So we have reached the beginning of
week #2, and I have yet to keel over or cut off a limb, so therefore I will
consider it a success. It has been a jam-packed ride, with constant classes and
masterclasses. I’ve been meeting some great people, from fight masters to
fellow classmates, who come from a variety of different backgrounds and skill
levels.
The basis of my part of this
workshop is that we are working toward passing our Skills Proficiency Tests
(SPTs) in three different weapons: unarmed, rapier and dagger, and broadsword. You
must pass three SPTs in order to achieve Actor Combatant status within the
SAFD. Now these SPTs are not “certifications.” They are merely acknowledgements
that you have completed 30 hours of training in a particular weapon, and
successfully performed a fight scene for the public which has been adjudicated
by a fight master. There are two types of passes: Basic and Recommended, basic
being a general acknowledgement of skills, and recommended meaning that you are
able to successful perform the weapon and act the scene. After all, we are actor combatants. Additionally, these
SPTs are only good for three years before they have to be renewed.
Our days basically consist of four
classes a day: the three weapons we test in, and then an additional class so we
may gain hours toward other weapons. Last week was knife, this week will be
quarterstaff, and the final week, we’re told, will be dedicated to working on
our SPTs. Night classes vary. Tuesday, we did a class about acting within a
fight, taught by Fight Director Christina Traister, choosing specific
characters to embody as we performed neutral choreography. Wednesday was
Captain America Shield, taught by NSCW Coordinator and Certified Teacher, H.
Russ Brown. Yes, we learned how to punch shields as if we were Captain America.
I wore my Captain America boxers and everything. I videoed the fight my partner
and I eventually put together, so I will try to post it if I can. It was pretty
epic. Thursday, we watched the Advanced Actor Combatants SPRS (Skills
Proficiency Renewals), which I’ll discuss later. Friday was a class about the
up and coming medium of motion capture, taught by Certified Teacher Andrew Ray
(A Ray). We created characters physically, as A Ray instructed us on the
process of a motion capture shoot. While it may not necessarily be something
I’d want to pursue right off the bat, I’d never really heard about that area of
stuntwork and acting before. All of the classes have been helping me think
about more than just executing moves as I fight.
Of all of our regular classes, I’ve
been having very different experiences with all of them. First off, I have
found knife to be a fascinating weapon. I took one workshop in it last year,
but it’s one of the weapons I have the least experience in. A Ray is also our
teacher for knife, and has a very Zen approach to the weapon. I considered his
class to be the most calming. Not exactly what you’d expect when you have a
knife in your hand. From the first day, I’ve realized how much of an intimate
weapon it is. If you think about, like we do here, in order to stab or cut
someone, you have to get as close to them as possible. The weapon, an extension
of us, is extremely short. The distance required to execute the style of the
weapon is significantly reduced from that of any type of sword, and in relation
to unarmed, you are literally cutting to the inside of a person, as opposed to
hitting them on the surface. To quote A Ray, “It’s the one weapon that goes in
and doesn’t come out the other side.” The movement, as I said before, was very
Zen, so I venture to call this a very sensual weapon. These are just the
musings of a first times student, so please feel free to discuss this with me
further, as I’m always interested in dialogue.
Moving to swords, the contrast
between rapier and dagger and broadsword makes for interesting transitions as
we move from one to the other throughout the day. The first day with both
weapons was an odd experience for me. Being that I’ve had more experience with
broadsword, I figured I would slip into it rather smoothly. The opposite ended
up being true, as I felt rather clunky and awkward as we went through the
basics. On the reverse of that, I picked up rapier rather quickly the first day.
However, as the week moved on, I found broadsword coming to me easier, and rapier
requiring more thought. When it comes to these two weapons, the techniques to
handle them are kind of the opposite of what you’d expect. You’d think a
broadsword, what is considered a “heavy weapon,” would take more muscle. In actuality,
the counterweight of the handle on a broadsword makes is flow rather nicely,
and doesn’t take near as much effort to manipulate, as long as you stay relaxed
and in control. Rapier, on the other hand, has been requiring a little more
muscle to it in order to keep it in control. I like switching from one to the
other. It keeps me on my toes. Also keeping me on my toes are Fight Master Scott
Mann, my broadsword teacher, and Fight Master Michael Chin, my rapier and
dagger teacher. I think it took me some time to adjust to Scott’s teaching
style, and maybe that is why I struggled at first, but I’ve melded to his
approach and am feeling strongest in this weapon at this point. He also has
great stories from his history in stuntwork that help put what we’re doing into
context in both film and theatre. I’d taken a R&D workshop from Fight
Master Chin a few years ago, so I feel back into his methods fairly quick. He
gave us a quick history in weapons our first day, which has helped me put
weapons in historical context as we move forward in this workshop.
Lastly, unarmed has been quite an
experience. I walked into this workshop feeling that this was my weakest
weapon. I’ve never done it in a show, and any workshop I’ve taken, I’ve just
felt a little awkward. I don’t come from a martial arts background, and I
struggle when it comes to reacting to getting “hit,” probably because I’ve
never actually been hit. Fight Master Dale Girard has been very good about
teaching us techniques in a manner so that we know what we would be trying to
do martially, and then how we are adjusting that so that we can do it
theatrically without getting hurt. What I’ve noticed about myself, especially
in unarmed, is that I am a very footwork oriented person. If the feet aren’t
working, nothing’s working. So in unarmed, I’ve been taking it very slow in
order to correctly position myself so that the move can be executed without the
audience seeing “the trick,” as Dale calls it, and I’ve been lucky to have
great partners who are willing to work with my pace. I’m starting to pick it up
quicker, though, as the class goes on. We’ve also moved onto contact hits,
including punches and kicks, so at least I’m getting a little experience in
being hit. I’m still struggling with reactions, so I brought this to Dale, and
he’s promised that we will be breaking those down as we start moving on. We’ll
be doing falls and rolls later this week, so hopefully I can learn something
that can later apply to dance as well.
As I stated before, Thursday we
watched the AACW do their SPRs. These are students on the next level in this
process. They have already acquired weapons through SPTs, and are working
towards obtaining all 8 recognized weapons in the SAFD. They spent their first
few days here learning the fights for their renewals. I’m glad we got the
experience to watch that before we went into our process of learning our SPTs
because it gave us an idea of what we were in for. SPRs are shorter that SPTs,
and require less moves, so watching these fights got me both scared and excited
for what was to come. All of the fights done that night were passed, but Fight
Master Chin emphasized to us in class that there were several reasons why
certain fights only got basic passes, such as bad partnering skills, high
targeting, and other mistakes that should not be being made at the level the
advanced students are supposed to be at. We’ve already started learning our choreography
loosely some of our classes, with the fight masters infusing that learning experience
into exercises. We were told today to start picking our partners for our SPTs,
and I was able to find one who I’ve worked with well in the past here. Tyson is
his name, and we’ve got an interesting ride ahead of us.
It’s been a struggle at times
getting through this week, fighting through physical exhaustion, fatigue, and
dehydration. I’ve also been experiencing a new type of injury I’ve never had
before: knees. Around Friday, I started to feel an off twinge in my knee during knife class. By broadsword I was worried, so I asked to sit down. I didn’t want
to be one of those people who ignores an injury only to further injure
themselves because they didn’t take preventative measures. I was given ice, and
examined by our First Aid Intern, Rachel Stubbs, and she told me my patella
tendon was a little swollen. I got a knee brace, and was told to take small
breaks during my classes to rest. It’s been a few days, and I’m still feeling
it, though it does not feel worse. However, my other knee has been feeling the
strain of compensation, so I’m babying both of them when I’m not in class. The
worse part has been sitting out. I hate missing class, and it’s worse to sit
there and try to absorb when you can’t do, especially in such a physical art
form. It’s also difficult when you feel that sitting out makes you appear weak,
and unable to handle the stresses of the art form. That being said, I’ve had an
outpouring of support from the staff and my friends here. They understand this
is a very difficult experience to get through, and they have all been there
when it comes to nursing an injury. We fight over a stretch of about nine hours
per day, and we do this six days a week for three weeks. I’ve never done
workshops like this that are longer than two days. This is when your body will
show itself. Today, one of the fight masters talked to me about this, and said
that my knowing when to sit makes appear more smart than weak, so after that, I’m
starting to feel a little bit better.
So after a day of rest yesterday, where
I learned to crack whips from some friends, we’ve started on week two, and I’m
ready to go. I’m making great friends, and picking up great bits of wisdom here
and there about everything from Romeo and
Juliet to Thai boxing.
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