Bartitsu instructor Mark Donnelly will be teaching an intensive seminar for the Bartitsu Club of New York City on Sunday, March 11, 2012. See this page for all details.

Professor Donnelly will also be teaching a series of workshops at the Steampunk World’s Fair in Piscataway, New Jersey between May 18th and 20th.

While called “Manly Arts,” all men, women and children are invited to come and experience a rare look at self defense “Victorian style” in Baltimore City and County on the eve of the Civil War!

This is a hands-on program giving visitors the opportunity to learn swordsmanship, basic fist-fighting techniques, “swing” into action with stick fighting and engage in safe demonstrations with professional instructors. Special guests will include Professor Mark Donnelly and Mr. Steve Huff, internationally famous authors, historians and instructors of Western Martial Arts. They will be assisted by Victor Markland and members of The Mid-Atlantic Society for Historic Swordsmanship. A special display titled “Hampton, a House Divided” showcasing rare letters, photographs and objects from the Civil War will be available in the mansion.

Visitors will gain an appreciation of history. One hundred and fifty years ago people in Baltimore City and Baltimore County learned these same techniques. The first bloodshed of the Civil War occurred in a riot on Pratt Street in Baltimore. The violence of the Pratt Street Riot and its aftermath were not unexpected. In Mobtown (as Baltimore was known) gangs of thugs and criminals roamed dangerous streets. These “political” partisans easily moved from the chaos of the street fight to the carnage of battlefield. In the North and the South militia and para-military units were formed and equipped in anticipation of war. It was with one of these units, from Massachusetts, that the Baltimore mob clashed with in close-quarter combat. Charles Ridgley of Hampton led another as the Captain of the Maryland Horse Guard, a Pro-Southern militia unit.

The modern Bartitsu revival is very much an international effort, with clubs and study groups about evenly spread between Europe and North America. One of the newest groups is the Bartitsu Club of New York City (you can “like” them on Facebook here), recently instrumental in hosting the very successful Antagonistics Weekend event with Bartitsu instructor Mark Donnelly (reviewed here).

Organised by the indefatigable Rachel Klingberg, the New York club meets monthly in Central Park. Lessons may include:

* Intros, warm-up with Victorian/Edwardian calisthetics, pugilism shadow boxing with attention to proper form and structure
* Savate kicks, coup de pied bas
* Vigny cane – footwork and posture, proper form and stances with solo movements, drills
* Safe falling, Ju Jutsu locks and defense against grabs, “How to Put a Troublesome Man Out of the Room”, grabs to wrists, coat lapels, etc.
* Parasol defense, bayonetting with parasol, locking with cane or parasol, drills from “Self Defence with a Parasol” 1901 article
* Basic fencing
* Cool-down and debriefing

Instructor Mark Donnelly demonstrates self defence with a walking stick.

Thanks to Rachel Klingberg for this detailed report on Mark Donnelly’s three Bartitsu classes at the recent Steampunk World’s Fair conference in New Jersey.

Announcing the Antagonistics Weekend, a two-day long Bartitsu seminar with Professor Mark Donnelly in New York City:

Learn to fight like Sherlock Holmes! London’s Bartitsu Club was all the rage in 1899, but only recently has this lost martial art been rediscovered. Learn the “gentlemanly art of self-defense” at workshops taught by Professor Mark Donnelly, a world-renowned expert on historical combat.

Be part of history at Bartitsu’s NYC debut!

* Learn to use a walking stick, parasol, jacket, and other accessories for protection
* No martial arts experience required.
* A study in self-defense and in history.

Details

Saturday and Sunday, July 23-24, 2011
1:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.
34 West 28th Street
Fifth Floor
New York, NY 10001

Check out the NYCSteampunk website for further information!

Instructor Mark Donnelly (left, above) will be teaching Bartitsu classes at the Steampunk World’s Fair in New Jersey, USA (May 20th-22nd, 2011). Mark’s classes will include a 90 minute introductory session, an advanced class for those with considerable martial arts experience and also a class in Bartitsu for Ladies (and men in frocks!).

Announcing the long-awaited DVD release of the first feature documentary on Bartitsu, the “gentlemanly art of self defence”!

At the end of the Victorian era, E.W. Barton-Wright founded Bartitsu as a pioneering “mixed martial art” combining jiujitsu, kickboxing and self defence with a walking stick. It was also the means by which Sherlock Holmes was said to have defeated his arch-nemesis, the evil Professor Moriarty, in their famous battle at Reichenbach Waterfall.

This groundbreaking documentary was shot on location in Italy, Switzerland, England and the USA. Through numerous interviews, animations, re-enactment sequences, rare archival film footage and historical images, it explores the history, rediscovery and modern revival of Bartitsu.

Please visit the Freelance Academy Press website to view a new preview trailer and photo gallery, read an article about Bartitsu and the documentary production, and to place your DVD order!

The Hampton National Historic Site in Maryland will host its fifth “Manly Arts Day” on Sunday, September 19th.

Although historically identified as “Manly Arts,” all are welcome to learn about and participate in exercises and demonstrations of swordsmanship, boxing, and other of skills which were used by men and women to “come home alive” in the 19th Century.

Visitors will be able to view an array of historical weapons and practice period correct techniques in a safe controlled atmosphere. Nineteenth century America was not less dangerous than today. But its dangers were different in several ways. Threats to life, limb and property were typically “up-close and personal”, help was farther away and slower to respond. But people in general were more prepared to act decisively to defend themselves from danger on the field of battle, the field of honor or on the way home from the corner market. The need to be aware and be prepared for a dangerous encounter cut across all class, race, and gender lines. We can learn a lot about our ancestors whether rich man, poor man, beggar man, or thief by considering how they prepared for the kinds of dangers they expected to encounter.

Martial arts for defense and sport were closely tied to the Ridgely family – especially in the early years. Charles Ridgely, the builder of Hampton, and his nephew, the Governor of Maryland, were well-known for prize fighting with fist and cudgel. Subsequent generations served in cavalry units and were necessarily familiar with the use of sabers and other swords.

Guest instructors will be Steve Huff and Mark P. Donnelly, two internationally recognized teachers and historians of Western Martial Arts. They will be assisted by Park Ranger Victor Markland and members of the Mid-Atlantic Society for Historical Swordsmanship.

An alfresco Bartitsu seminar taught by Mark Donnelly at the recent World Steam Expo Steampunk convention in Dearborn, Michigan.

A special preview of our upcoming feature-length documentary exploring the cultural history, rediscovery and modern revival of E.W. Barton-Wright’s “New Art of Self Defence”.

Founded in London in 1899, Bartitsu was an early example of a mixed martial art, combining boxing, jiujitsu, savate and self defence with a walking stick. After a brief heyday, it was all but forgotten throughout the 20th century except for a single cryptic reference in Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes story, “the Adventure of the Empty House”.

Shot on location in Italy, Switzerland, England and the USA, “Bartitsu: the Lost Martial Art of Sherlock Holmes” is presented by Tony Wolf and features interviews with Dr. Emelyne Godfrey, Harry Cook, Graham Noble, Will Thomas, Mark Donnelly and Neal Stephenson.

Watch this site for updates!

Preview trailer credits

Producers:

Ran Arthur Braun

Tony Wolf

Bartitsu Club Italia – Broken Art: Paolo Paparella & Angelica A. Pedatella

Cletarte – Gaetano Guglietta & Filomena Longo

Associate Producers:

Digital Room Srl

Music:

Adi Bar (piano)
Roni Cohen (cello)
Abney Park (“Airship Pirate” and “Sleep Isabella”)