Category Archives: Wrestling

“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”

Yuki Tani watches catch-as-catch-can wrestling in 1926

Posted on February 21, 2025 by BartitsuSociety

A few seconds of footage of former Bartitsu Club instructor Yukio Tani watching a catch-as-catch-can wrestling championship in Finsbury Park, Middlesex. Tani would have been around 49 years old at the time this film was shot; about a decade later … 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

Early 20th Century French Self Defence Manuals Translated by M.P. Lynch

Posted on July 30, 2021 by BartitsuSociety

A heads-up that a number of rare French antagonistics manuals, most dating from the period immediately following the brief Bartitsu Club era, are now available in English translation via Amazon, courtesy of M.P. Lynch. All the translations are available for … Continue reading →

Posted in Academia, Antagonistics, Boxing, Jiujitsu, Savate, Wrestling | Comments Off on Early 20th Century French Self Defence Manuals Translated by M.P. Lynch

More on the Bartitsu Club’s 1902 Exhibition at Oxford

Posted on May 31, 2021 by BartitsuSociety

Our 2017 article on the Bartitsu Club’s “grand tour” of exhibitions during early-mid 1902 included several detailed reports on the event staged at the Oxford Town Hall. One of those reports offered the intriguing detail that a Mr. Whittle, who … Continue reading →

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“The Georgia Wonder Meets the Great Japanese Wrestler”

Posted on December 28, 2020 by BartitsuSociety

Originally published on the Bartitsu.org site on Friday, 29th July 2011 Lulu Hurst, also known variously as the “Little Georgia Wonder” and as the “Georgia Magnet”, was a music hall sensation during the mid-late 19th century. Claiming to possess a … Continue reading →

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Ryan Drago: Gentleman Bruiser and Bartitsu Rassler

Posted on December 27, 2020 by BartitsuSociety

Originally published on the Bartitsu.org site on Friday, 18th May 2012 A profile of the esteemed strongman and professional wrestler Ryan Drago, whose intensive Bartitsu training sweeps all enemies before him …

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Antagonistics at the Royal Albert Hall (1904)

Posted on December 27, 2020 by BartitsuSociety

Originally published on the Bartitsu.org site on Tuesday, 23rd October 2012 Demonstrations of Pierre Vigny’s self defence with a walking stick and of jiujitsu were included alongside this July, 1904 Graeco-Roman wrestling championship bout between George Hackenschmidt and Tom Jenkins.

Posted in Edwardiana, Exhibitions, Jiujitsu, Vigny stick fighting, Wrestling | Comments Off on Antagonistics at the Royal Albert Hall (1904)

Ambushed! (1905)

Posted on December 26, 2020 by BartitsuSociety

Originally published on the Bartitsu.org site on Monday, 11th February 2013 A dramatic sketch of French jujitsu pioneer Ernest Regnier, who operated under the quasi-Japanese nom de guerre of “Professor Re-Nie”, being headbutted by “Witzler”, a professional wrestler. The assault apparently … Continue reading →

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“The Great Anglo-Japanese Tournament”: Bartitsu in Nottingham (March 1902)

Posted on December 26, 2020 by BartitsuSociety

Originally published on the Bartitsu.org site on Monday, 29th July 2013 The best evidence indicates that E.W. Barton-Wright’s Bartitsu Club in London closed down during the early months of 1902, for reasons that are still mysterious.  A recently-discovered series of … Continue reading →

Posted in Boxing, Canonical Bartitsu, Exhibitions, Jiujitsu, Savate, Vigny stick fighting, Wrestling | Comments Off on “The Great Anglo-Japanese Tournament”: Bartitsu in Nottingham (March 1902)