Bartitsu: The Lost Martial Art of Sherlock Holmes

[DdlR]

members, i do not think that all of tony's research is bad. however, i do agree that tani and vigny were not bartitsu instructors--tani was a jiu jitsuka/judoka and vigny was a boxe franchase/la canne/la lutte expert

From Barton-Wright's perspective, jujitsu, la canne etc. were components of Bartitsu as a method of cross-training, in exactly the same way that a modern MMA school might teach Muay Thai and BJJ. Here's a description (Sketch Magazine, April 10, 1901) of how that cross-training worked at the original Bartitsu Club:

In one corner is M. Vigny, the World’s Champion with the single-stick: the Champion who is the acknowledged master of savate trains his pupils in another … he leads you gently on with gloves and single-stick, through the mazes of the arts, until, at last, with your trained eye and supple muscles, no unskilled brute force can put you out, literally or metaphorically.

In another part of the Club are more Champions, this time from far Japan (who) will teach you once more of how little you know of the muscles that keep you perpendicular, and of the startling effects of sudden leverage properly applied …

… when you have mastered the various branches of the work done at the Club, which includes a system of physical drill taught by another Champion, this time from Switzerland, the world is before you, even though a “Hooligan” may be behind you …

Neo-Bartitsu revivalism is an open-source project and different instructors have markedly different aims and methods. In general, though, the goal is to continue - not necessarily to complete - the cross-training experiments that Barton-Wright pioneered at the turn of the 20th century. Thus, the revival project encourages the reconstruction (and then blending) of the various source arts as they were practiced during that specific historical period, rather than as they have evolved since then.

Taking fisticuffs as an example, a glance at any c1900 boxing manual reveals the many obvious technical differences between that style and modern boxing. A background in modern boxing is a useful starting point towards reconstructing the early Queensberry rules style, just as is a background in, say, wing chun kung fu, panantukan, etc. There are numerous ways to develop the skills required to reconstruct c1900 pugilism and the same applies to the various other styles that go into the Bartitsu method of cross-training.

[Dynamicharge122]

Bartitsu is a very intresting joint destruction and weapon art.

[DdlR]

Not so much a problem as a creative challenge. Barton-Wright offered specific guidelines in some areas, and how best to blend the various "source arts" is a big part of the contemporary revival.

[DdlR]

The Wikipedia article is pretty comprehensive, and there's plenty of information via bartitsu.org, YouTube etc. If you can ask a more specific question, I'll try to answer it here.

[DdlR]

See this interview with "Sherlock Holmes" fight choreographer Richard Ryan - http://www.bartitsu.org/index.php/20...-richard-ryan/

... and this review of the fight choreography featured in the "Game of Shadows" sequel - http://www.bartitsu.org/index.php/20...me-of-shadows/ .

Bearing in mind the obvious differences between movie fight choreography and actual combat, there are about as many similarities as differences between the "Sherlock Holmes" fighting style and Bartitsu. For example, some of the techniques shown in the "Punch Bowl" fight you linked to are clearly based on Wing Chun, which is Robert Downey, Jr.'s favorite style; some are generically or co-incidentally similar to the c1900 boxing that was incorporated into Bartitsu.

As I mentioned in an earlier post in this thread, the modern Bartitsu revival is an open-source project and many instructors de-prioritize "street defense" in favor of recreational training. Here's an example of an introductory seminar, concentrating on recreation/revival:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=url_GOJd_GE

and here's a longer compilation of a seminar in Germany a few years ago, covering both recreation/revival and self defense:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=6d9IdnqxpbU