Uploaded June 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 days ago
Disclosure: The Raku gi mentioned in this video is my own product, inspired by the life and career of Sadakazu Uyenishi.
rikuzame.com
In 1901, a Russian strongman known as "The Man They Cannot Hang" stepped onto the stage of London's Empire Theatre to challenge a little-known Japanese jiu-jitsu instructor.
John Clempert had built his reputation on surviving a stunt that saw him drop into a noose around his own neck. He was bigger, heavier, and utterly convinced he could not be choked.
His opponent was Sadakazu Uyenishi.
What followed became one of the most remarkable encounters in the history of early martial arts in Britain.
Drawing on contemporary accounts, including the eyewitness testimony of wrestler Armand Cherpillod, this video tells the story of the night a man who believed himself immune to strangulation discovered otherwise.
Sources
Armand Cherpillod, Mes Souvenirs (1933)
Sadakazu Uyenishi, The Textbook of Ju-Jitsu (1905)
E.W. Barton-Wright, contemporary reports and correspondence
Contemporary newspaper coverage of the Empire Theatre demonstrations
Research via the Bartitsu Society
#JiuJitsu #BJJ #MartialArtsHistory #Bartitsu #Uyenishi #History #VictorianHistory #EdwardianHistory #CombatSports #Wrestling #JapaneseJiuJitsu
Disclosure: The Raku gi mentioned in this video is my own product, inspired by the life and career of Sadakazu Uyenishi.
rikuzame.com
In 1901, a Russian strongman known as "The Man They Cannot Hang" stepped onto the stage of London's Empire Theatre to challenge a little-known Japanese jiu-jitsu instructor.
John Clempert had built his reputation on surviving a stunt that saw him drop into a noose around his own neck. He was bigger, heavier, and utterly convinced he could not be choked.
His opponent was Sadakazu Uyenishi.
What followed became one of the most remarkable encounters in the history of early martial arts in Britain.
Drawing on contemporary accounts, including the eyewitness testimony of wrestler Armand Cherpillod, this video tells the story of the night a man who believed himself immune to strangulation discovered otherwise.
Sources
Armand Cherpillod, Mes Souvenirs (1933)
Sadakazu Uyenishi, The Textbook of Ju-Jitsu (1905)
E.W. Barton-Wright, contemporary reports and correspondence
Contemporary newspaper coverage of the Empire Theatre demonstrations
Research via the Bartitsu Society
#JiuJitsu #BJJ #MartialArtsHistory #Bartitsu #Uyenishi #History #VictorianHistory #EdwardianHistory #CombatSports #Wrestling #JapaneseJiuJitsu
