Edward William Barton-Wright

Edward William Barton-Wright C.E., M.J.S. (1860-1951) was an English entrepreneur specialising in both self defence training and in physical therapy.

He was born (named Edward William Wright) in Bangalore, India, the third of six children of railway engineer William Barton Wright and his wife Jorrie. After returning to England with his family during the 1880s, he was reported to have been educated in France and Germany and worked for some time as a railway clerk before embarking on a career as a surveyor. In this capacity he worked for railway and mining companies in countries including Portugal, the Straits settlements and in Japan (circa 1893-1897). At some point after 1881 and before 1898 he assumed the name Edward William Barton-Wright.

While in Japan, Barton-Wright studied the martial art of jujutsu at three schools; the Shinden-Fudo Ryu in Kobe, the Tenjin-Shinyo Ryu in Yokohama and Kodokan Jujutsu in Tokyo.

Upon his return to England (c.1898) Barton-Wright combined the basics of these three martial arts together to form his own style of self defence training, which he referred to as Bartitsu. Over the next two years he also added elements of British boxing, French savate and stick fighting to his martial art.

In 1899 Barton-Wright wrote an article entitled "How to Pose as a Strong Man", detailing the mechanical and leverage principles employed in performing various feats of strength. He also produced a two-part essay entitled "the New Art of Self Defence" which was published in Pearson's Magazine.

In 1900 Barton-Wright established the Bartitsu School of Arms and Physical Culture at 67b Shaftesbury Avenue in London's Soho district. The school offered classes in a range of self defence disciplines and combat sports as well as various physical therapies through the electrical application of heat, light, vibration and radiation. During this time Barton-Wright organised numerous exhibitions of self defence techniques and also promoted tournament competitions at venues throughout London.

In 1902 Barton-Wright produced a second series of articles, "Self Defence with a Walking Stick", detailing the stick fighting aspect of Bartitsu.

By 1904 the Bartitsu Club had closed down and Barton-Wright appears to have abandoned self defence instruction in favour of his interests in electro-therapy. He persisted in this career, establishing various clinics around London, for the remainder of his life. In 1950 he was interviewed by Gunji Koizumi, the founder of the London Budokwai martial arts school, and was presented to the audience at a Budokwai gathering that year.

Edward William Barton-Wright died at the age of ninety in 1951 and was buried at Kingston Cemetery in Surrey, England.