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Born about 1865 in Cincinnati, Len Lanius began wrestling at about the age of 12 over objections that he was a "sickly" boy who was not expected to live past his twenties. Wrestling, however, apparently provided the medicine which contemporary science coud not and Lanius flowered into a champion
Lanius next turned his professional attentions to the Vaudeville circuit. There he toured as a professional wrestler, eventuallly retiring and joining his efforts to the Sports staff wth the Cincinnati Post. Lanius claimed to have held the title of Lightweight Champion Wrestler of the World, which would have been around 1890, though no firm documentation has yet been unvovered for this title. However, documentation of at least one of this professional wrestling matches places him as the winner in 1894.
Some time after the famous Gotch-Hackenschmidt matches of 1908, Lanius started developing his "American Jiu Jitsu." In his own worlds, "it was the invasion of the Jap wrestlers around that time that put me to work on perfecting a style of defense to check their attack. Their methods were quite baffeling."
In March of 1921, Lanius demonstrated his creation, "Yankee Jiu Jitsu," to the Rotary Club and, again in June of 1921, he demonstrated his Jiu Jitsu to the Kiwanis. In 1922 he published his most important contribution, this book, "American Jiu Jitsu."
Lanius continued his varied career choices as early as 1912 and expanded into the professions of Optometry and Poultry, but what we remember him for is his contribution to western wrestling: American Jiu Jitsu.
Special thanks to Jason Crouch and the Martial History Magazine at: http://martial history.com for making the original of this document available for republishing. It is due to the efforts of conservationists like Jason that many of these important manuals are even available today to the amateur researcher and, through them, to the general public.
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athlete, boasting that he had once had a run of seventy matches without a fall.Lanius next turned his professional attentions to the Vaudeville circuit. There he toured as a professional wrestler, eventuallly retiring and joining his efforts to the Sports staff wth the Cincinnati Post. Lanius claimed to have held the title of Lightweight Champion Wrestler of the World, which would have been around 1890, though no firm documentation has yet been unvovered for this title. However, documentation of at least one of this professional wrestling matches places him as the winner in 1894.
Some time after the famous Gotch-Hackenschmidt matches of 1908, Lanius started developing his "American Jiu Jitsu." In his own worlds, "it was the invasion of the Jap wrestlers around that time that put me to work on perfecting a style of defense to check their attack. Their methods were quite baffeling."
In March of 1921, Lanius demonstrated his creation, "Yankee Jiu Jitsu," to the Rotary Club and, again in June of 1921, he demonstrated his Jiu Jitsu to the Kiwanis. In 1922 he published his most important contribution, this book, "American Jiu Jitsu."
Lanius continued his varied career choices as early as 1912 and expanded into the professions of Optometry and Poultry, but what we remember him for is his contribution to western wrestling: American Jiu Jitsu.
Special thanks to Jason Crouch and the Martial History Magazine at: http://martial history.com for making the original of this document available for republishing. It is due to the efforts of conservationists like Jason that many of these important manuals are even available today to the amateur researcher and, through them, to the general public.
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Lanius Publishing Co. 62 Duttenhofer Bldg. Cincinnati, Ohio