Martial Arts Of The World - Webs
Martial Arts Of The World - Webs Martial Arts Of The World - Webs
554 Stage Combat ning training in slow motion and gradually increasing the speed, the student learns the moves more accurately and has more control over them when the speed is increased. This teaching concept is similar to that employed in many Asian styles of martial combat. Stage combat is a collaborative process; by working together students learn the fundamentals and help each other in understanding the material. With both partners taking care of each other and doing their best to make each other look good, a fight will be safe and effective. As in any physical activity, it is important to warm up before beginning exercises, and it is very important to breathe and stay relaxed while executing the techniques. Certain rules should be followed. In any fight there is a victim and an attacker. The victim is the person being attacked and the attacker is the person trying to injure the victim. To avoid actual injury, stage combat has devised a system whereby the attacker cues the victim before attacking. Dale Anthony Girard has distinguished two kinds of cues: “a) A placement of the arm and/or weapon that reads as a specific attack to a specific target. Leaving no question as to the direction of the attack from its point of origin to its intended target. b) A prearranged signal for someone to perform a specific action” (1997, 483). The victim then reacts in an appropriate way (e.g., if he is supposed to duck, he does), and only then does the attacker finish her move (e.g., trying to cut off the victim’s head). This process is called Action-Reaction-Action: the initial action of the attacker, the reaction of the victim, the remaining action of the attacker. During any stage fight the victim is always in control. For example, if someone is being pulled across the floor by the hair, the victim is moving, and the partner performing the role of assailant is creating the illusion of doing the work. Turning again to Girard, “It is important to remember that the physical conflict on stage is an illusion; at all times each combatant should be fully in control of themselves and their weapons” (1997, 6). Since safety is the most important aspect of stage combat, students should always work at their own speed. Only when one is comfortable with the techniques and routine one has learned should the tempo be increased. A slow accurate fight is much more interesting and exciting to watch than a fast, sloppy, and essentially dangerous one. Nothing breaks an audience member’s suspension of disbelief quicker than the thought that one of the actors may actually get hurt. A good fight is a safe fight. As William Hobbs, fight director for The Three Musketeers (1973), The Princess Bride (1987), and many other films, once said, “One cannot make rules regarding creativity, but only regarding technique and safety” (1980, 65). Stage combat at its worst is a set of moves performed by actors on a stage. At its best, it is a living confrontation between characters in a struggle for supremacy within the life of the play. To make a fight more than just
moves, the actors and the choreographer must fill the fight with an outside life. To do this, the actors must decide on details about their characters. What physical attributes or limitations do the characters possess? Why are they in the confrontation? Do they want to be there? Are they scared, excited, showing off? Do they want to kill or simply humiliate their opponents? What is the playing field like? Is it evening, early morning, raining, foggy? How does this affect the way the characters fight? These are just a few of the many questions an actor must answer in order to give the fight an inner life. At the same time the actors are doing this, the choreographer must be thinking about how this fight fits into the overall concept of the play. Why did the playwright put the fight at this point? How will the fight add to the whole production? By researching the time period in which the play is set and studying the entire play to find out the fight’s purpose, the choreographer can give the actors a fully realized battlefield. At the same time, the actors can arrive as the complex characters they are portraying, giving the audience a glimpse into something real. The early fight scene in The Princess Bride, for example, perfectly represents a technically easy fight that appears to be something quite extraordinary, because of the performances of actors Mandy Patinkin and Carey Elwes. Fight directors are often asked about the historical accuracy of their fights, and though historical accuracy is kept in mind, it is not the primary focus for most choreographers. This is a theatrical art; therefore, “selling” the fight to the audience is more important than creating a picture-perfect replica of the past. Many fight directors will consult old fencing manuals in order to construct a scene; Domenico Angelo’s School of Fencing, Giacomo di Grassi’s His True Arte of Defence, and George Silver’s Paradoxes of Defence are particular favorites. Even when they use these resources, however, modern production requirements inevitably outweigh historical accuracy. Therefore, fight choreographers must be aware of what moves may be unsafe on the modern stage (e.g., any move that drags a blade across the face would be considered unacceptable) and what moves will be most effective for the given performance. Stage combat has become a significant feature of the entertainment world. Not only can it be seen on the stage of live theater and in commercial films, but it is also a major component of some of television’s most popular shows. Many of the series of the late twentieth and early twentyfirst centuries—Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, and Xena: Warrior Princess—contain a strong element of stage combat. With the increase in popularity of stage combat, many schools have appeared that offer training in this theatrical art. The Society of American Fight Directors is the oldest organization for stage combat directors in this country and is the best place to find further information on this subject, including listings of certi- Stage Combat 555
- Page 534 and 535: 504 Religion and Spiritual Developm
- Page 537 and 538: Sambo Sambo is an acronym (in Russi
- Page 539 and 540: A crowd intently watches a wrestlin
- Page 541 and 542: Upravlenije; State Intelligence Age
- Page 543 and 544: In addition to this ranking system,
- Page 545 and 546: A portrait of three men in Japan dr
- Page 547 and 548: Godaigo, issued a call to arms agai
- Page 549 and 550: Mass, Jeffrey P. 1989. Lordship and
- Page 551 and 552: style. One should note that at this
- Page 553 and 554: teach the techniques and logic of a
- Page 555 and 556: are launched from very low stances,
- Page 557 and 558: acteristics in regional styles of p
- Page 559 and 560: gion of Indonesia and most of the p
- Page 561 and 562: nese martial arts. The latter theor
- Page 563 and 564: Medieval judicial combat, trial by
- Page 565 and 566: “Philopoemen,” the Roman morali
- Page 567 and 568: References Alford, Violet. 1962. Sw
- Page 569 and 570: The earliest history of the region
- Page 571 and 572: een effected. Struggles between Sia
- Page 573 and 574: tions, silat has been an element of
- Page 575 and 576: An advertisement for Burmese boxing
- Page 577 and 578: and unlike contemporary Krabi krabo
- Page 579 and 580: modeled on the spurring talons of t
- Page 581 and 582: Ryan, N. J. 1976. A History of Mala
- Page 583: English actor, producer, and direct
- Page 587 and 588: a gibbet immediately outside the li
- Page 589 and 590: lades being replaced by an ash stic
- Page 591 and 592: techniques have been part of savate
- Page 593 and 594: tises that stickfighting competitio
- Page 595 and 596: Dressed in traditional garb, sword-
- Page 597 and 598: As a result of the first invasion,
- Page 599 and 600: Zen masters, however, did not thems
- Page 601 and 602: strength, stamina, and ferociousnes
- Page 603 and 604: and actively, defensively and offen
- Page 605 and 606: to stand up against increasingly he
- Page 607 and 608: there were three principal actions
- Page 609 and 610: to the Eighteenth Century. 1885. Re
- Page 611 and 612: the period clearly demonstrates tha
- Page 613 and 614: sponse to the use of cut-and-thrust
- Page 615 and 616: the late Renaissance as a personal
- Page 617 and 618: classical fencing and sport fencing
- Page 619 and 620: evolved over more than two thousand
- Page 621 and 622: (third-fifth centuries A.D.), when
- Page 623 and 624: A color woodblock print of a duel b
- Page 625 and 626: Another form subscribed to combat s
- Page 627 and 628: tainment that belongs in samurai mo
- Page 629 and 630: Hankuk Haedong Kumdô students Glen
- Page 631 and 632: through their perceptions, understa
- Page 633 and 634: T’aek’kyŏn T’aek’kyŏn is
moves, the actors and the choreographer must fill the fight with an outside<br />
life. To do this, the actors must decide on details about their characters.<br />
What physical attributes or limitations do the characters possess? Why are<br />
they in the confrontation? Do they want to be there? Are they scared, excited,<br />
showing off? Do they want to kill or simply humiliate their opponents?<br />
What is the playing field like? Is it evening, early morning, raining,<br />
foggy? How does this affect the way the characters fight? <strong>The</strong>se are just a<br />
few of the many questions an actor must answer in order to give the fight<br />
an inner life. At the same time the actors are doing this, the choreographer<br />
must be thinking about how this fight fits into the overall concept of the<br />
play. Why did the playwright put the fight at this point? How will the fight<br />
add to the whole production? By researching the time period in which the<br />
play is set and studying the entire play to find out the fight’s purpose, the<br />
choreographer can give the actors a fully realized battlefield. At the same<br />
time, the actors can arrive as the complex characters they are portraying,<br />
giving the audience a glimpse into something real. <strong>The</strong> early fight scene in<br />
<strong>The</strong> Princess Bride, for example, perfectly represents a technically easy<br />
fight that appears to be something quite extraordinary, because of the performances<br />
of actors Mandy Patinkin and Carey Elwes.<br />
Fight directors are often asked about the historical accuracy of their<br />
fights, and though historical accuracy is kept in mind, it is not the primary<br />
focus for most choreographers. This is a theatrical art; therefore, “selling”<br />
the fight to the audience is more important than creating a picture-perfect<br />
replica of the past. Many fight directors will consult old fencing manuals<br />
in order to construct a scene; Domenico Angelo’s School of Fencing, Giacomo<br />
di Grassi’s His True Arte of Defence, and George Silver’s Paradoxes<br />
of Defence are particular favorites. Even when they use these resources,<br />
however, modern production requirements inevitably outweigh historical<br />
accuracy. <strong>The</strong>refore, fight choreographers must be aware of what moves<br />
may be unsafe on the modern stage (e.g., any move that drags a blade<br />
across the face would be considered unacceptable) and what moves will be<br />
most effective for the given performance.<br />
Stage combat has become a significant feature of the entertainment<br />
world. Not only can it be seen on the stage of live theater and in commercial<br />
films, but it is also a major component of some of television’s most<br />
popular shows. Many of the series of the late twentieth and early twentyfirst<br />
centuries—Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, and Xena: Warrior<br />
Princess—contain a strong element of stage combat. With the increase in<br />
popularity of stage combat, many schools have appeared that offer training<br />
in this theatrical art. <strong>The</strong> Society of American Fight Directors is the oldest<br />
organization for stage combat directors in this country and is the best<br />
place to find further information on this subject, including listings of certi-<br />
Stage Combat 555
Change language