Category Archives: Antagonistics

“Fighting with pot lids” – Nabebuta Displays at the London Budokwai

Originally published on the Bartitsu.org site on Saturday, 17th June 2017 Exhibitions of kobudo (weaponed martial arts) by members of the London Budokwai during 1919, 1922 and 1924 included displays of combat with a highly unusual weapon – the nabebuta or “pot … Continue reading

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“New Methods of Self-Defence” (1906)

Originally published on the Bartitsu.org site on Saturday, 17th June 2017 For almost all practical purposes, Bartitsu – as a defined combination of martial arts and combat sport styles – ceased to exist after the closure of the Bartitsu School … Continue reading

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5th Annual Victorian Martial Arts Symposium in Portland, Oregon

Originally published on the Bartitsu.org site on Saturday, 24th June 2017 Click here to learn more about this event, to be held at the PDX Gearcon steampunk extravaganza between June 30 and July 2, 2017.

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“Urban Heroes vs. Folk Devils”

Originally published on the Bartitsu.org site on Monday, 24th July 2017 Emelyne Godfrey‘s 2010 essay on civilian self-defence circa 1880-1914 is available via this link. Here are some excerpts: Pearson’s Magazine boasted articles on adventure, features on sport and remarkable fiction; it … Continue reading

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Professor Chabrier’s Cane and Umbrella Defence

Originally published on the Bartitsu.org site on Friday, 28th July 2017 A selection of cane and umbrella self-defence techniques originally published in La Vie au grand air : revue illustrée de tous les sports of February 9, 1906.  The demonstrator is Professor Chabrier … Continue reading

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Personally, I would have tried to keep a hold of the stick …

Originally published on the Bartitsu.org site on Thursday, 3rd August 2017

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Charles Charlemont’s Students Demonstrate Savate and la Canne (1928)

Originally published on the Bartitsu.org site on Saturday, 5th August 2017 This newly-released sound film from the Fox Movietone Archive shows training drills and bouting by students of Professor Charles Charlemont. At the turn of the 20th century, Charlemont had … Continue reading

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Umbrella vs. Knife in a Hamburg Back-alley (Swing Kids, 1993)

Originally published on the Bartitsu.org site on Monday, 4th September 2017 In this short fight scene from the movie Swing Kids, Peter Müller (Christian Bale) takes on a knife-wielding member of the Hitlerjugend, applying some deft umbrella techniques that will be … Continue reading

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The Gentlemanly Art of 19th Century Cane Fighting in … 1990s Russia!?

Originally published on the Bartitsu.org site on Wednesday, 6th September 2017 The 1990 Russian sociopolitical satire Bakenbardy (“Side-whiskers”) is distinguished as the only feature film in which walking stick fighting serves as a crucial plot device.  It’s also a pertinent warning as … Continue reading

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“How Sir Hiram Maxim Met the Hooligan” (St James’s Gazette, 24 June 1902)

Originally published on the Bartitsu.org site on Friday, 8th September 2017 In which the estimable inventor Hiram Maxim, best-remembered today for devising the world’s first portable machine gun, tells of how he fended off a London hooligan with his fists and … Continue reading

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