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Early Days at the Bartitsu Club

Here are some clippings from that early period when E. W. Barton-Wright first opened the Bartitsu Club, those days prior to the import of his jujutsu experts. There are a couple of reasons I like these. First, the issues of class (perhaps bigotry as well?) in Victorian society are readily acknowledged, but rarely felt by [...]

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Dealing with Footpads

I came across this a number of years ago and found it amusing because you see the same discussions today with keyboard self-defense experts describing how they would dismantle hypothetical attackers with their favorite techniques. This piece was originally printed in the April 28, 1900 issue of the San Francisco Chronicle (p.14). I added the [...]

Asides

• Michael Demarco, editor of the Journal of Asian Martial Arts, passed along the news that Robert W. Smith has passed away. Even if, as is likely, you're familiar with his work, you'll still likely be surprised what all you can find in his impressive bibliography at EJMAS here. You can also find some Smith correspondence with E.J. Harrison here and here. As well as correspondence with Donn Draeger here. Lastly, here is a photo gallery posted by JAMA on facebook. #
• Get 20% off any Lulu.com books for the next week, such as mine here or check out some others like Kirk’s WMA Books or Tony’s material. Terms: Enter coupon code SUNSHINE305 at checkout and receive 20% off your order. The maximum savings for this coupon is $250. Offer good towards print costs only - shipping and tax amounts are excluded. You can only use the code once per account, and you can't use this coupon in combination with other coupon codes. This great offer ends on June 30, 2011 at the stroke before midnight. #
• They say you can't judge a book by its cover, but Brian McDonald's Gangs of London sure doesn't look like much from it's barebones Amazon UK page. (more...) #
• The Schofield Kid: [after killing a man for the first time] It don't seem real... how he ain't gonna never breathe again, ever... how he's dead. And the other one too. All on account of pulling a trigger. Will Munny: It's a hell of a thing, killing a man. Take away all he's got and all he's ever gonna have. (more...) #
• Get 25% off any Lulu.com books, such as mine here or check out some others like Kirk's WMA Books or some of Tony's material or even Ralph's recent Americane book. Just enter the code WINTER305 at checkout for 25% off the base price. You can only use it once per account, but you can use it on everything in the order (on up to a $200 order). Good through January 5, 2011. #