When E.W. Barton-Wright formulated Bartitsu at the turn of the 20th century, he faced a unique tactical problem: how does a lady or gentleman armed with a simple walking stick defend against a fast, aggressive pugilist who intends to close the distance and overwhelm him with punches?
In this article we breakdown the technique as demonstrated in the Pearsons magazine, titled “No. 6. A very Safe Way to Disable a Boxer who Attempts to Rush You when You are Armed with a Stick.”
1. The Back-Guard Stance
- Primary Posture: Face the attacker in a left-lead stance with the left foot and arm extended toward the boxer.
- Head Protection: Keep the right arm raised high to shield the head, holding the stick ready to strike.
- Defensive Buffer: The extended left arm acts as a free range-finder and shield to parry incoming jabs or body shots if an evasion fails.
2. The Evasion and Low Sweep
- The Slip: As the boxer launches a direct lead punch, immediately leap off the line of attack to the boxer’s left outside flank.
- The Crouch: Drop into a low, forward-leaning crouch during the jump to pass safely under the boxer’s punch arc, causing them to overreach.
- The Knee Strike: Pivot on the left toe, pull the right foot inline, and unleash a low, back-handed horizontal sweep across the back or side of the boxer’s knee to shatter their balance and drop them.
3. The Bayonet Thrust Follow-Up
- The Scenario: If the low sweep misses the knee joint and merely strikes the shin, a resilient attacker may turn on their left toe to throw a secondary strike.
- The Counter-Thrust: Anticipate the turn and immediately drive the point of the stick upward into the boxer’s chest in a sharp bayonet motion.
- Reach Advantage: The mechanical length of the stick enables you to impale the attacker’s momentum before their fist can cover the distance.
The Core Principle: Timing Over Force
This entire sequence relies on precise visual timing rather than brute force. The practitioner must time the side-step so late that the boxer is committed to the punch and unable to adjust their trajectory mid-strike. By the time the punch misses, the boxer’s center of gravity is completely exposed to the low sweep.
Original Source Information
No. 6. A very Safe Way to Disable a Boxer who Attempts to Rush You when You are Armed with a Stick.
Imagine the case of a man armed with a serviceable stick being attacked by a skilled boxer. One of the safest and most reliable methods of defence against a boxer’s fists is as follows: —
The man with the stick faces the boxer in the back-guard position — that is to say, with his left foot and arm extended, and his right arm guarding his head. His left arm is thus free to guard his face or body, if, by any chance, he should fail to evade the blow.
As soon as the boxer opens his attack with a direct blow upon the man with the stick, the latter jumps with one movement to the former’s left, bending well forward in a crouched position, so as to avoid any possibility of being hit. Then, turning half round on his left toe, and drawing his right foot in a line with his left, he makes a low, back-handed sweep with his stick, and strikes the boxer across the knee, disabling him, and bringing him to the ground.
But for the sake of argument, we will suppose that in the excitement of te engagement the blow missed the boxer’s knee, and struck him on his shin, in which case he might still be able to show fight. Quickly recovering his balance, the boxer turns on his left toe by stepping to the right with his right foot, faces his opponent, and puts in another blow. But here, again, the man with the stick anticipates the move, and bayonettes the boxer in the heart before the blow can fall. As his stick gives him a longer reach than the boxer’s, he runs no danger, and the strong, upward thrust with the stick should completely incapacitate his adversary.
I should like the reader to thoroughly understand that in every form of self-defence the first and most essential thing is to have a well-trained eye. This trick is entirely dependent upon the quickness of the eye in judging the right moment to jump on one side, so that the boxer does not become aware of the fact until he has struck at you and overreached himself, when it is too late for him to make good his disadvantage.
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