International Swordfighting and Martial Arts Convention		Hosted by Art of Combat, inc. & New Dawn Duellists Society
Conlegium Fraternitas Armorum ~ United Brotherhood in Arms
Since 2000, one of the premier and oldest International conferences for the study of Historical Martial Arts, hosting accomplished and leading instructors from around the globe.

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Next Event: 9th Annual ISMAC July 31 - August 3, 2008 in Detroit, Michigan Sponsored by Detroit Metro Airport Westin Hotel

Bartitsu: The Martial Art of Sherlock Holmes
INSTRUCTOR: Tony Wolf ROOM: TBA
DESCRIPTION: In the year 1898, an English gentleman named Edward William Barton-Wright created the "New Art of Self Defence" that he called Bartitsu. His New Art was a combination of street savate, jiujitsu, scientific boxing and walking stick fighting, designed to beat the fearsome street gangs of Edwardian London and fin de siècle Paris at their own dastardly game. Bartitsu was the first martial art to combine Asian and European fighting styles. It was later incorporated into the Sherlock Holmes stories, and was used by Holmes to throw his mortal enemy, Professor Moriarty, to his doom from the top of Reichenbach waterfall. This class provides an intensive, practical grounding in this fascinating system, as it was taught between 1899-1903 at the Bartitsu School of Arms and Physical Culture in London's Shaftesbury Avenue.   Canonical Bartitsu refers to "Bartitsu as we know it was"; the self defence skills and sequences that were specifically presented as Bartitsu by Barton-Wright and his associates between 1898-1904. Neo-Bartitsu refers to the creative, modern application of the art: "Bartitsu as it can be today". We will begin with warm-up exercises taken from the 19th century "physical culture" repertoire before exploring the underlying principles and tactics of Bartitsu, via lessons in the unique combination of fighting styles that made up Barton-Wright's arsenal of tricks. This class will include:   • a selection of the original self defence sequences represented in Barton-Wright's classic 1902 article series, "Self Defence with a Walking Stick"   • examples of both the canonical and neo-Bartitsu blends of jiujitsu, scientific boxing, street savate and stick fighting.   We will also examine some of the combat and hold-up tactics used by turn-of-the-century gangsters and the counters developed by self-defence masters of the period.   For further information on Bartitsu, please see http://www.bartitsu.org.   REQUIREMENTS: Participants in this class will need a sturdy walking stick, cane or dowel of approximately 33-37" length. Fencing masks will be useful.
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