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Thread: Bartitsu Question

  1. #1
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    Default Bartitsu Question

    I have no idea where to place this question, so feel free to move it to a more suitable spot.

    This is really aimed at Mr. Tony Wolf as this is his specialism, but any other educated responses will be most welcome.

    For a long time now I've had an academic (as opposed to practicing) fascination with the early days of martial arts in Europe (I mean in the modern sense, I am interested in the ideas of Talhoffer, Marazzo etc as well, but more in observing the similarity between unconnected ideas on opposite sides of the world at the same time).
    My question, which I'm sure has been answered for others elsewhere, is why there is an absence of tegatana/shuto in the recorded techniques shown by Barton-Wright.
    I realise tegatana may not have been a universal technique, and it doesn't figure in the works of near contemporaries such as Captain H.H. Skinner (1904) or W. Bruce Sutherland (1916) but these seem to focus on the locking and throwing 'tricks' of jiujitsu, paying little attention to atemi whilst Barton Wright evidently was interested in atemi, including the very effective hammerfist and backfist strikes so i was wondering if there were any suggestions as to why it is absent. I find this especially puzzling as Irving Hancocks book of 1904 is pretty much an homage to tegatana, emphasising little else . The later manuals of Captain Smith (1920's) also have a heavy emphasis on Tegatana.
    I should add I did stroll through dozens of threads to see if my question was answered elsewhere.
    Thanking you all in advance.
    Paul

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    Boxing and savate were a part of Bartitsu. The striking portion of jujutsu was maybe seen as redundant, since pugilism includes the strikes you mentionned, and french boxing also contained open hand techniques.

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    Hi Paul,

    it may be that the tegatana was practiced by Barton-Wright but was simply not among the techniques he was photographed performing. An interviewer, Mary Nugent, hinted at his "special way of striking", which she said "added at least a third more power to a blow", but unfortunately she didn't detail the technique. She did note that, in recounting a street altercation, Barton-Wright mentioned that he had punched "in the usual way", presumably meaning as a boxer would punch, and that he had broken his hand on the other man's jaw.

    Circumstantial evidence does point towards the tegatana being taught at the Bartitsu Club, in that it appears in the books produced by former Club instructors Yukio Tani and Sadakazu Uyenishi, and by their students.

    Cheers

    Tony

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    Hi Paul,

    actually, I'll amend that; the tegatana appears in William Bankier's book, "Jiu Jitsu: What It Really Is", which features Tani and Uyenishi, as well as in the books written by William Garrud and other second generation instructors who had studied with Tani and Uyenishi.

    Tony

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    Tony,

    Thank you for replying. I thought he would probably have used/taught it, especially as it seems to have made an impression on all the early Judo/Jujutsu enthusiasts.
    Any news on your DVD coming out, i'm really looking forward to it.
    I'm an orthodox gendai budoka myself (Shorinji Kempo... which has a surprising amount of similarity), the Edwardian stuff is my guilty pleasure

    Regards
    Paul

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    Hi Paul,

    regarding the Bartitsu documentary, 99% of the requisite footage is now in the hands of our editors (in Rome) and they are currently ordering it according to the script and storyboard; we'll keep people appraised as to their progress. We've also been talking with distributors and all's looking good on that score.

    Cheers,

    Tony

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