A User’s Guide to the Bartitsu Society Website 2.0

The original Bartitsu Society website – www.bartitsu.org – was established by James Marwood in October of 2008, and that site served as the premiere online resource for the contemporary Bartitsu revival until it suffered a catastrophic technical failure in April of 2019.

The recovery, restoration and reconstruction process was a laborious task, but by January of 2021 the great majority of the items posted on Bartitsu.org between 2008-2019, including all of the significant technical and historical articles, had been reconstituted at www.bartitsusociety.com.

During the reconstruction the archived posts unavoidably became chronologically disordered and most of them now begin with a note recording the date when they were originally posted.

This event highlighted the fragility of electronic media and inspired the production of a third volume of the Bartitsu Compendium, in order to further preserve the best of the research presented here since the publication of the second volume in 2008. The Bartitsu Compendium, Volume III was published in December of 2022.

We hope you enjoy the Bartitsu Society website 2.0!

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“Reviving Bartitsu: A Conversation with Tony Wolf”

The Martial Arts Studies podcast features a new interview on the history and revival of Edward Barton-Wright’s “New Art of Self Defence”.

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Percy Longhurst’s stick and umbrella techniques from 1906

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“The Minstrel: A Victorian Bartitsu Adventure”

Most of the current crop of AI-generated Bartitsu videos are takes on the real history, with lesser or greater degrees of success and accuracy. This “teaser trailer” stands out for imagining a dashing Bartitsu-trained hero, complete with nifty fight choreography and an AI’s idea of a theme song:

Meet The Minstrel … a charming gentleman, notorious ladies’ man, seasoned world traveler, and master of Bartitsu, the forgotten Victorian art of self-defense. On the misty streets of Victorian England, he moves through life with a melody on his lips, a twinkle in his eye, and an elegant walking stick at his side. The citizens greet him warmly, society’s most captivating women know his reputation, and London’s ruffians know better than to underestimate his impeccable manners.

But England is only the beginning. From the grand capitals of Europe to distant ports, ancient temples, desert kingdoms, and mysterious corners of the world, The Minstrel pursues adventure, romance, danger, and intrigue. Wherever trouble finds him, he answers with charm, courage, and the refined … but devastating … science of Bartitsu. A gentleman should always offer a courteous bow… even after winning the fight. Welcome to the world of THE MINSTREL.

We’re living in the future, ladies and gents. Things will only get stranger …

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The Bayonet Grip in Action

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The Crossguard Parry in Vigny Stick Fighting

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Edith Garrud Jiujitsu Gallery (c. 1910)

The Getty Archive offers this gallery of extremely rare photographs of Edith Garrud and her students demonstrating jiujitsu techniques circa 1910.

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Raising Cane in CHiPs (1982)

The latest installment of our very occasional but long-running “umbrella/cane fight scene” series takes us back to 1982. In this action-packed episode of CHiPs, reformed karate gang leader (which was a thing, but only sort of) Andy Macedon (Lewis Van Bergen) employs some deft cane techniques in assisting heroes Jon (Larry Wilcox) and Ponch (Eric Estrada) to take down a menacing gang led by Billy (Danny Bonaduce, of all people).

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Suffrajitsu in “De Rare Jacob” (1910)

A satirical response to the suffrajitsu phenomenon in this cartoon from the Dutch journal De rare Jacob (1910). The caption translates as “The suffragettes haven’t been at all shy about using their feet for jiu-jitsu—rather like how the ‘weaker,’ more modest ladies once took to bicycling?!”

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Fighting with a Heavy Walking Stick

Oliver Janseps teaches how to transition from a high double-handed guard into a double-handed strike with a heavy cane, as per Barton-Wright’s “Self Defence with a Walking Stick” article series for Pearson’s Magazine.

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“Sherlock Holmes: The Hunt for Moriarty”

A trailer for this recent Blackeyed Theatre production, which clearly featured its fair complement of Bartitsu-flavoured action scenes.

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