Originally published on the Bartitsu.org site on Saturday, 5th September 2015
A blend of 19th century armed and unarmed combat arts as interpreted via the lessons of Elizabethan fencing master Vincentio Saviolo, courtesy of the 1595 Club.
Originally published on the Bartitsu.org site on Saturday, 5th September 2015
“… a huge subterranean hall, all glittering, white-tiled walls, and electric light, with ‘champions’ prowling around it like tigers …”
– Mary Nugent (January 1901)
There are now approximately forty Bartitsu clubs and study groups around the world, all working to continue E.W. Barton-Wright’s experiments in blending scientific fisticuffs, jiujitsu and Vigny cane fighting. In keeping with the DIY, open-source nature of the Bartitsu revival, every club pursues its own agenda and points of emphasis. But what do we know about the original Bartitsu School of Arms and Physical Culture in London’s Shaftesbury Avenue?
Origins
Edward William Barton-Wright, the founder of Bartitsu
E.W. Barton-Wright began performing jiujitsu displays almost as soon as he returned to London from Japan. At that point, given his birth and early years spent in India, his education in France and Germany and his constant international travels as an adult, he had probably spent many more years living outside of England than “at home”.
Barton-Wright’s demonstration at the famed Bath Club in March of 1899 seems to have been a pivotal event, in that this was probably where he first met William Grenfell, the First Baron Desborough, and Sir Cosmo Duff Gordon. These aristocrats – both of whom enjoyed novel and eccentric athletic pursuits – had the all-important social standing and connections that Barton-Wright needed if he was to make his name in London.
The following month, at the conclusion of Barton-Wright’s two-part Pearson’s Magazine article “The New Art of Self Defence”, he noted that “in the future, all being well, I shall open a school”.
By June of that year, Grenfell was championing the idea of what would become the Bartitsu Club. Prominent, well-liked and an inveterate supporter of many clubs and organizations, he was the natural choice for Club president, with Barton-Wright assuming the role of Managing Director.
A committee of gentlemen
It’s important to bear in mind that early Edwardian London was highly class-conscious and that the notion of a “club” carried a different connotation during that period than it typically does today. It would be unusual for a club to advertise in newspapers, for example, because word-of-mouth recommendations were considered to be more prestigious. Exclusivity, among other things, was taken for granted. Therefore, when Grenfell described the then-nascent Bartitsu Club to reporters in June of 1899, he stated plainly that the idea was:
“… to establish an athletic class for people of good standing, and it seemed to us best to establish it in the form of a club, so as to be able to exclude undesirable persons. So members will be able to come themselves, and to send their children and the ladies of their family for instruction with every assurance that they will be running no risk of objectionable associations.”
Barton-Wright himself offered some clarification regarding what would be considered “undesirable” and “objectionable” in an interview during September of 1901. Replying to the interviewer’s observation that “If you sow this knowledge broadcast it might be bad for the police,” Barton-Wright noted that skill in the art required regular training and that:
” … this is a club with a committee of gentlemen, among whom are Lord Alwyne Compton, Mr. Herbert Gladstone, and others, and no-one is taught here unless we are satisfied that he is not likely to make bad use of his knowledge.”
This “committee of gentlemen” was a standard convention of Edwardian club-life. Along with Liberal Party politicians Compton and Gladstone, the Bartitsu Club committee included Captain Alfred Hutton, who was also a fencing instructor at the Club, and Hutton’s erstwhile rival Colonel George Malcolm Fox, the former Inspector General of British Army Gymnasia.
Collectively, their role was to act as “guardians at the gate” by assessing the characters of prospective members. Going by the assessments run by comparable clubs, the committee probably interviewed the applicant at some length, asked for letters of reference and ascertained that they were sufficiently solvent to be able to pay their enrollment and tuition fees.
This formal process was especially important because journalists often struggled to imagine why “respectable” people would need or even want to learn the intricacies of Japanese unarmed combat or Professor Vigny’s elegant stick fighting. In introducing the novelty of “recreational martial arts” to London society, Barton-Wright quite frequently had to explain that he was not in the business of training hooligans or “chuckers-out” (Edwardian slang for music hall bouncers).
Inside the Club
While the address at 67b Shaftesbury was fortuitous, in the heart of a busy and popular entertainment district, the very few photographs known to have been taken inside the Club suggest a fairly spartan basement gym. The ceiling was supported by very sturdy white pillars and dark curtains ran along the white tile walls. The main part of the floor was probably carpet over concrete, with a large matted section for jiujitsu practice.
In all, it’s likely that members would not join expecting the opulence or amenities of older and better-funded institutions, such as the Bath Club. However, Barton-Wright’s elaborate and impressive electrotherapy clinic – which was, arguably, his main business concern – was situated in an adjacent room.
Training
Assuming that the prospect passed the committee’s examination, s/he was then required to undertake an extensive (and expensive) course of private lessons. We have few details as to what these lessons may have involved, but, writing in 1901, Nugent mentioned that “no (group) class-work (was) allowed to be done until the whole of the exercises are perfectly acquired individually”. On that basis, it’s safe to assume that beginners would be drilled in physical culture (calisthenic exercises) and the fundamental skills required in boxing, jiujitsu and cane fighting, all one-on-one with Barton-Wright and the other instructors.
Finally, having passed through an evidently robust battery of character tests and private lessons, fully-fledged Bartitsu Club members could join in the group classes. These seem to have been set up on a kind of circuit-training basis, with students rotating between lessons taught by the various instructors. The most detailed account of regular training at the Club comes from “S.L.B.’s” article in The Sketch of April 12, 1901:
The Bartitsu Club, through its Professors, over whom Mr. Barton-Wright keeps an admonishing eye, guarantees you against all danger. In one corner is M. Vigny, the World’s Champion with the single-stick: the Champion who is the acknowledged master of savate trains his pupils in another. He could kill you and twenty like you if he so desired in the interval between breakfast and lunch – but, as a matter of fact, he never does. He leads you gently on with gloves and single-stick, through the mazes of the arts, until, at last, with your trained eye and supple muscles, no unskilled brute force can put you out, literally or metaphorically.
In another part of the Club are more Champions, this time from far Japan, where self-defence is taken far more seriously than here. The Champion Wrestler of Osaka, or one of the shining lights among the trainers for the Tokio police, dressed in the picturesque garb of his corner of the Far East, will teach you once more of how little you know of the muscles that keep you perpendicular, and of the startling effects of sudden leverage properly applied.
The Japanese Champions are terribly strong and powerful; at a private rehearsal of their work, given some two months ago on the Alhambra stage, I saw a little Jap. who is about five feet nothing in height and eight stone in weight, do just what he liked with a strong North of England wrestler more than six feet high, broad, muscular and confident. The little one ended by putting his opponent gently on his back, and the big one looked as if he did not know how it was done.
There is no form of grip that the Japanese jujitsu work does not meet and foil, and in Japan a policeman learns the jujitsu wrestling as part of his equipment for active service. One of the Club trainers was professionally engaged to teach the police in Japan before he came to England to serve under Mr. Barton-Wright.
When you have mastered the various branches of the work done at the Club, which includes a system of physical drill taught by another Champion, this time from Switzerland, the world is before you, even though a “Hooligan” be behind you.
The Club curriculum also evolved over time. For a period during mid-1901, which was clearly the Bartitsu Club’s heyday, members could also take classes in breathing exercises with Mrs. Emil Behnke. Barton-Wright printed a “remarkable table of results of improvement in breathing capacity and chest girth resulting from respiratory exercises”.
The benefits of membership
Grenfell’s remark about “children and ladies” is telling. All of the Bartitsu Club members for whom we have concrete records were adult men, including a large percentage of soldiers and moneyed athletes. It’s likely, however, that actress Esme Beringer and child actor Charlie Sefton studied historical fencing with Captain Hutton there, and journalist Mary Nugent confirmed that “an endless number” of women did indeed attend classes at the Shaftesbury Avenue Club.
It’s clear that some Club members specialised in certain skills or styles, possibly due to time constraints. Captain F.C. Laing of the 12th Bengal Infantry spent much of his London furlough training at the Club, selecting a combination of jiujitsu and Vigny stick fighting. Laing regretted that he could not prolong his training, but he had to return to his regiment in India when his leave was up.
While Barton-Wright encouraged his employees to train with (and compete against) each other, it’s not clear to what extent the “Bartitsu cross-training” system progressed during the relatively short period the Club was open. It’s very likely that, for example, some of the jointlocks and takedowns recorded in Barton-Wright’s article “Self Defence with a Walking-Stick” were influenced by jiujitsu. The ever-enthusiastic Captain Laing also referred to, but did not detail, combined jiujitsu and stick fighting sequences in his article “The Bartitsu Method of Self Defence”.
Ironically, though, by the time Laing’s article was published, the original Bartitsu Club had closed its doors for the last time …
Originally published on the Bartitsu.org site on Thursday, 10th September 2015
Bartitsu instructor James Garvey (lower right, above) represented E.W. Barton-Wright’s “New Art of Self Defence” in the central piazza at Festival No. 6 (2015). This boutique music and arts festival is held at the eccentric model village of Portmeirion in Wales, which was also the location used in Patrick McGoohan’s surrealistic ’60s spy fantasy series, The Prisoner.
A judo fight scene from The Prisoner
Festival participants witnessed demonstrations of Bartitsu cane fighting and unarmed combat and also had the chance to learn some techniques, such as Barton-Wright’s “Good Way of Conducting a Person Out of a Room” (top, above).
Originally published on the Bartitsu.org site on Sunday, 4th October 2015
The Art of Manliness offers this short morning workout routine based on Adrian Peter Schmidt’s 1901 manual, Illustrated Hints for Health and Strength for Busy People.
Originally published on the Bartitsu.org site on Thursday, 8th October 2015
Some fast, athletic and skilled sparring in the classic Vigny style from these two instructors of the Gemeiner Academy of Savate (Gold Coast, Australia).
Originally published on the Bartitsu.org site on Wednesday, 14th October 2015
During the decade following E.W. Barton-Wright’s introduction of jiujitsu to England, the Japanese martial art was thoroughly absorbed into English popular culture – most famously when Sherlock Holmes made use of “baritsu” to defeat the evil Professor Moriarty at the Reichenbach Falls.
Jiujitsu was also the means by which the titular heroine of H.G. Wells’ Ann Veronica defended herself against a male assailant, and it was written in to several of the Judith Lee detective stories. Japanese unarmed combat was poetically fetishised in D.H. Lawrence’s novel, Women in Love and showcased in polemic plays, such as What Every Woman Ought to Know (1911). Jiujitsu eventually became the subject of novelty postcards, the punchline of jokes, the theme of music hall specialty dances and even futurist paintings.
The unfortunate subject of this cartoon explains, via the slang of his time and place, how upset he is to have been rejected by his girlfriend:
The Professor (to pupil): “I need hardly impress upon you, Sir, the necessity of carefully watching everything I do!”
A police constable in dire need of an audience:
P.C. Jones, having mastered his opponent by the latest trick in Jiu-jitsu, is now wishing the Inspector would turn up to witness his triumph!
(Japanese wrestling is now being taught in night schools all over the kingdom.)
Mistress: “May I ask what is the meaning of this disgraceful behaviour?”
New Buttons: “The butler and me, Mum, ‘ad a little difference of opinion, Mum, so I give ‘im a little Joo-Jitsoo, Mum!”
“President Roosevelt’s trainer, Mr. O’Brien, is teaching him Jujitsu, the Japanese Method of self-defence. Jujitsu consists of bending the joints of the arms or legs of an adversary in the direction opposite to that intended by nature. A small man who understands the trick can snap the elbow joints of a man twice his size.” – American correspondence.
Fired by this example, Mr. CH_MB_RL_N, we understand, though abstaining from all other exercise, spends two hours daily with his trainer, Mr. D_LL_N, in Jo-jitsu, the Birmingham method. A slim man who understands the trick can dislocate the hyphen of a Pre-Boer twice his circumference.
Mr. B_LF__R has created considerable surprise by practicing his peculiar method of contortionist gymnastics and telescopic dislocation (Balf-itsu) on the Treasury Bench.
The most famous of Punch’s jiujitsu-themed cartoons is certainly Arthur Wallis Mills’ The Arrest, or, The Suffragette that knew Jiu-jitsu, satirising the jiujitsuffragette phenomenon:
… but Mr. Punch also offered a useful training tip for the police constables who had to grapple with suffragette protesters:
FIRST MOVEMENT – The Friendly Approach
Once you can persuade a man to take your hand, and let you slip your arm under his –
SECOND MOVEMENT – The Chuck-out
– it is quite easy, by a little adroit leverage, to remove him from the premises.
Posted inEdwardiana, Humour, Jiujitsu|Comments Off on “… the Latest Trick in Jiu-jitsu”: Cartoons from Punch Magazine (1905-12)
Originally published on the Bartitsu.org site on Friday, 23rd October 2015
The protagonists of the newly released game Assassin’s Creed: Syndicate, Jacob and Evie Frye, display their hand-to-hand combat skills in this promotional video.
Although the kukri knife and wrist dagger are examples of creative license, the twins’ combination of boxing and brawling punches and knees, low kicks, jujitsu-like joint locks and takedowns, and especially their use of the combat cane will all be very familiar to Bartitsu enthusiasts …
Originally published on the Bartitsu.org site on Sunday, 15th November 2015
SELF-DEFENCE may seem a queer sort of hobby, but it is closely allied with jiu-jitsu, wrestling, boxing and tumbling, and many people practise it merely as a form of athletic recreation. It does happen sometimes, even in this country, that one needs to know what to do against an unprovoked attack, and it is then that the methods of self-defence have real practical value. But even if you seldom or never have occasion to use them, you will find that the study and practice of them will keep you congenially occupied for a long time, and will give you not only interest and health but self-confidence too. Incidentally, self-defence is as worth while a hobby for girls and women as for men.
Very often a threatened attack can be prevented by a sufficient show of courage on the part of the intended victim. Just as a snarling dog is most dangerous if it senses that you are nervous and will probably not attack you if you are not afraid, so if you chance to meet a rough-looking character on a country road and are suspicious of his intentions your safest plan will be to walk boldly towards him. Seeing your self-reliant air he will probably think twice about interfering with you. The same applies if you are cycling.
Should you be walking in the dark and have reason to suspect that you are being followed you will find that your hearing is more sensitive if you open your mouth. And if you are sitting by a camp fire when an unwanted intruder suddenly arrives, spring aside into the shadows, leaving him in the firelight while you are concealed.
What to do if you actually come to grips in the foregoing emergencies will be dealt with later.
Attacking Animals.—The safest way to deal with a charging bull, if you cannot get to a fence or gate in time, is to leap to one side and throw your coat or jacket over his horns so that he is momentarily blinded. An attacking dog can be dealt with by a kick under the jaw if you have previously held a hat or something similar in front of you in which he can first fix his teeth.
A Hold-up.—Should an attacker leap on to the running-board of your car, on the driving side, you can get rid of him, if windows allow, by a strong upward and outward jab of elbow or wrist which will take him in the throat or under the chin.
Even in to hold-up by a revolver you are not necessarily at the mercy of the other man. Suppose you are standing facing his and have obeyed his order to put up your hands. Fix his eyes with yours, talking perhaps as you do so in order to distract him. Your arms will be above your head, but do not keep them together; let them sag and spread sideways as widely as possible. By doing so you will prevent your attacker from keeping his eye on both simultaneously—and that may give you the opportunity to swing down the hand of which he has for the moment lost sight and so to knock aside or seize the weapon.
Fortunately criminals in this country do not often risk shooting or even carrying weapons, if they can possibly avoid doing so. But you must be extremely careful when firearms are concerned.
One useful way of temporarily disabling an attacker is to seize the lapels of his jacket and jerk them outwards and backwards so that the jacket is snatched clear of his shoulders and half down his back and remains hamperingly around his elbows. (Fig. 2.)
There are many more vigorous ways of dealing with an attacker. For example, suppose one is coming towards you with upraised bludgeon or weapon, so that he is upright. A very effective counter is to duck sharply in front of him, going down on one knee so that your head goes between his legs and your shoulders are pressed against his shins. If you now clutch his ankles from behind and tug them sharply, jerking them upwards, at the same time pushing with your shoulders, you will fling him over backwards—probably his head will strike the ground with such force as to stun him. In prac-tising this and similar throws with a friend you must use a mattress and proceed cautiously, as you would for jiu-jitsu work.
An alternative way of getting control is to grab the right wrist of your opponent with your own right hand and to get behind his right arm. If you now thrust your left arm under his right arm-pit and clutch his jacket somewhere near the left lapel, keeping your arm rigid you will find that you can strain his right wrist back and get an arm-breaking pressure on his right elbow which will be run-ning across your own left arm. The front of his wrist should be held to the front, so that the pressure you exert strains his arm in the way in which his elbow cannot possibly bend—without breaking. The least pressure you give will be very painful so be very, very careful if you practise this with a friend.
An ordinary umbrella, properly wielded, can be a most effective weapon against an attacker. Do not try to his with it, for the ribs and cover will mufile the blow, and the stick will most likely break. The point is the effective part. Hold the umbrella, point forward, as if it were a foil. A straight hard jab in face, throat, or stomach will be pretty certain to put any attacker out of action. Fencing, by the way, apart from its own interest and value, is a most excellent exercise from the point of view of self-defence, for it teaches you how to make forceful, well-aimed thrusts with any available weapon.
A walking-stick is infinitely better than an umbrella, in fact walking-stick defence is quite a study in itself, and if you customarily carry a stick when out walking, you will find the proper handling of your stick a most fascinating study. The same stabs with your ferrule can be depended on to ward off an attack, and if you have an opponent on the ground you can place the point of your stick in the pit of his stomach and hold him helpless. The slightest vertical pressure will convince him of the serious danger of trying to escape, as effectively as if you had a rapier point at his throat.
Blows With a Stick.—It is not merely the point of the stick which is of value. You may hit with the whole length of it too. Be careful where you hit—some portions of the anatomy are much more susceptible than others, and to put your opponent out of action promptly you should aim at such points as the collar-bone near the neck, the tip of a shoulder, inside of a knee, outside of forearm, back of hand, elbow or shin.
Do not make a straight, square stroke with a walking-stick. Not only is this less efficacious but it gives your opponent a chance to grab the stick while it lies dead against his body. Cultivate a stinging, slicing stroke. This is far more painful, and also ensures that the stick comes immediately out of reach, ready for further use.
In making any blows at the head or shoulders of your companion keep your own hand as high as possible, for this will enable you to strike downward over his guard, and will also ensure that at least one of your arms is raised as a protecting guard for yourself should you need it. When you go for a walk with your stick, cultivate the ability to swing it freely, whilst keeping it under firm control. When you can make it whistle through the air in great sweeping circles you will have to defence which the boldest antagonist would hesitate to break into.
Single-sticks.—It is well when practising with a friend that you shall also occasionally let him use a stick against yours —you may follow this up by equipping yourself with proper head guards and weapons and so taking up the old hobby of single-sticks. If your opponent has a stick and you have none, your safest plan will be to get in promptly to close quarters where his stick cannot be used.
Boxing is naturally another excellent method of self-defence, and, even if you do not make a proper study of it, it is worth while at least to acquire the ability to make a few strong punches correctly. Punches with the fist are not always, however, the best way of persuading an assailant to leave you alone.
A clenched fist, arriving flatly and solidly, may have little effect—like the stick which is driven straight and square at the body. Often, a blow given sharply by a smaller edge is much more potent. Clench your right fist for instance, and with the back knuckles give a sharp blow on the back of your left hand. It will be very painful! Now imagine that you are clutched round the body from behind. Your attacker is not likely to retain his hold long if a similar knuckle blow is delivered really hard on the back of his hands.
You may also make very painful blows with the edge of the hand between the little finger and the wrist. If you hold your hand stiff and flat and deliver the his in some vulnerable spot, such as the outer side of the arm between shoulder and elbow, your attacker will not want more.
When at close quarters with an assailant there are a number of methods of dealing with him. A knee jab in the stomach may put him hors de combat. You may stamp on his feet. If you are held from behind, you may give some terribly effective blows in his face with the back of your head. If you have a walking-stick which cannot be used in any other fashion, its crook handle may trip him up or, snatched around his neck, may jerk him to the ground.
When you are actually gripped it is important that you should know how to get free. A grip round the body or throat may be dealt with in one of the various ways already described, or you may seize the little finger of one of your attacker’s hands and tug it backwards. The little finger will have no strength to resist, and unless the rest of the hand yields with it the finger is liable to be broken.
Should you be seized round the neck from in front, hook your left hand round behind the small of the other’s back; bringing your right hand up so that its palm rests under his this while your fingers spread over his face. Now pull with the left hand and push vigorously with the right, and his grip will be broken. Probably he will tumble on his back.
A rather similar method can be used if you are gripped round the body from in front. Get your left hand behind him, your right under his chin, and your right knee high up against his stomach or chest. Then thrust him away with knee and right hand. As his head goes back, of course, he cannot save himself. If the left hand is not needed behind in order to pull at your opponent, then the left too may be this to come up and push against the chin.
In either methods of breaking front holds you may the better ensure that your assailant crashes on to his back by getting one foot behind his to trip him.
A Nose Grip.—At the moment when an attacker is about to encircle you with his arms you may be able to prevent him by seizing his nose and grimly hanging on to it. His disconcerting difficulty in breathing, wilt almost certainly make him abandon his intended clutch in order to tear your hold away.
Sometimes a body hold may be countered by bending forward or backward and pulling the other’s feet from beneath him. If you are seized round the body from behind—assuming that your arms are free—simply spread your legs, and stoop forward till you can seize his ankles and so drag his legs forward between your own. (Fig. 4.) As he falls on his back, you will probably knock the wind out of him if you allow yourself to go down also. You may sometimes use this same method when you are seized from in front—reaching round the backs of your legs in order to seize his ankles, and pushing forward with your head against his body as you do so.
The arms may not be free, however, and when you are seized from behind this will completely change your problem, and the method of solving it. You will now aim to throw your attacker completely over your head, by bending forward sharply at the waist, so that his head comes down and forward whilst your legs and his are hurled upwards and over. It will help you considerably if you are able to clutch his coat near the neck or shoulders.
Remember when you fall that it will ease things if all your muscles are relaxed—never fall with any part of the body stiff, except the neck, which may be necessary to prevent the head from bumping, or the limbs which are being used in a jiu-jitsu breakfall movement.
The value of tripping an opponent is considerable, for the trip seeks to catch him off his balance and bring about a violent fall. This type of defence naturally leads into jiu-jitsu—a most fascinating hobby — but without going into that thoroughly you may acquire a few particularly useful tips that will be useful in self-defence.
There is no easier and more effective trip than the ankle throw. As your opponent comes forward at you, you give way, clutching the left lapel of his coat with your right hand and the back of his sleeve just behind his right elbow with your left. Then, just as he is about to put his right foot down in a normal step forward, you push your left foot inwards against the outer side of his right ankle. His right leg will slip across from under him just as his weight is coming over on to it, and if you give a sharp tug he will crash to the ground by the side of you.
An even easier back trip can be used very often in similar circumstances, when an attacker has approached you with one arm and one leg forward—an almost inevitable position. Supposing his right foot and right arm are nearer. You will seize his arm somewhat near the elbow with your left hand, and get your right hand up by his left shoulder. At the same time you must move slightly to the left. From this position you will now be able to pass your own right leg outside and round behind his right leg. If you then do a sharp backward kick with your right foot, you will knock his right foot forward clean off the ground. Simultaneously you must jerk him sideways by an outward tug of his right elbow with your left hand and a push on his left shoulder with your right hand—and he will inevitably crash on to his right side or his back.
The same trip can, of course, be performed from the other side—your left leg hooking behind the left. Throws of this sort need a great deal of practice if they are to be performed with the requisite assurance and speed. So much depends on catching your opponent just at the right instant. Try all these methods over very frequently, therefore, with a companion, until you are proficient. See that he has something soft to fall on!
Different tactics can sometimes be used against an assailant who has one arm up-raised to strike or stab. If you are able to seize his wrist with one or both hands, you may twist round so that your back is to him and so bring the arm down across your near shoulder. Providing the front of his wrist is turned upwards you may get a most painful pressure on his elbow which, supported by your shoulder, cannot bend against the direction of the joint. A violent jerk could quite easily break an arm held in this position, and it is certain that your attacker will not long hold his weapon when he discovers how much he is in your power.
Kicks.—Sometimes an attack may come from the feet instead of the hands; a ruffianly assailant may try to kick his victim. If you see the kick coming, and are far enough away, stretch out your nearest foot and try to receive it on the sole, aiming to catch his shin rather than his foot. With a stiff knee and the hard edge of a shoe sole you may make him regret that kick, for it may almost break his shin. Should his leg come high enough for you to clutch it will be easy to upset his balance by a strong body punch in almost any direction, but prefer-ably hit or push him from the right side if you have seized his left leg or vice versa.
Should it chance that you have seized his foot with both hands you may exert a very painful and effective pressure by twisting it violently—this will certainly bring him to the ground heavily, unless he is holding on to something with his hands.
When you have overcome an attacker and wish to take him along with you, how shall you do it? The most effective “come along with me” method is that in which you walk by his side with his near arm locked in such a position that you might even break his elbow if he compelled you to such extremes. Suppose you are on his right side, you will grip his right wrist with your right hand, so that his palm is facing forward. Your left arm will be passed over the front of his right arm so that your forearm is able to bend back underneath his elbow. Your left hand will then clutch your right wrist. In this position you are able to exert strain on his right elbow by pressing his wrist down with your right hand—you can adjust the painfulness of the pressure to the amount of trouble he gives you.
Frog-marching is familiar to most people, from school-days. By holding both arms of a person, and bending one or both up behind his back, you may cause him to bend forward and walk along helplessly at your direction.
It may be necessary to secure a criminal while you go for help. A chair is convenient if you have enough cord, for arms and legs may be fastened separately to strong spars. A quick, but effective method of service for a very short time — as for instance, whilst telephoning for police – is to is his thumbs together behind (Fig. 7.) his back—a shoe-lace will serve. Lay him face downward on the floor as you do it, and then drag one of his feet backward and hook it through under the tied thumbs. This method can be very painful to the prisoner if he struggles or is left too long, so use it with discretion. (See Fig. 5.)
Handcuffs. — If you wish to fasten a man’s hands behind his back see that they are in such a position that the fingers cannot get at the cord. The best plan is to fold the arms across the small of the back so that the forearms are lying against each other. The wrists can then be knotted together, and the hands will be spread in opposite directions, unable to reach each other or the cords.
Jiu-jitsu Holds.—There are a number of important jiu-jitsu holds. One of the most effective is the arm lock with foot on chest. Be cautious how you apply this, as you may quite easily injure your opponent. When your opponent is on his back grip his right arm, holding it upwards, with the palm of your hand passing over the front of his wrist. Stand at his side, by his shoulder, and place your right foot on his chest just at the right armpit. You will thus hold his right arm extended across your shin, and will be able to exert very severe and painful pressure on his elbow. For extra control you may grip his wrist with both hands; the important thing is to have his arm so turned that the back of the elbow is against your leg.
The Arm and Head Hold.—A similar method is used, but with the complication of a special head position. (Fig. 6.) Your opponent must be on his back as before, and you will kneel or crouch at his right side. Your right foot must be near his right hip, and your right knee passed up behind his armpit. You will thus be able to grip his right wrist with your left hand and hold his right arm fully extended over your right knee. Your right hand will be stretched across so that you are able to grip his chin, and by pushing on this you may force his head down so that it lies with the left cheek on the floor and cannot move. Your opponent will be exceedingly uncomfortable, so do not be too harsh, either with his head or his right arm.
Posted inAntagonistics|Comments Off on Self-Defence (The Universal Book of Hobbies and Handicrafts, 1935)
Originally published on the Bartitsu.org site on Thursday, 10th December 2015
Click on the image above to expand it.
Icelandic glima wrestler and showman Johannes Josefsson enjoyed great success touring throughout Europe and the United States during the early 20th century, including a stint with the Barnum and Bailey Circus. Josefsson’s performances included challenge matches and exhibitions of traditional glima belt-wrestling as well as theatrical self-defence demonstrations.
Posted inAntagonistics, Wrestling|Comments Off on “Learn ‘Glima’ And Protect Yourself Against Hold-Ups” (1923)
