Suffrajitsu! (March, 1914)

  • Originally published on the Bartitsu.org site on Saturday, 12th April 2014
Suffragette vs. bobby cartoon

(Iterations of the following article appeared in many newspapers during mid-late March of 1914.)

It has come at last! The word for which the world has long waited, the word that will immortalise the militants, has made its appearance in the dictionary of dynamic didoes that form such a conspicuous part of the “votes for women” propaganda.

It is “suffrajitsu” and the correct way in which to pronounce it is “suffrajitsoo”.

The equal-suffrage crusaders may not be the authors of this picturesque word, but no-one who has seen them in action would doubt that they are the originators of the particular tactics that called it into being and general use in the land where they operate with most persistence.

It was the Japanese who became the most formidable man-handlers in the world by their manipulation of the pneumogastric nerve and other anatomical tricks; and their system is called jiu-jitsu. But from all accounts, jiu-jitsu is no more effective for the purposes for which it may be used than “suffrajitsu” is for withstanding the rude attacks of guardians of the public peace.

All regularly accredited members of the English militant organisation are required to take a regular course in “suffrajitsu” (…)

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