Bartitsu: The Lost Martial Art of Sherlock Holmes

[DdlR]

Announcing the long-awaited DVD release of the first feature documentary on Bartitsu, the "gentlemanly art of self defence"!

At the end of the Victorian era, E.W. Barton-Wright founded Bartitsu as a pioneering "mixed martial art" combining jiujitsu, kickboxing and self defence with a walking stick. It was also the means by which Sherlock Holmes was said to have defeated his arch-nemesis, the evil Professor Moriarty, in their famous battle at Reichenbach Waterfall.

This groundbreaking documentary was shot on location in Italy, Switzerland, England and the USA. Through numerous interviews, animations, re-enactment sequences, rare archival film footage and historical images, it explores the history, rediscovery and modern revival of Bartitsu.

Please visit http://www.freelanceacademypress.com/bartitsu.aspx to watch a new preview trailer, view the photo gallery and read an article about Bartitsu and the documentary production.

[bobyclumsyninja]

awesome....just....awesome.

[W. Rabbit]

The Holmes reference is to this story: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Adv...he_Empty_House

where Doyle used the term "baritsu".

Richard Ryan, the fight choreographer for the 2009 movie Sherlock Holmes, has described the "neo-Bartitsu" developed for that project as being a combination of "Chinese Boxing (Wing Chun), swordplay and elements of Brazilian Jujitsu." This "movie Bartitsu" was said to be an modern interpretation of the classic Victorian Bartitsu style.[29] In a December 23, 2009 interview with Vanity Fair Magazine, director Guy Ritchie described baritsu as "... a form of Jujitsu. This is way before martial arts took off anywhere in Europe. You can actually look it up on the Internet. You’ll see these little men hitting one another with walking sticks. The idea was that you use your opponent’s strengths against them. With the use of surprise. There’s all sorts of locks and chokes and various other techniques used to incapacitate someone. There’s lots of throwing hats at someone’s eyes, and then striking at them, if you can, with a walking stick."[30] The movie fight choreography included several signature fighting techniques from Barton-Wright's articles, including double-handed thrusts with walking sticks and the use of an overcoat to distract and entangle an adversary.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bartitsu

[TaeBo_Master]

My knowledge of Bartitsu is almost completely lacking. But from the little I've seen, it looks pretty interesting. Appreciate the info.

[DdlR]

The Holmes reference is to this story: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Adv...he_Empty_House

where Doyle used the term "baritsu".

Yep - that's thoroughly discussed in the documentary. The irony is that Doyle's misspelling was actually the clue that led to the modern rediscovery of Barton-Wright's art.

[DAYoung]

The Dog Brother of the Baskervilles?

[DdlR]

The Dog Brother of the Baskervilles?

I'm printing the t-shirts as we speak ...

[DAYoung]

But seriously: as an MMA and Holmes enthusiast, that looks fascinating. Thank you.

[Son of Thunder]

The Dog Brother of the Baskervilles?

That may be the single most awesome thing I've seen this week.

I have to work that into my club's fliers somehow.

[DAYoung]

Heh. Happy to contribute.

My career as a copywriter begins now.