‘Sherlock Holmes’ the martial artist?

By Albert Valentin | Published September 2, 2008

The classic literary character Sherlock Holmes will be getting the martial arts treatment thanks to director Guy Ritchie who will be helming a new action-orientated story that will star Robert Downey Jr. (IRON MAN) as the detective.

In a recent interview while promoting his latest feature TROPIC THUNDER, Downey has said that he and Ritchie are planning to turn Holmes into a bare-knuckle boxer and martial arts expert for the upcoming film. Both Downey and Ritchie are martial arts enthusiasts themselves as Downey has trained in Wing Chun under Sifu Eric Oram while Ritchie recently earned his brown belt in Brazilian Jujitsu.

The Holmes that Downey will be playing will be an expert in the unknown art of baritsu. This art is not a real form of martial art but it was one created by Holmes’ creator Sir Arthur Conan Doyle for the legendary detective’s final story, THE ADVENTURE OF THE EMPTY HOUSE, in 1901. Since it is clearly unknown what baritsu is, Downey has stated that it will give both he and Ritchie some leeway into developing the style for the film.

Guy Ritchie’s SHERLOCK HOLMES may be released sometime in late 2009 or early 2010, depending on final script, casting and production.

Source: FirstShowing.net

jiujitsu77
that’s how holmes done got rid of moriarty. but i thought they called it “bujitsu” in the story? either way, holmes+martial arts=badassatude, however i hope they will treat it with a level of realism and stray from a comic-book approach. perhaps from old grappling sources published around that time? that would sound about right. jiujitsu had been around some
SharoKham
Baritsu is a (possibly intentional) mispelling of a REAL English martial art, Bartitsu. Info at Wikipedia:

It’s not so much the inauthentic martial arts that annoys me (although missing a chance to see Bartitsu on screen is a shame), it’s the fact they’re ignoring something can be found in a single Google search on Baritsu. They Just Didn’t Care.
There’s also the fact that RD Jr. is untested as a martial arts actor (and, frankly, he’s no Jeremy Brett), Guy Ritchie’s decline as a director has redefined “pitiful” for a generation, and the fact that they are really, really not picking the cream of the crop, Holmes-wise. Sure, it’s better than doing one of the overused ones, but there’s still tons of better obscure Holmes stories to pick. And it’s not like Holmes hitting people is even all that new in terms of screen adaptations! Jeremy Brett’s portrayal of England’s greatest detective is perfect, and his utterly in-character fist fight in the episode Solitary Cyclist was one of the best moments of his entire run as the character.
I hope this doesn’t suck too bad.
SharoKham
Sorry for completely blowing the tags back there! I got a little too agitated.
Here’s the links I was trying to use:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bartitsu
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baritsu
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‘Sherlock Holmes’ the martial artist?

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