Bartitsu History
Edward Barton-Wright
was born in India in 1860 to an English father and Scottish mother. He was educated in Europe and travelled the world operating mining concessions. During a three-year stay in Japan, he became interested in Jiu-Jitsu, taking lessons at the school of Jigoro Kano. In 1898, he returned to Britain, and in 1900 he established the “Bartitsu School of Arms and Physical Culture” at 67b, Shaftesbury Avenue, London. Various forms of self-defence were taught at the school, including wrestling and savate. He also arranged for two judo experts to travel from Japan, Yukio Tani and Sadakazu Uyenishi. These two masters became the earliest Japanese emissaries for JiuJitsu in Britain.In a talk to the Japan Society in 1901, Barton-Wright said:
“Under Bartitsu is included boxing or the use of the fist as a hitting medium, the use of the feet both in an offensive and defensive sense, the use of the walking stick as a means of self-defence.”
In 1901, he wrote a two-part illustrated feature for Pearson’s Magazine entitled: “Self defence with a walking stick.” He gave full credit for the system to “a Swiss Professor of Arms M. Vigny.”
Pierre Vigny
was born in Paris in 1866. In the mid-1880s, he joined the Second Regiment of French Artillery at Grenoble, where he obtained the title of maitre d’armes. After leaving the services, he opened a boxing academy in Geneva and a fencing salle in Evian-les-Bains. In 1899, he relocated to London and accepted an invitation from the Bartitsu Academy to teach La Canne and Savate.Vigny learned his skills in the military, where the tradition of La Canne was established in 1851 by the Joinville-Le-Pont School. The military-style was different to the civilian. Military parries had the tip of the stick pointing downwards, and strikes could be given with either hand. This combination of ambidexterity and tip-down parries became the hallmark of the Vigny style. His method combined maximum personal safety with a fearsome offensive capability. The syllabus was also easy to learn; Vigny stated that his whole system could be mastered in just 12 lessons. .
