Category Archives: Antagonistics

“’Engagement’” Rings: Knuckle-Duster Jewellery” (1911)

Originally published on the Bartitsu.org site on Wednesday, 18th January 2017 Subtitled “Ingenious Weapons Favoured by Apaches – for ‘Engagements’ with Law-Abiding Citizens”, these pictures were originally published as a photo-feature in The Sketch of Wednesday, 1st March 1911. Nick-named in honour … Continue reading

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Martial Arts Displays at the Japan-British Exhibition of 1910

Originally published on the Bartitsu.org site on Saturday, 28th January 2017 Although jiujitsu had been introduced to England circa 1900 via the efforts of E.W. Barton-Wright, Yukio Tani and Sadakazu Uyenishi, the Japan-British Exhibition was the first opportunity for many British citizens … Continue reading

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“The New Art of Self Defence for Women” (Yorke’s Peninsula Advertiser, 28 May, 1909)

Originally published on the Bartitsu.org site on Friday, 17th February 2017 There is no chivalry among footpads. It not infrequently happens that a woman finds herself suddenly in a position where she must fight or surrender. The woman who knows … Continue reading

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“Self-Defence with a Bicycle” Video from the 2017 Dreynevent

Originally published on the Bartitsu.org site on Sunday, 19th February 2017 A humourous and enlightening demonstration of Self-Defence with a Bicycle, animating the lessons of Marcus Tindal’s eccentric 1901 Pearson’s Magazine article. The demo took place at the recent Dreynevent historical European … Continue reading

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“Fearsome Armour of the ‘Human Porcupine’” (1910)

Originally published on the Bartitsu.org site on Monday, 20th February 2017 From the Dundee Evening Telegraph of 10 January, 1910: ARMOURED RUFFIAN HAS DESPERATE STRUGGLE WITH POLICE. One Killed and Three Wounded. Paris is no stranger scenes of violence in the streets, … Continue reading

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R. G. Allanson-Winn on “The Umbrella as a Weapon of Self-Defence” (1890)

Originally published on the Bartitsu.org site on Friday, 24th February 2017 Rowland George Allanson-Winn, the 5th Baron Headley, was a man of diverse interests and an interesting man. Born in London in 1855, he went on to study mathematics at … Continue reading

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“The Lost Art of Self-Defence – Forgotten Methods of Fighting Revived by a Viennese Fencing Club” (1905)

Originally published on the Bartitsu.org site on Thursday, 2nd March 2017 The turn of the 20th century was something of a boom time for academic and popular interest in unusual fighting styles, exemplified by Bartitsu’s eclectic combination of Japanese and … Continue reading

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Selbstverteidigung – Self-Defence Sketches by Edmund Erpf (1920)

Originally published on the Bartitsu.org site on Saturday, 11th March 2017 A series of studies by the German artist Edmund Erpf (1883-1977), drawing inspiration from boxing, savate and jiujitsu:

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The Circa 1970 Revival of Umbrella and Walking Stick Self-Defence

Originally published on the Bartitsu.org site on Sunday, 23rd April 2017 Much like the first decade of the 20th century, the late 1960s and early ’70s saw an increased general interest in self-defence due to a perceived rise in street … Continue reading

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“… he goes down all the same”

Originally published on the Bartitsu.org site on Saturday, 17th June 2017 A parallel is drawn between the no-holds-barred ethos of Bartitsu and the military tactics of the Boer War in this article from the St James’s Gazette of 18 January, 1900. Our army leaders … Continue reading

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