Bartitsu Is Coming Back

Status
Not open for further replies.
F

Fred Fuller

Moderator Emeritus
Joined
Mar 26, 2004
Messages
21,215
Location
AL, NC
It's half historical recreation; half beating the crap out of someone with a cane.

http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2013/11/how-to-fight-like-a-victorian-gentleman/281163/

How to Fight Like a Victorian Gentleman
Bartitsu, the Sherlock Holmes art of self-defense, is coming back.
CATHERINE TOWNSEND
NOV 14 2013, 3:30 PM ET
==================

And an interesting article from a link posted to the comments on the above:

http://www.bloodyelbow.com/2011/8/2...f-mixed-martial-arts-part-iii-sherlock-holmes

The Forgotten Golden Age of Mixed Martial Arts - Part III: Sherlock Holmes, Les Apaches, and the Gentlemanly Art of Self Defence
By John S. Nash on Aug 22 2011, 6:30p
 
I have a very good friend of mine who is I believe no certified as an instructor. It is a very oddball Martial Art but from what I can see nothing is wasted on posturing it is all damage blows and judo type avoidance maneuvers.

Very odd that some of the students dress in period clothing to practice though.
 
http://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/minute/The_Caning_of_Senator_Charles_Sumner.htm

Not so silly.

To the modern observer, it's exactly why you see so many volksmarching staffs in the hands of airline passengers.

It's extremely difficult to legislate against canes. Consider how the Bowie knife came into vogue - relatively light, small enough to conceal in the dress of the day. Formal attire had a purpose in an age when there was no heat in a coach travelling, on foot, or going about town. The cane was basically meant as an unedged weapon in the hands of travellers who were often the prey of highwaymen and thugs.

Once the hand gun was made reliable thru metallic cartridges, the Bowie faded into disuse. In areas where the pistol has been outlawed, the cane is coming into use.

As said, airline travel. And now, urban cities in moral decay.

Adding the attire might look affected, but it's basically camoflage. That look is actually a tactical application meant to distract you from the obvious presence of the cane.

Silly indeed.

There's more to steampunk than retro fashion.
 
I've read a good many Sherlock Holmes stories and don't recall him ever hitting someone with a cane. He was an expert boxer.
 
Yes, he did use his cane, but calling it a 'stick'; I presume short for 'walking stick'?
 
Was that in the later stories? In the early ones they always make references to his sinewy strength and expert boxing and fencing skills. Doyle never was very consistent though. Watson was always injured however. Originally it was because he was shot in Afghanistan.
 
It is mentioned by Watson, as the narrator of the first Sherlock Holmes story “A Study in Scarlet”, that Holmes is “an expert singlestick player, boxer, and swordsman”, and there are several references in the canon to Holmes employing the first two of these skills.
Click to expand...

In “The Adventure of the Illustrious Client”, Holmes goes up against multiple assailants and despite his singlestick expertise, comes off second best:

“I’m a bit of a single-stick expert, as you know. I took most of them on my guard. It was the second man that was too much for me.”
Click to expand...

Quick search; 'single-stick' was the phrase they used for using their walking sticks as weapons, that might make it harder to notice.

Larry
 
I guess that was it, I remember that reference from Scarlet but I had assumed singlestick was billiards. Go figure.
 
"The Americans and British, two people divided by a common language." I had problems until I learned what a 'press' meant-THAT was confusing! :)


Larry
 
DT Guy said:
"The Americans and British, two people divided by a common language." I had problems until I learned what a 'press' meant-THAT was confusing! :)


Larry
Click to expand...
OK, I have to ask. Which definition...assuming use as a verb... did you find confusing, 1) to insist or 2) to crowd?
 
The traditional British/Irish usage is for a kitchen pantry (cupboard? in the midwest it would be a pantry), and the switch from either of those two verbs to THAT is what threw me.

"I think we have some in the press"-see what I mean?
 
When I was in college I spoke to another student who received a failing grade for writing a nonsense paper with the subject of having mechanical trouble with his car so he drove it to the shop. His English professor, from England, wasn't aware that we call our automobiles "cars" and thought the student was referring to a "lift" (elevator).

At any rate, I'll not be learning proper Bartitsu. I'll just carry a bigger stick and hope the other guy isn't a trained stick fighter either.
 
Wikipedia tells me that Singlestick was an Olympic event in 1904.
Neat.
Singlestick.jpg

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Singlestick
 
I find it interesting that what is essentially 'hitting a guy with a stick' could have been an Olympic sport; I was truly born in the wrong time...:)


Larry
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

A
  • Locked
Is USPSA an "arms race"? (Hint: No.)
Replies
11
Views
1K
Corpral_Agarn
Corpral_Agarn
M
  • Locked
How Hip-hop Has Embraced and Rejected the Firearm
2 3
Replies
70
Views
3K
Mikebnice
M
Back
Top