It might be safe to say that anyone familiar with any depth into the Sherlock Holmes (including the most recent film endeavors), are somewhat aware of Bartitsu, the martial art that Sir Arthur Conan Doyle introduced in his works. What one might not know it is undergoing a revival, with classes of Bartitsu and Neo-Bartitsu (similar to the classic form, but with elements of Chinese boxing, classic sword fighting techniques, and Brazilian Jujitsu as part of it – per its Wikipedia entry). In addition, its has its own homepage – the Bartitsu Society (as one can see above), which is chock-full of excellent reading and supplemental writings regarding this martial form.
An advert from an Bartitsu even in New York, earlier this year!I’ve been quite keen about learning more (contrary to my painful classes practicing saber fencing), so if this happens to pique your interest, and as any Steampunk gentleman would certainly be up to the task of standing up for his or a companion’s honor (or simply dealing with ruffians), do take a visit to their online locale! It has a very in-depth library of articles (since 2008!), and is likely to devour a good bit of time… so make oneself comfortable and take a jaunt to: http://www.bartitsu.org/
A documentary on Bartitsu, by the Bartitsu SocietyFor more information, please visit:
The Art of Manliness article on Bartitsu, at: http://artofmanliness.com/2009/01/05/bartitsu-gentlemen/
More regarding “Canonical Bartitsu” versus “Neo-Bartitsu”: http://www.fullcontactmartialarts.org/bartitsu.html
… and a plethora of Bartitsu videos on the the Bartitsu Society’s YouTube channel, at: http://www.youtube.com/user/BartitsuSociety
