Schedule

Each day will start with Stretching for the Fighter before moving into classes for half the day. The exact schedule will be finalized later but below are topics that may be covered. The other half the day will be spent in daily rehearsal of classical and contemporary scenes to prepare for the production. Class topics will include:

Fundamental Principles of Historical and Stage Combat
• Various Styles such as Unarmed, Knife, Rapier, Longsword, Smallsword, Staff Weapons, Spear or Sword & Shield.
• Found Weapons - How to apply martial theory to whatever is lying about.
• “Why There?” – Basics of internal anatomy to understand why we target specific areas.
• "Off Balance" - The six points of balance on the body and how to disrupt them.
• Multiple Opponents.

Classes on Acting the Fight
• "Intention thru martial understanding" - How understanding the martial intent gives you a character.
• "What does that feel like?" Learn what different joint locks, wounds, etc feel like and how to perform them safely & accurately.
• "How to start a fight" - Building a scene to the point of violence.
• Coaching on your individual scenes.

Stagecraft
• Finding your angle - where the actions need to be performed based on the audience and planar geometry.
• Film vs Stage - how combat changes.
• Script analysis.
• "Seriously, Two Hours?" - what to do to make a fight safe and serve the play when you don't have rehearsal time.
• The Great Outdoors - considerations of theatre in the Park.
• "I Saw Red" - working with bloodpacks and creating cheap blood.

Lectures
• How to work with difficult [fill in the blank] (actors, directors, techs, etc).
• The Duel and why it's so bad, so often.
• Auditioning - FD's learn how to run a fight call.  Actors learn how to be, what to do, etc.
• Review the tape - After videoing your fight we go over the good, bad and ugly.
• Basic history of fencing/Evolution of the sword.
• Code Duello- why characters duel over seemingly small things.
• Toxicology.
• General cultural history.
• Fighter notation.
• Business class- Contracts, Insurance, Negotiations, etc.
• How to professionally tell a director no and make it their decision to agree with you.
• The "Red Light Fever" - what to do when the fight is speeding out of control.