What Is Bartitsu?
Bartitsu is a system of self defence developed in England between 1898-1902. Although forgotten during the 20th Century, it is now enjoying a revival in the form of an upcoming film, books, and its very own society.
I first came across Bartitsu in a Sherlock Holmes story, where Holmes relates how he defeated his nemesis, Professor Moriarty [though, for some reason, it was spelled 'Baritsu'].
"...but he rushed at me and threw his long arms around me. We tottered upon the brink of the fall. I have, however, some knowledge of Baritsu, or the Japanese system of wrestling, which has more than once been useful to me... I slipped through his grip, (he) kicked madly for a few seconds... But, for all his efforts he could not get his balance and over he went." - The Adventure of the Empty House.
Since then I discovered that Bartitsu was invented by William Edward Barton Wright (1860-1951) in 1898 after he had returned from spending three years in Japan as an engineer, where he had studied both Ju-Jitsu and Judo. Using these Japanese arts as a base, he incorporated various European fighting arts - Boxing, Savate, Schwingen (Swiss Wrestling) and Canne de Combat [a form of stick fighting]. His term, Bartitsu reflects the Japanese connection.
Barton-Wright created his system because he saw, like a lot of people at the time, a rise in street crime - muggings, knife attacks, gang violence etc... This was a serious problem in London and other cities in both the UK and Europe (which sounds familiar these days too).
Barton-Wright tried to combine various combat techniques effectively, while also trying to look at the types of attacks a person could face... As he wrote in 1902, "Judo and Ju-jitsu were not designed as a primary means of attack and defence against a Boxer or a man who kicks you, but were only to be used after coming into close quarters and, in order to get to close quarters, it was absolutely necessary to understand Boxing and the use of the foot."
It seems Barton-Wright felt that, through studying each system's strengths, it enabled one to understand that a fight took place at various ranges - long (leg), medium (fist) and close (grappling/throwing). It would also appear that he ignored the 'Atemi' aspects of Judo and Jiu-jitsu, while favouring European methods. Perhaps he felt Europeans would be more comfortable with what they felt they already knew?
Canne de Combat was developed by the Swiss-born Pierre Vigny and was being taught to both civilians and army officers. Barton-Wright included it because most people at the time habitually carried a cane or an umbrella. Importantly, Barton- Wright taught that armed and unarmed were linked - but armed was preferable to unarmed!
Between 1898 and 1902 Barton-Wright ran a club at 67b Shaftsbury Avenue, London W1 and promoted Bartitsu through magazine articles and public demonstrations. For various reasons Bartitsu went into decline. It may have been due partly to the rise in popularity of Judo and Ju-Jitsu in their own right and possibly due to his falling out with various partners and backers. Whatever the reason, Bartitsu became a forgotten art.
Now, thanks to director Guy Ritchie, Bartitsu is about to enjoy a massive revival by being an integral part of his new film Sherlock Holmes, starring Robert Downey Jnr as Holmes and Jude Law as the faithful Dr Watson. So, how do you go about bringing to the screen a fighting art that no-one has seen or heard of in years?
The answer lies with the film's fight arranger Richard Ryan. Richard's work includes The Dark Knight, Troy, The Golden Compass and he is currently working on the medieval epic Ironclad. "This is a re-invigoration of a well known character in a similar vein to what was done with Batman and James Bond. The objective was to catch the flavour of Bartitsu."
Richard felt that Holmes would approach his combat training in the same way as he would any scientific or deductive problem. "Imagine if Holmes had got hold of a book on, say... Wing Chun. He is by nature, a loner, so no school or instructor... He would read, then theorise and then go and apply... He would apply by trial and error until he was happy with what worked for him."
It was interesting that Richard would refer to Wing Chun, because Robert Downey Jnr, who plays Holmes, has been training in the system for the last six years. Was this an asset, having an actor with his own views on combat? "Yes, because it helps with the choreography if you have an actor who understands what you are looking to achieve. We took Wing Chun as a elements of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Savate and fencing, giving it a contemporary take for a modern audience."
Guy Ritchie made his own contribution - being a keen Brazilian Jiu-jitsu practitioner, he was keen to participate in the training and help come up with this cinematic version of Bartitsu.
But it was very much Richard's work. With that in mind, what was the key element in making the fighting look effective? "Time... Time is important to spend with an actor so that you can tailor their capabilities to the director's requirements. Robert was good, because he could do his own fight scenes which reduced the use of a double..."
What of Doctor Watson? Richard said the good doctor would be a more grounded typical Englishman of the period. Being an ex-army doctor and Afghanistan War veteran his style would be more Victorian pugilist.
Richard was keen to stress that, despite the contemporary take on Bartitsu it was important to remain true to the spirit of Barton- Wright's teachings. With that in mind, he consulted Tony Wolf - co-author of the Bartitsu Compendium, senior member of The Bartitsu Society and possibly the foremost authority on the subject...
The Bartitsu Society has been around since 2002 and runs seminars and conferences in the UK, Europe, Russia and the US. The Society can be contacted on www.bartitsu.org where one can read more on Bartitsu, buy the Compendium - Vols. 1 and 2 and see where classes and seminars are running near you.
Edward Barton-Wright died alone and a pauper in 1951, not long after he gave a lecture on self defence at my old Judo club, the Budokwai. It is worth noting that he was partly instrumental in introducing Judo and Ju-Jitsu to the UK, so it is fitting that Tony Wolf and the Society are doing their best to bring this forgotten martial artist and teacher back in to the mainstream.
So what of the future? The film, if the trailers are anything to go by, will be a hit and I understand a sequel is already being planned. I think that Bartitsu will be more than just a fad, if the Society will have any thing to do with it - classes and seminars are currently fully booked. I think William Edward Barton-Wright would like that...
NICK COLLINS
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Nick Collins has been training in Judo for over 30 years and holds a Dan Grade and is also a BJA qualified Club Coach. He teaches at Southend Judo Club in Essex. In addition he is a qualified instructor with American Combatives and also studied under his late Uncle, Peter Robins, in Fairbairn's methods.
