3 Hours of Unarmed Stage Combat
3 Hours of Sabre for the Stage
Stage Combat Fundamentals in One Day
To perform fights on stage, there are two elements: performer safety and the illusion of violence. When you want to look like you’re trying to kill someone, it’s a bad idea to improvise. The fight looks like crap and people get hurt.
In this intensive one-day workshop, we’ll cover the basics of stage combat, including:
Slaps
Punches
Hair Pulls
Chokes
Falls
Sword parries and footwork
Sword attacks
Wounds and death
Important and Convenient
Anyone who performs fights for entertainment needs to know these essentials, whether you’re acting in plays or film, or performing fight demonstrations.
It’s at Academie Duello, conveniently located in downtown Vancouver.
It’s happening on a Saturday, a one-day commitment, ending early enough that you still have your evening to see a show and enjoy the rest of your weekend. It’s also affordable to anyone who has an interest: $80 for the full day.
More Info
Keep yourself safe and look like an action hero. Register by dropping by Academie Duello: 422 Richards Street (upstairs), or call 604-568-9907. We have a Facebook Event here: Facebook | Slaps & Slashes Stage Combat.
I’ve been away from the blog for a few weeks, at the FDC National Workshop in Waterloo, then the process of moving from Toronto to Vancouver. In the meantime, there have been a few news items about stage combat, and I’ve picked three for you today: The Good, The Bad and the Ugly.
…does “Jersey Boys” really need a fight director? I realize this is a story about some sketchy guys from New Jersey, but c’mon. This wasn’t exactly “Goodfellas the Musical.” Yeah, there are a few Tony Soprano-type moments, but I can hardly remember any real dustups in the play.
You, my readers, know that a few Soprano moments can mean a broken nose if you don’t have a fight director. But that’s not all. He goes on:
…“Romeo and Juliet.” What? I don’t recall any kickboxing or scissor holds in Shakespeare. A fight director for the Bard? Instead, how about a translator for those of us not too well versed in Shakespearean prose?
Is he just being inflammatory? Or is this critic “not too well versed in Shakespearean” anything? Even if the first scene of the play is not depicted as a major Capulet vs. Montague brawl (which it should be, since the Prince has to break it up on penalty of death), there are still two sword fights in which characters are mortally wounded on stage. Does Mike Morin believe a fight choreographer is not needed for major sword fights?
He follows up that article with somewhat of a retraction in his next item. He is schooled by one of the actors from Jersey Boys on the importance of a fight director here: Getting a lesson in musical theatre.
Edgerton accidentally hit Blanchett in the head with a ’60s-style radio. The impact could be heard in the audience and the actress and STC co-artistic director fell down on all fours. Several people said they could see blood streaming down the back of Blanchett’s head. She went off stage to fetch clothes for Stanley’s wife, Stella (Robin McLeavy), and used some of them to try to staunch the flow of blood.
A spokesperson reported that Cate is fine, and expects to continue the run immediately.
Kombat Kate provided invaluable pointers for stage combat, demonstrating just how much preparation theatrical fights need to be dramatically coherent, safe and effective. Combat is often the casualty of a short rehearsal period and a hamstrung budget – paying for fight choreography can seem like a luxury to the penniless young director or producer. But it’s not. A slapdash fight in which actors lose concentration and go too fast or slip out of control is a fight in which someone is going to get their nose broken or their ear-drum perforated, not to mention the fact that it will look rubbish on stage. Every fight tells a story in microcosm: working with a good fight director will help ensure that the narrative isn’t garbled.
To have a director publicly recognize the value of having a fight director is heartening. Although we like individual praise and good reviews, what we really need to cultivate is a culture that understands that the job itself is valuable… and in many cases it is indispensable.
Many characters suffer and die in plays and films. Some actors consider it to be the most fun scene, others think it’s the most challenging. How do you play a realistic death?
Well, you don’t do it like that scene from Enter the Ninja. So how do you research? I would not recommend Method Acting this one. You don’t need to experience dying to portray it for an audience. Instead, you can read about it from New Scientist.
Science and Speculation About Morbid Events
The researchers at New Scientist took evidence from various sources to create subjective descriptions of the events leading to death for a number of scenarios. The information came from known medical processes, accounts from near-death survivors, and autopsy data.
Drowning:
Victims first panic and try to hold their breath, typically for 30 to 90 seconds. Survivors have reported a “tearing and burning” sensation as water enters the lungs – but it is quickly followed by a feeling of calmness and tranquility. Oxygen deprivation results in loss of consciousness, the heart stopping and brain death.
Heart attack:
A “squeezing” chest pain, or feeling of pressure, is the most common symptom as the heart muscle struggles for oxygen. Disruption of the normal heart rhythm effectively stops the heart beating. Loss of consciousness can occur in about 10 seconds and death can follow minutes later.
Loss of blood:
Marked by several stages of “haemorrhagic shock”. Anyone losing 1.5 litres of blood feels weak, thirsty and anxious. By the time two litres are lost, people experience dizziness, confusion and eventual unconsciousness.
Electrocution:
A household electric shock might stop the heart, leading to unconsciousness after around 10 seconds. Higher currents through the heart or brain can produce almost immediate unconsciousness. However, it has been claimed that prisoners executed with the electric chair may actually have died from heating of the brain or suffocation.
Fall from a height:
Survivors of great falls often report the sensation of time slowing down. A study of 100 suicide jumps from San Francisco’s 246-ft-high Golden Gate Bridge found numerous cases of instantaneous death involving collapsed lungs, exploded hearts or damage to organs from broken ribs.
Hanging:
Hanging suicides and old-fashioned executions cause death by strangulation. This can lead to unconsciousness in 10 seconds but a poorly placed noose may result in many minutes of suffering. “Long drop” hangings are designed to break the neck. But a study of the remains of 34 prisoners executed in this way found that four-fifths died partly from asphyxiation.
Fire:
Burns inflict intense pain, and boost the skin’s pain sensitivity. As superficial nerves are destroyed, some feeling is lost – but not much, according to experts. But most people who die in fires are actually killed by inhaling toxic gases and asphyxiation.
Decapitation:
Beheading can be swift and painless but consciousness is believed to continue for a short time after the spinal cord is severed. Experts have calculated that the brain might remain functioning for seven seconds. Reports from guillotine executions in France cited cases where movements of the eyes and mouth were seen for up to 30 seconds.
Death From Combat
For those who die fighting (my speciality), whether in battles or duels or assassinations, take a close read of the section on Loss of blood. It mentions haemorrhagic shock, and here’s a reference table:
Classification of Hemorrhagic Shock (adapted from SOGC Clinical Practice Guidelines, #115, June 2002):
Compensated
Mild
Moderate
Severe
Blood Loss (ml)
≤1000
1000–1500
1500-2000
>2000
Heart rate (bpm)
<100
>100
>120
>140
Respiration
Normal
Mild Increase
Moderate tachypnea
Marked tachypnea: respiratory collapse
Mental status
Normal or agitated
Agitated
Confused
Lethargic
I would describe this to an actor as a whole body progression (mind, breathing, and physical strength) from Elevated to Irregular to Depressed, then unconsciousness and death. At first, breathing is faster – even faster than when fighting – the mind is racing as well, which might be shown as darting eyes or faster speech. Next, everything gets messy: Breathing is irregular, speech may be halting or stuttering, and if the person is not already on the floor, they will fall down from weakness in the legs and dizzyness. In their final moments of consciousness, play the slowing of the breath, slow speech, slow movement.
For wounds in general, remember that almost everyone tries to cover a puncture or cut of any size. Wherever the character was injured, put your hands there and push. This will also focus your mind on the source of your pain while the audience clearly understands what’s going on. As a bonus, we can conveniently use less stage blood (or no blood), and still have a believable death scene. For added detail, remember that the loss of blood is a loss of fluid, so the character will be thirsty.
If you’re lucky enough that your director gives you a lengthy death scene, I hope these tips help you sell it.
I taught bartitsu and neo-bartitsu this past Sunday at Academie Duello. This was an all-day workshop from 10am to 5pm. Although the day was hot, and we had to share the salle with the secondaries workshop happening concurrently, I consider it a success.
Attendance
We had 6 participants, which was an ideal number for this workshop. Next time, I’ll aim for a larger group only if we have the whole space. As it stood, neither group was cramped, and on a sweltering day, that’s important.
Outline
10 am: Warm up, introduction to Bartitsu
Meet attendees
Discuss context and history
Physical warm up
Tactics: avoidance (e.g. walk in middle of street)
“Lighter stick” drills (preemptive strike to head, throw/kick/hook/figure-4)
“vs boxer” drill (jump to outside, turn 180, strike knee/shin)
Open umbrella as cloak for leg attack
Video
Here is a 6-minute clip from the workshop. This is towards the end (after 4pm) when I was discussing Neo-bartitsu. We had already done umbrella, and added comments about knife defense.
embedded by Embedded Video
If my participants would like to use the comment section below, I’d love to hear your reactions to the workshop. Did anything surprise you? What was your favourite section? Did you think of any questions afterwards?
Here’s some fun stuff about the upcoming Sherlock Holmes movie with Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law as Watson. As usual, let’s get right to the excellent video right away.
“The physicality, the bare-knuckle fighting, the martial arts are all hinted at in the books,” says Law who delved deep into Doyle’s books in preparation for his role. “We just hold a magnifying glass over them. A word that Conan Doyle uses an awful lot is ‘apprehended.’ As in, ‘Holmes and Watson apprehend the villain.’ We get to show the apprehension.”
I just found this site, and I’ve bookmarked it because I enjoy the writing and analysis so much.
Learn To Overthrow an Assailant
So if you like that: the boxing, the kicks, the stick fighting, don’t miss my Bartitsu Workshop on July 26th at Academie Duello.
Learn the fighting style of Sherlock Holmes in this unique one-day workshop at Academie Duello.
England in the 19th century was replete with instructors in martial arts from the world over. E.W. Barton-Wright had returned from Japan and opened a school to teach the English gentleman how to defend himself against ruffians using only the most effective techniques whether unarmed or carrying the accessory of the time: the walking-stick.
The Bartitsu system worked so well that Sir Arthur Conan-Doyle wrote that Sherlock Holmes used it to defeat Moriarty.
Learn:
English boxing, French kickboxing and the English interpretation of Judo
Stick fighting and self-defense with an umbrella
Modern urban self-defense evolved from the principles of Bartitsu
Whether your interest is in history or practical self-defense, this workshop will give you the skills and knowledge of 19th century fighting.
Only $120 (15% discount for members)
Register Now: Call 604.568.9907 or Drop by Academie Duello
5:00 PM – Burnaby Mountain Secondary School 8800 Eastlake Drive, Burnaby Directions: Skytrain + Freerun: Take the train to “Production Way Station” – Freerun east down “Lougheed Highway” – Cross the street at “Gaglardi Way” and follow the path to your left up to the school. Skytrain + Bus: Take the train to “Production Way Station” – Hop on the “110 Lougheed Mall” at the bus loop – Get off at Eastlake and Beaverbrook (school is to your right)
8:00 PM – 10:00 PM – Omega Gymnastics Drop in 125 B Glacier Street, Coquitlam 10$ Drop in
JULY 4th
12:00 PM – 12:30 PM – Coopers Park located underneath the “Cambie Street Bridge” (downtown side) Directions: Skytrain + Freerun: Get off at “Stadium Skytrain Station” – Slide down the railing to the lower Level – Freerun left on “Expo Blvd” – then Freerun right on “Abbott Street” – take a right on Pacific Blvd and Freerun as hard as you can until you hit Nelson Street – Go Left on Nelson and do your best Freerunning possible (everyone will be watching) as you head straight for the park.
12:30 PM – til you drop – Downtown Training
JULY 5th
2:00 PM – Dark – Lighthouse Park, West Vancouver Directions: Bus + Normalruncausetheresnobstaclesinwhichtoexpressyourfreedomwith: Catch the “250 Horseshoe Bay Bus” on “Georgia Street” Downtown – Hop off at “Marine Drive & Beacon Lane” – Follow the sign that says “lighthouse park” and meet everyone at the gate to the trail.
I’m not going to promise to be at every event all the time, but I will try to attend. If the organizer, Rene, is game, I’ll also teach a bit of a fight scene for interested parties.
Every Thursday from now on, you can drop by Academie Duello and get an hour (or more) stage combat on Thursdays at 5pm.
We’ll cover a different topic each week, and I’ll give instructions for all different levels of experience. We’ll cover a few fundamentals, then we’ll put together some choreography to show off.
No, it’s not for kids, I just found this photo and thought it was great: two children finger-fencing (that’s my interpretation). And the one in black looks so serious and angry while the blonde is looking at the audience. It’s a great visual for an intro to stage combat.
For members of Academie Duello, it’s free. For non-members, it’s only $10.
I’ve just started a group on MeetUp.com, so if you’re thinking of joining us once in a while, please sign up there. It’s a great way to stay in touch, and to get news about our next meeting. And meetup has tons of other local groups where you can connect with your other hobbies. Our group is Vancouver Stage Combat Drop In
Update: Due to scheduling conflicts, the first day of class is July 13. The course will be 3 weeks, 2 hours per day: 5pm to 7pm. Since the time is reduced, the price is reduced to $250.
Are Your Stage Combat Skills Rusty?
How long has it been since you took a stage combat class? Have you ever? Most theatre schools in Vancouver don’t even teach stage fighting. However, it is a fundamental skill for the performer.
Get a Refresher For Your Physical Performance
Stage combat is a shortcut to mastering your instrument by incorporating:
moving around the stage with purpose
interacting with another character in a life-or-death situation
playing fear, anger, injury, effort while still concentrating on the choreography
staying aware of your environment
breathing, yelling, speaking your lines while exerting yourself
Don’t Accept Less Than FDC
Learn the foundations of Fight Directors Canada:
Unarmed combat
Quarterstaff
Sword
It’s not just weapons, FDC emphasizes:
Safety: You need to move with high speed and intensity, without risking any kind of injury.
Storytelling: It’s not a game, it’s part of the play/movie… learn to incorporate combat into a scene.
Style: Techniques change based on history and geography. Learn a versatile system.
Fun and Intensive
This is a jump-start program:
3 weeks
Monday-Wednesday-Friday
3:30-6:30 5pm-7pm
Starts July 6 July 13
Convenient
Any actor can do this:
Afternoons: So you can get to other jobs in the evening, or auditions during the day
Short duration: You don’t have to plan for 4 months of classes
Affordable
Downtown: Getting to Richards and Hastings is so easy
Get in gear, get an advantage over the other actors, get real safety and FDC standards (internationally recognized quality), get to Academie Duello.
Only $499 $250
Register Now – Call 604.568.9907
Drop by Academie Duello 422 Richards St. (upstairs)
The first class is July 13!
ps: Are you auditioning for Bard on the Beach in August? With this workshop on your resume, they’ll know you can handle a sword.
My mentor, Daniel Levinson, has spent the last few months choreographing the stage combat for Julius Caesar at the Stratford Festival. He is also the associate fight director for Macbeth.
The Stratford Festival website recently ran an article about Daniel and his work. It’s a brief look at the ideas that a fight master can bring to a show, and a little about the process of building a fight for a specific production. Here’s a little excerpt from that article:
At its most basic level, the job is to choreograph fight scenes. But to do this effectively you need more than an arsenal of combat skills. You need an actor’s understanding of character, a director’s eye for story and a dancer’s feel for movement.
Go read the whole interview, because Daniel is articulate yet brief in his comments. In every interview I’ve read with him, he has so clearly captured the importance of stage combat and its effective use on stage. There is also great footage of a fight rehearsal embedded on the site. Stratford.ca: “Will ye, like soldiers, come and fight it out?”
I’ve always admired Daniel for his pragmatic approach to every problem and his attention to what really matters. As you read in the interview, and saw in the video, he does not go on at length, but chooses his words well. He also doesn’t cloud the issue, but is always clear yet friendly and very funny.
He’s everything I aspire to be in a teacher and fight director.
Daniel’s website is RapierWit.com, which details the goings-on at his studio, Rapier Wit, located near the corner of Bathurst and Wellington in Toronto.
Contact
Subscribe
Sep 10, 2009 
3 Hours of Unarmed Stage Combat
No Comments 
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=2a81a25c-c326-4698-9b98-40a57e49c17a)
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=e77fecd9-af27-4da4-ba37-988713222a25)
Every Thursday from now on, you can drop by 
My mentor, Daniel Levinson, has spent the last few months choreographing the stage combat for Julius Caesar at the ![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=ab22c03c-87c6-4a94-b6c9-350d5a2ca834)