Viking Cronholm: Swedish Jujitsu pioneer

[Tony Wolf]

Hi folks,

I'm looking for biographical information on Viking Cronholm, the man who is credited with introducing Jujitsu to Sweden.

This is what Google has dredged up, with my additional comments and questions indicated by **:

-----
The Swedish physiotherapist, boxer and elite-sportsman Viking Cronholm travelled to South-Africa in 1904. It was there that a few years later he was taught Ju-jutsu by an English officer.

** Possibly the infamous Leopold McLaglen? I believe that he was working as a Jiujitsu instructor in South Africa at this time, and he claimed the rank of Captain in the British Army.**

He returned to Sweden, and immediately introduced Ju-jutsu to his old boxing friends.

The first official Ju-jutsu exhibition followed by a course in self-defence, was held in January 1908. Cronholm continued his studies with various Japanese Ju-jutsu masters, probably those who had started the Ju-jutsu institute in London.

** Presumably, these would include Yukio Tani, Taro Miyake and Sadekazu Uyenishi; any ideas as to other likely candidates?**

His first Ju-jutsu demonstration in Stockholm was given immense attention, and he gained great interest and support from the most prominent sporting leaders in Sweden, amongst others the "father of modern sport", the General and head of the Central Gymnastic institute, Viktor Balck.

Cronholm´s efforts to start a boxing an Ju-jutsu institute in Stockholm were not so successful, however, so he devoted the rest of his lifetime to the instruction of the military, police, watchmen and other uniformed groups in close combat and self-defence techniques. Cronholm did, however, willingly demonstrate Ju-jutsu in sports clubs. Due to Cronholm´s efforts "jiu jitsu" became an recognised term in Sweden. Because so many people learnt his techniques, Ju-jutsu did not become surrounded by the mysticism that is often related to budo. Ju-jutsu in Sweden (in contrast to many other countries) has never become esoteric nor exotic.

It must, however, be emphasised that Cronholm´s Ju-jutsu never developed into a sporting system, nor was it practised systematically or to any great extent within any sports organisation. The sporting practise of Ju-jutsu had thus not yet been established.

On the other hand, the Ju-jutsu which Cronholm practised has many similarities with the present style, and many of the techniques he taught are still practised today, although in somewhat different manner. His Ju-jutsu was less dynamically orientated than that of the present day, using the reaction to pain more extensively, not least of all in the techniques applied to the wrist, which were amongst his favourites (kote gaeshi, ude osae, hiji gatame). Viking Cronholm was incredibly quick in his movements. He liked to use "small" techniques, but also dramatic atemi, the use of thrusts to vital anatomical points or the moment of surprise. His personal favourite was called "the kiss-hold", particularly useful for women confronted with unwelcome attention. It is very similar to one of the techniques found in the present Ju-jutsu system.

Viking Cronholm remained active until he was around 75 years old, holding demonstrations and instructing the military. He died in 1961, at the age of 87, and had hence been involved in Ju-jutsu for nearly 60 years. By then he come in contact with the first representatives of modern budo who had begun their activity in Sweden around 1950. Cronholms´s classical, close combat Ju-jutsu differed, however, from the style inspired by judo which was now being imported from the Continent.

Cronholm´s well known book "Jiu-jitsu Tricks" from 1908 has been published in more than 30 editions and was on sale into the 1990:s. This would make it one of the most popular sports-books in Sweden. Many tens of thousands of Swedes had also been instructed in Ju-jutsu by Viking Cronholm. He was even a pioneer in the teaching of Ju-jutsu to women; his wife Ester participated in demonstrations in the early part of the century, and was very adept at Ju-jutsu.

Due to Cronholm´s efforts, Ju-jutsu became the budo-sport with the incomparably longest history in Sweden.

In the sports-press of the 1920:s and 1930:s there was also a great interest in Ju-jutsu. Through comprehensive articles especially in the boxing-journal "Swing", young men, and maybe even women, taught themselves a primitive form of Ju-jutsu. Instruction in Ju-jutsu could also be taken from Alex Wiemark who ran an institute for boxing and Ju-jutsu in Stockholm from the 1920:s until the end of the 1940's. Some of Cronholm´s pupils also gave instruction in self-defence, among them the policeman Arthur Lidberg, active in Gothenburg during the 1930:s, and Ernst Wessman, who had gained his Ju-jutsu education in Germany and who was particularly interested in self-defence for women, subsequently starting an "Amazon-Order" in Stockholm.

**An order of jujutsu-trained Swedish amazons ...**
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http://www.slba.se/journaldigital/REEL_HISTORY/projektet.htm - six
short videos of Cronholm demonstrating shadow-boxing, sparring, boxing
punches, strongman poses and jiujitsu techniques in 1919.

I'm also told that Cronholm credited K. Saito, the author of "Jiu Jitsu Tricks" in 1905, and M. Ohashi, author of "Japanese Physical Culture" in 1904 as being amongst his jiujitsu teachers.

Any additional information will be appreciated!

[Scott Harrington]

Unfortunately, I do not have any material on that particular instructor.

However, I was wondering if you have info on a 'Wald. Nielsens' who taught at a 'Jiu Jitsu Skole' ? I have several images of him and wish to gather more material on him. The language barier precludes a more thorough search.

Thanks for any help.

Scott Harrington

[johan smits]

Hi Tony,

Around that time there were not a lot of places in Europe where jujutsu was practised. Besides London as you mentioned, Paris and Berlin come to mind. Did he have any connection to the military? France, Germany and England had their military train in this formidable art. To which extend I don't know probably they had some courses running each with their own instructors.

K. Saito from Nagasaki, the book is a bit troublesome I think - I doubt if the illustrations used were original. Maybe it was put together from different books from that period. I am not sure if K. Saito actually existed. Or it should be that K. Saito was one of the Saito brothers who taught Tsutsumi Hozan-ryu jujutsu to Jan de Jong sensei in Indonesia, I don't know.

I must have some material on Leopold McLaglen somewhere I will take a look at it and see if I can come up with something.

best,

Johan Smits

[Tony Wolf]

Scott,

no, I'm afraid that I don't have anything on Mr. Nielsens.

[Tony Wolf]

Johan,

I'm trying to trace the specific lineages of the jiujitsu pioneers in various European countries. I have a great deal of information on the English and French sources (E.W. Barton-Wright, Tani, Uyenishi, Miyake, "Re-Nie" a.k.a Ernest Regnier, etc.) and am now trying to discover whether there was any direct lineage between these men and people like Cronholm and his Dutch equivalent, P.M.C. Toepoel.

If Cronholm did initially learn his jiujitsu from McLaglen while in South Africa, that probably places him within the "Bartitsu stream" of early 20th century jiujitsuka. Although McLaglen himself claimed to have learned the basics of the art from a Japanese house guest when he was a boy, it's much more likely that he attended Barton-Wright's Bartitsu Club in London circa 1900. Assuming that he was telling the truth about his military service, he was serving with the Mounted Infantry in South Africa from 1901 to 1902, and seems to have immediately set up shop as a jiujitsu instructor in SA after that. If this is the case, then he would not have been exposed to the minor proliferation of dojo and books that emerged in London after the Bartitsu Club closed its doors in 1903, and his training could only have been with Barton-Wright, Tani or Uyenishi.

On the other hand, McLaglen doesn't seem to have told a great deal of truth about anything, so this is all conjecture ...

I'm not sure that there was any actual jiujitsu instruction available in Paris before Ernest Regnier began teaching there in 1906 (Regnier having studied at the Tani/Miyake dojo in London during early 1905).

Tony

[johan smits]

Tony,

I am at the office right now but I will see what I can find tonight.

best,

Johan Smits

[gabro]

Tony,

I can't help you at the moment. I know the swedish publication Svenska Fighter printed an article or two about him in the early 90ties, but my collection is all wrapped up and packed away in another country. If you find it and need a hand translating it send me a PM.

I am curious as to why Judo / jujutsu was introduced so much later in Norway. Have you come across any mentioning of Norwegians with regards to Mr Cronholm?

Cheers,

Mads

[Tony Wolf]

Mads,

no, all I know about him is listed in the first post.

Thanks for the translation offer - I shall keep digging.

Tony

[Jason Couch]

K. Saito was supposedly from Nagasaki- he came to the US around 1905 touring with the Kitamura troupe, IIRC. First Ohashi was picked up by Richard K. Fox's National Police Gazette which published a series of poses/techniques around 1904 or so. Fox then published them as a book after the serial run was completed. After Ohashi, Fox published the Saito photos, billing Ohashi as the beginner course (lots of partner-assisted stretching) and Saito as the advanced course.

Don't know if Saito was his real name or not, but I think Robert Smith may have said it was a pseudonym in his biblio.

[Tony Wolf]

Jason, thanks for that.

The USA reference is useful - I found the following on a Swedish-language version of Wikipedia and can't make much of it, except that it seems to place Cronholm in Chicago between 1895-1900. Perhaps the Saito/Ohashi connection was simply that Cronholm had read their articles ...

Any Swedish speakers out there? Mads? :)

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Viking Cronholm
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Viking Cronholm (1874 – 1961) har gått till hävderna som den som introducerade den japanska kampsporten jujutsu i Sverige.

Viking var son till vice häradshövdingen Axel Cronholm, grundare av Jönköpings Juridiska byrå, som med familjen flyttade till Stockholm 1891, med flott våning på Birger Jarlsgatan och 11-rums sommarvistet ”Villa Metsola” på Lidingö. Föräldrahemmet var högborgerligt och den unge Vikings allt överskuggande idrottsintresse och senare framgångar vann varken då eller senare uppskattning i den Cronholmska överklassfamiljen.

Fadern såg sig ingen annan råd än att ta sin Viking ur skolan, Jönköpings Läroverk, och låta honom ”gå till sjöss”. Detta ledde nu inte till att det blev fason på lättingen, men väl till att Viking fick insikt om att det fanns intressant kunskap att hämta utanför Sveriges gränser. Modern fann dock lösningen och Viking utbildade sig till sjukgymnast på Liedbeckska Institutet i Stockholm med högsta betyg åren 1891-1893. Med denna grundutbildning och faderns affärskontakter i ryggen tillbringade Viking åren 1895-1900 i Chicago, USA för vidare förkovran. Denna synes dock ha skett mest på fritiden, som han ägnade åt boxning - krönt av en mästartitel vid tävlingar i Portland. Men praktiken kom att ge försörjning vid återkomsten på Gustaf Zanders Medico-mekaniska institut i Stockholm, en tidig föregångare till dagens gym.

30 år gammal och nygift med 20-åriga Dina Ottilia for Viking 1904 på nytt utrikes - till Kapstaden i Sydafrika. Där öppnade han ett eget institut för sjukgymnastik, men flyttade två år senare till Ling-gymnastik på Carlton Hotel i Johannesburg. Det var här som han fick de avgörande impulserna i riktning mot jujutsu av såväl engelska som japanska instruktörer och kunde återvända till Sverige i december 1907 till en snabb introduktion av dess tekniker och knep.

Detta och Vikings vidare karriär som instruktör och mot högsta mästargraden har fått ett eget kapitel i Jan Malmstedts faktatäta och fängslande skildring av jujutsus historia.
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[johan smits]

Tony,

The only thing I found about McLaglen was that he was in 1912 in Durban Natal Africa, from his book Jiujitsu a manual of the science. It shows a very small group photo with the text 1912 Durban Natal Africa Chief Commissioner of Police D. Donovan.

I seem to remember Graham Noble did some articles on jiujitsu for Fighting Arts International. One of them mentions McLaglen.

About Toepoel: (from: het origineele jujutsu, 2nd printing, no date, no.31 Bibliotheek voor sport en spel)

"...in 1899 I read in an English Magazine about an international system of self defence which had used amongst others a couple of pins from jiujitsu."

He got into contact (he gives no name here) with a Japanized (is it a word?) Englishman who had trained daily for seven years with Tarro Myaki.
He had to promise never to teach jiujitsu in the United Kingdom.
They trained in an old boxingschool.

In Paris he learned from De Ponthieu pere who had trained according to Toepoel for some year and a half in Oxfordstreet.

In another book: Weerbaar handleiding voor zelfverdediging, 3d printing, 1943 he mentions Jack Madden as the best jiujitsuteacher he ever had.

That is about it.

Best,

Johan Smits

[Tony Wolf]

Hi Johan,

thanks - I think I have most of what is available on McLaglen, including a copy of his rather eccentric book and Graham Noble's articles.

I am most intrigued by this information from Toepoel!

"...in 1899 I read in an English Magazine about an international system of self defence which had used amongst others a couple of pins from jiujitsu."

This is obviously Barton-Wright's Bartitsu system, first detailed in his Pearson's Magazine articles during March and April of 1899.

"He got into contact (he gives no name here) with a Japanized (is it a word?) Englishman who had trained daily for seven years with Tarro Myaki.
He had to promise never to teach jiujitsu in the United Kingdom.
They trained in an old boxingschool."

Now this is very interesting indeed ... hopefully there will be a way to identify the man Toepoel trained with. I believe that Miyake arrived in England in 1905 and that he joined forces with Yukio Tani at the Oxford Street dojo, but that school is generally thought to have only lasted for two years. Miyake worked as a professional wrestler in England and France until the outbreak of WW1, when he sailed to the USA.

"In Paris he learned from De Ponthieu pere who had trained according to Toepoel for some year and a half in Oxfordstreet."

I think that must be a reference to Ernest Regnier's jiujitsu school, at 55 rue de Ponthieu in Paris. Regnier, who used the professional name "Re-Nie", was a French wrestler who had trained with Tani and Miyake at the Oxford Street dojo during 1904-early 1905. He set up his school in Paris, with the help of physical culture expert Edmond Desbonnet, in late 1905-1906.

All I know about Jack Madden is that he challenged Tani to a contest in 1907.

Cheers,

Tony

[Joseph Svinth]

From Kronos, 1922:

A Norwegian diplomat named Lauritz Grønvold undertakes judo studies at the Kodokan in Tokyo. Upon leaving Japan six years later, Grønvold received his black belt at a ceremony attended by the Emperor, making him the first (and perhaps only) European to be so honored. Other Norwegian judo pioneers included Haakon Schonning, who started teaching Fairbairn's defendu system to Norwegian policemen in 1929.

In Sweden, pioneers include Viking Cronholm, who introduced jujutsu to Stockholm as early as 1908, and his students Alex Wiemark, Arthur Lidberg, and Ernst Wessman. Jacques Rigolet introduced Kawaishi's methods to Stockholm in 1948, and in 1957, the Dutch judoka Gerhard Gosen also started clubs in Sweden. Danish pioneers include Knud Janson, who established a judo organization in Copenhagen in 1944.

In Finland, Torsten Muren established a judo club in Helsinki in 1958.

Early Scandinavian instructors were usually foreign: British at the Norwegian clubs, French at the Danish clubs, German, French, or Dutch at the Swedish clubs, and Japanese at the Finnish clubs

[Joseph Svinth]

For several possibilities for the unnamed Englishman, see http://www.budokwai.org/history_vol_i.htm#Tani%20Yukio

[johan smits]

Tony,

I think Toepoel indeed was talking about Bartitsu.

Toepoel says that he leaned jujutsu after the schools in Piccadilly and Oxfordstreet were closed down and that he was brought into contact with the gentleman by boxingfriends of him who knew of his interest in jujutsu.

In France he mentions a person De Ponthieu pere (father De Ponthieu) who was very sympathetic. From the text it is obvious he means a person and not an adress. But it would be a coincidence would it not? On the other hand Toepoel writes very precise. Or maybe he had a reason to be vague>

Further in the text he calls it strange that in a metropole like London, two large grand jujutsuschools were not the place where he learned jujutsu but in an old rundown boxingschool with a very thin carpet. "Each time someone came in we would stop so no one could learn by watching."

Tony, Toepoel was first and foremost a boxingteacher so it seems logical that he would have friends in those circles, maybe that will lead to something.

best,

Johan Smits

[Tony Wolf]

Joe,

we have a pretty good idea of the senior instructors that emerged from the Tani/Miyake dojo, or at least those who went on to write their own books and teach. The names that appear most frequently in this connection are Percy Longhurst, W. Bruce Sutherland, W.H. Collingridge and Percy Bickerdike; along with William Garrud, who took over the management of the Golden Square dojo when Uyenishi returned to Japan, these men seem to have comprised the second generation of British judo/jiujitsu instructors. There were also several female teachers in that generation (Edith Garrud, Emily Watts and Phoebe Roberts), but obviously they would be discounted from the present search.

Of these, I think that Longhurst had the strongest connection to the boxing scene. I'm also wondering if Toepoel's mysterious instructor could possibly have been E.J. Harrison ... a "Japanized Englishman" ...

Tony

[gabro]

Thanks Joe, I really need to learn to go to Kronos before I open my mouth to ask stupid questions. Not to take anything away from the Judo pioneers of Norway, but I have always wondered if anything was introduced earlier, as Norwegians were all over the place in the early 1900s.

Tony, I will PM you a translation. Although I feel the need to point out that I am Norwegian, not Swedish.......BIG DIFFERENCE :p

Cheers,

Mads

[Tony Wolf]

Johan,

I'm coming up with a total blank for "de Ponthieu pere". Very puzzling, unless he was writing in code and meant something like "the father (or senior) of Ponthieu (street)".

I'm told that at least one of Toepoel's books on self defence gives credit to, and includes pictures from Ernest Regnier's (Re-Nie's) book, "Les Secrets du Jiujitsu" (1905). In "Een en ander omtrent ju jutsu" a 51-page booklet apparently written by Toepoel in 1910, he credits "Uyenishi, Koyama en Miyami, Re-nie, Okashi, Saito, Tani, Apollo----toen de scholen in piccadilly en oxfordstreet".

Of these, only Apollo (the showman and jiujitsu entrepreneur William Bankier) is even vaguely close to being English - he was a Scot, and I can't see him being described as "Japanized".

Toepoel is an intriguing character ...

Tony

[Tony Wolf]

There was one other French student at the Oxford Street dojo - the writer Jean-Joseph Renaud, who went on to produce an excellent book on eclectic self defence techniques called "Defense dans la Rue" (1912). Like Barton-Wright, Longhurst and Toepoel, Renaud was an early advocate of cross-training between different martial arts.

[johan smits]

Tony,

You beat me to it! Exactly what I was thinking. Toepoel had no reason to be vaque and pere (father) could very well be "father of Ponthieu street dojo"or something like that.

In his first book he does use photo's from the book "les secrets du jiujitsu" the other book you mention "een en ander omtrent jujutsu" I am not aware of (actually first time I have heard of it).
Toepoel does mention the names you give in his books. He just does not name them as his teachers.

E.J. Harisson came to mind he was a long time resident of Japan I think.

I will be doing more research on Toepoel in the future but at the moment I am finishing a small project on one of our other pre-WWII teachers, Johan van der Bruggen, the man who introduced judo and kendo to The Netherlands before WWII.
As far as I can see now there have been four of five original (independent from each other) lines bringing jujutsu into The Netherlands.
Toepoel was one of them and the first so it seems.

best,

Johan Smits

[Tony Wolf]

An informal search suggests that Harrison didn't return to London until after the First World War, and I can't find anything directly connecting him to Miyake.

But this may be promising ... W.E. Steers, described by Jigoro Kano as "the most earnest foreign student I ever had", was training at the Kodokan between 1903 and 1904, and also met and studied jiujitsu with E.J Harrison while there. Steers was back in London between 1904 and 1911, so the period seems to match Toepoel's account of a "Japanized Englishman".

However, Steers became attached to the Golden Square dojo, rather than the Oxford Street school run between 1904-05 by Tani and Miyake. We know that the Golden Square dojo outlasted Oxford Street, and it's not unlikely that Miyake continued to teach as a freelancer in between his professional wrestling engagements. But Steers also apparently built a dojo attached to his home, so wouldn't that have been the logical place for him to train Toepoel, rather than a run-down boxing gym?

The whole secrecy element is very puzzling ...

[Michael-H]

Jan Malmstedt has spent some time researching swedish ju-jutsu history and has published a book under the auspices of the Swedish Budo Federation (Svenska budo förbundet). The title is "Jujutsuns väg, från självförsvar till idrott" (The Way of Ju-jutsu, from selfdefence to sport) and the main focus of the book is on Viking Cronholm. Sadly I think it is only available is swedish.

In lieu of that I found Jan's version of the history of Ju-jutsu in sweden presented on the home page of the Swedish Ju-jutsu federation (Svenska Ju-jutsu förbundet) with a translation into english.

http://ju-jutsu.se/ju-jutsu/history.jsp (I am posting only the link as the chairman has taken a more literal view of the copyright laws of late.)

If you have a sincere interest I am sure that Jan would be happy to help you or at least point you in the right direction.

jan.malmstedt -at- ju-jutsu.se

/M

[johan smits]

Tony,

That seems to rule Harisson out.

Steers would have excellent first hand knowledge of what a dojo should look like. He seems unlikely to be someone to settle for a rundown boxing gym to practice in.

It seems to me Toepoel described a shabby boxing gym still in use as such. Me mentions when someone came in they stopped practicing so others couldn't see what they were doing (steal techniques) doesn't sound like a dojo to me.

I will see if I can come up with more info. If so I will post it here.

best for now,

Johan Smits

[47th ronin]

He got into contact (he gives no name here) with a Japanized (is it a word?) Englishman who had trained daily for seven years with Tarro Myaki.
He had to promise never to teach jiujitsu in the United Kingdom.
They trained in an old boxingschool.


From the description,and the time frame, it sounds like it would have been an Englishman who trained with Myaki in Japan. Where did Myaki train before he went to England? Anybody know how old he was?

[Tony Wolf]

Hi Johan,

if you do ever come across any more info. on Toepoel, I'd be very interested. It might be possible to trace some of the techniques or the pedagogy presented in his books back to Barton-Wright, Uyenishi, Tani et al.

Just one more question - in the Toepoel text you're working from, is there any indication as to the specific dates when he received his jiujitsu training?

Tony

[Joseph Svinth]

Tony --

Steers was my guess, but as you say, he was connected to Uyenishi rather than Miyake. Specifically, Steers first went to Japan in 1903. There he met E.J. Harrison, and with Harrison he trained in jujutsu until returning to London in 1904. Once back home he quickly joined S.K. Uyenishi's judo club at Golden Square in Soho, and after Uyenishi left Europe the ever-enthusiastic Steers built a house that included a judo dojo. In 1911, Steers sold the house and went to Tokyo to enroll at the Kodokan, where he earned his 1-dan in 1912. For more on this, see Jigoro Kano's remarks at http://ejmas.com/jcs/jcsart_JapanTimes1_1299.htm . QUESTION -- After Uyenishi left, did Steers train with Miyake? The timing would be correct. But, to learn that, one would probably need to dig through the Bowen Collection, and then spend significant time in the British Library.

As for Harrison, he remained in Japan (with occasional trips to Korea) until 1913, when he started spending his time in Russia (both Vladivostok and Petrograd). Around 1916 he joined the British Army, where he served as a junior officer in the Chinese Labour Corps. This battalion dug trenches and gun pits in France during 1918. Because Harrison spoke and read Russian, he applied (and was accepted) for service in the British army that occupied Murmansk during 1918-1919. After that, he was appointed to a consulate position in the Baltics. In 1921, he returned to London as a paid flack for the Lithuanian government. For more on this, see http://ejmas.com/jcs/jcsart_svinth2_1199.htm .

[johan smits]

Tony ,

I will keep contact with you regarding Toepoel. Apart from the 1899 date in which Toepoel read the article he mentions no date.

About the techniques there may be some info where they originate (from memory Toepoel does give some info but I don't know how much) and otherwise the Dutch names he uses may give some info.

Looking at the info given here in the thread it would probably mean that if Toepoel indeed train with Harisson or Steers the jujutsu he learned would probably be from Tenjin Shinyo-ryu. If there is a Bartitsu connection that would be an eclectic system with roots in Shinden Fudo-ryu.

By the way do you have a copy of the "een en ander omtrent jujutsu" by Toepoel?

best,

Johan Smits

[Tony Wolf]

Tony --

Steers was my guess, but as you say, he was connected to Uyenishi rather than Miyake. Specifically, Steers first went to Japan in 1903. There he met E.J. Harrison, and with Harrison he trained in jujutsu until returning to London in 1904. Once back home he quickly joined S.K. Uyenishi's judo club at Golden Square in Soho, and after Uyenishi left Europe the ever-enthusiastic Steers built a house that included a judo dojo. In 1911, Steers sold the house and went to Tokyo to enroll at the Kodokan, where he earned his 1-dan in 1912. For more on this, see Jigoro Kano's remarks at http://ejmas.com/jcs/jcsart_JapanTimes1_1299.htm . QUESTION -- After Uyenishi left, did Steers train with Miyake? The timing would be correct. But, to learn that, one would probably need to dig through the Bowen Collection, and then spend significant time in the British Library.


That's where the timing gets interesting. If Steers returned to London in '04 and then left again for Tokyo in 1911, he would have had just enough time to have trained with Miyake for the requisite seven years mentioned by Toepoel. On the other hand, if that is the case then when would they (Steers and Toepoel) have trained together?

The year 1910 has been quoted as the publication datefor Toepoel's self defence booklet, but I'm not certain of that; if it's accurate, then evidently Toepoel's training in London would have happened circa 1905-1909.

Do we have any records of Miyake having trained (with) foreigners while he was still in Japan?

I doubt that there were many "Japanized" Englishmen in London during this period, let alone English jiujitsu teachers that would fit that description, so I reckon Steers is still probably the best guess.

[Tony Wolf]

Johan,

Barton-Wright is documented as having studied the Tenjin-Shinyo Ryu, the Shinden-Fudo Ryu and Kano Jiujitsu/Jiudo during his three years in Japan. The self defence kata he demonstrated in his magazine articles seem to have been a combination of Tenshin-Shinyo and Shinden-Fudo, but after he set up the Bartitsu Club in London, Tani and then Uyenisihi took over as the senior jiujitsu instructors. They evidently taught the full complement of kata-based self defence sequences as well, but their main focus was on competitive jiujitsu, following the Kodokan model of developing the art as a "manly sport" that could be safely included in physical education curricula, etc.

One of the ongoing projects of the Bartitsu Society is to cross-reference all the books produced by Tani and Miyake, Uyenishi, Bankier, Sutherland, Longhurst, Mr. and Mrs. Garrud, Toepoel, Regnier, Renaud et al to try to figure out what was most likely to have been taught at the Bartitsu Club.

I don't have any of Toepoel's books but we have some pictures from them in the Photos section of the Bartitsu YahooGroup email list - http://sports.groups.yahoo.com/group/Bartitsu_Forum/ . One of the other members of the Society does have a copy of "een en ander omtrent jujutsu".

Cheers,

Tony

[Joseph Svinth]

Miyake's travels are still not well documented (at least by me).

In 1899, Miyake got a job teaching judo at the Shubukan in Nara, the old Japanese capital east of Osaka. In 1901, after a victory in a major judo competition, he obtained a better-paying position teaching judo to the Kyoto police. In 1903, he won another national championship, and he got a job teaching the Kobe police. But he was later forced to resign, apparently as the result of a fight with some dockworkers, and so in October 1904, he went to Europe to become a music hall wrestler.

After beating the much lighter Yukio Tani in a match on December 23, 1904, Miyake and Tani opened the Oxford Street School of Judo. However, the two principals rarely taught at this club, leaving that to employees (the latter included a 17-year-old Welsh woman named Phoebe Roberts), and it folded two years later.

In September 1905, Miyake and three other Japanese traveled to the Northern Games held in Inverness, Scotland. On the 26th of the month, the Inverness Courier reported: "The three Japanese wrestlers from London -- Messrs Miyake, Eida, and Kanaya -- were the stars of the meeting, and their bouts with the local wrestlers, who were thrown with ease, immensely delighted the lookers-on. In fairness to the local men it should be said that they stood up to the Japanese only at the special request of the management of the meeting. One young soldier managed to score a single point off one of the Ju-Jitsu men by pinning him down."

I don't know what he was doing from then until 1908.

From July to August 1908, Miyake was in Spain, where he had matches with Sadakazu Uyenishi and Mitsuyo Maeda. The challenge to the crowd was 500 pesatas to anyone who could resist them for fifteen minutes in a jujutsu match. Phoebe Roberts was also in attendance. (It is possible that she was Miyake's girlfriend.)

In September 1908, Miyake was back in Scotland for the Northern Games, as on September 18, 1908, the Inverness Courier reported, "A clever display of ju-jitsu, ken-jitsu (double-handed sword-fighting), and sumo wrestling was given by a quartette of Japanese, some of whose performances were perhaps too fine and finished for a large and extended crowd of spectators. The tricks and twists of body and limbs by means of which the Japanese wrestlers overcame their opponents and use their opponents' strength against them are, we suppose, the last words in the noble art of self-defence. The free bouts which the Japs had with some local wrestlers who were persuaded to step on the carpet, were more lively and entertaining, though one at least of the local men put up a better fight than had been expected."

A few weeks after he was at Kilmarnock, where he wrestled a draw with Alec Monro.

After that, nothing on 1909-1910.

Then, in September 1910, Miyake was in London. R.B. Benjamin, the promoter of the Great Gama, wrote Sporting Life that he was willing to wager a thousand pounds that Gama could throw thirty Japanese, Miyake included, in an hour. Since Gama had just beaten Ben Roller and Stanislaus Zbyszko, Miyake decided to go to Paris for awhile.

After that, another blank until February 21, 1912, when he wrestled Will Bingham in Washington, DC.

[Tony Wolf]

One more note is that the majority of the pictures from "een en ander omtrent jujutsu" seem to be taken from pre-existing books, including Regnier's "Secrets du Jiujitsu" and "the Game of Jiujitsu" by Tani and Miyake. However, the Society hasn't seen enough of the booklet to be able to identify all the pix.

Tony

[johan smits]

Tony,

In het "originele jujutsu" - "the genuine jujutsu" Toepoel does the same, I recognize some pictures from "secrets du jiujitsu".

I could use a xerox copy of the "een en ander omtrent jujutsu" in case you or your fellowmember want to make a deal, feel free to contact me at johan.smits@minbuza.nl or send me a pm.

Best,

Johan Smits

[Tony Wolf]

Hi Johan,

I've passed your suggestion and email address on to the fellow who has a copy of "een en ander omtrent jujutsu".

Tony

[johan smits]

Thanks Tony,

We'll see what comes of it.

best,

Johan Smits