The Martial Art of Sherlock Holmes
Contrary to popular belief, Sherlock Holmes was rather a cutting-edge Victoriangentleman. Guy Ritchie’s version of Conan Doyle’s immortal sleuth does err on the side of toomuch physicality, but otherwise, Holmes was a fighter as well as a deducer. The sport in whichhe indulged was bartitsu (Doyle misspelled it as “baritsu”, though scholars have yet to deducewhether this was intentional), a style of martial arts devised by Edward Barton-Wright around1898. Having spent the previous three years in Japan, Barton-Wright developed his method for self-defense from the various styles of jiu-jitsu, from boxing, from Swiss wrestling, from aFrench kick-boxing style named “
Savate
“, and the stick-fighting method created by Swissmaster-at-arms, Pierre Vigny.Barton-Wright spent the next four years promoting and developing this new sport (a portmanteau of jiu-jitsu and his own surname) in London by opening up a school devoted to bartitsu, holding public demonstrations, conducting interviews, and writing copious articles and a book expounding on the physical and mental benefits of the sport (this was the era of “Muscular Christianity”). The school, named The Bartitsu Academy of Arms and Physical Culture, butknown informally as the Bartitsu Club, was located at #67b Shaftesbury Avenue in Soho. In anarticle for Sandow’s Magazine of Physical Culture vol. 6, (January 1901), journalist Mary Nugent described the Bartitsu Club as “… a huge subterranean hall, all glittering, white-tiledwalls, and electric light, with ‘champions’ prowling around it like tigers.”Barton-Wright brought Japanese jiu-jitsu masters to train and fight at his club, and it soon became a hub of extreme physical culture. Nugent, however, also shared that despite Barton-
Wright finding “their inclination to haggle over lesson prices ‘a little tiresome;, women wereactually welcome to train at the Club. The memoir of another of the instructors, the Swisswrestler Armand Cherpillod, includes a very cloak-and-dagger tale about his teaching a wealthywoman at the Club, only to later discover that she was a “plant” who was passing his wrestlingtricks on to his opponents in forthcoming matches.The fame of bartitsu and the Bartitsu Club grew quickly, and gentlemen as far abroad asIndia rapidly acquired the skills Barton-Wright wrote of in his books, interviews, and articles.Barton-Wright’s prowess became legendary, and his claims to have defeated seven men withinthree minutes during a public match caught the eye of the Prince of Wales, who ordered a personal demonstration. What made the sport so quickly popular was its relative ease of adoption; much of the moves involved ones own body and more likely, one’s cane or walkingstick. Since the late Victorian/early Edwardian era was the heyday of the walking stick, the claimthat a single gentleman, skilled in bartitsu, could beat away a band of ruffians armed with“cudgels, knives, shillelaghs, bonkers, batons, and even truncheons,” was immensely appealing.The combat was extremely simple to pick up, as it was remarkably similar to fencing:First, as regards clothes : all that is required is a suit of flannels and a pair of shoes without heels; the masks should be of cane similar to the patternused for single stick and well padded over the cheek. Gloves are notgenerally used to guard the hands as there is no need for them when a manis fairly proficient. It is taken for granted that the reader is familiar withthe ordinary attitudes adopted in fencing; that is, as regards position of thelegs at ”the engage” and when lunging.
•
First Position. “On guard”-~ Assume the position of the fencingengage but with the right hand raised slightly above the head, armnearly straight, keeping the stick nearly horizontal point to thefront, left arm hanging down behind and kept well out of the way. Note: After making hits, guards and points always return to this position as soon as possible, and remember that all the positionsdescribed apply equally to the left hand as well as the right.
Guards
.
Head
,—Keeping the arm nearly straight hold the stick horizontally afew inches above the head, hand slightly forward, and well away toright to avoid being hit on the knuckles.
Face
.—Drop point of stick over to the left hand and elbow nearlylevel, stick perpendicular and three or four inches away from the leftcheek.
Face sideways
.—Without changing position of the body move stick across to the right, so that it falls perpendicularly down close to rightcheek, elbow well up.
Body
.—Drop right hand and move stick across front of body keepingelbow level with the shoulder : let the stick fall perpendicularly closeto left side.
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The Martial Art of Sherlock Holmes
Bartitsu, a long-forgotten martial art practiced by Sherlock Holmes.
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