Wiktionary
n. Bartitsu, a martial art, based on jujitsu, popular in late-Victorian England.
Wikipedia
Baritsu is the name given to a form of martial art described by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle in the Sherlock Holmes story " The Adventure of the Empty House", the first of The Return of Sherlock Holmes, to explain how Holmes had managed to avoid falling into the Reichenbach Falls with Professor Moriarty as described in the story " The Final Problem". " The Adventure of the Empty House" was first published in Strand Magazine in October 1903.
It is almost certainly a misspelling of the real martial art of Bartitsu, which existed in Britain around the time Doyle's novels were written.
Usage examples of "baritsu".
He knew I was his equal in the Eastern art of baritsu, which teaches one how to fall as well as fight.
Holmes had overcome him by Oriental wrestling, what his Oriental coach had called baritsu, or jiu-jitsu, or judo.
The same thing might happen now, if man could be found to apply the baritsu principle and not collapse themselves in unreasoning panic.
I have some knowledge, however, of baritsu, or the Japanese system of wrestling, which has more than once been very useful to me.
I have some knowledge, however, of baritsu, or the Japanese system of wrestling, which has more than once been very useful to me.
He managed to fight his way to the fringes of the crowd, his knowledge of baritsu proving less effective than a good underarm punch to the groin, but a flailing hand caught his cheek just as he thought he was clear.