IN MAY OF 1891, one of the most famous characters in fiction fell to his death after grappling with his archenemy at the edge of Reichenbach Falls in the Swiss Alps.
Years later, Sherlock Holmes reappeared, having managed to elude death by slipping out of his enemy’s grip.
What saved him? “Some knowledge of baritsu, the Japanese system of wrestling,” Holmes explained to Watson in “The Adventure of the Empty House.”
Baritsu was the term Arthur Conan Doyle used for bartitsu, a martial art made popular in late 19th-century London by an Englishman who had lived in Japan.
Bartitsu, which combines jujutsu with boxing, savate (French kick-boxing) and the use of the cane or walking stick, would have been a natural for Holmes, an expert with his fists, the sword and the stick.
Which brings us to the question surrounding the latest reincarnation of Holmes on the silver screen:
How true to form are the fight scenes as visualized by director Guy Ritchie and executed by actor Robert Downey Jr.?
Telling a story
“They are in the business of telling a story, not historic re-enactment,” Tim Ruzicki said of movie-makers. “From a pugilism perspective, it’s very wrong.”
Ruzicki is an authority on bare-knuckle boxing, one of the Western (as opposed to Eastern) martial arts that have seen a resurgence in popularity in the past decade.
For this year’s Victorian Festival, he is staging a pugilism demonstration to illustrate the fine points of what originally was a blood sport. Later in the day, a prize fight will be staged.
“It’s not choreographed,” he said. “They’ll be hitting each other, making contact.”
The two pugilists will wear lightweight sparring gloves for the fight, which will take place at the Northwest Maritime Center, 431 Water St.
There, a ring will be set up and, to add to the ambiance, there will be a bar where spectators can buy beer.
In the ring will be students of Ruzicki’s, a pugilism instructor at the Salle Saint-George fencing school in Seattle.
While fist-fighting is associated with the schoolyard and street, pugilism evolved from fencing, Ruzicki said, and like any martial art, it is about attacking while protecting your own position.
“Anyone can charge into a brawl and start swinging,” he said. “The art comes in simultaneous offense and defense.”
Ruzicki, who knows the fight coordinator for the new Holmes movies, said people who choreograph movie fights try to be as authentic as possible but are subject to the director’s wishes.
In this case, Ritchie wanted to use the fight scenes to develop Holmes’ character as a person who approaches every experience as a laboratory experiment, Ruzicki said.
Wing Chung influence
The fight sequences also were influenced by Downey’s knowledge of Wing Chung, an Eastern martial art that, like early pugilism, includes kicking and grappling.
But Wing Chung uses chain punches, Ruzicki said, meaning the series of rapid punches that the actor, as Holmes, delivers to his opponent.
“In pugilism, the power is not out in front but comes from the entire body,” Ruzicki said.
“When I deliver a blow, I move from the hips, the shoulder and back. The whole body delivers the blow.”
Another style point: Modern boxing is done with the fist in a horizontal position, while bare-knuckle boxing is done with the fist held vertically, protecting the ring and little finger.
Ruzicki, who grew up in north Spokane, became interested in boxing as a boy and has a typical boxer’s injury from those days.
“I broke my last two metacarpals [knuckles],” he said.
A graduate of Mead High School, he performed stage combat in theater productions at Macalester College and became certified as an actor-combatant with the Society of American Fight Directors.
But he didn’t discover bare-knuckle boxing until he was living in Edinburgh, Scotland, where he had spent a semester as an undergraduate and returned to study.
There, he heard about a group called the Dawn Duelists Society, and venturing out early one misty morning, he discovered a strangely lit scene off the Royal Mile: people sword-fighting under a street lantern.
Through that group, he connected to people all over the world who are interested in historic fencing and bare-knuckle boxing, which he liked.
“There was always something I never quite liked about modern boxing,” he said. “It felt artificial.”
The demonstration of bare-knuckle boxing and the prize fight are two of several presentations on Victorian fighting and weaponry taking place during this year’s Victorian Festival.
They will be held at the Northwest Maritime Center, except for the demonstration of the Gatling gun, which will be held at Memorial Field in order to fire the gun.
Presentations
The presentations were organized by Nathan Barnett, a founder and fencing teacher at Seattle’s Academia della Spada, which sponsors Salle Saint-George.
Now co-owner of the Old Consulate Inn in Port Townsend, Barnett said he got involved in the Victorian Festival to bring another aspect of Victorian life to the schedule.
“I wanted to get away from doilies and teas,” he said.
Ruzicki, who was in town last Saturday to scout locations for commercials for a Western martial arts event called CombatCom, said he has never had to fight his way out of a real situation.
He knows that if attacked on the street, nothing beats a gun or other weapon, but when faced with an unarmed opponent, the man who is skilled, like Holmes, will beat the man who is strong.
The Victorian Heritage Festival is March 23, 24 and 25 in Port Townsend and includes teas, tours and fashion shows.
It is sponsored by the Northwest Chapter of the Victorian Society in America, a nonprofit organization dedicated to education about 19th-century European and American culture.
For a complete schedule of events, visit www.victorianfestival.org or phone 360-379-2847.
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Jennifer Jackson writes about Port Townsend and Jefferson County every Wednesday. To contact her with items for this column, phone 360-379-5688 or email jjackson@olypen.com.
