FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: LoriAnn Wukitsch, Managing Director, 610-882-0450 ext. 16E-mail: lwukitsch@historicbethlehem.org Date: February 18, 2015

Learn Bartitsu: the Gentleman’s Martial Art Featuring Professor Mark Donnelly

BETHLEHEM, PA—Are you looking to learn a new talent, but you want it to be something original and unique? Do you want the perfect gift for dad this Father’s Day weekend? Historic Bethlehem Museums and Sites has the event for you! Come experience our latest Steampunk Saturdays program, Learn Bartitsu: the Gentleman’s Martial Art, to experience the Victorian fighting methods of Sherlock Holmes.

The event, happening June 20, 2015, at Luckenbach Mill, features popular martial arts-based fighting styles of Victorian London. Admired forms of self-defense, these techniques have been utilized by many literary heroes, including Hamlet and Sherlock Holmes. Incorporating fisticuffs, savate, and the grappling styles of judo and jujitsu, Bartitsu blends many skills together. The style’s emphasis is given on how to use items in the world around you, whether it be an umbrella or a snuff box. This demonstration will be led by a world-renowned expert on historical combat, Mark Donnelly. Linking the realms of history and imagination, this event is an exciting experience you don’t want to miss.

Mark Donnelly is a television producer, screenwriter, graphic designer, historian, multi-award winning author, and duelist well-known for his talents in combat fighting. Currently having 20 books in print along with scripting/producing over 200 hours of broadcast television, Mark is distinguished for his historical knowledge. Studying armed combat since the age of 13, combined with years of training and research, he has traveled throughout the world to teach these fighting styles. If you’re looking for an adventure and a chance to be trained by a true professional, this is the time for you. Come get a kick out of history and learn from a world-renowned expert.

With ties to Steampunk and contemporary pop-culture, this event encompasses many unique dimensions. Blending exploration, adventure, leisure, military and travel, Bartitsu is a multi-dimensional fighting style worth experiencing.

Admission for the event is $12 to observe, or for just $25 guests will have the chance to participate in the training. Ticket includes admission into the Kemerer Museum of Decorative Arts, where the Steampunk exhibition will both intrigue and fascinate visitors of all ages.

Historic Bethlehem is a not-for-profit institution that brings to life three centuries of American history. Historic Bethlehem tells the story of a small town of great influence, home to some of our nation’s earliest settlers, to America’s first municipal water pumping system, and to one of the world’s greatest industrial companies. Historic Bethlehem is located in Eastern Pennsylvania, only a 1.5 hour drive from Philadelphia to the North and 2 hours west of New York City. Historic Bethlehem is an Affiliate of the Smithsonian Institution and is distinguished as a National Historic Landmark District for Historic Moravian Bethlehem. For more information please call 610-691-6055 or visit www.historicbethlehem.org.

###