The grave of Captain Alfred Hutton

**DdlR** · Posted On: 10/21/2012 5:59am

http://www.bartitsu.org/index.php/20...alfred-hutton/

An article on the discovery of the grave of famed late-Victorian fencer and "ancient swordplay" revivalist, Captain Alfred Hutton.

**slamdunc** · Posted On: 10/21/2012 6:21am

Interesting find; kind of like researching the genealogy of Bartitsu. I'm going to study up on this system.

**DdlR** · Posted On: 10/21/2012 6:39am

Do you mean Hutton's system, or Bartitsu? Either way, feel free to ask any questions.

**slamdunc** · Posted On: 10/21/2012 6:48am

Originally Posted by DdlR

Do you mean Hutton's system, or Bartitsu? Either way, feel free to ask any questions.

I'd more likely be interested in Bartitsu; I'm not a Wikipedia Warrior, so I'm going to dig around. How long does it take to become (subjectively) proficient in Bartitsu?

**DdlR** · Posted On: 10/21/2012 6:53am

That depends almost entirely on your own background. Since Bartitsu is basically a cross-training system between old-school "scientific" boxing, jujitsu and the Vigny method of stick fighting, a student with solid experience in analogs to those styles - random example, wing chun + amateur boxing, judo and, say, sabre fencing - can pick up all the basics pretty quickly. After that, it's just a matter of refining the cross-training process so you can combine them together effectively.

**slamdunc** · Posted On: 10/21/2012 7:17am

Originally Posted by DdlR

After that, it's just a matter of refining the cross-training process so you can combine them together effectively.

I've always cross-trained, experiencing more difficulty in differentiating, than in combining. I boxed and wrestled from the time I was a kid. Twenty-five years of Shaolin Ch'uan-Fa Kung Fu, eight years of TKD (Chung Do Kwan), ten years of Kenpo (EPAK), two months of Judo (ouch) learning to do break-falls. Most of this was done concurrently, until my commitment to my career became a priority. I have almost no experience with sticks or canes, but do o.k. with close-range edged weapons.

Currently, I teach a private group one night per week, and I have been working with a couple of BJJ guys for a little over a year, in order to get my ground game up to par. I am pretty much training a base of CMA, having eliminated the practice of forms or weapons completely. I concentrate on self-defense arts and sparring, exclusively.

I perused the Bartitsu web page and it piqued my interest. It will be a couple of years before I can commit to any in-depth training. What is the age grouping within Bartitsu? Although I am HWP and still fairly flexible, I'm not getting any younger LOL.

**thrutch** · Posted On: 10/21/2012 8:16am

"The Grave of Captain Alfred Hutton" would make a good name for your new clubhouse. If it was a pub, I'd drink there.

I have never encountered Bartitsu, or anyone who practises it. Is there an element of dressing up/LARPing? I've always imagined it to be like:

**DdlR** · Posted On: 10/21/2012 9:04am

Age grouping - probably similar to any MA, though I don't know of anyone teaching it for kids, so mostly people in their 20s-40s.

If you're in IL, you'll be welcome to check out classes at Forteza Fitness and Martial Arts in Chicago - http://bartitsuclubofchicago.com/ . The Bartitsu Society also encourages people to set up their own study groups - http://www.bartitsu.org/index.php/ba...-and-training/ .

**Fuzzy** · Posted On: 10/21/2012 9:09am

I keep meaning to get in contact with the London group.

**DdlR** · Posted On: 10/21/2012 9:13am

Originally Posted by thrutch

"The Grave of Captain Alfred Hutton" would make a good name for your new clubhouse. If it was a pub, I'd drink there.

I have never encountered Bartitsu, or anyone who practises it. Is there an element of dressing up/LARPing? I've always imagined it to be like:

Every club has its own take; some are basically RBSD/combatives with a bit of old-school Bartitsu for spice, and some are full-on LARP (as in people wear steampunk/neo-Victorian getups while they train). The Chicago club "uniform" is based on c1900 exercise gear:

http://bartitsuclubofchicago.com/wp-...5/Uniform1.jpg

... but otherwise not LARPy, apart from special events like the Antagonisticathlon obstacle course:

.