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 […]

Jujutsu Suffragettes

On November 18, 1910…300 suffragettes marched on the House of Commons. In a public relations disaster, police were caught on film assaulting unarmed women attempting to march past.

Militant suffragettes eventually upped the physical level of their own campaigns and smashed shop windows, burned and even bombed on occasion…

Karate Lessons Give Child Self-Confidence

Follow the link for the heart-warming story of how the resolution and determination a young karate student learned in karate class allowed him to overcome the travails facing him.
From the Onion:
Karate Lessons Give Child Self-Confidence

Jack Dempsey vs. the Evil Robots

 
“I can whip any mechanical robot that ever has or ever will be made.”

So said Jack Dempsey. Captain Billy Fawcet, former WWI Army Captain, apparently talked Jack Dempsey into doing this puff piece for Fawcett’s biggest magazine, Modern Mechanix, in 1934.
The idea of the early sci-fi robot battling the hard hitting fighter is captivating and […]

A Groin Grabbingly Good Time

The groin shot is a standard in most any martial art that teaches self defense. There is (finally!) a site that took the time to post groin shots culled from various comics.
Sidekicks, soccer kicks, knees, straight punches, hammerfists, elbows, monkeys grabbing peaches, it’s all in there. The site is named, appropriately enough, Nad Shot, and […]

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 […]

Vintage Martial Arts Comic Book Ads

A couple years ago, Dan Kelly did a retrospective on the martial arts advertisements found in comic books from the 1950s to 1980s. He breaks it up by advertisers, and you’ll see familiar names there, such as Joe Weider, Bruce Tegner, Count Dante, Ketsugo, etc.

We would like to eventually post something similar with earlier […]