STAGE COMBAT

Fights have played a crucial role in theater tradition ever since the days of Roman tragedies. Back in the time of Homer and Ovid, realistic battle reenactments were encouraged, if not mandated. Should a minor actor happen to lose a hand or a head, a replacement was simply recruited from one of the conquered countries. With the advent of the Renaissance, an enlightened approach to theater fighting arrived in the person of Shakespeare, who can count fake stage combat as one of the many innovations of his illustrious career. He saw no need to sacrifice the lives of his players, unless of course they could not remember their lines. Few historians recall that after the performance of one of his main plays, the curtain would fall, only to rise again twenty minutes later to reveal a wrestling ring featuring pre-WWF grudge matches between such stout thespian heroes as The Mighty Othello and Falstaff the Fighter. Also included in these popular post-play programs were comedy routines such as the Three Gentleman Stooges of Verona, much later shortened to The Three Stooges for the American public. Such after-hour routines helped the players to perfect their stage combat skills. Stage Combat 101 Stage combat, in simplest terms, is pretending to fight for the benefit of an audience. Almost everyone has seen it in one form or another: on stage, on television, at the movies. It can range from a single punch to a full-scale 'battle' between armies of hundreds of actor/combatants. Stage combat IS . First, what stage combat is...We've all rough-housed, played around to impress friends and family, but this isn't quite stage combat. Stage combat is a series of PREPLANNED, SAFELY executed moves. That is to say, there should be no changes, no surprises, and no extemporaneous blows thrown in. The purpose of stage combat is and MUST be to artistically and effectively serve the overall goal of the production of which it is a part. Just 'making something up' to cover the stage direction "they fight" will make for a poor performance indeed, and could ruin the entire aura of the show. Conversely, it is also usually a bad idea to create a couple of fights and build a plot around them, no matter how nice the fights are. Most audience members can quickly grow tired of 'whack whack whack' with little else to round it out. Stage combat is only one of the myriad of special skills that come together to produce a quality production. The fight must be given neither too small of a role nor too much of one. And of course, one of the most important things for a fight to be is exciting and entertaining to watch. STAGE COMBAT - TERMINOLOGY These terms help you understand the safety and movement principles that underlie all of stage combat. Understanding them will help you and your partner create the techniques in a manner that is both safe and productive. Attacker The attacker is the combatant initiating the technique such as a punch, kick, or slap. Stage combat IS NOT . And there are some things that stage combat is NOT. Stage combat is not a martial art, it is not a means of self-defense, and it is not meant to portray actual combat. In a martial art, or actual combat, the key is to learn and use skills that will allow you to hurt/disable /kill your opponent as quickly as possible. The exact opposite is the aim of stage combat: to NOT hurt your opponent at all. Therefore, the methods used in stage combat are theoretically non-violent, and should NOT be considered a means of self-defense. And stage combat should not be considered to represent the way actual combat is/would have been: it usually doesn't, but it very well could (depending on the choreographer). Why then is it so uncommon for a choreographed fight on stage and screen to be unrealistic? In reality, fights were/are usually over very quick. It is obviously not very entertaining to have the climatic fight in an epic story between a hero and a villain last 10 seconds. So we have to beef it up a little to make it entertaining and to help move the story along at a more exciting pace.

Victim The victim is the combatant on the receiving end of any attack. Combatants can potentially change roles from attacker to victim many times throughout the fight. Fight Distance The correct spacing between you and your partner should be at least 3 to 4 feet apart. Check distance by having the taller student (the one with the longer arms) reach out toward the partner with a straight arm. The hand should be at least 6 8 inches from the partners chest. This allows for maximum safety while maintaining the illusion of reality. Breath Remember to breathe throughout the fight no matter how much physical exertion is needed. Since breath and voice are linked, this will help you to vocalize during rehearsals and while performing fight techniques. It will also help the body to relax. Tension Relaxation Avoid becoming too tense when performing the fight. Excessive tension gets in the way of body control and quickly tires you out. Eye Contact Making eye contact prior to each and every sequence in the fight is a constant reminder to be ready and prepared for the next sequence. For example eye contact is made between the combatants before a slap is thrown to help both the attacker and victim prepare for the next move. The attacker knows the victim is ready to react and the victim knows the attacker is ready to initiate the next move. It is not necessary to maintain constant eye contact, but it is important to check in before each technique, and during potentially dangerous moves. Stance and Balance Always stand with your weight centered, your legs at least shoulder width apart, and with your knees slightly bent. This stance allows for freedom of movement in all directions. If your weight is leaning on one leg or the other, it will be hard to change directions when needed. Cueing The signal given from you to your partner at predetermined times throughout the fight. Cues should be choreographed into the fight at specific places to establish each others readiness to continue. All cues are made either physically (a touch, or a push for example), vocally (a yell or grunt for example), verbally (a line from the play for example), or through eye contact. Contact Blow A blow delivered to a major muscle group that actually strikes the victim and produces a realistic sound. The energy of the contact punch or kick is always pulled. Pulling the Energy Pulling the energy of a strike means the quick withdrawal of the punching or kicking action to avoid potential injury to the victims major muscle group. Non-Contact A blow delivered with the illusion of contact, a non-contact punch always misses its target by 6 8 inches or more. Reverse Energy Reverse energy is the concept of energy moving away from the attackers target area to protect the victim. For example, when a strangulation is performed the attacker actually pulls the energy away from the victim while the victim holds the attackers hand in place to stabilize the contact. This reverse energy results in a technique that is safe for the combatants. Masking Masking is the concept of hiding a moment of contact so that it will look as if the blow has struck its target. This is always true of non-contact blows and sometimes true of contact blows. All techniques need to mask the knap and fighting distance from the audience. Timing Good timing is crucial to the effectiveness of a good stage fight. Avoid anticipating the fight moves either by rushing the attack or reacting before the blow is delivered. Reacting too late also makes the fight look unrealistic.

(source: Unarmed Stage Combat II: Perfecting The Fundamentals)