron Desborough, poses with a statuette of himself as a fencer in this Illustrated Sporting and Dramatic News photo. The effigy was presented by Captain Alfred Hutton during early July of 1909, on behalf of … Continue reading →

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“Ancient Swordplay: the Revival of Elizabethan Fencing in Victorian London”

Posted on December 27, 2020 by BartitsuSociety

Originally published on the Bartitsu.org site on Wednesday, 22nd February 2012 During the final decades of the 19th century, a cabal of fencers and historians led by Captain Alfred Hutton and his colleague, the writer Egerton Castle, undertook a systematic study and practical … Continue reading →

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19th Century Antagonistics at the 2012 Victorian Heritage Festival

Posted on December 27, 2020 by BartitsuSociety

Originally published on the Bartitsu.org site on Wednesday, 29th February 2012 19th century pugilism, fencing and other “manly arts of self defence” will be on display at the upcoming Port Townsend Victorian Heritage Festival (Washington, March 23-25).

Posted in Boxing, Exhibitions, Fencing | Comments Off on 19th Century Antagonistics at the 2012 Victorian Heritage Festival