- Originally published on the Bartitsu.org site on Tuesday, 27th July 2010
GoogleBooks has made available this thrilling 12-page tale for red-blooded boys of all ages by Percy Longhurst (author of Jiu-Jitsu and Other Methods of Self Defence). Originally published in the August 1911 edition of Boys’ Life Magazine, it reads like nothing so much as a jiujitsu-themed prototype for the original Karate Kid movie.
For full enjoyment of the story, please note that the term Jap was not used pejoratively during the Victorian or Edwardian periods, being rather in the nature of a simple abbreviation (q.v. “Brit” for British, “Aussie” for Australian, etc.) The modern pejorative use dates to the Second World War.