Why’s the new Sherlock Holmes movie got fans up in arms? Guy Ritchie, the guy who brought us Snatch and RocknRolla, took a franchise about a skinny pipe-smoking detective and turned him into… an ass-kicking pipe-smoking detective.
While loads of people hate this shift, the original Holmes was a helluva lot tougher than past movies have given him credit for.
Criminals knew that if Sherlock showed up, they’d probably get caught. You don’t think attempts on his life were made?
Sometimes, a guy hellbent on killing you won’t be stopped by your wit. Guy Ritchie sites the use of the word ‘apprehended’ in the Sherlock Holmes’ stories as why Holmes and Watson would know some martial arts. Sometimes, just sometimes, people don’t want to come along easily.
Haven’t you seen Cops?
Sherlock Holmes was an ass-kicker
In the original Sherlock Holmes stories, several references are made to the characters being able to throw down.
• Watson, Holmes’ sidekick, is described as a master of ’singlestick’, a method of self-defense using, well, a stick.
• Sherlock is skilled with a sword
• Sherlock was a prize fighter, often using boxing skills to defend himself
When Sir Arthur Conan Doyle decided to kill Holmes in “The Final Problem“, he didn’t count on the uproar of the fans he’d gotten. He later brought Holmes back to life, writing that Holmes used his “knowledge of Baritsu” to protect himself.
Baritsu is thought to be a mispelling of Bartitsu, a martial art from when Jiu Jitsu became known in the west, but never became popular.
What Martial Arts would Sherlock Holmes practice?
Holmes was brilliant because he was an expert in several fields (chemistry, psychology, etc.). But the thing is, these were all single-mindedly applied to solving crimes. He was able to become knowledgeable of all these subjects because he only studied what he needed
It’s only logical (or elementary, dear Watson) that he would take a similar approach to self-defense. I think it would go something like this:
- Mastering the 3-5 most common boxing techniques and combos
- Learning self-defense applications for common items, like canes and walking sticks
- Studying 3-5 simple and effective ways to disarm an armed opponent
Anything after that would just take over his mystery-solving time.
What do you think?
What martial arts do you think Sherlock Holmes would practice? Are you looking forward to seeing Sherlock Holmes, or do you think it’s going to be a cheese-fest? What do you think of remakes in general?
Post your thoughts in the comments!
