Guy Ritchie’s ‘Sherlock Holmes’ knows bartitsu

USA Today has just published a terrific behind-the-scenes look at Guy Ritchie’s upcoming SHERLOCK HOLMES film starring Robert Downey Jr. with Jude Law as sidekick Dr. Watson. Writer Susan Wloszczyna’s main focus centers on the many changes that Ritchie is bringing to this long-enduring literary and film icon, including the decision to make Holmes as sharp with his fists as he is with his powers of deduction.

Downey’s portrayal of Holmes will be as a bare-knuckle fighter and master of real-life British martial art bartitsu. He certainly looks in shape for a fighting role. Not surprisingly, this has had a few Sherlock purists’ feathers in a ruffle but it all has basis in the works of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

“The physicality, the bare-knuckle fighting, the martial arts are all hinted at in the books,” says Law who delved deep into Doyle’s books in preparation for his role. “We just hold a magnifying glass over them. A word that Conan Doyle uses an awful lot is ‘apprehended.’ As in, ‘Holmes and Watson apprehend the villain.’ We get to show the apprehension.”

Producer Lionel Wigram, who began a revival of the franchise a decade ago, which led to a recent TV series produced in a manner befitting MASTERPIECE THEATRE, had something bigger in mind for a feature film and had some convincing to do. So he wrote a graphic novel for the studio execs with an artist depicting a scruffy-looking Holmes with a whip in one hand and a sword in the other.

“We are trying to make a fun adventure movie,” says Wigram. “My favorites are the Bond films. RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK. I want to make a movie like that.”

In the film Homes employs a martial art system called bartitsu, also known as the “gentlemanly art of self defense,” that originates in England and was developed between the years 1898 and 1902. It is referenced by Doyle in one of his Sherlock Holmes books.

“It’s a kind of Japanese street fighting,” says Ritchie. “It uses walking sticks, bowler hats, choke holds to put people to sleep – any practical means possible.”

Ritchie holds a blackbelt in karate and although he has directed taekwondo-trained action star Jason Statham in action-oriented crime thrillers, this will be his first real stab at depicting a formal fighting art on screen.

Back in the summer of 2008 while speaking to Premiere about his role, Downey briefly mentioned his use of bartitsu and in a side note the interviewer made the incorrect assumption that it was a fictional art.

It turns out that a there is quite a bit of documentation and history behind bartitsu and the art is even reportedly making a comeback. It was created by Edward William Barton-Wright, a railway engineer who grew up traveling the world and was exposed to a variety of self defense systems including boxing, wrestling, fencing, savate and stiletto handling. One of his most prominent foundations appears to have been two forms of jiujitsu.

Bartitsu has been devised with a view to impart to peacefully disposed men the science of defending themselves against ruffians or bullies, and comprises not only boxing but also the use of the stick, feet, and a very tricky and clever style of Japanese wrestling, in which weight and strength play only a very minor part. (Barton-Wright, 1902)

Those interested in learning more about bartitsu and its history should check out Bartitsu.org. Also, check out the rest of the USA Today article which includes more pictures in a pop-up window. As for SHERLOCK HOLMES, Ritchie’s movie is scheduled for release on December 25th, which should make a nice holiday gift for fans of both Sherlock Homes and martial arts.