This page discusses the actual late Victorian/Edwardian mixed-martial-art called Bartitsu. My new Steampunk novel Paragon of the Eccentric is full of Bartitsu fights.
Video links from Victorian Violence conference are below the Bartitsu info.
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(below is the handout I give to participants at my canonical Bartitsu workshops at conventions and festivals)
VICTORIAN ANTAGONISTICS LEAGUE
“Belabour Him As You See Fit”
BARTITSU TECHNIQUES OUTLINE
KEY CONCEPTS
–invite a strike to a specific point, so you can predict it and prepare a countermove
–seize the initiative; don’t let opponent dictate what you do
–defend with an offensive move, if possible
–tenkan (demi-volte) or remove target (guard by distance), while remaining in range for
your own strike
–close with opponent; get inside the attack
–upset opponent’s balance while maintaining your own (especially head feints/attacks)
–attack his joints to force submission
–place yourself behind and beside him to exert control
DISCIPLINES
Pugilism (punches)
Savate (kicks)
Jiu-jitsu (submission holds)
Wrestling (throws)
Stick/Umbrella (weapons)
–This is a mixed martial art; don’t rely on any one of the above disciplines
–Bartitsu is not a sport, but a violent defensive system; don’t play with your attacker (it gives him an edge)—finish him quickly, belabour him as you see fit, and then take tea
DEMONSTRATIONS
–Pugilism: guards, punches (thumb on top, always demi-lunge with lead leg
–Savate: basic kicks (low and high)
–Stick: guards, tenkan, guard by distance, parries, strikes, hooks
–Jiu-jitsu: joint locks (wrist, elbow, knee)
–Combinations for head, body, arm, leg strikes & grabs
SPECIAL CASES
–Ladies (umbrella): point & hook (or hatpin–now is not the time to be genteel)
–Hat/Coat defense: entangle your foe’s arms/face
–Multiple attackers: keep moving; seize one ruffian and use him as a hapless shield; create an opening and run away
For more information/training: Website: www.terrykroenung.com
E-mail: tkroenung58@gmail.com
BARTITSU RESOURCES
Books
Cunningham, Andrew Chase
—The Cane as a Weapon (1912)
Hatsumi, Masaaki
—Stick Fighting: Techniques of Self-Defense
Lang, Tom
—The Stick And Cane In Close Combat: Jointlocks, Takedowns and Surprise Attacks
Tony Wolf(get these books first)
—The Bartitsu Compendium, Volume 1: History and the Canonical Syllabus
—The Bartitsu Compendium, Volume II: Antagonistics (both 2008)
Web
(Tony Wolf’s site; there is also a companion Yahoo group
This is one-stop shopping. It is so extensive that you need go nowhere else)
Video (also plenty of YouTube clips available)
—Bartitsu – the Lost Martial Art of Sherlock Holmes (Tony Wolf)
—Bartitsu – The Martial Art of Sherlock Holmes (Kirk Lawson)
(Beware! The above videos are easily confused. Wolf’s is a state-of-the-art History Channel-type production containing mostly historical context. Lawson’s is a guy standing in a park in a high wind teaching a class. Good combatives info, but poor sound)
— Introductory Bartitsu (Gallowglass Academy) Basic ‘how-to-hit-him’ video
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My 4-part series on Victorian violence/Bartitsu for the UK’s English Historical Fiction Authors blog:
http://englishhistoryauthors.blogspot.com/2013/05/victorian-violence-repelling-ruffians.html
http://englishhistoryauthors.blogspot.com/2013/06/victorian-violence-repelling-ruffians.html
http://englishhistoryauthors.blogspot.com/2013/09/victorian-violence-repelling-ruffians.html
http://englishhistoryauthors.blogspot.com/2013/09/victorian-violence-part-four-elegant.html
Victorian Violence video links, Denver’s Colorado Gold Conference 2014
1890’s boxing film:
Single Stick fight
Walking stick fight
Umbrella fight
Sword cane demo
Cane gun demo
Webley revolver demo
Webley-Fosbery demo:
Webley-Fosbery firing
LeMat revolver demo
Bartitsu demo
Bartitsu group demo
Jiu-Jitsu suffragettes
Terry Kroenung 