Fight Like Sherlock Holmes


The next 4-hour workshop in the fundamentals of Victorian self-defence will be on 9 September. This will be our final Introduction to Bartitsu workshop.

To better integrate students and improve the learning process, the introductory work will be spread over a month of Saturdays starting in October. Each week, two hours to Fight Like Sherlock Holmes!

We will follow the successful format of Taste of the Renaissance, which gives new students at Academie Duello the essential concepts and drills of rapier, sidesword and longsword over one month.

Here’s how the schedule will look:

Week 1: Introduction to Jujitsu

  • 2pm: Fundamentals of Jujitsu for new students
  • 3pm: Ongoing class begins, new students stay for Jujitsu lesson of the week
  • 3:30: Integration of new jujitsu with fundamentals
  • 4pm: New students are excused, ongoing students get Boxing lesson of the week
  • 4:30: Integration of boxing with jujitsu

Week 2: Introduction to Pugilism

  • 2pm: Fundamentals of Boxing for new students
  • 3pm: Ongoing class begins, new students stay for Boxing lesson of the week
  • 3:30: Integration of new boxing with jujitsu and boxing fundamentals
  • 4pm: New students are excused, ongoing students get Savate lesson of the week
  • 4:30: Integration of savate with boxing

Week 3: Introduction to Savate

  • 2pm: Fundamentals of Savate for new students
  • 3pm: Ongoing class begins, new students stay for Savate lesson of the week
  • 3:30: Integration of new savate with boxing and savate fundamentals
  • 4pm: New students are excused, ongoing students get Jujitsu lesson of the week
  • 4:30: Integration of savate with jujitsu

Week 4: Introduction to Walking Stick

  • 2pm: Fundamentals of Cane for new students
  • 3pm: Ongoing class begins, new students stay for Cane lesson of the week
  • 3:30: Integration of new cane with jujitsu and cane fundamentals
  • 4pm: New students are excused, ongoing students get Jujitsu lesson of the week
  • 4:30: Integration of cane with jujitsu

What combinations are missing? On 5th week, we can look at:

  • Cane and Boxing integration
  • Cane and Savate integration

For those who like the current class format and enjoy not being able to fully predict what will happen next class, the “lesson of the week” portion of the classes will keep you guessing. Jujitsu lessons will involve joint locks some weeks, takedowns in another, canonical plays and historical moves, you’ll get review and plenty of unique content every week.

So, to make everything clear:

  • New Students who register for Fight Like Sherlock Holmes will attend 2pm-4pm for a concentrated look at one of the weapon systems, including fundamentals a bit of the practical use and application.
  • Ongoing students will attend 3pm-5pm for our usual format, one weapon per hour, with an integration of review material with practical application.
  • Register for the 4-hour Introduction to Bartitsu now! It’s still running 7 September, and can get you into the program right away.
  • Register for the 4-week Fight Like Sherlock Holmes in September for our first instalment on 5 October

Drop by Academie Duello, 412 W. Hastings street or call 604-568-9907. Click on the following links for the Bartitsu Program, or the Bartitsu blog

Head of Stage Combat at Academie Duello and certified Instructor with Fight Directors Canada. Head of Bartitsu at Academie Duello, the longest continuously running Bartitsu program in the world.
Read more from David McCormick.