As a Vancouver resident and Canadian, I am proud that my city is hosting the 2010 Winter Olympics. People are in the streets, celebrating, the torch relay has come through my neighbourhood, and things are shaping up quite nicely. For a moment, nobody is worried about the cost overruns into the billions, or road closures, or any of the other little inconveniences. The mood is buoyant and it feels as if the Olympic promise is being fulfilled. But as a martial arts practitioner, I am now starting to ask some questions. Why are there no Martial Arts in the 2010 Winter Olympics?

The city of Vancouver is a mecca for Martial Arts, with a legacy that goes back decades, is home to hundreds and hundreds of schools, and is home to world champions, heroes, and superstars across all the disciplines. Even MMA is now officially sanctioned here. Now UFC 115 is planned for June, and MMA Expo is coming in April. Why then, aren’t there any forms of martial arts represented in the 2010 Winter Olympic Games is beyond me.

I did some research on the web, reviewing the 2010 Olympics website. Please allow me to confirm. There will be no:

• Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu
• Mixed Martial Arts
• Judo
• Karate
• Kickboxing
• Tae Kwon Do
• Boxing
• Wrestling

Its a shame, because any of these disciplines would be a welcome alternative to other, not so martial arty events such as Curling, or Figure Skating. I am sure fans and practitioners of the great variety and forms of martial arts in this city and indeed all of Canada will agree with me, and share my disappointment.

Fortunately, Vancouver has many exiting Martial Arts events in the weeks and months ahead that we can all look forward to:

• 2010 Tiger Balm Internationals, March 28/29
• BC Open Martial Arts Championships, April 17.
• MMA Expo April 10/11.
• Upcoming Kickboxing fight night hosted by Gionco International.
• UFC 115 comes to Vancouver, June 12.

In the mean time, lets hope at the very least that there is a snowball fight between rival countries during idle moments. I wonder what the odds are in Las Vegas between nations in that ‘unofficial event’.

Friday night for the 2009 Western Canadian Martial Arts Championships was well attended, with lots of action. I’m still getting to know my new D90 and shooting action photography is a good place to give a new camera a real workout. Its also a good chance for me to watch fighters up close and seeing what really works. You can bet that its always things like good combinations, staying on your opponent, speed, aggression, and conditioning that work here just like anywhere else.So while I am there to shoot photos, I am also there for a bit of an education.

I would also mention that the Modified Muay Thai event was also paired with Kung Fu on the North side of the arena. While the crowd was focused on the fights, there were Kung Fu demonstrations, with Tai-chi, and competitors performing routines with staff, sword, and other weapons. Although I dont focus much on those events in this photoset, I have always found the art of Kung Fu remarkable to watch.

Enjoy the photos below, or dive into the whole photo set at:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/superwebdeveloper/sets/72157622650374528/

As I mentioned above, This full photoset is available on my flickr site

Here is the Versus21 flash fight video, as  a followup to my earlier post with photos of the event. Lets hope that by showing people what MMA is we can help overcome the fear and misunderstanding around it. Its the worlds fastest growing sport, and a great way to train as much as any other form of martial arts. Please watch the video and add your rating on YouTube.

My fascination with all things martial arts has led to many hours reading and searching on the net. I think it was when I was reading up on Judo. It was there down somewhere in the rabbit hole of pure information that I discovered the existence of (yet) another martial art, having the unusual name of Bartitsu.

History

Bartitsu is a hybrid martial art introduced to Europe around the turn of the 20^th century by Edward William Barton-Wright. It experienced only a short episode of popularity in London, and It would have disappeared into obscurity forever, probably, if it weren’t for a passing reference to the art as ‘Baritsu‘ in Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes story, ‘The Adventure of the Empty House’, first published in 1903. The name for the art is from a contraction of his last name, Barton, and Ju Jutsu. Barton-Wright had been a world-travelled british railroad engineer, having resided for a time in the empire of Japan. While there he studied both classical jujutsu and kodokan judo. He is recognized now as the first to have taught asian martial arts in the west. Once in London, the Bartitsu curriculum expanded to include elements of French Savate boxing, Cane self-defense, British boxing, and Swiss wrestling.

I have some knowledge, however, of baritsu, or the Japanese system of wrestling, which has more than once been very useful to me. (Sherlock Holmes).

Bartitsu enjoyed a brief era of popularity in London that coincided with the need for a gentleman’s self defence in the street, growth in the interest in Asian culture, and the rise of ‘physical culture’.

By combining several martial arts into a ‘complete system’, and promoting Bartitsu by a series of challenge matches between Asian and European fighters with different skill backgrounds , Barton-Wright’s martial art pre-dated the advent of MMA by almost a century.

Bartitsu has been devised with a view to impart to peacefully disposed men the science of defending themselves against ruffians or bullies, and comprises not only boxing but also the use of the stick, feet, and a very tricky and clever style of Japanese wrestling, in which weight and strength play only a very minor part. (Barton-Wright, 1902).

Bartitsu disappeared due perhaps to the poor management skills of its founder, or that is skills were bettered by his associates, or by the excessive cost of the gym membership. The spin-offs paved the way for popular interest in martial arts in the West. He eventually moved on to other businesses such as electrotherapy.

Barton-Wright maintained correspondence with the great Kano Jigoro, founder of Judo, whose acquaintance he is presumed to have made during his sojourn in Japan. It must be in part to the ties Kano had to fellow judoka in far away places that motivated him to work to promote Judo around the world. Curiously, Vasili Oshchepkov, one of the founders of Sambo, was also a student of Kano before he returned to Russia to promote martial arts. Oshchepkov died during the political purges of the day for refusing to deny his education in judo under Kano.

The Bartitsu revival in this century has come about by the grace of the republication of articles written by Barton-Wright in the Electronic Journals of Martial Arts and Sciences http://ejmas.com/. A following developed as more material became uncovered and studied. Now a society exists for martial arts enthusiasts to celebrate and share the skills and art of Bartitsu first introduced a century ago.

Train in Bartitsu

There is a much a need today as in Edwardian England to defend oneself against all sorts of ruffians, hooligans, bullies and the like. Courses and workshops in Bartitsu are available to provide for this need.

Academie Duello recently offered a one-day Bartitsu workshop which I was fortunate enough to attend.

The workshop was led by the very capable Stage Combat Instructor/Choreographer, David McCormick.

In a day we covered the canons of Bartitsu, with tactics for avoidance and action, throws and falls, the walking stick, striking methods, umbrella, and modern tactics. (outline). We also examined what Bartitsu might have evolved into had its popularity continued. A martial arts experience outside of your regular training is always worthwhile. You get a different perspective on yourself and your training; you learn something different than what you know and practice and you get the opportunity to share what you know with new people.

I managed to snap a few photos of the day.

Bartitsu coming soon to the silver screen

Bartitsu has grown like a bamboo tree, which spends years in the soil before sprouting skyward in great leaps. Its popularity is set to take another leap forward, with the 2009 Christmas day premier of Director Guy Ritchie’s latest film, ‘Holmes’, an action movie featuring Robert Downey Jr. as Sherlock Holmes. The movie promises to be an awesome martial arts movie. Ritchie himself is a brown belt in Brazilian Jiujitsu, and Robert Downey Jr. is a Wing Chung practitioner.

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Sources, links:

http://www.bartitsu.org/

http://www.bartitsu.org/index.php/about/

http://www.bartitsu.org/index.php/the-origins-of-bartitsu/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bartitsu

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kano_Jigoro

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judo

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sherlock_Holmes_(2009_film)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sambo_(martial_art)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guy_Ritchie#Personal_life

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Downey_Jr.#Personal_life

http://www.playfighting.ca/journal/bartitsu-workshop-wrap-up/

http://www.playfighting.ca/

Its good to be back. I have been on a bit of a hiatus due to a wrist injury I sustained from of all things, Badminton. Don’t laugh, Badminton is a deadly black art. Those guys move so fast, like Bruce Lee or something.
After having arrived a little late at the community center courts, there was not much in the way of selection of rackets left. So I grabbed a racket that didnt have any tape on the handle. Not a problem. Im a tough guy, right? But a racket without a proper taped handle is thinner and slipperier and as a result there is an exaggerated grabbing action with the hand with each swing of the racket.

Thinking that sharp pain and swelling afterwards was manageable, I did not ice it; I wrapped it for a couple days and went back to martial arts and badminton, swinging rackets, doing pushups, slamming bags, using a mouse, lifting heavy things, and so on – with a taped up wrist. But it kept getting worse.

I finally had to put a stop to martial arts the night of the test for my orange belt. I took some photos instead and watched it all go down. By then I was using a wrist wrap supported with tongue depressors. Tongue depressors are a good temporary tool for immobilizing a wrist, since they cost only about 2 dollars for a box of a hundred. A trip to a wrist specialist put me in a lovely wrist brace custom made to my shape. There I languished for weeks with a prescription anti-inflamitory and rest. No driving, no motorcycle, no martial arts, no lifting a full pot of water, and absolutely under no circumstances would I ever be caught dead playing badminton ever again. Nasty, that is what that sport is.

What caused this terrible thing? Using a bad racket, and not paying attention to my body. Martial arts surely aggravated the injury, but by then, the damage had been done. Martial arts causes some sore muscles, things like that, but unless you are into free sparring where you are going to get hit and kicked, injuries arent going to occur so much, as you are using your whole body in your practice.

Well it finally started to improve, and work. Im strong enough and back at it again.

What did I learn?

• Injuries cost more than a good fitness program. Factor in pain relief, therapeutic splints, specialist fees, materials, and it adds up really quickly in real dollars. So that means deal with the injury so you can get back to your program again in due time.
• Pay attention to injuries up front, the injury is considerably less damaging if it is given proper attention up front. That means ice, downtime, elevation, anti-inflamation medication, and a wrist wrap.
• Dont use crappy equipment. You might not be a superstar, but just use good gear, not crap that is inadequate or broken.
• Seek proper medical attention if needed.
• Dont keep aggravating the damn thing if it hurts. Again, you will hurt less if you pay attention to your body.

Yes, he did, that is exactly what he did, and he was so incredibly skilled and talented, and he makes it look easy, almost nonchalant. Then he beats 2 guys at once. Just insane. Man, did this guy ever have good Kung-Fu.