Bartitsu: the Gentlemanly Art of Self Defence

A mini-documentary on Bartitsu, a martial art and self defence system founded by E. W. Barton-Wright in the year 1899.

Bartitsu was a method of cross-training between jiujitsu, savate, boxing and stick fighting; it was the first fighting art to have incorporated both Asian and European styles.

After a few brief years of glory, Bartitsu was all but forgotten throughout most of the 20th Century.

For further information, please visit http://www.bartitsu.org .

Category:

Education

Tags:

• Bartitsu
• baritsu
• Barton-Wright
• documentary
• history
• Sherlock Holmes
• judo
• jujitsu
• boxing
• savate
• Edwardian
• pugilism
• antagonistics
• martial art
• fighting
• Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
• Victorian
• fight

[djeq721]

Wonder who won between Barton and Yukio Tani? 

[BartitsuSociety]

@djeq721 - the only report we have on that fight was from Barton-Wright himself. He said that Tani was missing appointments etc. and that Tani threatened Barton-Wright after Barton-Wright threatened to dock his pay. They fought and "Bartitsu proved superior to Tani's jujitsu", implying that Barton-Wright beat Tani. In a pure jujitsu match Tani would have had the advantage, but Barton-Wright had the edge in boxing, etc. Basically, their fight is one of the great Bartitsu mysteries.

[home0girl0kitty]

white people martial arts

[BartitsuSociety]

@home0girl0kitty - race is obviously irrelevant to the practice of Bartitsu.

[papajohn5656]

Terrible choice of music, good lord. Pachebel is too cliché, and not victorian-era at all.

[BartitsuSociety]

@papajohn5656 - Pachelbel's Canon in D Major was chosen because it was still a popular piece of music circa 1900 and (more importantly, for our purposes) because it matched the emotional journey of the mini-documentary.

[BartitsuSociety]

@Abtruse1 - The handful of modern Bartitsu enthusiasts spend more time and effort on the hobby than they are rewarded for in any monetary terms. Trying to revive something as obscure as Bartitsu is almost the definition of "labour of love".

[MichaelsBudoStuff]

@ZenWolfDances Indeed, although I see parallels in particular moves of the Bartitsu Canon (I study both Bujinkan and Bartitsu :D )

[MichaelsBudoStuff]

@jasma98 Indeed. They are excellent chaps, and work a lot harder than I can at it (unfortunately - my time is divided among too many MA...for good or bad!)

[MichaelsBudoStuff]

@SirBurstify Then head over to bartitsu.org and find a place teaching it :D Feel free to message me if you get stuck. I teach in Basingstoke, Hampshire, UK. There are plenty of others around the world!

[SirBurstify]

@Legoman0323 hell yeah :D

[SirBurstify]

Sherlock Holmes is the reason I want to learn Bartitsu!

[Legoman0323]

this is how sherlock holmes fights

[SensieSanzashi]

Rather interesting I'ld say, how time is irrelevant. Also, and I mean really, how many ways are there to cook up a stew? "Tom-a-toe, Tom-ae-toe"...can we not all agree to stop patronizing whatever, whoever, whenever, and just name it "in the preferred language of choice, "English" (i.e. Tom, Dick, or Jane's School of fighting & Defense!) "HELLO" we are marketing to "The English"!

Nothing like a bloody good head butt, what?