Originally published on the Bartitsu.org site on Tuesday, 2nd January 2018
Having already addressed the umbrella combat of debonair super-spy John Steed in general terms, our attention now turns to some of the specifics, as delineated in The Avengers Annual of 1967. The following graphic tutorial probably accounted for a number of damaged umbrellas and wounded feelings between siblings and young friends.
John Steed’s Sword-Stick
The sword stick is essentially a light but surprisingly strong weapon which is used as an extension of the arm, a lever, or a locking stick. It enables the user to actually start his offensive before his opponent is within reach of him. It is silent, accurate and has great psychological advantages. While it can be lethal, it is mostly used to overpower without injury or to incapacitate an opponent. An important technique used with the stick is “tension”. When it is released at one end, the built-up energy causes it to go immediately into a movement almost too rapid for the eye to follow!It is also a fact that when the sheath is cast aside or thrown at the opponent, his eyes almost invariably follow it and provide a distraction of great advantage.
Steed grasps shoulder and pulls it towards him while thrusting his umbrella between arm and body. The action is confined to pulling shoulder towards him and thrusting umbrella away – note that the curved handle is held to trap the arm so that from a forward movement, it will hook over the wrist. Steed can now move swiftly behind his opponent and, if he wishes, force him face downwards to the ground.
In this the main action is a left hand movement in order to keep the right hand free for a strong grasp on the gun hand. The right hand holds the stick in tension against the left so that when it is drawn it whips around to a violent blow on the gun hand. Steed uses his right hand to twist the gun away and takes an offensive threatening posture with the sword.
From the ground Steed slides his stick between his adversary’s legs at knee level. It is held firmly with both hands and all the following twisting and rising action must be smooth and continuous. The first movement is to twist umbrella between the legs and rise to a sitting position, proceeding to twist and rise onto one knee. At this stage adversary begins to fall and Steed rises fully to the offensive position as opponent falls backwards.
As the assailant kicks out, Steed steps back and traps the heel with his stick. As the leg extends forward it is forced upwards. Steed rises as high as possible to throw his assailant backwards to the ground. He is then able to take up a threatening pose over floored opponent.
Originally published on the Bartitsu.org site on Tuesday, 2nd January 2018
Popular enough in its day but almost forgotten over the past four decades, the mystery/adventure TV series Adam Adamant Lives! was intended as the BBC’s answer to The Avengers. Both series featured dapper Edwardianesque gents teaming up with groovy young women to combat the outlandish masterminds of fantastically devious schemes.
Adam Adamant, however, distinguished himself from The Avengers’ John Steed in three essential ways. Firstly, he was not simply an Old Etonian spy with a taste for snappy suits, formal courtesies and umbrella fighting, but rather a genuine Victorian-era gentleman-adventurer. In the year 1902, Adamant had been placed in suspended animation by his arch-nemesis, a masked evil-doer known only as “the Face”. Accidentally rediscovered and revived in 1966, the hero resumes his crusade in the name of Queen and Country, assisted by his quickly-acquired manservant, Mr. Simms, and swinging chick Georgina “Georgie” Jones.
The second point of difference is that Adam Adamant, as a gentleman of the belle epoque, could not quite bring himself to believe that the women of the 1960s might be anything other than the virtuous objects of his manly protection. This gallant naiveté frequently resulted in his being duped by villainesses and then knocked cold.
Thirdly, at least when facing male opponents, Adamant exhibited the ruthlessness of his penny dreadful forebears to an extent that might have made even the steely John Steed blanch. While Steed would not hesitate to kill an enemy if required by dire circumstance, he preferred non-lethal options when possible. Adam Adamant, on the other hand, demonstrates a cold-blooded relish for the kill, whether impaling his opponents (typically with the sword concealed in his ever-present cane, occasionally with spears or javelins), hurling them to their doom from great heights as Holmes did to Moriarty, or just slitting their throats:
The fight scenes in Adam Adamant Lives! are typical of their vintage; low budgets led to fast-paced production schedules that seldom allowed time to properly rehearse action sequences, resulting in sometimes imaginative, often energetic, but frequently sloppy and (actually) dangerous fights. However, credit must be given to the fight arrangers who devised Adamant’s signature combat style, which is a Bartitsuesque combination of Queensberry Rules boxing, jiujitsu and fencing, with occasional use of the walking cane itself as a weapon.
Adamant’s formal, extended-guard unarmed stance is a fairly good approximation of late 19th century fisticuffs and he makes frequent and effective use of the classic left lead-off, rather than resorting to the modern jab. His jiujitsu – which must surely have been learned at the Bartitsu Club, given that he lived in central London and was placed in suspended animation the very same year that the Club folded – generally defaults to those techniques that can be learned quickly by a game but over-worked actor and then “sold” by agile stuntmen.
Adam Adamant Lives! lasted for two action-packed seasons but ultimately could not compete with The Avengers. It did, however, inspire the Austin Powers movie series, which updated the concept to feature an action man of the 1960s being cryogenically frozen and then revived during the late 1990s. Those who enjoy ’60s action-adventure with an Edwardian flair should also note that a number of Adam Adamant Lives! episodes are available on YouTube.
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 excused for bringing before his readers just one more, “The Magpie System,” which has been devised by a brainy professor, specially for ladies, in this respect filling a great and crying need.
To get to business; we will commence with railway assaults as these are the most common and the most dreaded. In the first place, dear ladies, you must never travel alone without a copy of the Magpie and a trusty life preserver, which latter can easily be concealed conveniently to hand, in the byways of your skirt. If you find yourself in a railway carriage, the only other occupant of which is one of those terrifying objects – a man – you will, after having reviewed in your mind all the crimes you can remember committed under similar circumstances, readily see that you are in a critical position and will prepare to act accordingly.
Wait till your natural enemy is buried in the latest phase of the fiscal problem, looking out of the window, or otherwise engaged, and then give him a tap over the “brayne panne” with the aforesaid weapon. One blow is usually sufficient, and all that remains is to throw the body through the window far into the night, or day as the case may be. Of course the man might have been as innocent and free from guilt as Mr. Balfour or E. T. Hooley, but that is a side issue and you cannot afford to take any risks in this strenuous life.
Let us take another view of the case. Suppose that by some means or other, you allow the man to get the best of the early exchanges, and find yourself apparently in his power, you must, whilst appearing to accede to the hooligan’s demands, stealthily disengage one of your hatpins, which are, I understand, like your troubles always with you, and plunge it into any tender spot which your assailant leaves exposed. A very slight knowledge of anatomy is of advantage here, as it will help you to decide where to strike, but it may be laid down as a safe rule, that if the pin sinks in the flesh to a depth of seven or eight inches without reaching bottom, you have, so to speak, touched the spot, and your man is at once placed hors de combat. You now recover your hat pin, adjust your toilet, and turn to the pages of this journal for further information.
We now come to the ordinary footpad, the common or garden form of Hooliganitus. Should you find yourself in a dirty street, commanded by a dirty Dick Turpin to “stand and deliver” you must use that sense of tact with which the gods have so liberally endowed your sex. Throw your bulging purse heavily on the pavement. The clink of the filthy lucre will generally cause Turpin to lose all caution, and as he stoops to pick up the spoils, you spring with all possible force on to his back. This will send him sprawling face downwards, and you can either sit on his head till the police arrive — which will be from one to twenty-four hours — or punish him yourself by seizing his ears and bumping his face in the gutter ad lib.
Sometimes, however the rascal is too wary to be had by the purse bait, and then a hand to hand struggle is inevitable. Close with him. Put your right arm somewhere around his neck, your left arm somehow around his waist, knock his feet from under him anyhow, and if you are as strong as Sandow you will be able to walk away victorious. But if, by some strange chance, you are bested, and find yourself on the ground with the man on top of you, then the hat pin trick is the correct thing.
Other tricks may be described briefly. Face your man squarely. Soozle round him a bit and then if you are able to reach so high, kick him in the wind. If you cannot soar to such heights, the shins of man are very sensitive and make a good substitute. Here again, a superficial acquaintance with the science of anatomy is most desirable.
An almost infallible method of self-protection.
Of all attacks whether in love or war, that which comes from the rear is acknowledged by every competent authority to be the most dangerous. We are pleased to be able to give a word of advice on this point. Whenever you find yourself in a difficult locality, WALK BACKWARDS. This will completely confound your enemy, as he cannot tell whether you are coming or going, and will effectually guard against an attack from behind. Those ladies who are skilled in the mysteries of the cake walk will find no difficulty in carrying out this part of our system, but we admit it has its disadvantages, (see sketch) and a little practice is highly recommended. For this purpose we cannot suggest a better place than Magpie Park during the dinner hour, and to that lady who proves herself most adapt we will award suitable recognition.
Everyone will agree that our methods are most effective and easily mastered, but should private lessons be desired, the editor will be pleased to send terms and particulars on receipt of stamped addressed envelope.
Originally published on the Bartitsu.org site on Saturday, 3rd February 2018
The article “L’Art de la Canne” originally appeared in the Revue Olympique of May, 1912. The anonymous author provides a rare technical description and some analysis of Pierre Vigny’s stick fighting system during the post-Bartitsu Club period, after Vigny had left England and returned to Geneva, Switzerland.
A translation of this article was published in the first volume of the Bartitsu Compendium (2005); the following revised and annotated translation offers some updated information and references.
The text begins:
It is all very well to learn how to use “noble”, but unusual weapons such as the sabre, the epee or the rifle; it is even better to superimpose upon this knowledge the management of the weapon that we hold most frequently in hand but of which, it must be admitted, few of us know anything in terms of effective use.
There does exist an art of the cane, but that cane recalls the gymnastic “horse” which is not constructed to resemble the animal in such a way as its exercise can be practically useful. The assaut (sparring) stick is a small, short, light wand, which is neither a baton nor a whip; a hybrid weapon for which no occasion will ever arise to use in earnest.
The author refers to the canne d’assaut, a slender, somewhat flexible stick for relatively safe fencing in the salle d’armes.
When you know how to use the assaut stick and you then pick up your walking stick – rigid, stronger, heavier and of a different length – you are in no way prepared to use your stick for your own defence. And so the opinion has been formed that the so-called walking stick is a worthless weapon.
Prof. Pierre Vigny, who taught at boxing clubs in London and at the military School of Aldershot and now runs a “Defensive Sports Academy” in Geneva, has demonstrated that (the canne d’assaut method) was nothing and that his own method, in addition to constituting an excellent system of gymnastics, leaves little to be desired in terms of practical application. Unfortunately, it is very difficult to explain (the Vigny method) other than by direct instruction. An illustrated manual might succeed in ways that cannot be claimed for a short article. So, we will confine ourselves to an attempt to indicate the characteristics of this method, whose expansion is to be desired.
The need to acquire a great flexibility of the wrist is just about the only similarity between this new fencing and the cane fencing that is taught elsewhere. The guard and strikes are very different. The guard is essentially a combat guard. The left arm is forward as if it were holding a shield; the right arm is raised back with the weapon overhead in, so to speak, a perpetual “back-swing”.
The French term here is prise d’elan, also implying a state of momentum poised before release, like a compressed spring. This guard is described by E.W. Barton-Wright as the Left Guard or Rear Guard, as demonstrated here by Pierre Vigny (on the right):
You are attacked; a brief retreat with a rapid change of guard and your cane falls mightily onto the hand or arm of the aggressor. You are almost mathematically certain to reach and damage it.
This is the Guard by Distance from the Rear Guard, as described by Barton-Wright and illustrated in Self Defence With A Walking-Stick:
After which, you advance upon him while quickly turning your wrist, thrusting the steel ferrule of the cane like a dagger into his eyes or beneath his nose. And here is a man … amazed!
The use of the ferrule end of the cane as a dagger thrust into the opponents face or throat was referred to by Barton-Wright and described by a number of practitioners and observers of the Vigny style circa 1900, most famously Captain F.C. Laing. Here Pierre Vigny himself demonstrates the technique against a belt-wielding hooligan:
The other strikes are usually whipped. Although M. Vigny calls some strikes “whipped” and others “wrapped” in order to distinguish them better, you must always get the whistling sound of a whip.
The term used here is enveloppé, which can be translated as “wrapped” or “folded”, but the technical implication is unclear. Speculatively, it’s possible that a “whipped” strike delivered a slashing or glancing impact whereas a “wrapped” or “folded” strike was a direct, percussive blow.
The little “riding crop” cane will whistle when swung without much effort. The rigid cane will not whistle unless you handle it with real vigour. Where does this force come from? From the shoulder and in the reins.
This word implies the lower part of the back; the muscular structure of the body on both sides of the spine between the lowest (false) ribs and the hipbones.
You must attain serious mobility of the reins and a wide range of movements of the arm, operated by the shoulder.
Unlike the fencing of the light assaut cannes, managing the momentum of the heavier, asymmetrically-weighted Vigny cane often, though not always, requires a whole-body engagement. The shift of weight from foot to foot that “powers” this type of action is transmitted into the cane via the legs, hips, back, shoulder and arm.
Of course, the teaching is given on the left as well as the right. The left will not be as strong as the right, but must be able to provide for it on occasion.
There are also bludgeoning strikes that require a special preparation. There is nothing like it in other styles of fencing.
Possibly a reference to the use of double-handed striking:
And the muscles, at first, do not want to accommodate. They contract incorrectly; the force is lost en route and the blow arrives low and as if cushioned. There must be, so to speak, an internal continuity between the cane and the arm that extends it. Without stiffness, but with a tensile force, the wrist must become like a knot in the wood. For this reason we hold the cane with a full grip, the thumb folded on the other fingers and not lengthened against the cane. This habit is difficult and somewhat painful to acquire. The palm wrinkles and blisters and the muscles register tension and pain, but this is the price of efficiency.
The Vigny method requires not only that the body is always well-balanced, but also that it sustains equilibrium in perpetual motion. In this, it is akin to Ju-jitsu. It has the disadvantage of not allowing the assaut between average amateurs (students); to truly spar in such a sport would be to expose oneself and one’s partner to the risk of severe injury. Therefore, one must stick to the prescribed lesson or engage in a mock combat with the professor. But does this not, in fact, commend it as an exercise of defence?
The Vigny style was, in fact, used in sparring bouts, at least during the Bartitsu Club era and afterwards at Vigny’s own academy in London; though ironically Pierre and Marguerite Vigny may have employed the canne d’assaut for that purpose, as shown in this photograph:
Originally published on the Bartitsu.org site on Tuesday, 6th February 2018
February 6, 2108 marks the centennial anniversary of (limited) women’s suffrage in the UK. As numerous cultural and media organisations mark the anniversary, here are some current and upcoming projects that focus particularly on “suffrajitsu” – the use of jiujitsu by radical suffagette Bodyguards, circa 1913-14.
The Good Fight
Chicago’s Babes With Blades Theatre Company is currently staging Anne Bertram’s play The Good Fight, which details the history and missions of the suffragette Bodyguard team. Women’s jiujitsu pioneer and Bodyguard trainer Edith Garrud appears as a character in the play.
Suffrajitsu by Horse + Bamboo Theatre
England’s Horse + Bamboo Theatre Company is currently developing Suffrajitsu, an original play celebrating the suffragette Bodyguard through puppetry, music and film. Aimed at young audiences, the play will begin touring the UK in Autumn 2018; you can learn more about, and support the project via this Crowdfunder site.
The Royal Armouries Museum in Leeds, England will be showcasing Edith Garrud’s suffrajitsu as part of the Warrior Women exhibition during mid-late February.
Kitty Marshall: Suffragette Bodyguard at the Museum of London
The Museum of London’s year-long Votes for Women exhibition includes a showcase for Katherine “Kitty” Marshall, who was an active member of Emmeline Pankhurst’s Bodyguard team. Marshall also wrote the memoir Suffragette Escapes and Adventures, which currently exists in manuscript form as part of the Museum’s suffragette collection.
Kitty and the Cats: Mrs. Pankhurst’s Suffragette Bodyguard and the London Police
Suffrajitsu martial arts lessons will be part of the UK National Trust’s Suffragette City, an immersive, interactive experience that will recreate the headquarters of the Women’s Social and Political Union circa 1913.
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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 bit curious in that kicks weren’t widely associated with jiujitsu at that time.
A street-fighting suffragette executes a kote gaeshi wristlock against a police constable.
Bodyguard trainer Edith Garrud demonstrates a kote gaeshi lock and takedown.
The suffragette Bodyguards were often armed with concealed Indian clubs.
Indian clubs are prominent in this photograph taken during a suffragettes vs. police brawl near Buckingham Palace, shortly before the outbreak of the First World War.
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Originally published on the Bartitsu.org site on Saturday, 10th February 2018
The following article describing a Bartitsu-like method of self-defence was first published in Pearson’s Weekly of January 26, 1911. The author’s name is given as Baron Albrecht von Knobelsdorff-Brenkenhoff, but archive searches have failed to bring up any further reference to that name, let alone in connection with teaching self-defence to the London police.
By Baron ALBRECHT VON KNOBELSDORFF-BRENKENHOFF, Who has been Appointed Official Instructor to the London City Police in Wrestling and Self-Defence.
When I was quite a boy my father, an officer himself, once remarked that I would never he a horseman. I made up my mind to prove the contrary, and when I was nineteen I joined a cavalry regiment, and during my ten years’ service in the German Army I became rather well known as a steeplechase rider.
A similar determination influenced me when I took up wrestling. At that time I was not very strong, and once I overheard Peter Gotz, the well-known wrestler, make the remark that I would never he a good wrestler. I determined to study not only wrestling, but also boxing and jiu-jitsu and the science of self-defence generally, and I planned a course of work and exercise to that end. I made such good progress that I was soon able to begin teaching my system to others, and it is this system of self-defence—a combination of wrestling, boxing, and jiu-jitsu—that I am teaching to the police in London.
One Policeman to Six Ruffians
Perhaps I might recall my first contact with the Metropolitan Police.
Some years ago I was over here on business, and one night I found myself in the neighbourhood of Spa Road, Bermondsey. As I turned a corner I came suddenly upon a struggling group; a policeman trying to beat off the attack of six men.
How the trouble had arisen, I do not know; probably the policeman had been arresting one of the men, and his friends had attempted to rescue him, and when I arrived on the scene things were looking very bad for the unfortunate constable. The men had knocked his truncheon out of his hand, and were pressing him so hard that he had no opportunity of blowing his whistle for assistance.
Whatever the rights or wrongs of the matter, six to one seemed to be unfair, so I took a hand in the matter myself. I succeeded in restoring his truncheon to the constable, and after a few minutes’ active “self-defence” we had half-a-dozen surprised and rather dazed ruffians spread out in the street. Other assistance arrived soon, and as I did not wish to be called as a witness I slipped away.
My system of resisting and overcoming attack is, to a certain extent, based on boxing and wrestling, but these two forms of exercise depend so much on the height and weight of a man that a short, light man has little or no chance in the ordinary way against a heavy opponent. It is obvious, then, that something more is needed than the mere ability to strike hard.
Swiftness is Everything
A straight, powerful blow with the left fist is an excellent thing, but often it is easier and quicker to put an adversary on his back by some swift, unexpected grip that at once disarms him and puts him at your mercy. This may seem difficult, but it can be done, and my policeman pupils are making excellent progress.
No great expenditure of strength is necessary. In fact, one of my first troubles in training a man is to get him not to exercise his utmost strength as he is usually inclined to do. The whole thing can be learned very easily if one makes up one’s mind to discard strength for swiftness. The blows of a man who trusts to his strength and weight are almost certain to be too slow in a fight against a swift, agile adversary, as shown many times in “the ring.”
Here are one or two hints on self-defence. If you are attacked by a taller man, get down instantly and grasp his legs. Then you can either jerk his legs towards you and throw him on his back, or lift him straight up and throw him over your head. If you are attacked by a smaller man, get hold of him and pull him up so that he has no chance to get hold of your legs.
When thrown on the ground, never let your feet get out of contact with the other man’s feet and legs. In this position even a light man can throw a heavy man. Leverage, not weight, counts here, and if the standing man should resit he runs the risk of getting his leg broken.
In all cases let your opponent get a firm hold. This may sound strange advice, but you will find that you have a bettor chance then to throw him because he cannot break away quickly enough, and is mostly at your mercy.
A Lesson from Houndsditch
My pupils in the Metropolitan Police are all powerful men, but, as has unfortunately been proved lately, something more than strength and weight are required if policemen are to carry out their duties with any degree of safety in the rougher quarters of the East End of London.
By an extraordinary coincidence, on the night of the recent Houndsditch murders I happened to be at the police gymnasium, and my pupils were discussing how a man could defend himself against another with a revolver. One of them asked me: ” Supposing I were going to shoot you at fairly close quarters, what would you do?”
“Fall down at once,” I replied, “as though dead.” He laughed, and raising his arm, pretended to fire at me. But before he had got his aim I was down on the floor; then, in a flash, I twisted round, seized his ankles, and tipped him over. He was prostrate on the floor with myself on top of him before he knew what was happening.
I would strongly advise the authorities to arm the police with revolvers–and the sooner the better –if it is only to frighten those dastardly scoundrels who will never dare to fight an even match.
Originally published on the Bartitsu.org site on Wednesday, 21st February 2018
The Comedy Channel’s hit series Drunk History, in which interesting past events are related by inebriated comedians, has followed in the footsteps of the UK version of the show by featuring the jujitsuffragettes of the Edwardian English women’s rights movement. “Civil Rights” was the title and theme of Drunk History’s episode 5, season 5 show, which screened in the US on Feb. 20, 2018.
The suffrajitsu segment is narrated by Kirby Howell-Baptiste and stars Tatiana Maslany as Emmeline Pankhurst, who is introduced leading the ill-fated “raid on Parliament” on November 10, 1910. This raid was the fourteenth attempt by the Women’s Social and Political Union to present a petition to Parliament and developed into a near riot in which many protestors complained of police brutality; the event later became known as “Black Friday”.
The Drunk History episode exerts some dramatic licence in stating that Mrs. Pankhurst’s sister was killed during the protest. In reality, she died about a month later (possibly as the result of an accident while she was being force-fed in prison).
Actress Maria Blasucci plays martial arts instructor Edith Garrud and several scenes are set in her opulent dojo, where she is shown training the new suffragette Bodyguard team in the womanly art of jiujitsu. Gert Harding, played by Kat Dennings, is portrayed as Mrs. Garrud’s star pupil; in reality, Harding did study martial arts with Garrud and also led the Bodyguard team.
The show also offers fairly accurate representations of two key WSPU rallies in which the Bodyguard clashed with the police. The Campden Hill (Camden) rally, which was also portrayed in the Drunk History UK episode on the same theme as well as the 2015 feature film Suffragette, shows how the Bodyguard tricked the police into arresting a body double while the real Mrs. Pankhurst made her escape.
The second re-enactment is of the famous “Battle of Glasgow”, when the Bodyguard openly confronted and fought with the police on the stage of St. Andrew’s Hall, in front of some 4500 shocked witnesses. Although the show implies that this event turned the tide of the radical suffrage movement and led directly to the enfranchisement of women, the real history is (of course) vastly more complicated.
In reality, the First World War broke out shortly after the Glasgow brawl, at which point Mrs. Pankhurst suspended all militant suffrage activities and supported the government throughout the crisis, especially by organising and encouraging women to “do men’s work” while their husbands, sons and brothers were fighting overseas. It’s generally conceded that the suspension of WSPU militancy, in combination with the work done by women during wartime, tipped the balance in favour of “votes for women” as the conflict drew to a close.
The “Civil Rights” episode of Drunk History also includes interesting segments on the Birmingham Children’s March and the disability rights activists who organized America’s longest sit-in of a federal building. Note that the dialogue does include some swearing and mildly raunchy slang and so may not be safe for work.
If you enjoy Drunk History’s take on the suffragette Bodyguard story, keep an eye out for the upcoming full-length documentary No Man Shall Protect Us, which will cover the same subject in much greater depth, albeit with much less drunken hilarity, and check out the graphic novel Suffrajitsu: Mrs. Pankhurst’s Amazons, written by Bartitsu instructor Tony Wolf.
Originally published on the Bartitsu.org site on Tuesday, 27th February 2018
Although we don’t have a full catalogue of the atemi (striking and nerve pressure techniques) practiced at the Bartitsu Club circa 1901, analysis of the writings of E.W. Barton-Wright and his associates reveals a preponderance of attacks targetting the opponent’s face and throat. The trachea (or “tonsil”) appears as a pressure target in three of the fifteen atemi methods represented in Barton-Wright’s “New Art of Self-Defence” articles (1899). Journalists and other observers frequently (and somewhat alarmedly) referred to these methods of unarmed Bartitsu as “fiendish science” and “foul play”.
While throat attacks were, indeed, counted as fouls in European wrestling styles, Japanese jiujitsu was concerned with practical self-defence rather than manly sport. As Barton-Wright himself had pragmatically noted,”no method was too severe” to be applied in defence of one’s own life.
With your left hand firmly grasp his right wrist. Then seize his throat with your right hand, forcing your thumb into his tonsil. This will cause intense pain, and he will bend his head and body backwards in order to avoid it. In this position he is standing off his balance and you take this opportunity of placing your right foot behind his right knee, and then proceeding to throw him as before.
In this video, nightclub bouncer and bodyguard Scott Pilkington demonstrates the direct stopping power of a trachea hold:
