A Woman’s Self-Defence for Women

Health & Vim, May 1912.

A highly interesting and vivid account by PERRY PEAKE, of a young girl whose jujutsu methods of self-defence are arousing widespread comment.

In common with most men, I suppose, I had always held the opinion that the athletic feat-performing woman was of the Amazon type—a heavy, fleshy person of powerful build and unattractive appearance [...]

Len Lanius: American JJ Pioneer

Longtime Cincinnati resident Leonard (”Len”) Lanius, born around 1865, claims he was the lightweight champion wrestler of the world at one point.
That would have been around 1890 and I have verified that he did at least referee a match in 1894. In fact, the loser of the bout gave Lanius some lip, whereupon Lanius promptly [...]

Mitsuyo Maeda vs. Hjalmar Lundin

This account of the January 1910 Mexico City match between Hjalmar Lundin and Mitsuyo Maeda of Brazilian jiu-jitsu fame (Konde Koma here, a common alias he used) comes from On the Mat-and Off by Hjalmar Lundin.
First, some comments are in order. Lundin says he won. However, a wikipedia entry gives a Mexican Herald reference of [...]

On the Mat-and Off by Hjalmar Lundin (1937)

A new reprint is now available that offers a nice counter balance to Fall Guys because it deals with wrestling in the days leading to that transition to complete entertainment rather than after.
Lundin arrived in the U.S. in 1893 and was touring as a strongman by 1894. For decades following, he toured the U.S. and [...]

Was Savate’s Drop Kick from Pro Wrestling?

Of course that begs the question: Does savate possess the drop kick?
Unless you’re a youngster, you’re probably familiar with the numerous books Bruce Tegner published primarily in the 1960s, one of which was a text on savate. Therein, Tegner demonstrated first a jumping drop kick from the standing position and then a leaping sidekick from [...]

“Jiu-Jutsu or Jiu-Do” Now Available!

Jiu-Jutsu or Jiu-Do: Selection from Kodokwan Method by K. Yamanaka is our latest reprint. From the ad copy:
This book is a must-have for martial artists, grapplers, and especially judo players.
“Jiu-Jutsu or Jiu-Do” was originally printed in 1918 by an early Kodokan-trained judo master. As such, it offers the best English-language view of Kodokan judo [...]

First Reprint Available: Fall Guys

Big news! The first martial reprint is available although it’s not the one I had expected to be ready first. C’est la vie.
Anyway, I offer “Fall Guys: The Barnums of Bounce.” It was first published in 1937 by sports reporter Marcus Griffin who did his research and exposed the wrestling game, showing it to [...]

Jujutsu Humor

Another brief installment of jiu-jitsu humor from the Washington Post, 1-24-1905.
 An Experiment in Jiu Jitsu.
From the St. Louis Globe-Democrat.
When a footpad approaches you, seze him by the center of the arm and press your thumb violently against a nerve in the inner elbow joint. The footpad will then probably shoot five bulletholes in you while [...]

Early Civilian Western Martial Arts

The following roundup represents a group that goes together in my head as Civilian/Self-Defense Martial Arts in the late Renaissance to early-Victorian eras. I chose to keep boxing manuals separate, because they are generally later than these manuals.
Johann Georg Passchen’s Vollstandiges Ring-buch (1659). These other versions are probably based on Eli Steenput’s translation:

HACA

AEMMA

Nicolaes Petter’s Clear [...]

Jujutsu Humor

The early 1900s newspapers often poked fun at the “jiu-jitsu” invasion. Satirical pieces were written on the convolutions of jiu-jitsu holds, as metaphor for happenings in the Russo-Japanese war, and, of course, comparing jiu-jitsu to good old-fashioned wrestling.
The couple lines below will be appreciated by the grapplers who have seen the endless debates over the [...]

Test Pic from Jiudo

The image manipulation has been a difficult process with the Jiudo reprint, but I’ve finally made some headway. The difficulty was in preserving the excellent original line drawings without carrying along a big white box of empty space around them. I’ve learned this is called “transparency” in the image editing field. The other benefit was [...]

William Ewart Fairbairn: The Legendary Instructor

Combatives researcher Phil Mathews has put together another excellent biographical article on yet another combatives pioneer. This time the subject is none other than William Ewart Fairbairn, possibly the biggest name in the field.
Fairbairn spent time in the Royal Marines in the 1900s, the Shanghai Municipal Police in the 1920s, then taught combatives at Camp [...]