Does anyone here have an interest in collecting walking sticks, gadget canes, or similar ephemera from the Victorian Era? It seems that every gentleman worth his salt carried a cane, more as an accessory than as an ambulatory aid. Many of these canes were 'system canes' or 'gadget canes', which contained secret compartments to house the implements of the cane owner's trade. Doctor's canes had pills and syringes inside of them. A horse fancier's cane had a special measurement ruler and a level to help him determine the height of a horse.

Of course, the Victorian era was also witness to an unprecedented crime wave. This caused the middle class to arm themselves against the predation of common street thugs. Canes were of course handy for this, considered 'the Gentleman's weapon' against the knives and clubs of the lower classes. Many Canes were designed to carry hidden weapons, such as Sword sticks or 'Sword Canes', dagger canes, as well as 'Flick sticks' which caused a spike to come out of the top of the cane when mechanically activated. The cudgel-like Irish Shillelaghs also proved a formidable weapon.

The Victorian crime wave was such that the Police of that era were overwhelmed by it. Efforts were undertaken by Professors of Martial arts to come up with effective systems to help combat the problem. One of these Professors was a British Engineer by the name of Barton-Wright. Having come back from Japan, Barton-Wright witnessed a system of fighting which allowed a smaller man to overcome a much larger man by means of leverage and physics. This system of fighting was called 'jiu-jitsu', which was incorrectly translated as meaning 'to a finish.' Barton-Wright imported this style of fighting back to London.

Barton-Wright had also been a student of the Swiss fencing professor, Monsieur Vigny. Professor Vigny taught fencing to the cadet-officers of the French Military college. Vigny had adopted his fencing style so that it could be used by someone armed with a walking stick or cane. With his assistant Miss Sanderson, Vigny was able to defeat four thugs armed with knives, while Vigny himself had only a cane and Miss Sanderson her parasol. Vigny learned much of the 'dirty tricks' of the street thugs of Paris, who called themselves 'Les Savages' and imitated the dress and manners of the North American aboringinals. Vigny incorportated these 'tricks' into a fighting style of his own, which he called 'Savate'.

Barton-Wright adopted the cane-fencing style of Vigny, but kept the Jiu-Jitsu he had learned about in Japan. He created a synthesis of the two, which he called 'Bartitsu'. This is a very Victorian martial art. Barton-Wright began to publish his fighting techniques in Sandow's Magazine. An example of this can be seen online under the title 'Self-defence with a walking stick.'

Barton-Wright also ventured into other directions, such as the creation of a salon to heal rheumatism and gout with the (unsuccessful) use of electricity. Eventually, Barton-Wright became bankrupt. The doors of his salon and his Bartitsu club were closed and he died pennyless.

Bartitsu might have been forgotten along with it's creator, if it hadn't been mentioned as the martial art of that great Detective, Sherlock Holmes. In fact, the great detective was noted to be quite an excellent 'single-stick fighter'. The Bartitsu system is misspelled in the Doyle text to read 'Baritsu', but we can be certain that it is the same system. Sherlock Holmes used his knowledge of Bartitsu to fight against his adversary the nefarious Professor Moriarity at Reichenbach Falls.

For those that are interested in the 'physical culture' of the Victorian Era, for those with an interest in Sherlock Holmes, stick-fighting, or Martial arts, there is an excellent book by Tony Wolfe entitled "The Bartitsu Compendium, Volume one." The illustrations are original drawings and photographs demonstrating the techniques of cane-fencing as well as jiu-jitsu at the turn of the century. There is an interesting section about the 'Jiu-Jitsu Suffragets', who learned Jiu-Jitsu and used this knowledge to protect themselves at rallies where the Police wouldn't. An amusing but informative photo-sequence shows how 'Ms. Quinn' uses her knowledge of Jiu-Jitsu for 'Husband taming.'