Right before his comeback started to become solidified and before he started to blow up as the main man as Tony Stark aka Iron Man in the Avengers films, Robert Downey Jr. also played the great fictional detective Sherlock Holmes in Sherlock Holmes.
When people hear the name Sherlock Holmes, they usually think of a character with a handle-bar moustache, some sort of coat and him carrying around a magnifying glass trying to solve clues.
But he’s far more than that. Other than also being a forensic scientist, a master of disguise, being a botanist, chemist, musician, etc. Holmes, created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, was also a boxer and a knowledgeable martial artist. According to the literature, Holmes has studied Japanese jujitsu and wrestling.
In the film, Downey was able to recapture the physical specimen that Holmes was supposed to be. This was all greatly captured in what seems to be in a bare knuckle scenario. It almost seems to be an Irish bare knuckle event as the music used and even some of the outfits by the crowd surrounding the fighters was quite Irish.
The scene begins with Holmes clapping and countering everything that his much larger opponent throws at him. But unlike his opponent that is throwing the familiar western type punches, Holmes is seen throwing what would look like an assortment of slaps. But if you’re familiar with more exotic martial arts these movements and counters could also be seen in Chinese Wing Chun or even Indonesian Pencak Silat.
As the fight continues you even seen Holmes turn his stance into an old school English boxing stance, maybe something we’ve seen Diego Sanchez do in the UFC. He then begins to take a handful of hits. But the whole time is actually studying his opponent’s movements.
In the end we see a glorious display of fight IQ as Holmes predicts what his opponent is going to do next. He then proceeds to counter everything how he envisioned it. Maybe that’s why Conor McGregor has talked about predicting things.
The fight scene was a great display as to how traditional martial arts could work theoretically in a stand up fight.
Clyde Erwin Barretto is an emphatic obsessed fan of mixed martial arts, combat sports and body movement. Follow him on Twitter @ClydeBarretto.
