The Golden Square Dojo and its place in British Jujutsu history

Brough, David 2020. The Golden Square Dojo and its place in British Jujutsu history. Martial Arts Studies (10) , pp. 66-72. 10.18573/mas.113

Preview

PDF - Published Version Available under License Creative Commons Attribution Non-commercial No Derivatives. Download (1MB) | Preview

Abstract

In 1903, Sadakazu Uyenishi established a jujutsu dojo on Golden Square, Piccadilly Circus. For four years, following its establishment, Uyenishi was busy performing jujutsu demonstrations, taking on challengers, and teaching jujutsu. This article focusses on Uyenishi’s teaching of the Army, and of women’s classes. These particular aspects of Uyenishi’s teaching would influence physical culture in the U.K. and the British military, and would lay the foundation for a future politicisation of jujutsu as a mechanism of women’s self-defence and physical equality. Uyenishi left the U.K. in 1907 but his dojo lived on through his students William and Edith Garrud. Edith in particular became a very prominent practitioner of jujutsu and taught highly publicised classes for suffragettes. The dojo on Golden Square had been demolished by 1930, and the once burgeoning jujutsu movement had been almost completely replaced by judo. The legacy of Uyenishi and the Golden Square Dojo is significant as it influenced the ongoing jujutsu and judo movements, and has an important place in British military and political history.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Publication
Status:	Published
Subjects:	D History General and Old World > DA Great Britain G Geography. Anthropology. Recreation > GV Recreation Leisure
Additional Information:	Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial- No Derivatives 4.0 International License
Publisher:	Cardiff University Press
ISSN:	2057-5696
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	18 November 2020
Date of Acceptance:	30 October 2020
Last Modified:	11 Aug 2023 01:27
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/136518

Actions (repository staff only)

Edit Item