I've read the complete Holmes... I don't remember the martial arts....

http://www.traileraddict.com/trailer/sh ... es/trailer

Looks weird. But interesting

I have my Pop Pop's Holmes books. He would sometimes write in the margins about thoughts or day to day stuff that came to mind for some reason. Same with his Hardy Boys books.

Weapons and martial arts

Fist-fighting Holmes is described as a formidable fist-fighter. In The Sign of the Four, Holmes introduces himself to a prize-fighter as:
“ "The amateur who fought three rounds with you at Alison's rooms on the night of your benefit four years back." McMurdo responds by saying, "Ah, you're one that has wasted your gifts, you have! You might have aimed high, if you had joined the fancy." ”

Holmes engages in hand to hand combat with his adversaries on several occasions throughout the stories, inevitably emerging as the victor.[28]

Martial arts "The Adventure of the Empty House", Holmes recounts to Watson how he used martial arts to overcome Professor Moriarty and fling his adversary to his death at the Reichenbach Falls. He states that "I have some knowledge, however, of baritsu, or the Japanese system of wrestling, which has more than once been very useful to me.""Baritsu" was a drafting error on the author's part who meant to refer to the real martial art of Bartitsu.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sherlock_Holmes

I stand corrected.

I love, love, love that they're making this movie.

And I agree with something Chabon said -- history has obscured our view of Holmes, turning them into "mysteries" and "detective stories" (which they were, no doubt, even primarily so). But Chabon says they were adventure stories -- that we don't realize how much of the world of imagination was opened up by the worldwide popularity of the Holmes stories. They enable a lot of the pulp, comics, noir, everything that came after.

I remember reading something abut Judo in one of his books. The movie looks to have embellished it a bit.

Looks like fun but not really Holmes. In reding the books I think it is a mistake to bring back Irene Adler - she is "the one" to Sherlock, it's all about unrequited love. He did indeed resort to fisticuffs from time to time and Watson looks spot on, but I still worry about veering to far from the stories... and Jeremy Brett played the perfectly so it is hard to see RDJ as Holmes yet, despite the new trailer.

I don't know how this one went under my radar. Chris mentioned it to me last night and it was the first I had heard of it.

Jeremy Brett was terrific. Even in the last ones where you could tell he was ill. He was just superb. RDJ is awfully damn short, but the man has chops. I will watch it. Probably not until January, because of our long hours in December, but I will see it in the theater.

Ooooo, it comes out Christmas Day! I can see it right away!

He kicked someone in the trailer.

That's hardly martial arts.

I'm totally down with that. Looks awesome.

That is totally out of context.

I was simply caressing his balls.

Maybe he'd like it better if you took your shoes off, at least.

Those are fuzzy brown slippers.

Carry on.

Oh, okay. It was difficult to see from that angle. Carry on.

That was my reaction.

Regular people without any training will kick in fights.

Speaking of which, wouldn't knowing how to fight well look somehwat like martial arts?

Isn't martial arts just strategy to win fights in the end, and anyone who has learned to do so well has created a martial art?

I was thinking of the way I'd choreograph a fight in a Spidey film-- and it would look somewhat like a wire-fu movie. I mean, wouldn't Spider-Man flip around and use a variety of aerial kicks and such?

they're called girls.

Or is that just my experience?

Yes, the term "martial arts" has come to encompass any type of disciplined, technically proficient fighting style.

The general term for Ultimate Fighting is "mixed martial arts." It includes boxing. It includes wrestling.

And hippies... in my experience. Too many Billy Jack movies in the 70s. He made it look too easy.