New Bartitsu documentary trailer
- Thread starter Devon
- Start date
That's neat, thank you! I had known that Bartitsu was the martial art referred to in the Holmes novels as 'Baritsu', and a little about the originator of the art, but this is quite nice and I look forward to the documentary.
Here are some articles from the time period which I found on Google Books (public domain):
http://tiny.cc/dTyfe
http://tiny.cc/BVzU2
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Well spotted, thanks!
If you're interested, we have a number of essays, etc. online at www.bartitsu.org . There's quite a lot of Bartitsu activity at the moment in the wake of the new Holmes movie.
If you're interested, we have a number of essays, etc. online at www.bartitsu.org . There's quite a lot of Bartitsu activity at the moment in the wake of the new Holmes movie.
There are a couple of Bartitsu articles one can review and down load. Three of us here go to classes in the American Cane System and I recall my friend had found and printed them about a month ago.
You can also google "Walking Stick Self Defense" and find a book which can be read apparently in its entirety and down loaded. It is "The Walking Stick Method of Self Defense" by Superintendent H.G. Lang. He was an English officer in the Indian Police, seems to have written this in the 1920's. One can also find a review and summary by Craig Gemeiner.
You can also google "Walking Stick Self Defense" and find a book which can be read apparently in its entirety and down loaded. It is "The Walking Stick Method of Self Defense" by Superintendent H.G. Lang. He was an English officer in the Indian Police, seems to have written this in the 1920's. One can also find a review and summary by Craig Gemeiner.
Thanks.
Lang's 1923 book evidently represents a development of the Vigny system of walking stick defence, which is the style Barton-Wright incorporated into Bartitsu back in 1900. Oddly, Lang kind of glossed over the Vigny influence in his introduction - he misspelled the surname as "Vigui", said that he was French (Vigny was actually Swiss) and mentioned that "little is heard of (Vigny) today". Lang also referred to a Caribbean stick fighting system called bois as having influenced his own method. We don't know exactly how Lang came to learn the art.
It gets confusing when we note that the author of the first GoogleBooks article Bill linked to was named "F.C. Laing" - note the different initials and spelling. Laing was a British soldier serving in India, who had trained in jujitsu and Vigny stick fighting at the Bartitsu Club while on leave in London. Again, we don't know whether there was any connection between Captain F.C. Laing and Superintendant H.G. Lang, but if not, it's kind of an amazing co-incidence.
Lang's 1923 book evidently represents a development of the Vigny system of walking stick defence, which is the style Barton-Wright incorporated into Bartitsu back in 1900. Oddly, Lang kind of glossed over the Vigny influence in his introduction - he misspelled the surname as "Vigui", said that he was French (Vigny was actually Swiss) and mentioned that "little is heard of (Vigny) today". Lang also referred to a Caribbean stick fighting system called bois as having influenced his own method. We don't know exactly how Lang came to learn the art.
It gets confusing when we note that the author of the first GoogleBooks article Bill linked to was named "F.C. Laing" - note the different initials and spelling. Laing was a British soldier serving in India, who had trained in jujitsu and Vigny stick fighting at the Bartitsu Club while on leave in London. Again, we don't know whether there was any connection between Captain F.C. Laing and Superintendant H.G. Lang, but if not, it's kind of an amazing co-incidence.
It is excellent to have somebody on the Board that knows the history of these various associated arts. Whether its a Chinese art or Western ones, ancestry always seems murky.
Do you have any idea how popular these arts may have been in Europe and the USA? It would seem their prime would have been 1890's through 1920's, and I wonder how many adherents they had then. Were they in eclipse for some decades when walking sticks/canes went out of fashion?
Do you have any idea how popular these arts may have been in Europe and the USA? It would seem their prime would have been 1890's through 1920's, and I wonder how many adherents they had then. Were they in eclipse for some decades when walking sticks/canes went out of fashion?
Bartitsu itself got quite a lot of media attention, but Barton-Wright's club in London was only open for a few years (late 1899-1902) and as far as we know, Bartitsu essentially died out after the club closed down. Some members and former instructors continued to teach a combination of Japanese, French/Swiss and English styles, but not under the Bartitsu name.
Back around 1900, self defense systems and combat sports were sometimes known as "antagonistics". Cane fighting was much more popular in France than in England or the USA, although at least one American, A.C. Cunningham, developed his own system of cane defense in the early 1900s. The idea of training in antagonistics specifically for self defense (as opposed to, say, boxing mostly for sport and exercise) was quite novel in 1900.
In general, I'd say that whereas boxing and wrestling (and fencing, to a lesser degree) were popular in the US and UK, it was quite unusual to actively combine the two into a self defense method. There were some attempts to "officially" introduce savate to the US as early as the 1880s, but nothing much came of it.
That started to change during WW1, which was (more-or-less) the origin of what they called "all-in fighting", a Bartitsu-like blend of boxing, wrestling, savate, jujitsu and general steet fighting. However, while that had a big influence on the way soldiers received basic training, the idea of civilians practicing that type of skill recreationally was still quite a long way in the future.
I believe that there were one or two manuals specifically on cane defense published in the 1930s, but that's as late as I can think of; I agree that, as the habit of carrying canes fell completely out of fashion, self defense instructors moved on to concentrate on other things.
Back around 1900, self defense systems and combat sports were sometimes known as "antagonistics". Cane fighting was much more popular in France than in England or the USA, although at least one American, A.C. Cunningham, developed his own system of cane defense in the early 1900s. The idea of training in antagonistics specifically for self defense (as opposed to, say, boxing mostly for sport and exercise) was quite novel in 1900.
In general, I'd say that whereas boxing and wrestling (and fencing, to a lesser degree) were popular in the US and UK, it was quite unusual to actively combine the two into a self defense method. There were some attempts to "officially" introduce savate to the US as early as the 1880s, but nothing much came of it.
That started to change during WW1, which was (more-or-less) the origin of what they called "all-in fighting", a Bartitsu-like blend of boxing, wrestling, savate, jujitsu and general steet fighting. However, while that had a big influence on the way soldiers received basic training, the idea of civilians practicing that type of skill recreationally was still quite a long way in the future.
I believe that there were one or two manuals specifically on cane defense published in the 1930s, but that's as late as I can think of; I agree that, as the habit of carrying canes fell completely out of fashion, self defense instructors moved on to concentrate on other things.
This comes from 'Punch', the British humor magazine, with regard to Bartitsu...
http://tiny.cc/oHbGa
Punch, Volume 110. 1899.
FOREWARNED; FOREARMED !
Or, The New Art of Self-Defence.
It was in the dead of night, and I awoke to hear stealthy movements below, and to smell the fragrance of an excellent cigar one of my own. I instantly realised that there was a burglar in the house, and remembered that I was the only male inmate, but it never occurred to me for a moment to lock my door and hide under the bed-clothes. On the contrary, I welcomed an encounter in which I knew that all the odds would be on my side. So, just is I was, in my pyjamas, without a poker or anything, I slipped down to my study (where the smell of cigars seemed to come from), and walked in. There was the burglar, just mixing himself a second whisky and soda. He was rather a bigger burglar than I had expected but that was immaterial to me. A selection from my plate-basket lay ready for packing on the table by his side.
"I fear," I began, with withering sarcasm, "I am interrupting."
"If I was you," he replied, with perfect composure, "I should be more afeared o' ketching cold in them things."
"Never mind that," I replied. "I come for a purpose. I think it is only fair to warn you at once that you are practically a lost man."
"None o' that, guv'nor!" he said, and sprang to his feet. "No whistling fur no cops, or else - !"
"I shall not summon any police," I said, with a quiet consciousness of power." I shall deal with you single-handed!"
"Will yer, now?" he replied, looking me up and down. "Lor! Fancy that!"
"You are probably thinking," I said, divining his thoughts at once. "that I don't appear a very formidable antagonist?"
"Well," he said, "yer don't look no bloomin' Sandow, and that's a fact. Still, yer may be a reglar little lion, like, when yer aroused. Or agin, yer mayn't. There's no tell'n!"
"Before we put it to the test," said I, "I feel bound to mention that I am the master of a new system of self-defence which places you entirely at my mercy. You may spare yourself considerable pain, and even a broken pone or two (for I shall not hesitate to go to any extremes) if you yield at once."
"Let's see what you can do fust," he said.
"You shall," I replied. "I will begin by showing you a method of conducting 'an undesirable person' (for Ï must say I consider you a most undesirable person) out of a room. I shall take you into the drawing-room, where we shall have more room for experiments.
With these words, I suddenly seized him, to his unfeigned surprise, by the left wrist with my left hand, and pulled him towards me; then, turning sharply on my heels, I locked his arm in mine by a simple but effective manoeuvre, and marched him, unresisting, into the passage. "You see," I remarked, pleasantly (for there was no use in losing my temper with the poor devil), "I'm putting a strain on your joints which they are, anatomically and mechanically, unable to resist. If you struggled, I could easily break your elbow."
"I thought you was goin' to take me into the drawing-room?" was all he said. "Upstairs we're goin'."
I had already noticed it. "The principle's the same," I said. "You've had to leave the room, anyhow."
"Right," he said, "but we don't want to go wakin' up people with these 'ere parlour games o' your'n. Let's go back, en?"
And somehow, whether by the unconscious influence of my will or from other causes, I did find myself back in the study shortly afterwards." I think I forgot one of the directions," I said. "I altered the position of my legs I ought not to have done that."
"Ah," he said, "I thought yer left sumthimk out. D'yer know any more little tricks like that?"
I remembered a rather neat way of "overthrowing an assailant who attempts to strike you in the face." " Yes," I said, "just try to hit me in the facedon't be afraid."
"I don't want to 'urt yer," he said.
"Do as I tell you," I said, imperiously. He struck out not a very formidable blow and I guarded with my left, so as to receive the blow on my forearm (which I did, quite correctly).
"Now observe what follows," I said, smiling. "I slip my hand, with a quick, clean movement, up your arm, grasp you by the wrist, and - "
"And what?" he asked.
I was obliged to admit that perhaps I had not made sufficiently sure to "grasp my adversary at the first attempt." "However," I added, "you see the general idea of the thing."
He said he saw that, and thought it first-rate. "Now," said I, "I'11 show you another little dodge. Just catch me from behind and pinion my arms."
"Like this 'ere?" he said. He was holding me rather too tight, but I said it would do very well.
"I'11 tell you exactly what I propose to do," I explained. "I shall bend my knees first, which will cause your hold to slip over my shoulders. I shall next free my arms, a movement which, according to my instructions, I shall probably have no difficulty in executing, drop on my right knee, pull you over my shoulder, and deposit you on the ground before me with a heavy thud - Now!" ....
There was a heavy thudbut he didn't make it. I don't know when I have been more surprised.
"It's very singular," I could not help saying, "but by all the rules, I ought to be on top of you!"
"Ah," he said, philosophically, as he sat on my chest, "things will 'appen rum sometimes. Like to try it agin?"
"No, not that one," said I; "but there's rather a pretty trick I could teach you, if you'll let me get up."
"Allays willing to learn, guv'nor," said the Burglar, and assisted me to rise.
"Turn your back to me," I told him, "and let me seize you by the collar. You will find that, without any exertion of strength on my part, I can throw you. I'11 tell you how I do it afterwards."
He obeyed, and I placed one foot just behind his knee, and pressed and pulled simultaneously, which should have deposited him instantly on his back. But either I pressed harder than I pulled, or pulled harder than I pressed all I know is that I presently found myself turning some kind of somersault over his head.
"You fell very clever that time," said the Burglar, gravely. A coarser nature might have been tempted to smile; but, criminal as he was, the man was not without natural good-breeding. "'Ow d'yer manage to do it without 'urting yourself?"
As a matter of fact I had not managed to do so. I doubt if it would have been possible; but I said carelessly that it was just a knack. "But that's nothing," I added. "I must show you one more dodge: you lie down on the floor and let me get hold of your foot, and see what happens."
What ought to have happened was that I should, by twisting his foot, have turned him over on his face, then held him behind the knee, and exerted leverage so as to force his foot backwards which would have rendered him utterly powerless. What actually did happen was that he kicked me rather severely in the stomach. "Why, you ain't done!" said the Burglar, "Lord! I'm just beginnin' to enjoy myself, I am!"
But I was getting a little discouraged. "No," I said, "we won't play any more, I think. To tell you the truth, I've been rather taken in by some articles in one of the magazines by a man called Barton-Wright. He calls his precious art of self-defence 'Bartitsu' - I call it confounded rot!"
"It ain't rot," said the Burglar, "it's all right enough, that is!" "It can't be," I said, "if it had been, you wouldn t have had a chance against me!"
"You done very well for a beginner," he said, kindly, "and you're game enough. But, yer see, I've bin readin' up them roles too, and practisin' of them wiv a pal, so it 's no bloomin' wonder."
I wrung his hand warmly I couldn't help it, so touched was I by the chivalrous delicacy with which he at once restored my self respect and my belief in Mr. Barton-Wright.
"Thank you," I said, "you're a good fellow for telling me. I could not understand why I wasn't more successful!"
"Don't you fret, guv'nor!" he said. "If ever I seen a morril vict'ry in this world, it was you won it. And now I won't keep you up no longer. Don't come to the door in them pijammers. I can let myself out."
I was so pleased with the honest fellow that I actually reminded him he was forgetting the plate, and he was so pleased with me that he positively declined to carry off anything out a spoon and fork as a souvenir.
It is true he chose the only two which had a hall-mark; but I do not grudge them to him. For now I know that I really can rely on Mr. Barton-Wright's system in any emergencies of this kind. And that, to a man like myself, of small stature and no particular physique, is such an inexpressible comfort.
http://tiny.cc/oHbGa
Punch, Volume 110. 1899.
FOREWARNED; FOREARMED !
Or, The New Art of Self-Defence.
It was in the dead of night, and I awoke to hear stealthy movements below, and to smell the fragrance of an excellent cigar one of my own. I instantly realised that there was a burglar in the house, and remembered that I was the only male inmate, but it never occurred to me for a moment to lock my door and hide under the bed-clothes. On the contrary, I welcomed an encounter in which I knew that all the odds would be on my side. So, just is I was, in my pyjamas, without a poker or anything, I slipped down to my study (where the smell of cigars seemed to come from), and walked in. There was the burglar, just mixing himself a second whisky and soda. He was rather a bigger burglar than I had expected but that was immaterial to me. A selection from my plate-basket lay ready for packing on the table by his side.
"I fear," I began, with withering sarcasm, "I am interrupting."
"If I was you," he replied, with perfect composure, "I should be more afeared o' ketching cold in them things."
"Never mind that," I replied. "I come for a purpose. I think it is only fair to warn you at once that you are practically a lost man."
"None o' that, guv'nor!" he said, and sprang to his feet. "No whistling fur no cops, or else - !"
"I shall not summon any police," I said, with a quiet consciousness of power." I shall deal with you single-handed!"
"Will yer, now?" he replied, looking me up and down. "Lor! Fancy that!"
"You are probably thinking," I said, divining his thoughts at once. "that I don't appear a very formidable antagonist?"
"Well," he said, "yer don't look no bloomin' Sandow, and that's a fact. Still, yer may be a reglar little lion, like, when yer aroused. Or agin, yer mayn't. There's no tell'n!"
"Before we put it to the test," said I, "I feel bound to mention that I am the master of a new system of self-defence which places you entirely at my mercy. You may spare yourself considerable pain, and even a broken pone or two (for I shall not hesitate to go to any extremes) if you yield at once."
"Let's see what you can do fust," he said.
"You shall," I replied. "I will begin by showing you a method of conducting 'an undesirable person' (for Ï must say I consider you a most undesirable person) out of a room. I shall take you into the drawing-room, where we shall have more room for experiments.
With these words, I suddenly seized him, to his unfeigned surprise, by the left wrist with my left hand, and pulled him towards me; then, turning sharply on my heels, I locked his arm in mine by a simple but effective manoeuvre, and marched him, unresisting, into the passage. "You see," I remarked, pleasantly (for there was no use in losing my temper with the poor devil), "I'm putting a strain on your joints which they are, anatomically and mechanically, unable to resist. If you struggled, I could easily break your elbow."
"I thought you was goin' to take me into the drawing-room?" was all he said. "Upstairs we're goin'."
I had already noticed it. "The principle's the same," I said. "You've had to leave the room, anyhow."
"Right," he said, "but we don't want to go wakin' up people with these 'ere parlour games o' your'n. Let's go back, en?"
And somehow, whether by the unconscious influence of my will or from other causes, I did find myself back in the study shortly afterwards." I think I forgot one of the directions," I said. "I altered the position of my legs I ought not to have done that."
"Ah," he said, "I thought yer left sumthimk out. D'yer know any more little tricks like that?"
I remembered a rather neat way of "overthrowing an assailant who attempts to strike you in the face." " Yes," I said, "just try to hit me in the facedon't be afraid."
"I don't want to 'urt yer," he said.
"Do as I tell you," I said, imperiously. He struck out not a very formidable blow and I guarded with my left, so as to receive the blow on my forearm (which I did, quite correctly).
"Now observe what follows," I said, smiling. "I slip my hand, with a quick, clean movement, up your arm, grasp you by the wrist, and - "
"And what?" he asked.
I was obliged to admit that perhaps I had not made sufficiently sure to "grasp my adversary at the first attempt." "However," I added, "you see the general idea of the thing."
He said he saw that, and thought it first-rate. "Now," said I, "I'11 show you another little dodge. Just catch me from behind and pinion my arms."
"Like this 'ere?" he said. He was holding me rather too tight, but I said it would do very well.
"I'11 tell you exactly what I propose to do," I explained. "I shall bend my knees first, which will cause your hold to slip over my shoulders. I shall next free my arms, a movement which, according to my instructions, I shall probably have no difficulty in executing, drop on my right knee, pull you over my shoulder, and deposit you on the ground before me with a heavy thud - Now!" ....
There was a heavy thudbut he didn't make it. I don't know when I have been more surprised.
"It's very singular," I could not help saying, "but by all the rules, I ought to be on top of you!"
"Ah," he said, philosophically, as he sat on my chest, "things will 'appen rum sometimes. Like to try it agin?"
"No, not that one," said I; "but there's rather a pretty trick I could teach you, if you'll let me get up."
"Allays willing to learn, guv'nor," said the Burglar, and assisted me to rise.
"Turn your back to me," I told him, "and let me seize you by the collar. You will find that, without any exertion of strength on my part, I can throw you. I'11 tell you how I do it afterwards."
He obeyed, and I placed one foot just behind his knee, and pressed and pulled simultaneously, which should have deposited him instantly on his back. But either I pressed harder than I pulled, or pulled harder than I pressed all I know is that I presently found myself turning some kind of somersault over his head.
"You fell very clever that time," said the Burglar, gravely. A coarser nature might have been tempted to smile; but, criminal as he was, the man was not without natural good-breeding. "'Ow d'yer manage to do it without 'urting yourself?"
As a matter of fact I had not managed to do so. I doubt if it would have been possible; but I said carelessly that it was just a knack. "But that's nothing," I added. "I must show you one more dodge: you lie down on the floor and let me get hold of your foot, and see what happens."
What ought to have happened was that I should, by twisting his foot, have turned him over on his face, then held him behind the knee, and exerted leverage so as to force his foot backwards which would have rendered him utterly powerless. What actually did happen was that he kicked me rather severely in the stomach. "Why, you ain't done!" said the Burglar, "Lord! I'm just beginnin' to enjoy myself, I am!"
But I was getting a little discouraged. "No," I said, "we won't play any more, I think. To tell you the truth, I've been rather taken in by some articles in one of the magazines by a man called Barton-Wright. He calls his precious art of self-defence 'Bartitsu' - I call it confounded rot!"
"It ain't rot," said the Burglar, "it's all right enough, that is!" "It can't be," I said, "if it had been, you wouldn t have had a chance against me!"
"You done very well for a beginner," he said, kindly, "and you're game enough. But, yer see, I've bin readin' up them roles too, and practisin' of them wiv a pal, so it 's no bloomin' wonder."
I wrung his hand warmly I couldn't help it, so touched was I by the chivalrous delicacy with which he at once restored my self respect and my belief in Mr. Barton-Wright.
"Thank you," I said, "you're a good fellow for telling me. I could not understand why I wasn't more successful!"
"Don't you fret, guv'nor!" he said. "If ever I seen a morril vict'ry in this world, it was you won it. And now I won't keep you up no longer. Don't come to the door in them pijammers. I can let myself out."
I was so pleased with the honest fellow that I actually reminded him he was forgetting the plate, and he was so pleased with me that he positively declined to carry off anything out a spoon and fork as a souvenir.
It is true he chose the only two which had a hall-mark; but I do not grudge them to him. For now I know that I really can rely on Mr. Barton-Wright's system in any emergencies of this kind. And that, to a man like myself, of small stature and no particular physique, is such an inexpressible comfort.
Devon - Given the fine history you provide, I would predict that the cane/stick arts will be much more popular in the near future than they were in the classic era.
Movies like Sherlock Holmes may popularize the arts, but it won't bring in the serious students. Living conditions in the early 21st century will do that. I think you see more aging baby boomers using canes even now...many of them will have been active and even martial artists, they won't relish a quick transition to helpless victim and they'll know the streets are not getting any safer. Some will have used sticks as weapons in prior MAs. You may see gun control, but nobody questions a gentleman's cane or walking stick.
My doctor told me to get more active, and I'd had some foot injuries in the past. When the American Cane system offered a good work out plus use of a cane for self defense, I jumped at the chance.
All people need is the opportunity - the need already exists. I'd expect Bartitsu to enjoy a resurrection and thrive like never before.
Movies like Sherlock Holmes may popularize the arts, but it won't bring in the serious students. Living conditions in the early 21st century will do that. I think you see more aging baby boomers using canes even now...many of them will have been active and even martial artists, they won't relish a quick transition to helpless victim and they'll know the streets are not getting any safer. Some will have used sticks as weapons in prior MAs. You may see gun control, but nobody questions a gentleman's cane or walking stick.
My doctor told me to get more active, and I'd had some foot injuries in the past. When the American Cane system offered a good work out plus use of a cane for self defense, I jumped at the chance.
All people need is the opportunity - the need already exists. I'd expect Bartitsu to enjoy a resurrection and thrive like never before.
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That essay's a classic. Despite the "happy ending", it's re-printed in the second volume of the Bartitsu Compendium to illustrate the dangers of trying to learn a martial art from a book.
Maybe so, though I think that will require cane defense systems that can be customized to match individual disabilities. Bartitsu was never especially intended to be used by people who actually needed a cane to support themselves in walking; in 1900, a cane was a fashionable accessory. Some researchers believe it represented a "transitional phase" between men wearing swords, to going largely unarmed.
Personally, I quite often carry a cane; I don't have any medical need for it, but it comes in handy sometimes and I'd rather have a cane than nothing at all if I do need to defend myself.
Still, that's the beauty of "neo-Bartitsu"; it can change and adapt, as long as the adaptations are realistically tested.
Devon,
You might find this interesting:
http://budo2008.nifs-k.ac.jp/pdf/callan_e.pdf
Also, I read something which said that Doyle's use of the term 'Baritsu' was prior to the first use of the term 'Bartitsu' and therefore may not have been based on Bartitsu at all, despite the similarity in names. One author believes that 'Baritsu' may have been derived from the word 'wajutsu'.
http://library.nittai.ac.jp/lib/ht/..\docs\kiyou\nittai\19-1-51-55.pdf
Interesting, eh?
You might find this interesting:
http://budo2008.nifs-k.ac.jp/pdf/callan_e.pdf
Also, I read something which said that Doyle's use of the term 'Baritsu' was prior to the first use of the term 'Bartitsu' and therefore may not have been based on Bartitsu at all, despite the similarity in names. One author believes that 'Baritsu' may have been derived from the word 'wajutsu'.
http://library.nittai.ac.jp/lib/ht/..\docs\kiyou\nittai\19-1-51-55.pdf
Interesting, eh?
Hi Bill,
I'm afraid that I don't read Japanese, but going by the abstract at the beginning, I'd say that the author is either:
a) "playing the great game" of pretending that Sherlock Homes was a real historical figure, and then imaginatively explaining away discrepancies in the Holmes stories (such as the anachronism of referring to baritsu in a story set in 1893, when Bartitsu was founded in 1899)
b) simply mistaken as to when Doyle first used the word "baritsu"
or
c) privy to some obscure historical information that's eluded the Bartitsu Society for eight years, in which case we really need to get the article translated!
I think that a) is most likely, simply in that Doyle is known to have been pretty careless about this sort of detail. More significantly, I'd rate the chances of his being vaguely aware of Bartitsu in 1902, coming in at the tail end of that art's popularity, as being far higher than an awareness of wajutsu.
I'm afraid that I don't read Japanese, but going by the abstract at the beginning, I'd say that the author is either:
a) "playing the great game" of pretending that Sherlock Homes was a real historical figure, and then imaginatively explaining away discrepancies in the Holmes stories (such as the anachronism of referring to baritsu in a story set in 1893, when Bartitsu was founded in 1899)
b) simply mistaken as to when Doyle first used the word "baritsu"
or
c) privy to some obscure historical information that's eluded the Bartitsu Society for eight years, in which case we really need to get the article translated!
I think that a) is most likely, simply in that Doyle is known to have been pretty careless about this sort of detail. More significantly, I'd rate the chances of his being vaguely aware of Bartitsu in 1902, coming in at the tail end of that art's popularity, as being far higher than an awareness of wajutsu.
Given the decades long dormancy of Bartitsu, I would imagine trying to revive the art from the writings left over was an enormous challenge for your society. There certainly weren't DVDs and I doubt there was a live instructor to mentor... how have you managed?
You are absolutely correct that cane techniques need to take into account individual abilities..... and I would note sometimes, those of the attacker. I had GM Shuey himself tell me at a seminar that the technique we were practicing would not work on a much larger opponent. he said one always had to be aware of this and have alternatives.
I have seen at least 2 of the techniques they taught fail to work well on a much larger person - and in each case the instructor would work through it with us and suggest alternatives. Each alternative turned out to be both simple and effective.... realistic testing, as you note, is imperative.
I often carry a walking stick and it gets little notice, though a couple of women complimented one of them. I think we may well be transitioning back to going around armed, these being ugly times with a dysfunctional justice system.
I frankly haven't got room for a cane with all the STUFF I have to carry in my day-to-day life. I'd like a martial art that showed me how to use a computer backpack or an iPod or a cell phone as a weapon.
Well, actually, I know they can be used as expedient weapons. But still, the chances of me going about with a cane are slim and none. I just find the concept of Bartitsu fascinating.
Last Winter I thought I'd be needing a cane/stick just to get around; I was having some real foot pain. Our parking lot can get very icy, and a cane comes in very handy. Plus, I've seen various dogs running loose and a number of unsavory 2 legged types.... one has to wonder about the consequences of venturing out without one.
If you have that much to burden you, will you be able to employ your karate techniques effectively?
If you have that much to burden you, will you be able to employ your karate techniques effectively?
By dropping it, yes. The problem is not what I divest. The problem is that I can't carry much more. For example, when I leave my car to walk into work, I am toting a computer backpack or shoulder bag, my lunch bucket (Iron Man), a large travel mug of coffee, and fiddling with my security ID to get into the building through the automated revolving doors. I quite often drop my car keys as I try to transfer things from hand to hand while I am walking. A cane? I could not possibly manage it.
We're lucky in that Barton-Wright very explicitly detailed and illustrated about 40 of his jiujitsu kata and stick fighting sequences, which are easy enough to perform if you have a suitable MA background. Supplemented with a couple of other sources (Captain Laing's article, etc.) that forms the basis of "canonical" Bartitsu, which serves as a kind of common technical/tactical language for modern revivalists.
Through careful study of his published lectures, etc., we've developed a pretty clear picture of what he wanted to achieve with Bartitsu, though as far as we know he never got there himself. Of course, there's been a lot of research done over the past eight years - tracking down obscure books and articles, translations, etc.
The rest is "Neo-Bartitsu", which is the modern effort to continue Barton-Wright's experiments by cross training between pre-WW1 British jiujitsu, English "gentlemanly fisticuffs", low kicking and Vigny stick fighting. We widen the sources for neo-Bartitsu to include a whole range of self defense, combat sport and "antagonistics" materials between 1898-1923, generally sticking to the Bartitsu lineage instructors and their students.
A suggestion, Bill.
Wean some of that crap down or tie it together. You're describing an awareness and safety nightmare that I see all too often. I admit, at one facility, I'm sometimes carrying what seems like several tons of gear in with me (or out)... but it's a mitigated risk because the lot there is secured, and I have very good sight lines as I go in. Even so, it's all contained into several items that I can easily and safely drop -- and I still manage to keep my right hand (gun hand) pretty much clear.
Returning to topic...
Bartitsu is one of those things that I'm just fascinated by. It's documenting something that was going on anyway, as sailors and merchants and others picked up things from the East and brought them to the West. It's also a great object lesson in politics destroying an endeavor.
