Pierre Vigny was a French

Master-at-arms A Master-at-Arms (US: MA; UK & some Commonwealth: MAA) may be a naval rating, responsible for law enforcement, regulating duties, security, anti-terrorism/force protection (AT/FP) for/of a country's navy; an army officer responsible for physical ...

(born in Taninges,

Haute-Savoie Haute-Savoie (; Arpitan: ''Savouè d'Amont'' or ''Hiôta-Savouè''; en, Upper Savoy) or '; it, Alta Savoia. is a department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of Southeastern France, bordering both Switzerland and Italy. Its prefecture is Ann ...

in 1866) who was active during the late 19th century and early 20th century. He specialised in French

savate Savate (), also known as boxe française, savate boxing, French boxing or French footfighting, is a French kickboxing combat sport that uses the hands and feet as weapons combining elements of English boxing with graceful kicking techniques. ...

and in the art of

stick fighting Stick-fighting, stickfighting, or stick fighting is a variety of martial arts which use simple long, slender, blunt, hand-held, generally wooden "sticks" for fighting, such as a gun staff, bō, jō, walking stick, baston, arnis sticks or similar ...

known as

canne de combat Canne de combat is a French combat sport. As weapon, it uses a ''canne'' or cane (a kind of walking-stick) designed for fighting. ''Canne de combat'' was standardized in the 1970s for sporting competition by Maurice Sarry. The ''canne'' is very ...

, which he heavily modified to better suit his theories of effective

self defense Self-defense (self-defence primarily in Commonwealth English) is a countermeasure that involves defending the health and well-being of oneself from harm. The use of the right of self-defense as a legal justification for the use of force in ...

. In 1886, Vigny joined the Second Regiment of French Artillery at

Grenoble lat, Gratianopolis , commune status = Prefecture and commune , image = Panorama grenoble.png , image size = , caption = From upper left: Panorama of the city, Grenoble’s cable cars, place Saint- ...

. Leaving the army in 1898, he founded a school of arms and self defence in

Geneva , neighboring_municipalities= Carouge, Chêne-Bougeries, Cologny, Lancy, Grand-Saconnex, Pregny-Chambésy, Vernier, Veyrier , website = https://www.geneve.ch/ Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevr ...

and then moved to

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

, where he became the chief instructor of the Bartitsu Club operated by

Edward William Barton-Wright Edward William Barton-Wright CE, FRSA, MJS (member of the Japan Society) (8 November 186013 September 1951) was an English entrepreneur specialising in both self defence training and physical therapy. He is remembered today as one of the fir ...

. Around this time, Vigny also established a tradition of annual exhibitions of

combat sports A combat sport, or fighting sport, is a competitive contact sport that usually involves one-on-one combat. In many combat sports, a contestant wins by scoring more points than the opponent, submitting the opponent with a hold, disabling the opp ...

and self defence skills. In 1903, Vigny opened his own self-defence academy in

, based at #18 Berner Street. During this period, he also married a young woman named Miss Sanderson, who became his assistant instructor. He continued to work as a hand-to-hand combat instructor, including an engagement training recruits at Aldershot Military School. A few years later, his wife Marguerite developed a self-defense technique with an umbrella. In 1912, Vigny returned to Geneva and established another self-defence school there.

The Vigny method of stick fighting

Vigny is best-remembered today as the founder of a unique style of stick fighting, which employed walking sticks and umbrellas as weapons of self-defence. Aspects of his method were recorded by E.W. Barton-Wright in a series of articles entitled ''Self Defence with a Walking Stick'', published in Pearson's Magazine in 1901. In 1923, Superintendent H.G. Lang, an officer of the Indian Police, wrote a book entitled ''the Walking Stick Method of Self Defence'' which drew largely from the Vigny system via Lang's training with Vigny's student Percy Rolt. During the 1940s, Lang's book became the basis for self-defence training of tens of thousands of

Jews Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

living in Palestine.

Bibliography

Lang, H.G. ''The Walking Method of Self-Defence by an Officer of the Indian Police'' London: Athletic Publications, LTD 1923

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vigny, Pierre 1866 births 1943 deaths 20th-century deaths People from Paris French savateurs