Self defense class on Bartitsu offered in Leaf River
Allen Reed, Leaf River, “Professor of Antagonistics” at Gallowglass Academy, Inc., will offer a day-long hands-on introduction to Bartitsu on Saturday, Jan. 21 with a snow date of Feb. 11 at 10 a.m. at River Valley Complex, 605 S. Main St., Leaf River.
People who have seen the current Sherlock Holmes movie, “A Game of Shadows,” should surely know that a “New Art of Self Defence called Bartitsu” was introduced to England in 1898 by Edward William Barton-Wright, to defeat the fearsome street gangs of Edwardian London.
Bartitsu combined good old British pugilism with Japanese jiujitsu, the French kicking style savate, and defense techniques using a gentleman’s walking stick, developed by a Swiss named Vigny.
The class is open to men and women, and no martial-arts experience is necessary.
Participants should wear comfortable workout clothes, and should bring a sturdy walking stick, cane or three-quarter to one-inch diameter dowel rod about 36-inch long.
If available, bring a fencing mask or closed-face martial arts headgear and heavily padded gloves (hockey style) or equivalent.
Gallowglass Academy requires groin protection for men.
For additional information, call 815-973-1064 or log on to www.GallowglassAcademy.org.
