Category Archives: Hooliganism

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

Posted on December 22, 2020 by BartitsuSociety

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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“… brutal flicks of peaky blinders …”

Posted on December 22, 2020 by BartitsuSociety

Originally published on the Bartitsu.org site on Saturday, 22nd November 2014 The historical drama series Peaky Blinders is named for a fearsome Birmingham street gang armed with razor blades sewn into the rims of their flat “peaky” caps.  But did that really happen? … Continue reading →

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“To Defy the Hooligan: Advice to Ladies” (1905)

Posted on December 21, 2020 by BartitsuSociety

Originally published on the Bartitsu.org site on Saturday, 6th January 2018 A satirical self-defence article from the Bristol Magpie of February 2, 1905: NOTWITHSTANDING there are already numberless systems of self defence extensively advertised and practiced, Magpie hopes to be … Continue reading →

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“Now Then, Move On There!” (1905)

Posted on December 20, 2020 by BartitsuSociety

Originally published on the Bartitsu.org site on Friday, 9th February 2018 This cartoon from the Penny Illustrated Paper of March 4, 1905 proposes a novel method for police constables to “move on” ne’er-do-wells in the streets of London.  The technique is a … Continue reading →

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“Tricks of the Parisian Apaches” (1910)

Posted on December 20, 2020 by BartitsuSociety

Originally published on the Bartitsu.org site on Sunday, 24th June 2018 This article from The Globe newspaper of February 3rd, 1910 reveals some more mugging tricks developed by the so-called Apache street gangsters of Paris.   Most of these marauders were professional thieves … Continue reading →

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“British Pickpockets and Their French Brethren” (1897)

Posted on December 18, 2020 by BartitsuSociety

Originally published on the Bartitsu.org site on Thursday, 24th January 2019 This article from the Dublin Evening Herald of 22 December, 1897 reveals a number of the ingenious mugging and pickpocketing tricks developed by French street criminals.  A few years … Continue reading →

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“Street Self-Defence: How to Handle the Hooligan” (1904)

Posted on December 18, 2020 by BartitsuSociety

Originally published on the Bartitsu.org site on Sunday, 10th February 2019 Originally published in The People newspaper of October 23, 1904, this newly rediscovered article offers a rare glimpse into former Bartitsu Club instructor Pierre Vigny’s Hinde Street school.  Although … Continue reading →

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“The Fatal Objection to All Such Plans …” (1902)

Posted on December 18, 2020 by BartitsuSociety

Originally published on the Bartitsu.org site on Saturday, 16th February 2019 The anonymous author of this short article, originally published in the Perthshire Advertiser of 31 October, 1902, makes the valid point that the first rule towards winning a fight is to know … Continue reading →

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“Vice, Crime and Poverty: How the Western Imagination Invented the Underworld”

Posted on December 17, 2020 by BartitsuSociety

Originally published on the Bartitsu.org site on Saturday, 16th March 2019 This new book by French cultural historian Dominique Kalifa explores the notion of the criminal underworld in Western popular culture, including the infamous Parisian Apache and London hooligan phenomena that fed – and were fed … Continue reading →

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“Attacked by Hooligans”: a Self-Defence Skit with Pierre Vigny and Miss Sanderson

Posted on December 16, 2020 by BartitsuSociety

Originally published on the Bartitsu.org site on Sunday, 5th February 2017 The Friday, 16 October 1903 edition of The Sporting Life included this short description of a self-defence skit performed by Pierre Vigny and “Miss Sanderson”, who was, in her private … Continue reading →

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