Victorian Violence: Repelling Ruffians (Part One)

by Terry Kroenung

 "The housebreaker freed one arm, and grasped his pistol. The certainty of immediate detection if he fired, flashed across his mind even in the midst of his fury; and he beat it twice with all the force he could summon, upon the upturned face that almost touched his own.

She staggered and fell: nearly blinded with the blood that rained down from a deep gash in her forehead; but raising herself, with difficulty, on her knees, drew from her bosom a white handkerchief--Rose Maylie's own--and holding it up, in her folded hands, as high towards Heaven as her feeble strength would allow, breathed one prayer for mercy to her Maker.

It was a ghastly figure to look upon. The murderer staggering backward to the wall, and shutting out the sight with his hand, seized a heavy club and struck her down."
    --- Oliver Twist, Charles Dickens

To judge by this disturbing scene (or, indeed, any episode of Ripper Street) it was as much as a man’s life was worth to walk the streets of Victorian London. Robbery and murder were commonplace, pickpockets were as ubiquitous as fleas on a mongrel, and as for an unaccompanied woman, well…

But was that true? Or were the news reports of that era just as slanted toward the sensational as are our own? ‘If it bleeds, it leads’ is the motto of modern media and certainly British journalism of the 19th century could hardly claim to be more scrupulous. The truth is that we do not know with any degree of certainty.

Then as now circumstances and geography dictated risk. Jack the Ripper’s outrages were committed in sordid Whitechapel, after all, and not in genteel Kensington. A critical mass of the poor and desperate has always led to increased criminality.

Wise ladies and gentlemen preferred to avoid dirty, ill-lit areas with foul reputations. Forewarned is forearmed and all that. Yet an assault could happen at any time and place. It was no respecter of persons, either. In 1862 a Member of Parliament was garroted and robbed in broad daylight in Pall Mall.

Earlier centuries may well have been worse. The gin-soaked gutters of Hogarth’s time, with none of Robert Peel’s bluebottles or even the Bow Street Runners to keep the peace, were likely a horror-show. A noticeable decrease in wretchedness did occur with the advent of the Metropolitan Police, though it took until the 1880’s for that force to gain wide-spread respect. Ennui was not a risk faced by the Peelers.

In a typical Dickensian year (1856) the force arrested over 73,000 people. And we would do well to remember that an enormous percentage of crimes went unreported or unrecorded. The citizenry did not trust its own officers, often with good reason. Particularly in the early days the policeman was often just as likely as the most hardened East Ender to be guilty of an offense.

Even if the bobby was honest, many residents felt it a waste of time to make a complaint, since so many crimes were not solved. Let us give savagery the benefit of the doubt and presume that it was enough of a concern that measures had to be taken.

To this end most men of the middle and upper classes considered training in pugilism and singlestick to be an essential part of their education. When faced with a determined defender, many a hooligan would likely seek easier prey. Quite apart from such practical considerations, the manly arts also served to toughen the mind and spirit, preparing a fellow for the rugged vicissitudes of life. Instructional manuals abounded, all stressing this point:

"Physical education is indispensable to every well-bred man and woman. A gentleman should not only know how to fence, to box, to ride, to shoot and to swim, but he should also know how to carry himself gracefully, and how to dance, if he would enjoy life to the uttermost. A graceful carriage can best be attained by the aid of a drilling master, as dancing and boxing are taught. A man should be able to defend himself from ruffians, if attacked, and also to defend women from their insults."
     --- Our Deportment, 1879

Naturally certain of these skills were better-suited to the country house than the alleys of the metropolis. Be that as it may, expertise with stick and fist doubtless preserved many a life when faced with a resolute robber in a fetid corner of the Empire’s capital. At a minimum it would have enabled the victim to keep a cool head and react with grace under pressure.

In Part Two we shall investigate what techniques and tools would have been available to a gentleman, or lady, in such duress.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Terry Kroenung is the author of Brimstone and Lily, a seriocomic fantasy novel set in 1862, and its sequel, Jasper’s Foul Tongue. Book 3 in the series, Jasper’s Magick Corset, will be available in September. Paragon of the Eccentric, his Steampunk prequel to War of the Worlds, is pending. He has also written dramas set in the 19th century, such as Gentle Rain and Coolness and Courage.

Victorian Violence: Repelling Ruffians (Part Two)

by Terry Kroenung

 Genteel Self Defense
"I can almost hear people say, ‘Oh, this is all rubbish; I’m not going to be attacked; life would not be worth living if one had to be always ‘on guard’ in this way.’ Well, considering that this world, from the time we are born to the time we die, is made up of uncertainties, and that we are never really secure from attack at any moment of our lives, it does seem worth while to devote a little attention to the pursuit of a science, which is not only healthful and most fascinating, but which may, in a second of time, enable you to turn a defeat into a victory, and save yourself from being mauled and possibly killed in a fight which was none of your own making. 

"Added to all this, science gives a consciousness of power and ability to assist the weak and defenceless, which ought to be most welcome to the mind of any man. Though always anxious to avoid anything like ‘a row,’ there are times when it may be necessary to interfere for the sake of humanity, and how much more easy is it to make that interference dignified and effective if you take your stand with a certainty that you can, if pushed to extreme measures, make matters very warm indeed for the aggressor? 

"The consciousness of power gives you your real authority, and with it you are far more likely to be calm and to gain your point than you would be without the knowledge. Backed up by science, you can both talk and act in a way which is likely to lead to a peaceful solution of a difficulty, whereas, if the science is absent, you dare not, from very uncertainty, use those very words which you know ought to be used on the occasion.” ~ Rowland George Allanson-Winn, 5th Baron of Headley, 1890

Pugilism

"Professional pugilism has died out, as much choked by the malpractices of its followers as strangled by public opinion…The noble art of self-defence is not, however, altogether neglected, but finds its place among the athletic sports, and the clubs by which it is encouraged may be congratulated on keeping alive one of the oldest institutions, in the way of manly exercise, on record.” ~ Charles Dickens, Jr., 1879

As we are concerned with the employment of self-defense techniques in the protection of one’s person and loved ones on the streets of Victorian London, it is not our purpose here to elaborate upon prize fights. Yet it is indisputably true that the one informed the other. Effective methods of pugilism were developed in the ring and then adopted by gentlemen on the boulevards. British boxing arose from the Age of Enlightenment’s love of all things classical. The ancient Greek sport of pankration, renowned for its brutality, and subsequent Roman variants, were revived in much more genteel versions in the mid 18th century.

It was the upper-classes who led the way in this, as simple brawling with fists had never died out among the working folk. Naturally, gambling was the impetus for injecting rules and order into what had been a mere vulgar scrap. A way had to be found to settle disputes when great sums were being wagered on gentlemen’s champions.

Thus the first regulations were set in place by former fighter John Broughton. His interest in fair play – gloves, set rounds, no attacking a downed man, etc. -- was somewhat selfish: he ran a school to teach pugilism to men of refinement and they did not wish to take broken jaws and black eyes home to their ladies.

Here we see the beginnings of the later Victorian attitude that boxing was a quintessentially English activity to be practiced by the ‘quality.’ To be sure, those less-mannered had always been beating one another to a bloody pulp in the alleys of London, but by the 1780’s pugilism began to evolve into an art that eventually replaced fencing in the hearts of the British middle- and upper-classes.

The decades-long struggle with France accelerated this urge toward the good manly virtue of boxing. Fisticuffs were seen as an antidote to the effeminate ways of the Continent. Less lethal than dueling (a strong selling point with every man needed to carry a musket against Bonaparte) and purely egalitarian (man vs. man with no underhanded doctoring of weapons), boxing became a national craze.

But it was a fad that suffered from early Victorian attitudes. That age’s philosophy stressed morality, faith, and family rather than the violence that Napoleon’s threat had necessitated. So the vogue waned for some time, as fighting was considered as beneath the dignity of a proper man. But when it returned it did so with a vengeance. The Queensberry Rules of 1867 were adopted with alacrity and became so widespread that the very nature of boxing changed.

With padded gloves an absolute requirement, tactics and footwork had to shift. First off, there actually could  be tactics, rather than mere flailing away until someone collapsed. In bare-knuckle boxing the defense, such as it was, was with the forearms rather than the hands. To protect one’s face the stance was upright, leaning the head back to keep it away from the opponent’s fists. Now the heavy gloves served as a shield to crouch behind.

In order to defeat this barrier, the now-familiar bobbing and weaving came into play, along with active footwork. Counter-intuitively, this all made the sport rather more dangerous. With bare knuckles a fighter had to pull a punch somewhat or risk a shattered hand. Now blows were delivered with much more fury and with greater rapidity. As a result men were struck harder and more often, since fights resulted in less bout-ending blood and broken teeth than before.

The cumulative effect of many punches caused more damage and actual knockouts than a few nasty but less forceful knuckle strikes. Brain injuries became common.

In a sense the popularity and widespread adoption of the Queensberry Rules might have been the downfall of many a well-trained but rule-bound gentleman when it came to actual no-holds-barred self-defense in the street. When accosted by an alley ruffian intent on relieving him of his wallet or watch, the club-trained man of means may have found himself at a disadvantage when kicked, grappled, or struck with a club. One can imagine him being overwhelmed mentally, as well, as the thug did not conform to the rules. Fair play did not enter into the equation.

But one can also imagine the contrary. Assailed by an unskilled, desperate, possibly intoxicated street thief, the training in pugilism might have made for a brief encounter. For the value in boxing does not lie only in simple techniques, but in the intangible qualities of confidence, cool-headedness, and quick judgement of the opponent’s strengths and weaknesses. Indeed, simply knowing how to take a punch, and how to mitigate the impact of it, would be of immeasurable value in itself. Attacked by an over-confident, swaggering hooligan who launched a clumsy haymaker, the gentleman’s schooling at his club could very well have resulted in the automatic response of step into the attack,/block, it/simultaneously punch with other fist.

Here we would be well-advised to recall the words of Allanson-Winn at the beginning of this essay, that pugilism is "a science, which is not only healthful and most fascinating, but which may, in a second of time, enable you to turn a defeat into a victory, and save yourself from being mauled and possibly killed in a fight which was none of your own making.”

As proof of the efficacy of pugilism as self-defense, though admittedly not in a historical context, we offer this video of a trained boxer fending off a veritable horde of enraged attackers with only the skills a Victorian gentleman might have learned from his boxing instructor:

Boxer Fends Off Mob

In Part 3 we will explore the variety of weapons available to a Victorian in defending against armed or unarmed assailants, from the ubiquitous walking stick or umbrella to the cudgel or loaded riding crop.
Part 4 will conclude the series with an examination of Bartitsu, the only mixed martial art of this era and indeed, the first such.

~~~~~~~~~~~~
Terry Kroenung is the author of Brimstone and Lily, a seriocomic fantasy novel set in 1862, and its sequel, Jasper’s Foul Tongue. Book 3 in the series, Jasper’s Magick Corset, will be available in September. Paragon of the Eccentric, his Steampunk prequel to War of the Worlds, is pending. He has also written dramas set in the 19th century, such as Gentle Rain and Coolness and Courage.

Victorian Violence: Repelling Ruffians (Part Three)

by Terry Kroenung

I was not surprised when Holmes suggested that I should take my revolver with me. He had himself picked up the loaded hunting-crop, which was his favourite weapon. ---The Adventure of the Six Napoleons

The light flashed upon the barrel of a revolver, but Holmes’s hunting crop came down on the man’s wrist, and the pistol clinked upon the stone floor. --- The Adventure of the Red-Headed League

"I’m a bit of a single-stick expert, as you know. I took most of them on my guard. It was the second man that was too much for me.” ---The Adventure of the Illustrious Client

Weapons

When a lady or gentleman of the Victorian upper or middle class ventured into a less-than-savory district, a variety of defensive aids was available, from the lethal pistol and knife to the simple cudgel, walking stick, and umbrella. In this essay we shall eschew firearms and confine ourselves largely to the items most likely to be either carried by someone of refinement or by those rogues who preyed upon them. 

Despite the accompanying illustrations, violence upon propertied people was probably not as widespread as novels and press reports of the time, both depending on sensationalism for sales, would have us believe. That being said, incidents of self-defense against the criminal element did occur with enough frequency that a brisk trade in protective means existed.

Cudgel

A mere club, the cudgel was more likely to be employed against our unfortunate gentleman than by him. It could be as crude as a limb wrenched from a handy tree or as refined as a gaily-painted policeman’s truncheon. Shorter and more rudimentary than the walking stick (generally less than an arm’s length), its affordability and ease of concealment made it popular, particularly with the lower sort. 

Indeed, the late Victorian police truncheon was only fifteen inches in length and lived in a specially-built pocket of the officer’s trousers. For even though the servant of the law could claim authority to employ his cudgel, it was not considered proper to wantonly display the threat, since moral suasion was the first line of a Peeler’s defense. Particularly in the first half of Victoria’s reign these sticks would be ornately decorated, as they were the officer’s mark of authority as well as his weapon.

Cudgel tactics were unsophisticated compared to the exotic joint-locking techniques taught today. Chiefly it was a case of ‘brain him’ with a stunning blow to the offender’s cranium. As can be imagined, this often resulted in a dead suspect and rather less labor for the magistrate.

Life-Preserver

A variant of the club was the so-called life preserver, which a respectable man might carry, though not as often as he might a proper cane. Easily hidden at about a foot in length, it had a flexible shaft of whalebone or some such supple core, leather-wrapped, with a weighted knob at one end. Their construction ran the gamut from crude to almost artistic. Principal targets were the head and wrist.

The knobstick was closely related, but its weighted end was a lead ball wrapped in string, rather than leather. It cushioned the blow somewhat, though it remains a point of conjecture as to whether the recipient often appreciated the consideration.

Loaded Hunting Crop

As seen in the Arthur Conan Doyle excerpts above, Sherlock Holmes favored a variation of the life-preserver. The loaded hunting crop contained a steel or lead core wrapped in leather. Less legally problematic than a pistol, and not as likely to permanently ruin a man whose testimony might be required to solve a case, they would be employed much as a life-preserver or cudgel.

Knuckleduster

Rather on the more brutal end of the spectrum lay the knuckleduster, a remnant of the sword hilt which had always been used when a duel got to close quarters and blades could no longer be effectively brought to bear. This had the advantage of being readier to hand than a pocketed cudgel, since in seamier districts it could remain on the fist. One version, marketed as the ‘Highway Protector,’ sported a spike on the little-finger side for striking behind.

Even easier to conceal was the Apache ring, essentially a knuckleduster for one finger but operating in the same manner.

Named for the vicious French street gangs of the Belle Époque who favored them, they often had fearsome projections that would leave ghastly wounds on the faces of their victims to serve as warnings against future trespass.

Walking Stick

Naturally the gentleman’s weapon most associated with the Victorian era in the popular imagination would be the cane or walking stick. Appearing in a bewildering variety of shapes, sizes, materials, and gadgetry, the stick was essential equipment for a man or woman of means. A substitute for the sword as an article of refined dress, its phallic symbolism is best left for another essay. The actual employment of canes and umbrellas in defense will be discussed in part 4 of this series.

The 19th century saw the height of the aristocratic stick’s popularity, both as ornament and as weapon (Victorian London boasted some 60 walking stick shops). It sprang from Louis XIV’s adoption of an embellished stick as a symbol of his majesty, a form of scepter. He even banned commoners from sporting them. Overnight, as with so much else in the Sun King’s orbit, fancy sticks became essential at court. 

The 18th century saw both smallsword and stick carried together. After the Napoleonic era the former gave way to the less lethal (and arguably cheaper, for the masses) stick. Functional jewelry, sticks could be decorated to the level of the bearer’s wealth as a symbol in a very status-conscious age. Almost incidentally a stick also kept a gentleman upright in dodgy ground and in dodgy company.

Canes could be utilitarian, of course, like a good Irish blackthorn. A certain type of confident gentleman would favor one of these, proclaiming to the world that he had no time to waste concerning himself with mere foppery.

There was the added benefit that such a stick made a more than serviceable weapon and its owner was less likely to wail if it shattered upon the thick pate of a luckless thug.

For self-defense two types stood out. A crook-handled stick had much to recommend it inasmuch as it could snare the limbs and even necks of assailants. As it lacked a solid punch, however, a gentleman might eschew it for a heavy knobbed affair that could cave in the skull of a determined adversary. The ultimate example of this sort of formidable stick would be the knobkerrie, originally a native weapon from South Africa that could even be thrown like a missile.

System Stick

Naturally some gentlemen preferred to employ less brute force and more surgical precision in a crisis. For them the discerning designers of the Industrial Age could provide system sticks, so called because they contained any number of clever devices, from brandy flasks to complete medical kits. Simplest was the classic swordstick, a steel blade inside the hollow shaft.

A few opted for spring-loaded stiletto points that could pop out of the end. One wicked French version had razors that would snap out along the whole stick, to the great inconvenience of anyone foolish enough to seize it. And the added advantage of a swordstick was that once drawn the user had a pair of weapons, for the hollow body made a splendid cudgel/parrying stick in its own right.

It goes without saying that any arms race will always increase in lethality. Once the criminal element in a particular region embraced firearms then a segment of the gentry would follow suit. Quite a few canes became vessels for powder and ball. Yet turning one’s stick into a shotgun could be considered a step backward for the genteel man.

Umbrella and Parasol

As ubiquitous as the walking stick, and seemingly an unofficial passport declaring one’s bone fides as an English citizen, the brolly may have been used in defense more often by women than men. Indeed, a significant body of literature exists outlining tactics to be employed by ladies with umbrellas (see part 4 for illustrations of such techniques). While specialized uses similar to stick-play were the norm, this did not exclude the manufacture of umbrellas with daggers, swords, etc.

Hatpin

While ladies’ fashions varied widely in the period, from enormous hoop skirts to bustles to leg-of-mutton sleeves, hatpins were a constant for much of the age. Particularly when bonnets tied under the chin gave way to hats perched atop the head, and even more so with the advent of wide-brimmed affairs easily caught by the wind, hatpins became utterly essential items for all women. So large was the demand that one Gloucestershire factory employed over 1,500 workers.

Pins grew very long, some over 14 inches, to accommodate the increasing size of hairstyles and chapeaus. Legislation had to be enacted to limit both the length of pins and the danger of their exposed points, requiring caps on the later so as to not scratch passersby. It took no great imagination, of course, to envision pins as weapons in a crisis. In point of fact, the very possibility of suffragettes wielding them against the police led to yet another law of 1908 restricting them.

Thus we have examined a number of common street weapons of the Victorian age. While no means an exhaustive account (the entire range of firearms and knives being reserved for another day, along with such exquisite rarities as belt buckle pistols and garrotes), the reader or author of 19th century literature may now be confident of a basic grounding in the more likely devices to be encountered or employed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Terry Kroenung is the author of Brimstone and Lily, a serio-comic fantasy novel set in 1862, and its sequel, Jasper’s Foul Tongue. Book 3 in the series, Jasper’s Magick Corset, will be available in November 2013. Paragon of the Eccentric, his Steampunk prequel to War of the Worlds, is pending. He has also written period dramas set in the 19th century, such as Gentle Rain, and Coolness and Courage.

#EHFA Celebrates Our Fifth Anniversary!

by Debra Brown

Thank you all for still being with us! The EHFA community is pleased to have posted five years of fascinating British history and introduced many historical fiction authors and historians (and their books) to time travelers everywhere.

There were changes afoot this year. I left off full time management of the blog and related work thanks to the assistance of a team of editors, Annie Whitehead, Anna Belfrage, EM Powell, Char Newcomb, and Cryssa Bazos. They have put many hours into keeping things going, for which the rest of us are most grateful. All but Annie and I met up at the HNS Conference in Oxford to deal with the stress....

Warrior in the woods
Copyright Matthew Harffy

Our most popular new post of 2016 was Swords, Seaxes and Saxons by Matthew Harffy. Do read it if you have not already, assuming you are intrigued by seventh century battle gear.

Our all time most popular post has not changed in three years. Seven Surprising Facts About Anne of Cleves by Nancy Bilyeau has had 51,950 views, far surpassing the second, Little Ease and the Tower of London, also by Ms. Bilyeau with 11,529. Other hot topics include Who Placed the Earliest Roman Footprint in Scotland? by Nancy Jardine, Stand And Deliver ... Your Tolls? The Rise and Fall of the Turnpikes by J.A. Beard, Victorian Violence: Repelling Ruffians by Terry Kroenung, and Tudor England's Most Infamous Villain: Richard Rich, 1st Baron Rich of Leez by Beth von Staats. Nancy Bilyeau has two more posts in the top ten, both Tudor tales. I'm seeing a definite lust, here, for Tudors and violence. And Nancy Bilyeau.

When I think back over the years, the post that stands out most in my mind is Old English - The Language of the Anglo Saxons by Richard Denning, mainly for the eerie video of the Lord's Prayer in Old English (yup, I just had to go play it again), but also because I learned something about the meaning of the names of English towns and locations. Fascinating!


Thank you to those who have bought Volumes One and/or Two of our anthology, Castles, Customs, and Kings: True Tales by English Historical Fiction Authors, published by Madison Street Publishing. Both volumes are now also available as lengthy audio books narrated by Ruth Golding. To quote Steven A. McKay, "Talk about value for money!" These are 25+ hours of fascinating listening while you do the laundry or commute.

Please join in the celebration of our five years by leaving a comment telling us what posts you remember, what authors you have discovered and loved, or anything. We'd like to hear from you and chat about your experiences with EHFA. And we are giving away two free audio books of Volume Two, names to be drawn in one week from those who comment below by a very disinterested party.

Thanks, and join us for another great year!

The Third Anniversary of #EHFA

by Debra Brown

Thank you! We have enjoyed your visits to the blog for a full three years. Your comments, Google plusing, and help with sending out links has been very much appreciated. At this writing we have had 1,759,084 pageviews since Day One, September 23, 2011.

Lindisfarne Castle, Holy Island*

Our all-time most visited posts, counting down, have been:

#10) Playing Doctor with the Queen by Anna Belfrage
#9) Samuel Leech's Account of War at Sea by Wanda Luce
#8) The Real Identities Behind the Books we Love by Karen V. Wasylowski
#7) Victorian Violence: Repelling Ruffians (Part Three) by Terry Kroenung
#6) Tudor England's Most Infamous Villain: Richard Rich, 1st Baron Rich of Leez by Beth von Staats
#5) Stand And Deliver ... Your Tolls? The Rise and Fall of the Turnpikes by J.A. Beard
#4) Who Placed the Earliest Roman Footprint in Scotland? by Nancy Jardine
#3) Greeting Nobility by Marie Higgins
#2) Little Ease: Torture and the Tudors by Nancy Bilyeau
#1) Seven Surprising Facts About Anne of Cleves by Nancy Bilyeau

Congratulations to all of the authors above, and especially to Nancy with the #1 and 2 posts.

There are ever so many other wonderful posts by regularly contributing authors. We have several by Linda Root on the topic of Mary, Queen of Scots and the people and events surrounding her. Beth von Staats who runs the Queen Anne Boleyn blog focuses on the ministers of and people living during the time of Henry VIII. Helena P. Schrader is currently discussing people and events surrounding the Crusades, and Octavia Randolph takes us back to Anglo-Saxon times. Mark Patton shares information on Roman and pre-Roman Britain.

One of my favorite all-time posts remains that of Richard Denning with his haunting video of the Lord's Prayer in Old English.

I am seriously neglecting many other outstanding authors whose posts fill the pages of this blog, and I apologize that I cannot name them all. If you have not followed them here for long, please take a good look through for true tales from your favorite eras and authors. Please use the blog's search function. On social media sites, watch for our hashtag, #EHFA. It will take you to our group posts and projects as well as those of some of our members individually. And we'd love to have you join our Facebook group where we actively discuss history and historical fiction topics.

Mistletoe at Hampton Court Palace**

Last year at this date we released our anthology of selected posts from the first year of this blog titled Castles, Customs, and Kings: True takes by English Historical Fiction Authors edited by myself and M.M. Bennetts and published by Madison Street Publishing. CC&K has done well and continues to sell. Volume II is in the works.

We had at one time planned to announce the release of CC&K Volume II today, but tragedy cut into our path with the illness and death of M.M. Bennetts, one of the blog's beloved member-authors and a co-editor of the book. Her death has keenly saddened the group and the historical fiction community. Her witty posts and the extensive knowledge she imparted when we had questions on historical topics will be greatly missed. What more might she have taught us? Please browse these EHFA posts, most of which are her writing. I am sure you would also enjoy her own blog focusing mainly on Regency and Napoleonic (she hated him--that will clearly and amusingly come through) history.

If you have not read M.M.'s books, you are missing a treat. They can be found on Amazon US and UK.

Plans for a distinguished, annual M.M. Bennetts Historical Fiction Award at EHFA is in the works with Katherine Ashe as Chairman of the Board.

The following post is a tribute to M.M. Bennetts by her good friend, Nancy Bilyeau. Please read on.

Thank you for being a part of our lives, and I hope we will be invited to join you at tea every day!

Photo Attributions
*"LindisfarneCastleHolyIsland" by matthew Hunt - originally posted to Flickr as Holly Island 11. Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons - http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:LindisfarneCastleHolyIsland.jpg#mediaviewer/File:LindisfarneCastleHolyIsland.jpg
**"Mistletoe at Hampton Court Palace" by Jonathan Cardy - Own work. Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons - http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mistletoe_at_Hampton_Court_Palace.jpg#mediaviewer/File:Mistletoe_at_Hampton_Court_Palace.jpg

Victorian Violence, Part Four ~ Elegant Brutality for Ladies and Gentlemen of Discernment: A Bartitsu Primer for Authors

by Terry Kroenung

The usual homeless lads had returned to the Oxford Street alley. Paragon noted their drunken snores and detoured around them. Within four paces of exiting the dark, narrow passage what little light had been visible at its opening vanished. A wide-shouldered figure in an immense topper blocked his way. While his brain absorbed that, the supposedly-sleeping pair he had just passed scrambled to hobnailed feet. One glance over his shoulder revealed stout cudgels and handkerchiefs across their faces.

These were no beast-men. Merely hired London bully-boys. Still, Paragon did not quite manage to evade the blow aimed at his right ear. He pivoted left, but still caught it on the shoulder. His Malacca stick clattered to the ground as his arm went numb. On his left the other man swung his cudgel at his exposed temple.

Paragon stepped inside the arc of the arm and used his would-be slayer’s own impetus to fling him into his partner. With no feeling in his right arm yet, and his stick out of reach in any event, he had to rely on some particularly unsavoury Parisian street fighting.

Whenever traveling in dangerous areas Paragon liked to slip on his Apache ring. A complex steel Medusa’s head with a small grip that rested against his palm, he had removed it from a deceased French gangster in Montmartre who had endeavoured to garrote him. Before the attackers could recover from his counter-stroke, he snapped a coup de pied bas into the knee of one with his aluminum foot. The vicious low kick brought the wincing man’s face down to the perfect height for a powerful left cross to his jaw. Paragon’s dreadful ring left Medusa’s bloody portrait on the bloke’s face as it put him down and out.

His opposite number tried to sneak in a killing blow to the crown of the actor’s head, since the boater offered little protection. Sliding left, Paragon let the fellow’s cruel cudgel spend itself on empty air. With the rowdy’s balance upset the fellow could not evade a powerful aluminium side kick to his ribs. The hapless villain’s body smote the unforgiving wall with a wet smack. As the fellow bounced from it Paragon elbowed his throat and turned to engage the giant who blocked his escape.

Except that the third man had gone.

This excerpt from my pending Steampunk novel, Paragon of the Eccentric, illustrates a few principles of the first true mixed martial art in the West since ancient Greek Pankration, the first to blend Asian and European techniques. Though the name Bartitsu can promote snickers and occasional calls of ‘Gesundheit!’ it is a deadly-serious means of self-defense and can claim a rich legacy in the annals of combat and literature (Arthur Conan Doyle had Sherlock Holmes employ it to defeat Professor Moriarty). Appearing, albeit in somewhat altered and anachronistic form, in such works as Will Thomas’ Barker/Llewelyn novels and the recent Sherlock Holmes films, Bartitsu is a wonderful means of spicing up your Steampunk or Victorian writing.

Bartitsu is a portmanteau word derived from a blending of the surname of its inventor, Edward Barton-Wright, and the Japanese discipline of ju-jitsu. Barton-Wright studied the latter when he was in the East working as an engineer in the 1890’s. He returned home to find the London papers full of outrage about a wave of street crime. Proper gentlemen and ladies were being regularly assaulted and robbed. To address this thuggish violence he developed a system of personal defense which he claimed could “meet every kind of attack, armed or otherwise.” 

His system blended techniques found in boxing, wrestling, French savate, la canne (walking stick), and ju-jitsu. Of these, the last named features most prominently in Barton-Wright’s description of Bartitsu’s guiding principles: “1) to disturb the equilibrium of your assailant 2) to surprise him before he has time to regain his balance and use his strength 3) if necessary to subject the joints of any part of his body whether neck, shoulder, elbow, wrist, back, knee, ankle, etc. to strain which they are anatomically and mechanically unable to resist.”

Any modern student of aikido (my martial art of choice, also a child of ju-jitsu) will recognize these principles. The opponent’s own momentum and strength are redirected and used against him. This was no sport for effete British dilettantes. Indeed, there is no competitive form of Bartitsu at all. From the first it was intended to be a means of defense against ruthless alleyway assailants. Fast, violent, and effective, Barton-Wright’s system aimed to put an attacker down as soon as possible and render him incapable of further outrage (though he took pains to advise that it not be taken to extremes or be used to hurt a man who has been made helpless).

This system embraces every possible eventuality and your defence and counter-attack must be based entirely on the actions of your opponent. Even though Barton-Wright’s original Pearson’s articles mentioned some 300 reactions to common situations, he insisted that the essence of Bartitsu was the fluidity of mind and body to respond to the circumstances of the encounter.

It was expected that the middle-class patrons trained at his Soho Bartitsu Club would never initiate an attack, but only take action when threatened. To this end there are few purely offensive techniques described, though an unscrupulous practitioner could always adapt Barton-Wright’s principles to the wrong ends.

Bartitsu tends to be fast and fluid, offering the writer a great variety of exciting moves when used in an action scene. There is little toe-to-toe pounding involved. If a tactic fails or is blocked, the Bartitsu fighter immediately abandons it in favor of another.

Besides the five primary disciplines already mentioned, great store is set on the employment of clothing and found weapons. Barton-Wright mentioned bowlers, coats, umbrellas, hatpins, and even bicycles as equalizers in a fight. In my books I have included all of these and more. They make for dandy spectacles of mayhem. Here’s another one from Paragon of the Eccentric as an illustration. (Note: Millie is a DNA experiment and has two tentacles at the base of her skull, one with teeth)

He gripped the fountain pen in his left hand, each rounded end protruding from his fist. “But we are not without resources.”

“What?” inquired Tilley. “You plan to write satirical poems at them?”

Pausing at the foot of the grimy steps, he jerked up the right leg of his trousers to expose his artificial calf. Out of its hidden compartment he took a six-inch black metal tube.

“Resources?” said Amber with a dubious note in her voice. “Some marvelous new death ray, perhaps?”

With a snap of his wrist the steel baton expanded like a telescope to its full eighteen inches. “Rather more primitive than that, but effective nonetheless. Apply it to any offered skulls, wrists, or knees.” He looked at Vesta. “Remember your training. Queue’s lessons shall serve you well. Millie, I do not have to tell you how to control a man, do I?”

The dollymop waved a dismissive hand. “It’s me stock in trade, ain’t it?”

Paragon burst up through the hatch and into the room before the nearest man could do much as raise his eyebrows. The heavy brass pen spiked him in the temple. He dropped as if shot point-blank.

Shouts. Blurred motion. Chaos. Curses and threats. Six other men reached for their pistols or truncheons. One gun clattered onto the floor at once when Amber’s baton broke its owner’s elbow. He shrieked and backed into Vesta, who seized his abused arm to whirl him into another bloke who had raised his billy to strike at Lady Moura from behind. Little Tilley, fully invested in her male persona, used her fists to jab the next chap in the nose and throat. A savate kick to his belly sent him down the hatch hors-de-combat. True to her promise, Millie simply reached down to take hold of her man’s bollocks as if crushing walnuts. When he raised a hand to bat her away a fanged tentacle bit into his palm and worried at it like a terrier with a rat.

Someone bear-hugged Paragon from behind to immobilize him so that another could apply a bludgeon from the front. A vicious stab of the pen into the hugger’s cheek made him loosen his hold, while a low kick from Paragon’s invincible right foot broke his partner’s knee. He turned, twisted the other’s arm like a corkscrew and spun him into a wall.

Pictures being worth much more than a thousand words, I encourage the reader to consult the Resources section of this article for photographic ad video illustrations of the essential Bartitsu techniques. That said, here are a few very basic descriptions of the basic disciplines.

Stick:

Barton-Wright naturally presumed that anyone in his audience would likely be in possession of a walking stick or umbrella when in the street. To that end Bartitsu relies quite a bit on stick play inherited from saber tactics and prior stick-fighting systems. Much of this came from his stick instructor at the Bartitsu Club (located in the appropriately-named Shaftesbury Avenue in Soho), French/Swiss military man and combat

expert Pierre Vigny.

The stick is held like a club, thumb wrapped around the fist, rather than like a sword with the thumb along the shaft. Preference is given to remaining out of distance of the opponent and striking his arm or head. Often this involves inviting a particular attack and then sliding or pivoting out of danger while simultaneously swinging the stick at a vulnerable spot.

Also favored is defending and attacking in a single move, such as blocking a club aimed at one’s head and continuing on to assail the foe’s own body. Closing the distance to get inside the arc of a punch or stick-swing is recommended. While wrapping and disabling the attacking arm, the handle of one’s stick may then be used against vulnerable areas. Alternatively, the shaft can leverage joints.

What is not advised is engaging in a pure fencing match with another stick or club. Of great utility is holding the stick in two hands like a rifle with bayonet, relying on thrusts with the point. Concentrating the force in such a tiny area is very effective. One should keep in mind that the stick, like the other disciplines, is not used alone, but in combination with kicks, punches, and throws.

French kick-boxing, derived from the tough waterfronts of Marseilles, gives Bartitsu a handful of useful tactics. Barton-Wright did not go into detail in print about the kicks used in Bartitsu, so some speculation is involved; however, he does specify three savate kicks. A coup de pied bas mentioned in the opening selection, is a low front kick to the knee or shin. This would most likely be used as a spoiling move against an advancing opponent, or as a setup/distraction in combination with a stick strike or punch. The chasse´ bas lateral: a low side kick, requires a bending of the rear leg and straightening the front one while turning the outside edge of its foot up. It is then thrust at the thigh, knee, or shin, the blow landing with the heel or outer part of the foot. From personal experience while sparring I can attest that it will absolutely stop an onrushing attacker in his tracks when used against his kneecap.

Finally, the chasse´ croise median aims for the foe’s solar plexus or stomach. Skipping the rear foot behind and past the front, the latter is then pistoned out at the enemy’s midline.

Savate:

Another use for the foot, though not borrowed from savate, is to maneuver behind one’s attacker and collapse his knee joint by simply stepping on it. Very little force is required and gentle pressure on collar or shoulder will drop the largest man.

Boxing:

"In order to ensure as far as it was possible immunity against injury in cowardly attacks or quarrels, they must understand boxing in order to thoroughly appreciate the danger and rapidity of a well-directed blow, and the particular parts of the body which were scientifically attacked.” He also seemed to believe that every Englishman of any breeding would already know the basics of pugilism, because he said precious little about it other than to note that street fighting and Marquis of Queensberry boxing were very different and the latter had to be adapted to ensure success in a battle for survival against the expected unscrupulous opponent. In point of fact, much of what he said about it seemed to be aimed at knowing how to defeat the expected moves of a trained boxer.

,

Viewing film of boxing matches from 1894 (indeed, some of the oldest movies in existence), one sees that the style of Barton-Wright’s time called for a very upright stance with the arms extended. The thumb would be on top of the fist instead of wrapping it around for safety as we would now do it.

Whereas today we would keep the hands close to the face, hunkering behind them in a close guard, the realities of bare-knuckle boxing called for a different approach. The opponent was to be kept literally at arm’s-length, since his hands weren’t padded and could do significant damage.

The milling of one’s fists is no movie parody but was an actual technique of the age. It confused the foe and kept the hands primed for use, much like a volleyball player ‘dances’ the feet to be more ready for a quick reaction to the spike. Punches often tended to be almost lunges, the lead foot and fist moving together, though there was also plenty of swinging from the rear foot in the old films. Blocking with the arms more resembles defense in an Asian striking discipline than in modern boxing. The movements tend to be more exaggerated, not tiny and controlled.

Wrestling:

As with pugilism, the references to standard freestyle wrestling are not extensive, possibly for the same reason, that Barton-Wright expected all young men to have practiced the basics. But he also borrowed from Swiss schwingen, a grappling style inherited from medieval times that chiefly involved grasping the opponent at the hips and throwing him. Many of its techniques are nearly indistinguishable from judo moves, which themselves evolved from ju-jitsu in the 19th century. Since Bartitsu’s founder relied primarily on ju-jitsu for close-quarters work and ground fighting, he likely taught standard wrestling as much for knowing how to counter it as for using it in a fight.

Ju-jitsu:

Much enamored of this Japanese discipline, since he had studied it in its native land and was convinced of its efficacy, Barton-Wright wrote and spoke more about it than any of the other principle techniques. He clearly prized it, since he incorporated its final syllables into the name of his art. In fact, he went so far as to import three ju-jitsu masters when he returned home. Some of the attention he paid to it might be put down to its sheer novelty in Britain, as it required much more explanation. It was also what made Bartitsu so very different from other combative systems in the West.

It is the essence of ju-jitsu which informs Bartitsu’s core principles. It can be translated as “the art of yielding.” This is appropriate, since it teaches practitioners to use the enemy’s own momentum and strength against him. Developed by samurai to fall back upon when disarmed and fighting an armored foe, it replaced futile hand strikes with joint locks. As previously stated, it depends upon disturbing an assailant’s equilibrium, inviting hostile motion so as to make use of the foe’s own energy, and taking pre-emptive action with offensive defense.

This is the aspect of Bartitsu that gives it a grace and elegance while at the same time enabling its violent character when joined with the other disciplines. Stepping into an assault, blending with its direction and carving circles in space while rendering the opponent helpless looks almost dance-like when performed well. When employed along with punches, kicks, and stick-play, it makes for an exciting and unique fight scene readers will enjoy.

Clothing and Found Weapons:

Apart from walking stick display, this is the area of Bartitsu where the Steampunk author can add Victorian flair and color to her writing. Hats, overcoats, parasols, and pins are all mentioned by Barton-Wright as adjuncts to the Bartitsu practitioner’s standard arsenal. He recommended flinging a bowler into the opponent’s face as a distraction while closing to engage, or tossing a coat over his head. A sturdy hat could even serve as a buckler in the off-hand while striking with a stick. This is all absolutely efficacious, as I discovered in a full-speed Bartitsu free-play exercise. My student charged me with a stick with no choreography. Unarmed, I flung my hat into his eyes, pivoted, wrapped his stick arm with my left, and disarmed him with my right. Despite his knowing Bartitsu, he still lost to this move.

Barton-Wright was not remiss in advocating that ladies practice Bartitsu. Umbrellas, particularly those with crook handles, made fine weapons. Offending arms and legs could be hooked and the brolly’s tip into the throat would deter any ruffian.

A 14-inch hatpin to the eye would certainly end a fight in the lady’s favor. It is known that suffragettes such as Edith Garrud defended themselves against the police with ju-jitsu, though whether they actually trained at the Bartitsu Club itself is conjectural. Also an established fact is that the sister of Boy Scouts founder Lord Baden-Powell was an expert at defending herself with both parasol and walking stick.

Group Fighting:

Since it was well-established that the criminal element rarely offered a fair fight and commonly attacked in groups to ensure success, Bartitsu included tactics for engaging several assailants at once. Naturally Barton-Wright preached that one should not stand on ceremony or honor in such situations but rather flee with all haste. If one were to be trapped, however, he offered means to clear a path to safety. These depended on having a stick and employing it in wide sweeps and vigorous back-and-forth motions to
prevent surprise from the rear. Once room had been made, then the single man could proceed as the

situation dictated.

We will end with a final fight scene from Paragon of the Eccentric:

She grasped a straight stick in her gloved hands and returned to the centre of the mat. Queue assumed the attitude of some ill-paid thug with minimal training as a fighter. Her stick sliced straight down at his skull while she bulled her way toward him.

Paragon pivoted on his front foot. Her impetus as the blow missed took her a step past him. Almost casually he stepped on her knee joint from the rear, causing her to fall onto that knee. A painless rap to the back of her shoulder with the light stick neck ended the first exchange.

Again they faced off. This time she swung her stick with both hands, as a frustrated rowdy might do. Like a batsman trying for six she chose a more horizontal path. Not so easy to avoid as a vertical attack.

Knowing this, Paragon did not attempt evasion. Instead he slid directly into her, body against body. Now the stick body was past him, unable to inflict harm. Adding his own force to hers, left arm across her stick arm, they spun like a top. He simply bent his knees as they went around, causing her to fall forward out of the spin. She landed on her back with a boom, his stick point against her throat.

After assisting her to rise, they met for a third time. Now she feinted another descending sabre cut, but as he raised his stick with both hands wide apart to parry it she shifted to a spiking bayonet-style strike at his chest. Leaving his stick up high, Paragon pivoted out of her stick’s path with a simultaneous left cross to her jaw. Despite her armour, the impact of the fist sent her sprawling.

Cursing under his breath, Paragon cast his stick aside and rushed to the immobile woman. He pulled off her bulky helmet to give her air. Queue’s eyes remained closed, her breathing shallow. “We need some help in here!” he bellowed, half-turned toward the door. “Halloo!”

The room swiveled as if on ball bearings. Before he could comprehend his predicament he lay flat on his back, staring into the painful glare of the electric ceiling lamps. A leg made of cast iron clamped onto each side of his arm, which was stretched high over his head. One heel bored into his throat. His air and voice were cut off. Jolts of pain shot along his arm as Queue hauled back on it, bending his elbow across her thigh. For good measure she ruthlessly twisted his wrist in a direction it had definitely not been designed to go.

I’ll be damned if I’ll tap out for her satisfaction.

Another three seconds showed him how much in error that last belief had been. Queue yanked on the arm as if trying to pull a locomotive down the track. At the same time her heel pressed in another two inches, until he positively gurgled and drooled.

Hopefully these few precepts concerning the Victorian/Edwardian fighting art will embolden you to craft exciting scenes of Steampunk or Victorian mayhem. While the normal tropes of the genre (those gears, clocks, and airships) are growing stale, Bartitsu is still fresh and unspoiled. Despite its century-old pedigree, book lovers are unfamiliar with it. Nothing thrills a reader quite so much as seeing a cool, well-dressed hero or heroine dispatching ill-mannered blokes. So let the sticks, feet, and erudite quips fly. Grace under pressure has always been the hallmark of good breeding and Bartitsu is certainly a means to that end.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Terry Kroenung is the author of the Legacy Stone series of American Civil War fantasy novels. Book One, Brimstone and Lily, won the Bronze Medal in Fantasy/Science Fiction at the 2010 Independent Publishers Book Awards. Jasper’s Foul Tongue followed the same year and the third volume, Jasper’s Magick Corset will be out in November. Paragon of the Eccentric, a Steampunk prequel to H.G. Wells’ War of the Worlds, is currently under consideration by Tor.

His story “Lonely Crutch” appeared in the anthology Broken Links, Mended Lives, a Colorado Book Award finalist. “Winterlesson” where Santa Claus is shot down by the U.S. military (really), has been published multiple times, most recently by Toasted Cheese literary magazine. “Bladelight” offers a distinctly different take on a rapier duel for love.

Originally a playwright, produced in New York City and Europe, his dramas include Gentle Rain, Coolness and Courage, Blood and Beauty, and an adaptation of The Three Musketeers that features a chorus line of dancing swordsmen and a henpecked Alexandre Dumas.

He teaches Writing, Literature, and Film at Niwot High School in Colorado and next year will add a course in Science Fiction & Fantasy. In his copious free time from teaching, writing, and performing Shakespeare he gives Bartitsu workshops at Steampunk conventions and writers’ gatherings.

RESOURCES

Barton-Wright, E.W. The New Art of Self-Defence, Part 1: London, Pearson’s Magazine, March 1899.
Barton-Wright, E.W. The New Art of Self-Defence, Part 2: London, Pearson’s Magazine, April 1899.
Barton-Wright, E.W. Self-defence with a Walking Stick, Part 2: London, Pearson’s Magazine, January 1901.
Barton-Wright, E.W. Self-defence with a Walking Stick, Part 2: London, Pearson’s Magazine, February 1901.
Cunningham, A.C. The Cane as a Weapon: 1912
Gallowglass Academy Introductory Bartitsu: 2009
Lawson, Kirk: Bartitsu: The Martial Art of Sherlock Holmes: 2006
Wolf, Tony The Bartitsu Compendium, Volume 1, History and Canonical Syllabus: 2011
Wolf, Tony The Bartitsu Compendium, Volume 2, Antagonistics: 2011
Wolf, Tony Bartitsu: The Lost Martial Art of Sherlock Holmes: 2012
Wolf, Tony, et al International Bartitsu Society:
Academie Duello, Bartitsu Intro:
Bartitsu School of Arms:
Bartitsu Stick Sparring: