A martial art that helps men defend themselves in dangerous situations, but still retain their aristocratic look, remembering gentle and subtle moves.
We often know that martial arts such as Kungfu, Wushu, quintessential martial arts, etc. are the crystallization of the culture and history of Asian countries. But few people know that in the world there is also a quite special martial art, originating from England and only for old gentlemen, that is the martial art “Bartitsu”.
Used for self-defense, Bartitsu is considered one of the first Western martial arts, the creation of Edward William Barton-Wright. He came to Japan in the 1890s, from an ordinary railway engineer, Barton-Wright later became a strong enthusiast for martial arts.
Barton-Wright portrait and basic moves of Bartitsu.
Stemming from the love of Jujitsu (Jujutsu) of the country of Cherry Blossom, Barton-Wright returned to England in 1899, combining Jujitsu with existing knowledge of boxing, kickboxing to mix and create so Bartitsu. Bartitsu’s combat skills are diverse, including close combat, walking with a walking stick, using a hat or hand-held umbrella as a real weapon.
After that, Barton-Wright began sharing his martial art in major magazines, typically Pearson’s Magazine, in which he often explained his training methods, goals and overall martial arts philosophy. . More interestingly, the name Bartitsu is a combination of his name and the word “Jujitsu”.
Bartitsu is a martial art that uses walking sticks, hats and umbrellas, items that an old English gentleman used to carry when he went out.
Not long after, the martial art became popular in England, attracting a large number of people to study the religion. Bartitsu Martial Arts Academy and Club was established. Suddenly the wealthy aristocrats in London at that time also flocked to attend Bartitsu, visiting professor “teacher” Barton-Wright.
Recognizing the need, Barton-Wright brought together martial arts teachers from both Europe and Japan to develop Baritsu, which aims to teach people a comprehensive course on how to defend themselves in the event of an attack. , plunder or to compete with someone for example.
Famous Bartitsu masters include Kaneo Tani, Seizo Yamamoto and Yukio Tani from Japan, Swiss champion wrestler Armand Cherpillod, and martial artist Pierre Vigny from France.
By 1901, the club had both sword fighting and breathing exercises, becoming a mandatory part of the Bartitsu curriculum. Martial arts masters often hold grand shows, demonstrating the technique and effectiveness of the martial art with real combat examples.
Bartitsu at its peak attracted great attention from the nobility.
The style that Bartitsu is aiming for is the ability to confront many opponents, especially “the cardinal” Barton-Wright has proven himself to be able to defeat 7 opponents with a muscular body at once.
Since then, Barton-Wright has received a lot of love and respect. He even got to see Edward, Prince of Wales at the time. But unfortunately, because of a small accident, he had to miss this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
Not stopping, Barton-Wright also had the author of Sherlock Holmes, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle compared his martial arts skills with his legendary character. If you turn the story over, you may notice that Holmes mentioned Bartitsu in “The Adventures of the Empty House” written in 1903.
Sadly, although the martial art became extremely popular in its first few years, by around 1902, it had died out. The reason is because the cost of studying is too expensive, the curriculum is too complicated. The Bartitsu Club began to stagnate, people no longer felt excited, new members also dwindled.
Although it has died out, today there are still Bartitsu classes open.
Not long after the Bartitsu Academy closed, the masters left the club and opened their own dojo or took up other jobs related to martial arts. As for Barton-Wright, despite trying to bring Bartitsu back to his glory days again, he still only received failure. By about 1920, this martial art was almost forgotten.
To this day, Bartitsu remains a valuable resource for martial arts experts to delve into, an interesting example of the idea of martial arts for the gentlemen of old Europe.