(Edith Garrud, suffragette, 1910, giving a demonstration on an actor in policeman's uniform)
I write fan -fiction for my favorite TV show, The Avengers. (Patrick Macnee as John Steed, with Honor Blackman as Cathy Gale, and Diana Rigg as Emma Peel. No others need apply!)
When a man knows the martial arts, particularly in the 60s, you don't need to explain why. It's a "natural" thing for a man to do. But, why does a woman know martial arts?
Well, people who ask that question, and I admit I was one of 'em, don't know much about history. Women have been studying martial arts since the beginning of time. Not very many, obviously, in comparison to men, but they were there. Never forget Queen Boadicea (Boudica, also spelled Boudicca) of the Iceni, 60 AD!
Anyway, so I'm doing research into when women in England first started learning the Japanese martial arts of judo, karate and so on, and I admit to being surprised to learn that a British woman got a black belt in judo in 1935. Sarah Meyer studied the art in Japan, and then returned to England, where she opened her own dojo.
In doing furhter research, I was surprised to discover that she was not the first woman in England to study these arts. A Japanese man named Sadakazu "Raku" Uyenishi had opened a dojo in Soho before 1905, and in 1905, a woman named Mrs. Roger (Emily) Watts was studying there.
In 1905!
The Evolution of Women's Judo, 1900-1945
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And as serendipity would have it, I see that The Lady Cavalier's have put together a stage piece about Edith Garrud.
http://www.ladycavaliers.org/dojo.htm
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