Bartitsu: How to Fight Like Sherlock Holmes

At the Steampunk World's Fair in Piscataway, NJ, Mark Donnelly demonstrated the obscure art of Bartitsu, a Victorian system of self-defense practiced by Sherlock Holmes.
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[@andresrojas22]

i'm sorry but your techniques are incorrect, you need a thick moustache to execute bartitsu properly

[@leeevans8454]

and perhaps a monocle....

[@user-re7po]

HEY THATS MY PURSE

[@j.d.4697]

Alongside a thick accent. =p

[@Azriel261]

Bartitsu teaches a person how to evolve from the ancient styles of fighting to allow a person to use a walking stick or cane in place of a sword. Bartitsu in a nut shell is an advanced system of fighting for modern times in that you use common items that are street legal and will not get you arrested for defending yourself

[@cygil1]

Bartitsu = Singlestick fencing + Catch Wrestling + Limited Jiu Jitsu techniques + bareknuckle boxing. Nothing terribly novel, just a collection of 19th century martial arts stuck together. But more effective than you might think, given its quaintness.

[@TheKazhul]

These old martial arts ARE martial arts, not combat sports... Effective is the least they can be.

[@TheKazhul]

***** True. An optimized selection of techniques for the "gentle" man.

[@UnexpectedWonder]

Aye.

[@Miter_everyCorner-uk6on]

cygil1 combine it with the dexterity of Acrobatics and the kicking attacks of Taekwondo, and it'll be a deadly martial art👍😂

[@kb9oak749]

Call it Mixed Martial Arts and all of a sudden it's contemporary.

[@Jonic_P]

"Is this a good weapon? It is, if it is in my hand at the time I'm being attacked" LOL

[@MrAmulyamishra]

It is actually a wise quote. Swords are useless because you can't carry it with you.

[@LtMcMuffin87]

Its difficult to take this seriously while steampunk greenman is running around in the background

[@TheKazhul]

It's probably a steampunk convention. Maybe he gets more invitations from them than from savate teachers. :-)

[@diceblue6817]

don't be discriminatory against ugly people some people have to cover their face to be accepted

[@jona.874]

@@TheKazhul "At the Steampunk World's Fair in Piscataway, NJ, Mark Donnelly demonstrated ".

[@Ed-tc2pg]

Robert playing Sherlock used wing chun stylized for Hollywood. If you want to look like him learn open hands boxing and wing chun. If you want to win a fight learn kick boxing and bjj. Watch the credits and dvd extras in the movie.

[@TheKazhul]

Bartitsu has never really disappeared, because its components are still practised: French savate, traditional military French stick fighting, Japanese Jujistu... The guy is digging on the name. I'm kinda glad it's working, though.

[@VelmiVelkiZrut]

Components, yes, but never really practiced in one space as one system. In addition, stick fighting, singlestick, and traditional pugilism all had a drastic decline before a sort of revival of HEMA in general around the 90s and bartitsu in particular relatively recently.

[@rogerhudson9732]

Remember that in English law anything you carry ( possess in public) to use, possibly, as a weapon is illegal. it's all about intent, so never 'say' something is carried for defense , " just carrying a torch because it will get dark before I get home constable".

[@flappospammo]

if you watch kingsmen , the bar fight is pure Bartitsu the use of the umbrella / cane etc

[@jaykway2628]

haven't seen it. was it good?

[@johnmarston2616]

+Ebonheart 13 yes, it was excellent.

[@Ed-tc2pg]

Krav Maga.

[@ryanloehr9083]

That's what I was thinking.

[@nathantucker5300]

And just like this it is pure fantasy. Real fights don't happen like that.

[@Shindai]

"Is this a good weapon? It is if it's in my hand at the time I'm attacked." That's a brilliant attitude for self-defense. I've always wanted to meet a group of friends and play around with household items, Jackie Chan style, to see what sort of things you could do with any given object for self-defense purposes beyond the obvious chair leg = club sort of things. But that attitude is something to carry, whether an item is tested or not, if it's in your hand it'll do, so do something :) I like that.

[@gregorymagarshak7953]

Underrated comment! No literally, only 18 likes...

[@rvdrvd1000]

Conan Doyle was correct in his use of the term "Baritsu", it came from the martial art developed in Texas saloons and utilizes guns, beer bottles, and pool sticks.

[@dakkenly]

The principle is almost like wing chun. For people physically below the opponent

[@UnexpectedWonder]

Welcome to the Martial Arts, Ladies and Gentlemen. It's not a matter of preparedness. It's a matter of knowing what to do of a situation arises instinctively, whether lethal combat, lethal competition, Self-Defense, Self-Control, Discipline, Evasion, or otherwise.

[@anthonycourt2124]

I personally think Bartitsu is a great style and glad of the revival.

[@patricks1560]

Three things you need to fight like Sherlock Holmes - one; extremely strong grip and forearm strength, remember how he bent that poker back into shape; two, a heavy walking stick; three, a friend with a revolver. Knowing one or two prizefighters wouldn't hurt, I suppose he got a couple of tips from those guys.

[@jacquesaebischer9124]

l'acteur qui interprete Cherlock Holmes ,pratique reelement le Wing Chun , a t'il recu des rudiments de Bartitsu c'est possible . Pour le Wing Chun c'est certain

[@user-ey5gm7ws8i]

I've always enjoyed bigtitsue. She's great.

[@mmmoroi]

Bartitsu apparently comes from "baritsu" as misquoted by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, which was originally and correctly called "bujutsu （武術）" meaning martial arts in Japanese.

[@kevingooley9628]

The name is the mixing of the creators name, Barton-Wright, with the Japanese -itsu. Marketing!

[@weavery2k]

I like that tricycle

[@glennrudzik1007]

I’d love to see more of this style. Please inform me the next time there is a seminar on Bartitsu in Piscataway NJ! I’d definitely attend. Thank you!

[@kuldeepdinkar4918]

people often talk about german army, french army, but the fact is they both were defeated by british army. I am really curious to know how did they manage to do that.

[@baotrannguyenngoc9964]

Baritsu is martial art for strong people want to keep their elegance styles.

[@kendocoyote1gmail.comtensh808]

Bartitsu is a very affective martial art/concept. Using what you have on you to bring the pain and get out there is common sense. If you're trapped you have the bareknunckle boxing, savate, and japanese jujitsu to fight your way out.

[@rikstardy]

You didn’t even use the word effective correctly. So now we know that you are not a functional martial artist or an English teacher.

[@rsvsbg1608]

This brings me to think, my former class-mate, sensai Mag iur. Stefan Reinisch from Vienna, might be Barton Wright's incarnation as besides of teaching Ju Jutsu, an open martial art, he is constantly inventing new techniques. These are smart, effective in a way that with the least physical input the most in terms of destruction is done. He is with Shobukai Shimbun Austria.

[@user-np4ev3cd5g]

I just don't think I could take combat advice from someone who's never been in a fight

[@gretchenchadwick8343]

My special needs son really likes the Bartitsu self defense system, finds it very interesting.

[@Bobvanksy]

One of the most unfortunate names for a martial arts style in modern society.

[@mortgagefinancing5558]

Itd the art of the respected late Grandmaster Bart Simpson

[@donaldoduckus6566]

Beeblebrox One NOPE when i was a kid i was taken too a bar to see some tits.

[@robotjoxx3166]

Bartitsu is the Fedora of martial arts

[@godrilla5549]

The Bartitsu Kid would have been a classier film.

[@heterosapien8426]

Looks like a good way to get beat up outside of Comic-Con

[@Realmasterorder]

When i see these outfits and Canes i cant help to think that Kubrick's Clockwork Orange main character,borrowed a lot from this !

[@1888swordsman]

brilliant :)

[@lucascaceiro3176]

Bartitsu is a mixture of krav maga and aikido i think

[@ebor8402]

No, it predates both those martial arts.

[@Kaihku]

LOL the instructor has an unbreakable umbrella! Great! And nice colours =) #unbreakable #umbrella

[@godmaster20]

This guy Mark is quite handsome.

[@nigelgordon]

I am surprised that this has been 'rediscovered; as Bartitsu was being taught in Solihull UK in the 1970s and may well still being taught there.

[@TheGoldeagle99]

So this is what they were doing in the movie Kingsman starring Taron Egerton and Colin Firth.

[@rifles_up2263]

He admits that it's antiquated but it still cool for novelty purposes

[@kcma626]

THE EMERGENCE OF THE INTERNET lolololol these people are serious

[@johnscurr2501]

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bartitsu Edward Barton-Wright was the father of MMA in the western world he brought various strains into one method. What all of you do in your various fields came from the same original sources as this and Barton-Wright put it all together. It is as valid today as it was when he formulated it and somewhere what you see in the UFC etc arenas evolved from Bartitsu which in its turn originated from a variety of older martial forms. He simply started the joined up thinking to perfect what many of you practice today.

[@ghost7524]

I was with you until you added the UFC in there. To me, that disrespects Bartitsu, because what I see in the UFC isn't an evolution. Because while Bartitsu can be said is an entire martial art that works, can the same be said of the put together arts of Boxing, Brazilian Jiu-jitsu and Kickboxing? That was just my little pet peeve about the UFC. I agree with your comment 100%.

[@Shadowrulzalways]

Bartitsu mixes boxing, savate, cane fighting, jujutsu and judo. No wrestling was added to it.

[@Moodo76]

Robert Downey Jr is a wing chun practitioner. Case closed. If you want to fight like him, learn wing chun.

[@kishi556]

Yes, but Sir Authur Conan Doyle did learn ju-jitsu in Japan.

[@shinobi-no-bueno]

Sean Kishimoto who told you this rubbish

[@scooterfpv8864]

👍👍

[@seanhiatt6736]

All Martial Arts come from some where. Modern martial arts evolved out of these early systems. However just because for example bare knuckle boxing looks strange compared to modern boxing does not make it less effective.

[@BMH1965]

This fighting style has been used to train UK secret service officers before, during and after WW1 and WW2 - the only thing that changed was the name.

[@koiil0148]

BMH1965 yeah of course and the current secret service use it to do they

[@ebor8402]

Utter rubbish. They were trained in W E Fairbairn's system in WW2.

[@robertnewell4054]

As they train, do they ever truly pressure test themselves to see how things go when intensity is ratcheted up?

[@sachit5000]

The music could be louder....

[@chess747]

It may have worked back in the day, but even the basic person on the street, knows many ways to fight, an example would be, fighting dirty.

[@anti1training]

Or just being aggressive and going for straight punches

[@dissonantiacognitiva7438]

Fartitsu is most like what this should be called So someone saw Sherlock and us now milking it. Now the problem is that Sherlock is supposed to be a high genius, predicting stuff, and most people are just your average Joe who can predict which channel they want to watch next.

[@6arcsn1sky]

Dana White, Bruce Lee is far from being the person to invent mixed martial arts, for bartitsu, along with Choi Li Fut, yoseikan budo, kajukenbo, and shotokan, which I find hard to believe, were hybrid styles that were years ahead of zit kyun do.

[@PaulRichard2]

Most of the Bartitsu practitioners I've dealt with over the years are not deluded enough to think this martial art would serve them well in a UFC or street fight situation. You will of course get the occasional overly nerdy exception. Most seem more interested in the historical context rather than its application. The steampunk community might fall under either category, I don't know enough about them to comment.

[@mkgaming5823]

I have to disagree. Bartitsu Is a mix of mostly , Ju jitsu , Boxing and Cane fighting IT was developed as a defence , Imagine being a very wealthy person travelling Victorian London . You would not learn something for defence if it did not actually work

[@MrYukz08]

He looks a lot like Eddie vedder for some reason LOL

[@hanscascante7933]

I would say Bartitsu is a good form, if the way holmes did it was actually the way it was, Holmes was more Wing Chun, he hardly boxed which was a staple in Bartitsu

[@anti1training]

@Greg Brown I think he was referring to the movies

[@charthezombiehound8952]

... HEMA already does this... and better... you learn all this and more... like sabers, longswords, rapiers, sideswords, broadswords, canes. sticks, quarterstaff, spear, pike... this is like picking HEMA and throwing everything out except these things mentioned here... Also Sherlock Holmes used classic Pugilism in hand to hand...

[@lancerd4934]

Bartitsu is a HEMA discipline. Doing HEMA doesn't mean you do all of those things, it means you do one or more of them. HEMA isn't a syncretic martial art like MMA that incorporates a bunch historical weapons and techniques, it's just a blanket term for all the different historical systems of defence. HEMA isn't "better" than bartitsu because bartistu is HEMA, just as Ringeck's longsword is HEMA and McBane's shearing sword and Ott Jud's ringen and LeBoucher's cane and Fiore's dagger and I33 sword & buckler and Hutton's sabre and Marozzo's sidesword and di Grassi's rapier & cloak and Silver's backsword etc etc Bartitsu is like victorian MMA that incorporates elements of Vigny's cane, French savate, English pugilism and Japanese jiujitsu with some improvised stuff with everyday objects in a similar manner to Donald McBane. The fact that it brings such disparate systems together into a single martial art makes it rather unique, but it is still historical and therefore still HEMA.

[@surobakianinpo]

little less conversation little more action would be nice. at first i thought, hey this reminds me of our systema classes but... no. no free movement, no intuitive body reaction, no technique-less simple fight for survival. show us more! i also think that bartitsu is worth it.

[@TheBlueSniper]

isn't bartitsu very heavily based on wing chun?

[@axessdenyd]

English pugilism--but classical pugilism and Wing Chun have a surprising number of similarities--they punch with the vertical fist, and certain boxing stances look a lot like Wing Chun. Look back far enough to before they had rules against standing grappling and throws (not to mention gloves), and boxing looks very different than it does today.

[@lancerd4934]

No, it's based on a fusion of English, French and Japanese martial arts, most notably pugilism, vigny's cane, savate and jiujitsu.

[@jacklarkin4706]

Lancer D is right, it is a hybrid martial art, created over 100 years ago by Edward William Barton-Wright an antimony smelting specialist for the E.H. Hunter Company in Kobe, Japan. It was Sherlock Holmes who kept the art alive, (I'll be it misspelled by the author as baritsu).

[@doctorhunger921]

There's literally no reason for gentlemen not to be physically fit though. If you have money, you have free time. If you have free time, hit the weights. Wasn't Sherlock Holmes incredibly strong? He could bend an iron bar into a pretzel and lift men off the ground with his hands. No excuse for not working out in this day and age-- the cheapest gyms go for 10 bucks a month, which practically anyone can afford.

[@kaindrg]

dana white isnt an expert on any of this stuff same with any mma guy who also seem to think that pankration and greek boxing is the direct ancestor of modnern mma based on far fetch conjecture that would make most historian and cultural athropologists cringe. people give these guys too much credit.

[@matthewrobertson232]

In most of these "gentlemen's" cases they will no be fighting with canes and umbrellas.. rather the thing they have on hand the most, which would be (FLESHLIGHTS). LOL

[@coffeecappucino6874]

Not Bartitsu is Wing Chun

[@baotrannguyenngoc9964]

Baritsu is british🇬🇧 martial art.

[@j.d.4697]

That arm posture with the wrists up is so silly. You completely cripple your power and range of motion with it. Otherwise I love this concept.

[@server.bay.Walter]

Yup just get a fight coordinator and some people willing to go along with a fully scripted fight scene and you to can fight like what ever you see on the tv. FyHpoS.

[@TheSaneHatter]

Part of me wants to see if I can blend this with my aikido training: my real life has more in common with some of these Victorians than it does with the MMA crowd.

[@chavruta2000]

put up your dukes.

[@0Ruzena0]

Its kinda dangerous to tell all those fat people they can defend, they will end up seriously hurt in case they get into dangerous situation

[@bandicootcollector]

Steampunk and all this stuff is not 'Gentlemanly' - It's a sub-culture; a gentleman is modest and sharply dressed, not covered in bits and bobs,looking untidy and wearing the clothing wrong (each piece has its own etiquette and set) the same goes for these weird moustaches, that's being eccentric, not a well-groomed gentleman....But that's just a small gripe I have. I like steampunk, it's cool but it's not 'gentlemanly'

[@uppitywhiteman6797]

Agreed, this is just the latest role play. I find their dress weird. I suppose they are having fun. As to the art I find other cane fighting techniques better, But the Batjitisu pholosophy that what you have at hand is your best weapon. I find big heavy rocks a good weapon. You can bash or hurl and it doesn't leave good prints.

[@UnclePengy]

I'm pretty sure they referred to bartitsu as "gentlemanly", not steampunk.

[@PpAirO5]

I would love to practice Bartitsu, but it's like none existent. Not very easy pick up any "schools" at least in my country.

[@jaredgreen5840]

Here in America freedom loving individuals pack pistols and practice judoknow... You dunno if I have knife, gun, brass knuckles, taser.... judoknow... "Hey what's that over there?!. Woot, POW, POW!. (double tap 9mm to the gut). I win!. Kinda like Bartitsa but it doesn't matter whether you're a seemingly defenseless old lady or a big bad looking bloke, best self defense in the world. Lol 😜😉👍

[@JAMES-xk4os]

Jared Green True. Also better range than Mutombo trying to kick you.

[@GenesisXTRM]

Sooo.......it's basically Kali....

[@anti1training]

Don't compare us to them please

[@GenesisXTRM]

@@anti1training i do kali, looks a lot like kali...but kali looks a lot like karate in someways, like karate has moves that resemble kung fu, martial arts are quite relative, it wasn't meant as an insult of technique, just and observation of similarities....

[@anti1training]

@@GenesisXTRM I was making a joke about how bad Bartitsu was haha

[@GenesisXTRM]

@@anti1training Aww that's not nice.....kinda funny though

[@flappospammo]

so much for bruce lee inventing mma in the mid 1960's...

[@MrAmulyamishra]

Flappo Spammo Bartistu is just a self defence.

[@johnscurr2501]

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bartitsu

[@74Cheshire]

"Is this a good weapon? It is if it's in my hand at the time I'm attacked" Anyone who thinks the KPI for a weapon is whether or not you're holding it has severe logic gaps. You are literally be better off not having a weapon in your hands at all than having one that won't achieve anything useful in the given situation - Anyone who has studied combat history knows this.

[@yashpandey3.3.3]

00:50 bartistu is real , but not genuine.

[@encalle2869]

Really?😂

Lol. Another Bullshito "martial art"... Self defense, or any fight for that matter, is fluid and with ever changing variables. You don't "outthink" your attacker. You negate the attacks and look for your opening to strike. You don't do a 300 page essay on a punch in order to come up with a counter. That's for movies.

[@LK2.O]

I just hate how these betas are making a mockery of Bartitsu.

[@JUSTFlavaTown]

It’s a very civilized Krav Maga

[@charlieholmes4734]

Sherlock Holmes doesn't fight like this he usual ACTUAL martial arts

[@EngineerMK2004]

Just do Judo

[@marksteven6116]

will not work- in real fight learn to fight - or better run away

[@amateurfighterforever9835]

I was doing professional boxing for 10 year and now after recovering from an accident in thhe ring(A dislocated shoulder and broken clavicula i started Kickboxing from half a year .I know how to fight but i dont understand what seems inneficient about a style that teach you to hit your opponent in the face with a kane,stick or something else .Sorry for bad english and if i seemed rude .

[@horvathbenedek3596]

Hitting someone on the face with a cane is a great way to knock them out - unless they have a cane too. Compare apples with apples. The hand-to-hand part of this is obviously useless. You can't fence properly with a cane or an umbrella, and if you want to learn to fence, just learn HEMA. And hitting someone on the head with a stick doesn't really require special talent. This is Krav Maga all over again - some idiot gave a name to systematically kicking people in the nut.

[@amateurfighterforever9835]

I agree with you man it was just a joke just to point out how stupid is a martial art for self defence that teach you to hit the atacker with a stick . But you need to agree with me with all my pro Boxing career and Kickboxing i will never challange a guy in the street for a fight if he is armed with a kane or baseball beat for example right

[@marksteven6116]

its all about speed and power- fighting skill is important -but with out the speed and power you are lost , a stick will not stop a hard man, unless it breaks his skull

[@amateurfighterforever9835]

I agree man .I usually avoid fighting if i am not in the ring because i say about me i am a sportsman not a fighter . I was in plenty of street fights just because in my country we face a real social problem with the gipsyes and they use to atack population on te streets many times for no reason .Then they are armed with knives .Baseball beats . I personally was atacked 19 different times here with a knife and i was forced to fight my way out nothing to brag about but is the everyday life here for us . I am lucky i have the speed ,power and skill to manage this situation but my point in thhe comment it wasnt that .It was (I Will never challange a man for a fight if he is armed with a kane becauseit will be an insanity to provoke them i mean from point of wiew of an atacker if the victim is armed .

[@nacholibre1962]

Not an effective technique at all. Preposterous nonsense. There’s a good reason it was so short lived, originally.

[@antonyshannon2276]

It was literally just a mix of boxing and French kickboxing and judo. Nothing wrong with the techniques. However it really wasn't a unique style or anything. It was just a club whete Edward Barton Wright gathered various athletes of the time and he branded it as "bartitsu". It fell apart because it again was just a club that was badly run at that by Mr Wright. He went on to some grift about phyaicl therapy.

[@AmazingJMS]

lame

[@dsbond8048]

Hilarious. Great for defending yourself from imaginary attackers.

[@Ppurk]

ever hear of a cotta?

[@anti1training]

@@Ppurk kata?

[@ronindog7456]

gay nerd fighting style.

[@lancerd4934]

You know that any gay nerd will have faced down so many bullies that they definitely know how to fight, so what's your point?

[@ronindog7456]

lol don't care. sensitive ain't ya? bullies lol! u a child nigga! wtf u know

[@jacklarkin4706]

Man, shut up.

[@lancerd4934]

Jack Larkin Please don't encourage him.

[@ronindog7456]

Jack Larkin blah

[@JustLookA7]

Nerds and their cosplays are going too far with this fake martial art.

[@leehayward4988]

SomeGuy bartitsu is not a fake martial art at all its a very real hybrid martial art.

[@dorianphilotheates3769]

Freakazoids.