Category Archives: Fencing

“Exercise With the Double-Handed Sword” (1894)

Posted on December 24, 2020 by BartitsuSociety

Originally published on the Bartitsu.org site on Monday, 25th August 2014 A very rare colour version of artist Percy Macquoid’s Exercise With The Double-Handed Sword, part of his Types of Old Swordsmanship series for The Graphic newspaper, dating to 1894. The swordsmen who posed for these … Continue reading →

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“The Gentle Art of Chucking-Out and Midnight Murder”

Posted on December 24, 2020 by BartitsuSociety

Originally published on the Bartitsu.org site on Monday, 27th July 2015 From “The Truth”, March 16, 1899: Very interesting indeed was the display of Elizabethan sword-play at the Bath Club last week. Messrs. Fraser, Johnson, Cooke, Gate, and the President, … Continue reading →

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The Earliest Known Collaboration Between E.W. Barton-Wright and Pierre Vigny: July 20, 1899

Posted on December 23, 2020 by BartitsuSociety

Originally published on the Bartitsu.org site on Tuesday, 1st March 2016 These newly-discovered articles from the St. James’s Gazette offer our first glimpse at the original collaboration between Bartitsu founder Edward Barton-Wright and savate/stick fighting expert Pierre Vigny.  The articles … Continue reading →

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“Ancient Duels and Modern Fighting”: an Account of the Elizabethan Fencing and Bartitsu Display at the London Bath Club (March 9, 1899)

Posted on December 23, 2020 by BartitsuSociety

Originally published on the Bartitsu.org site on Thursday, 3rd March 2016 The following is a highly detailed account of the famous exhibition of both Elizabethan fencing and Bartitsu performed at the Bath Club during March of 1899.  This event was … Continue reading →

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“Fencing and Bartitsu at the Bath Club” (Illustrated Sporting and Dramatic News, March 18, 1899)

Posted on December 23, 2020 by BartitsuSociety

Originally published on the Bartitsu.org site on Friday, 15th April 2016 On Thursday, the 9th inst., “ladies’ night”, an amusing and instructive evening was spent by the members and their friends, gathered in considerable numbers. The first part of the … Continue reading →

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Shades of Esme Beringer: Double-Weapon Fencing in “Penny Dreadful”

Posted on December 22, 2020 by BartitsuSociety

Originally published on the Bartitsu.org site on Wednesday, 12th October 2016 The final season of the popular dark fantasy/drama series Penny Dreadful introduced the character of Catriona Hartdegen, a historian, thanatologist and expert swordswoman played by actress Perdita Weeks. As the series … Continue reading →

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Bartitsu in the Sporting Times (March-April 1899)

Posted on December 22, 2020 by BartitsuSociety

Originally published on the Bartitsu.org site on Friday, 28th October 2016 Note – The March, 1899 antagonistics exhibition at the London Bath Club was widely reported upon in the media.  Most accounts agree that the advertised Bartitsu contest between E.W. … Continue reading →

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Martial Arts Displays at the Japan-British Exhibition of 1910

Posted on December 22, 2020 by BartitsuSociety

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

Posted on December 22, 2020 by BartitsuSociety

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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Marguerite Vigny (a.k.a. “Miss Sanderson”) Competes at the Cercle Hoche (1908)

Posted on December 22, 2020 by BartitsuSociety

Originally published on the Bartitsu.org site on Tuesday, 2nd May 2017 Founded in Paris in 1900, the Cercle Hoche was an exclusive fencing and athletic club whose amenities included a luxurious bathroom, a billiard room, a courtyard garden and a restaurant. … Continue reading →

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