Bartitsu: The Steampunk Mixed Martial Art | Breaking Muscle

Bartitsu: The Steampunk Mixed Martial Art | Breaking Muscle.

 

 

Bartitsu might have faded from memory forever if the art had not been immortalized in Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes story “The Adventure of the Empty House.” There, Holmes recounts his use of the martial art “baritsu” to defeat Professor Moriarty on a ledge above the Reichenbach Falls. For a long time Holmes enthusiasts wondered about this secret martial art of Sherlock Holmes. The martial arts historian Richard Bowen uncovered Barton-Wright’s Pearson’s Magazine articles and they were republished in 2001 in the Electronic Journals of Martial Arts and Sciences. The following year an international association of historians, writers, and martial arts practitioners formed the Bartitsu Society to research the art historically and to revive the art practically. These efforts allowed modern scholars to conclude that Bartitsu is indeed the secret martial art of Sherlock Holmes.