According to Watson, Holmes is an eccentric, with no regard for contemporary standards of tidiness or good order. In an early story, Watson describes Holmes thus:
Although in his methods of thought he was the neatest and most methodical of mankind…[he] keeps his cigars in the coal-scuttle, his tobacco in the toe end of a Persian slipper, and his unanswered correspondence transfixed by a jack-knife into the very centre of his wooden mantelpiece…

А за боксьорските изпълнения:

Fist-fighting
Holmes is described as a formidable bare-knuckle 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 occasions throughout the stories, inevitably emerging the victor.[33] It is mentioned also in „Gloria Scott“ that Holmes trained as a boxer.

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, „I have some knowledge, however, of baritsu, or the Japanese system of wrestling, which has more than once been very useful to me.“ The name „baritsu“ appears to be a reference to the real-life martial art of bartitsu.