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 [...]

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.

“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 [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]