Where did you get that hat?
So I've been pondering Bartitsu training again- mainly because the new Sherlock Holmes film will be out soon and I have been watching the old Jeremy Brett series. But how to run it as an effective programme?
Other Arts are simple- they are one weapon form, or an integrated whole, and so you do "longsword" or "smallsword" and other skills may come into the mix as and when required but essentially they have a natural progression- you learn the guards, you learn the attacks, you learn the paries, you learn measure, you learn tempo, you learn compound attacks, then you fixed play, loose play, freeplay and assault etc etc etc. All very linear.
However Bartitisu is by its very intent and nature an ecclectic art- from a core few areas it has the potential to cover a huge amount of ground and expect competency in all of them with the added ethos of being able to mix and match between them seamlessly as an attack ebbs and flows about you. All very globular.
I am fairly well known that I like my fencing to be aesthetically pleasing as I come form a fairly classical background and consider fencing to be a "pleasantly futile" exercise more akin to a physical expression of personal philosphy , even though, the ethic of being martially sound is maintained throughout the reality is that I never expect to be in a swordfight to test my abilities.
However this is not the case with Bartitsu as it is a combative art. So what to do?
Well, the answer for teaching it is already present in the question. If Bartitsu is to be short, explosive and ecclectic, combining mind and body to overcome brute aggression by the Ignorant then why not the lessons too?
To this end the simplest model I can find is this:-
Split the class into the four core areas of Bartitsu- conditioning, pugilism, unarmed, cane
Conditioning includes core body fitness, Indian Clubs, deck of cards, sprintwork, footwork etc etc
Pugilism includes all aspects of the fistic arts- it is a continuation of conditioning but also encourages proper mindset, confidence, knowledge of measure,tempo and space and, at the very least, how to give a Ruffian a stout bop on the nose!
Unarmed covers the jiu-jitsu aspect of Bartitsu but can include DDLR elements, savate kicks, breakfalling, wrestling, knife defence, Passchen, Petter, chancery, jacket/handerkerchief/hat/belt use and all manner of other stuff that is more corps-a-corps
Cane- introduces concepts of weapon use and how it can be used by itself or with the above as measure changes. Also most likely to be the most comon object that comes to hand in the modern world.
Further split these three sections into the following- Demonstration, Fixed play, Looseplay
Demonstration- the teacher shows the technique to be studied as simply as possible.
Fixed play- the students practice with each other as Partners, mutual learning through cooperation.
Looseplay- the Students practice with each other as Opponents, within limits of safety and ability, mutual learning of how the technique does and does not work in a "live setting".
A typical class is two hours so this would give 30 minutes to each area and ten minutes to each type of practice. Now this may seem a short amount of time but emphasises the rapid learning and utilisation of the skills required of students, though naturally any practice they do between sessions is to be lauded. Fights last no more than a few minutes at a time, techniques need not to be perfect, students need to be engaged and switche don. In other classes I would expect immaculate footwork, flair and form and eternal introspection in order to attain them but here I really don't care! Naturally if you can beat off a ruffian with elan then so much the better, but survival is enough.
Also only one technique, without variations, will be shown in each area per class- that doesn't take long to demonstrate, with a class with any kind of nous, and the sooner the fixed play starts the better as any correction can be done there by the teacher. With the simpler techniques this leaves more time for practice and students can develop their own variations and applications. If a technique is too complex to be assimilated in ten minutes then its immediate value ought to be considered, or to be reserved for a more indepth, specific class.
Combatives also require a lot of energy expenditure so short classes also allow for this, as ten minute sections allow an alternation between thinking, learning and doing so energy can be conserved or regained in the quieter demonstration periods, and then expended increasingly in the fixed and freeplay sections. Good cardiac interval training too!
By learning one technique per area per class it also allows new people to integrate quickly and those members that are only able to attend infrequently to pick up at least something, without the need for catch-ups or being taken to one side to be shown the basics while others practice that is often the problem with a progressive class.
By having each of the core areas in one class the more savvy student can begin their own work on how to assimilate and integrate these new techniques into a consistent whole and create their own style, and, if the core areas are studied in the pattern I describe above, there is a natural equipment progression. Conditioning is done with no/little equipment, pugilism requires gumshield, headguard and MMA gloves, these can be kept or reduced for unarmed work and then fencing masks can be used for cane work, with padding increasingly should it be wished. This saves time on changing between sets of protective kit, and all other equipment is easily picked up or set aside.
This makes an ideal weekly session but then it can be added to with monthly/quarterly classes dedicated to specific areas or skills (mindest, law, conditioning, curious weaponry) whereby the skills and techniques can be tested in scenarios or the Assualt. This will require more padding and planning but again all levels of student can participate, as long as they are not entirely new, as they can see what skills they have learned fit the scenario and what gaps they lack to reseach and develop in future.
This is of course an idea-in-progress so may well change, develop and be abandoned as time passes, or may never even come to be, but it seems to work for me at this time.
Oh, and, of course, wearing a straw boater is mandatory throughtout ;-)
Other Arts are simple- they are one weapon form, or an integrated whole, and so you do "longsword" or "smallsword" and other skills may come into the mix as and when required but essentially they have a natural progression- you learn the guards, you learn the attacks, you learn the paries, you learn measure, you learn tempo, you learn compound attacks, then you fixed play, loose play, freeplay and assault etc etc etc. All very linear.
However Bartitisu is by its very intent and nature an ecclectic art- from a core few areas it has the potential to cover a huge amount of ground and expect competency in all of them with the added ethos of being able to mix and match between them seamlessly as an attack ebbs and flows about you. All very globular.
I am fairly well known that I like my fencing to be aesthetically pleasing as I come form a fairly classical background and consider fencing to be a "pleasantly futile" exercise more akin to a physical expression of personal philosphy , even though, the ethic of being martially sound is maintained throughout the reality is that I never expect to be in a swordfight to test my abilities.
However this is not the case with Bartitsu as it is a combative art. So what to do?
Well, the answer for teaching it is already present in the question. If Bartitsu is to be short, explosive and ecclectic, combining mind and body to overcome brute aggression by the Ignorant then why not the lessons too?
To this end the simplest model I can find is this:-
Split the class into the four core areas of Bartitsu- conditioning, pugilism, unarmed, cane
Conditioning includes core body fitness, Indian Clubs, deck of cards, sprintwork, footwork etc etc
Pugilism includes all aspects of the fistic arts- it is a continuation of conditioning but also encourages proper mindset, confidence, knowledge of measure,tempo and space and, at the very least, how to give a Ruffian a stout bop on the nose!
Unarmed covers the jiu-jitsu aspect of Bartitsu but can include DDLR elements, savate kicks, breakfalling, wrestling, knife defence, Passchen, Petter, chancery, jacket/handerkerchief/hat/belt use and all manner of other stuff that is more corps-a-corps
Cane- introduces concepts of weapon use and how it can be used by itself or with the above as measure changes. Also most likely to be the most comon object that comes to hand in the modern world.
Further split these three sections into the following- Demonstration, Fixed play, Looseplay
Demonstration- the teacher shows the technique to be studied as simply as possible.
Fixed play- the students practice with each other as Partners, mutual learning through cooperation.
Looseplay- the Students practice with each other as Opponents, within limits of safety and ability, mutual learning of how the technique does and does not work in a "live setting".
A typical class is two hours so this would give 30 minutes to each area and ten minutes to each type of practice. Now this may seem a short amount of time but emphasises the rapid learning and utilisation of the skills required of students, though naturally any practice they do between sessions is to be lauded. Fights last no more than a few minutes at a time, techniques need not to be perfect, students need to be engaged and switche don. In other classes I would expect immaculate footwork, flair and form and eternal introspection in order to attain them but here I really don't care! Naturally if you can beat off a ruffian with elan then so much the better, but survival is enough.
Also only one technique, without variations, will be shown in each area per class- that doesn't take long to demonstrate, with a class with any kind of nous, and the sooner the fixed play starts the better as any correction can be done there by the teacher. With the simpler techniques this leaves more time for practice and students can develop their own variations and applications. If a technique is too complex to be assimilated in ten minutes then its immediate value ought to be considered, or to be reserved for a more indepth, specific class.
Combatives also require a lot of energy expenditure so short classes also allow for this, as ten minute sections allow an alternation between thinking, learning and doing so energy can be conserved or regained in the quieter demonstration periods, and then expended increasingly in the fixed and freeplay sections. Good cardiac interval training too!
By learning one technique per area per class it also allows new people to integrate quickly and those members that are only able to attend infrequently to pick up at least something, without the need for catch-ups or being taken to one side to be shown the basics while others practice that is often the problem with a progressive class.
By having each of the core areas in one class the more savvy student can begin their own work on how to assimilate and integrate these new techniques into a consistent whole and create their own style, and, if the core areas are studied in the pattern I describe above, there is a natural equipment progression. Conditioning is done with no/little equipment, pugilism requires gumshield, headguard and MMA gloves, these can be kept or reduced for unarmed work and then fencing masks can be used for cane work, with padding increasingly should it be wished. This saves time on changing between sets of protective kit, and all other equipment is easily picked up or set aside.
This makes an ideal weekly session but then it can be added to with monthly/quarterly classes dedicated to specific areas or skills (mindest, law, conditioning, curious weaponry) whereby the skills and techniques can be tested in scenarios or the Assualt. This will require more padding and planning but again all levels of student can participate, as long as they are not entirely new, as they can see what skills they have learned fit the scenario and what gaps they lack to reseach and develop in future.
This is of course an idea-in-progress so may well change, develop and be abandoned as time passes, or may never even come to be, but it seems to work for me at this time.
Oh, and, of course, wearing a straw boater is mandatory throughtout ;-)