» george dubois - jeuxdepees.fr» george dubois.pdf · jiujitsu at the london dojo run by former...

The pioneer of French jiujitsu was Ernest Regnier, who achieved short-lived fame under the vaguelyJapanese nom de guerre of “Professor Re-Nie” when he defeated Georges Dubois in a widely publicisedjiujitsu vs. French kickboxing match.

Regnier had been a skilled, but rather down-on-his-luck wrestler in Paris until he was sponsored to learnjiujitsu at the London dojo run by former Bartitsu Club instructor Yukio Tani and his associate, TaroMiyake. Regnier’s patron was a wealthy French physical culture devotee and entrepreneur namedEdmond Desbonnet, who had been impressed by jiujitsu during a visit to the Bartitsu Club several yearsearlier.

Capitalising on the massive publicity generated by the jiujitsu vs. kickboxing contest, Desbonnet installedan ecole de jiujitsu in his fashionably appointed physical culture studio on the Rue de Ponthieu, just offthe Champs Elysee. Jiujitsu proved thereafter to be a profitable, but brief fad amongst the Parisian elite;the colour picture above, taken from the front cover of the December 10, 1905 issue of Le Petit Parisien,shows a demonstration at the school for King Carlos I of Portugal.

These recently discovered photographs offer a good look at the school, including the opulent receptionarea and the main training hall featuring a large, quilted mat. “Re-Nie’s” classes sometimes featured guestinstructors from London, notably Taro Miyake, who would stop by to teach in between wrestlingengagements.

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The building that housed Desbonnet’s physical culture academy (55 Rue de Ponthieu) is now a Marriotthotel, and the distinctive series of four arched windows shown in these pictures of Regnier’s jiujitsu dojoare still visible from the street outside.

Tags: bartitsu, Edmond Desbonnet, Ernest Regnier, George Dubois, jiujitsu, jujitsu, martial arts, Paris,Re-Nie, Taro Miyake, Yukio Tani

History | Bartitsu Society Thursday, 20th September 2012 | Comments (2)

From L’Illustration, No. 3271, November 4th, 1905.

The current fashion is undoubtedly towards Japan and, since the unexpected success that this small nationhas won in the Far East, for everything Japanese that has the capacity to excite our interest. Thus, in sport,we discussed recently, and with some vivacity, the burning question of jiu-jitsu. Is jiu-jitsu (pronounced“djioudjitss”) a simple bluff, as once claimed by the most competent people? Or is it, on the contrary, theideal of self-defence, as proclaimed by the few initiates of this new art?

The debate, which until now remained undecided, has finally been resolved. This is, at least, what seemsto result of the match in Courbevoie on Thursday, Oct. 23, between Professor Re-Nie, jiu-jitsu instructorat the school in the Rue de Ponthieu, and master Dubois, representing the French antagonistic sports, whohad issued a challenge to Re-Nie.

Master Dubois, who was once a sculptor not without talent, is also both a dangerous swordsman, aformidable boxer and a weightlifter of the first order: he is, in a word, the archetype of the athlete. Hisheight is 1.68 m., weight 175 pounds. He was born in 1865.

Re-Nie, who is thirty-six years old, measures 1.65 m. and weighs 163 pounds. He learned jiu-jitsu in


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London under the Japanese masters Miyake and Kanaya. Although robust, he is significantly less vigorousthan his opponent.

It was agreed that their combat, in which every action was allowed, should stop when one of theantagonists acknowledged defeat. It was quickly ended with the victory of jiu-jitsuan. Here is thesummary report:

At the command “Come on!”, the two adversaries moved rapidly towards each other, stopping at adistance of about 2 meters apart and pausing for three or four seconds.


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Dubois feinted a low kick with his right leg, which Re-Nie dodged. Dubois then executed a side kick withthe same leg, but at the same time, with extraordinary agility, Re-Nie performed a cat-like leap towardsDubois and grabbed him round the waist. Dubois tried a hip check: Re-Nie, moving to the right of hisopponent, placed his right hand on the abdomen of the latter, simultaneously compressing the lumbarmuscles with the left hand and swinging a knee to Dubois’ right thigh.


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Dubois reeled and fell back onto his shoulders; nevertheless Re-Nie stayed in contact, taking a grip thatallowed him to seize Dubois’ right wrist. Re-Nie immediately dropped onto his back, to the left of Dubois,passing his left leg across Dubois’ throat; Re-Nie was now gripping Dubois’ forearm with both hands,Dubois’ arm passing between his two legs. A strong pressure exerted upon the wrist of Dubois threatenedto dislocate his arm at the elbow, which was now cantilevered. Dubois resisted for a second, then cried formercy.

The fight had lasted just 26 seconds, including 6 seconds for the engagement itself.


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Things happened exactly as they would have in an unpremeditated encounter. The two adversaries werewearing street clothes with ordinary shoes; Georges Dubois had even kept on his hat and gloves. Theground, covered with gravel, was only slightly less hard than tarmac or asphalt would have been. Finally,the game was played outdoors, on the terrace of the new factory facilities at Védrine.

The result was perfectly clear. The representative of the French method did not exist before therepresentative of jiu-jitsu.

Well, we think that no event of this kind could be allowed without protest from the adherents of Frenchand English boxing. To hear them talk afterwards, master Dubois was not qualified to represent the sportof self-defence. We will not try to discuss this view; we will simply say that jiu-jitsu, which is alreadyofficially practiced by the students of West Point (the U.S. Saint-Cyr), the policemen of New York andLondon, etc., will, on the initiative of Mr. Lépine, be taught from next week to the inspectors of the Sûretéand officers of the research brigade. The extremely rapid defeat of a very strong, fit athlete by a manwhose physical means were visibly less than his own demonstrated to the Prefect of Police that thisjiu-jitsu is an interesting means of self-defense.

The term sport de voyou (“hooligan sport”) has been bandied about regarding both the encounter atCourbevoie and jiu-jitsu in general. This term, already excessive in the mouths of those who condemnboxing as being too brutal, is somewhat laughable when it is pronounced by the supporters of English orFrench boxing. Is it believed to be much more elegant to crush an opponent’s nose with a punch than toforce submission by a clever arm-twist, you ask? Nothing is less certain. We would willingly share thesame opinion as the two senior officers of artillery, who published in Berger-Levrault a translation of thebook by Mr. Irving Hancock on jiu-jitsu and who consider the sport, as an art, extremely interesting.


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Does this mean that we should ignore our old French boxing or even the classic wrestling so dear to ourpeople in the South? By no means. If jiu-jitsu seems decidedly superior from the self-defence perspective,boxing and wrestling are nonetheless excellent for the development of athletic skill, strength and courage.Jiu-jitsu itself can not completely neglect boxing and must, in fact, know the capacity of the power of theboxer, whose tactic is to maintain a greater distance.

Let us add that jiu-jitsu is not, as it is generally believed (on the basis of erroneous information) to beincomplete, a mere collection of combat tricks. This method is actually a very original and comprehensivemeans of physical culture that begins with the education of children and continues into adolescence andmanhood, without losing sight of the physical education of women. It was largely the teachings of jiu-jitsuthat gave Japanese troops their wonderful endurance and admirable sobriety, and it can be said, withoutbeing accused of exaggeration, that jiu-jitsu has had its share in the triumph, so disturbing to Europeans, ofthe Far Eastern race.

Tags: Ernest Regnier, French boxing, George Dubois, Georges Dubois, jiu-jitsu, jiujitsu, la boxe Francaise,Re-Nie, savate

History | Bartitsu Society Wednesday, 12th September 2012 | Comments (3)

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