Things To Do With Your Mouth for Valentine’s Day

You might not associate the mouth with fighting, except maybe to “slug them in the kisser”. But there are plenty of actions that a desperate person might do in combat using their oral cavity. Here are a few suggestions for your maw: Spitting is an Option Spitting can be a taunt or a direct insult.…

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To the Timid

Being safety-minded is a valuable trait in stage combat. However, shying away from choreography itself will only cause delays and disruption of the rehearsal process. Choosing to hold back and only perform slowly will certainly be safe and more comfortable for you, but will diminish the show you’re producing. All fight directors want you to…

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Trailer Ricochet: Macbeth

When you think of Shakespeare, you might first conjure up Romeo & Juliet and remember "The Bard" for his poetry. You might have had a bad experience in high school and remember how boring Shakespeare is with so many Histories and discuss why it's important or not to know the King's names in the Wars…

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Paul Dennhardt on Stage Combat

In the article linked below, Paul Dennhardt, a theatre professor at the College of Fine Arts of Illinois State University, explains important aspects of stage combat that should be understood by everyone in theatre by now. Sadly, most productions still don’t know where to begin with a sword fight, or what the process involves, but…

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Competition Stage Combat

Taking inspiration from Major Wes' post on this very blog called Staged Sword Press, let's talk about competitive stage combat. Art Contests In sporting competition, there is obvious scoring with the ball kicked across a line, or touches with a sword tip. Artistic expression has its own competitions, but they must be scored by a…

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Scenes of Violence

Most actors learn stage combat for a specific role while in rehearsal. My belief that every performer before leaving acting school should have Basic Actor-Combatant certification with Fight Directors Canada does not have widespread support. Therefore, the majority of actors already have a scene to fight to. But actors who are taking the full stage…

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