![]() His tactic of distracting opponents with thrown objects, established in the first movie and reminiscent of Barton-Wright’s overcoat trick, makes a welcome return. ![]() Holmes’ “baritsu” pugilism strikes a nice balance between Asian and European fisticuffs his defence is more mobile than is typical of pure Wing Chun, including numerous ducks, while his strikes are more diverse than was legal in British boxing, including nukite (spear-hand) and tegatana (knife-hand) blows as well as orthodox punches. The two styles are so technically similar that it has even been speculated that Wing Chun may have been influenced by bare-knuckle boxing via European travellers visiting China – an intriguing, but unprovable theory. Both styles emphasise linear punching with vertical fists and protecting the central line of the body via skillful defence, including both percussive blocks and deflective parries. Stylistically, there is comparatively little to call between Wing Chun and the transitional London Prize Ring/early Queensberry Rules method of English boxing, which was likely what Conan Doyle had in mind for Holmes and which was incorporated into Bartitsu by Barton-Wright. (Sherlock Holmes) is himself a passionate student of the martial arts, specifically Wing Chun kung fu. The fight scenes are also exceptionally well shot and edited for maximum impact and enjoyment it really helps when the director (Ritchie) is also a martial arts enthusiast (Brazilian jujitsu and judo), with an enthusiast’s eye for technical detail. Holmes is never made to seem invulnerable, however he takes plenty of damage during the course of the story. Sherlock Holmes is portrayed as an excellent combatant with a tachypsychic ability to virtually meditate in the midst of chaos. All are expertly choreographed by a team led by fight director Richard Ryan (see our exclusive interview with Richard here). Game of Shadows offers no less than five significant hand-to-hand fight sequences, three being especially elaborate. For full disclosure, the Bartitsu Society donated copies of both volumes of the Bartitsu Compendium to the production team for the 2009 movie. Since many other critics have already offered thorough reviews of the film as a whole, and since this is, this commentary will focus specifically on the movie’s martial arts content Holmes’ fictional “baritsu” fighting style being taken as an analogue of E.W. The plot is very loosely based on events described (and, significantly, implied) in Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s short story The Final Problem, in which Sherlock Holmes famously confronts his arch-nemesis, the diabolical criminal mastermind Professor James Moriarty.
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