An early promoter of Japanese “Jiu-Jitsu” in the first decade of the 20th Century in England, Percy Longhurst studied under both Yukio Tani and Sadakazu Uyenishi. He was familiar with, and possibly studied Bartitsu under Barton-Wright, and la Canne stick-fighting under Pierre Vigny.
A prolific writer, and accomplished amateur athlete, Longhurst quickly turned his skills to Self Defense and the “new,” mysterious, and glamorous foreign martial art of Jiu-Jitsu.
In 1906 he published the first edition of what was to become a celebrated and frequently reprinted manual: Jiu-Jitsu and Other Methods of Self Defense.
Combining both western wrestling and self-defense methods with Japanese, Longhurst's manual was groundbreaking. Another innovation of this manual is a section specifically intended for ladies. This book is so dense with material, yet so easily understood and well put together, that it was revised and reprinted for decades, at least until the early 1950's, and at least 11 editions.
This is one of the most important of the early western self defense manuals due not only to its heavy emphasis on Jiu-Jitsu but its combination with other western methods. It's sure to please western martial artist and early Jiu-Jitsu researchers alike.
