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Category Archives: Antagonistics
Revivals of Gladiatorial Combat in Belle Époque France
Originally published on the Bartitsu.org site on Sunday, 29th September 2013 Georges Dubois was something of a Renaissance man; a professional sculptor, Olympic athlete, author, theatrical fight director and fencing teacher who famously challenged Ernest Regnier (a.k.a. “Re-Nie”) to a savate … Continue reading
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Demolition Derby: A Short History of the Weaponised Bowler Hat
Originally published on the Bartitsu.org site on Tuesday, 26th September 2017 Given that we have already outlined the histories of the weaponised umbrella and hat-pin and have tested the historicity and practicality of the razor-blade cap, it seems fitting to now consider the bowler hat-as-weapon … Continue reading
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“How to Defend Yourself” (Popular Mechanics, November 1926)
During the late 19th century, newspaper and magazine articles tended to skirt the subject of practical self-defence. The popularity of feature articles on that subject was spurred by Edward Barton-Wright’s Bartitsu series for Pearson’s Magazine in 1898-99 and continued through … Continue reading
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“Gouged Eyes and Chawed Ears” – the History and Folklore of Rough-and-Tumble Fighting via the Works of Robert E. Howard
The once-celebrated and now little-known “manly art” of rough-and-tumble fighting, a.k.a. “gouge fighting”, is explained in this video by pulp fiction scholar Jeffrey Shanks. If you’re intrigued to learn more about rough-and-tumble, in purported fact as well as fiction, be … Continue reading
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Keeping a Safe Distance in Victorian London
The mid-19th century moral panic over garroting gangs (urban street muggers) reached its absurdist conclusion in this Punch Magazine cartoon, suggesting the invention of a reinforced hoop skirt frame to keep garroters at a safe distance. Sadly, while scholars agree … Continue reading
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Andres Morales Demonstrates the Integrated Stick Method
Andres Morales of Santiago, Chile performs a solo drill exhibiting techniques from his Integrated Stick Method, which largely combines the Vigny and Bonafont styles.
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Introduction to the Bartitsu Lab
In this short video, Bartitsu Lab founder Tommy Joe Moore introduces his approach to reviving E.W. Barton-Wright’s “New Art of Self Defence”. We have long argued in favour of pressure-testing conclusions via hard sparring and endorse this approach as the … Continue reading
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Miss Blanche Whitney, the World’s Champion Lady Wrestler (1911)
Originally published on the Bartitsu.org site on Saturday, 26th November 2016 This gallery of images from an article in the Oregon Daily Journal (April 30, 1911) showcases the combative talents of Miss Blanche Whitney. Between 1908-11, the Philadelphian Miss Whitney travelled the … Continue reading
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By Hook or By Crook: A New Weapon for the Millwall Dock Police (1903-05)
Originally published on the Bartitsu.org site on Monday, 30th October 2017 During the first decade of the 20th century, the Millwall Dock area of London’s East End was a notoriously attractive target for all manner of plunderers, who found easy entrance and … Continue reading
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“The Quarter-Staff Then and Now” (1934)
Originally published on the Bartitsu.org site on Thursday, 14th March 2019 The “last hurrah” of the venerable English tradition of quarterstaff fighting took place on the gladiatorial stages of the early 18th century, when professional roughhousers such as James Figg “took on … Continue reading
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