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Actresses Uma Thurman (right) and Vivica A. Fox performing a fight choreography

Stage combat is a specialized technique in theatre designed to create the illusion of physical combat without causing harm to the performers. It is employed in live stage plays as well as operatic and ballet productions. The term is also used informally to describe fight choreography for other production media including film and television. It is a common field of study for actors and dancers and is closely related to the practice of stunts. Image File history File links Circle-question. ... Screenshot from Kill Bill: The Bride and Vernita Green fight sequence with Nikki. ... Screenshot from Kill Bill: The Bride and Vernita Green fight sequence with Nikki. ... Uma Karuna Thurman (born April 29, 1970) is an Oscar-nominated American film actress. ... Vivica Anjanetta Fox (born July 30, 1964 in Indianapolis, Indiana) is a film and television actress. ... Serge Sudeikins poster for the Bat Theatre (1922). ... For other uses, see illusion (disambiguation). ... “Fights” redirects here. ... This article is about opera as an art form. ... Painting of ballet dancers by Edgar Degas, 1872. ... Film is a term that encompasses individual motion pictures, the field of film as an art form, and the motion picture industry. ... The examples and perspective in this article do not represent a worldwide view. ... A contemporary dancer rehearsing in a dance studio Dance generally refers to human movement either used as a form of expression or presented in a social, spiritual or performance setting. ... Game title screen Stunts is a racing game from 1990. ...

History

The history of staged fight and mock combat can be traced to antiquity, or indeed to the origins of the human species and primate display behaviour. Display of martial aptitude is a natural occurrence in warrior societies, and ritualized forms of mock combat often evolve into war dances. Fights staged for entertainment may also be in earnest for the combattants, as was the case with the Roman gladiators, and any public duel, such as the judicial duel of the European Middle Ages. Depiction of violence in theatre can also be traced to Antiquity, with Aristotle quoted as noting that "conflict is the essence of comedy".^{[citation needed]} “Primitive man” redirects here. ... Families 15, See classification A primate (L. prima, first) is any member of the biological order Primates, the group that contains all the species commonly related to the lemurs, monkeys, and apes, with the latter category including humans. ... Display is a form of animal behaviour, linked to survival of the species in various ways. ... 17th Century Brazilian Tapuia A warrior is a person habitually engaged in warfare. ... Hawaiian State Grappling Championships. ... Pollice Verso (With a Turned Thumb), an 1872 painting by Jean-Léon Gérôme, is a well known history painters researched conception of a gladiatorial combat. ... A duel is a formalized type of combat. ... The Judicial Duel. ... Aristotle (Greek: Aristotélēs) (384 BC – March 7, 322 BC) was a Greek philosopher, a student of Plato and teacher of Alexander the Great. ...

The medieval tournament and joust are a classical examples of competitive ritualised mock combat. The joust from the time of Maximilian I developed into a sport with enormous cost involved for each knight and correspondingly high prestige attached, comparable to contemporary Formula 1 races, while at the same time minimizing the danger of injury with highly specialized equipment. Tournament by Jörg Breu the Elder 1510s, depicting jousting A Tournament, or tourney (from Old French torneiement, tornei[1]) is the name popularly given to chivalrous competitions or mock fights of the Middle Ages and Renaissance (12th to 16th centuries). ... This article is about the 1982 arcade game. ... Maximilian I, Emperor of Mexico Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I, Duke of Bavaria Maximilian I of Bavaria This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... Formula One, abbreviated to F1 and also known as Grand Prix racing, is the highest class of single-seat open-wheel auto racing. ...

In the Late Middle Ages, staged fencing bouts, with or without choreography, became popular with fencing schools. The German combat manuals have sections dedicated to flashy techniques to be employed in such Klopffechten, which would be impractical in serious combat, and the Late Medieval German masters distinguish mock fights (fechten zu schimpf) and real combat (fechten zu ernst). Dante by Michelino The Late Middle Ages is a term used by historians to describe European history in the period of the 14th and 15th centuries (1300–1500 A.D.). The Late Middle Ages were preceded by the High Middle Ages, and followed by the Early Modern era (Renaissance). ... The German school of swordsmanship comprises the techniques of the two-handed longsword (Langschwert) taught throughout the Holy Roman Empire in the 14th to the 17th centuries as described in the Fechtbücher (fight books or combat manuals). Most of the authors are, or claim to be, in the tradition... fol. ...

In Asia, stylized stage combat has been a staple feature of traditional Japanese (Kabuki tachimawari), Chinese (Beijing Opera) and Indian performing arts for centuries. The history of European theatrical combat has its roots in medieval theatre, and becomes tangible in Elizabethan drama. It is speculated^{[citation needed]} that Richard Tarleton, who was a member of both William Shakespeare's acting company and of the London Masters of Defence weapons guild, was among the first fight directors in the modern sense. The Kabukiza in Ginza is one of Tokyos leading kabuki theaters. ... Beijing opera or Peking opera (Simplified Chinese: ; Traditional Chinese: ; pinyin: ) is a kind of Chinese opera which arose in the mid-19th century and was extremely popular in the Qing Dynasty court. ... Medieval theatre refers to the theatre of Europe between the fall of the Roman Empire and the beginning of the Renaissance. ... Elizabethan theatre is a general term covering the plays written and performed publicly in England during the reign (1558 - 1603) of Queen Elizabeth I. The term can be used more broadly to also include theatre of Elizabeths immediate successors, James I and Charles I, until the closure of public... Shakespeare redirects here. ...

During the late 1800s and early 1900s, fight scenes in touring theatrical productions throughout Europe, the British Commonwealth and the USA were typically created by combining several widely known, generic routines. At about the same time, fencing masters in Europe began to research and experiment with historical fencing techniques, with weapons such as the two-handed sword, rapier and smallsword, and to instruct actors in their use. Notable amongst these were George Dubois, a Parisian fight director and martial artist who created performance fencing styles based on gladiatorial combat as well as Renaissance rapier and dagger fencing. Egerton Castle and Captain Alfred Hutton of London were also involved both in reviving antique fencing systems and in teaching these styles to actors. Fencing advertisement for the 1900 Summer Olympic Games This article is about the sport, which is distinguished from stage fencing and academic fencing (mensur). ... Historical martial arts reconstructions are attempts at reviving martial arts with no living tradition. ... A two-handed sword, used as a general term, is any large sword that requires two hands to use, in particular: the European longsword, popular in the Middle Ages and Renaissance. ... Silver damascened rapier guard, between 1580 and 1600. ... The Smallsword is a sword intermediate in historical period between the rapier and the classical épée, ancestor to the modern sporting épée. ... Pollice Verso (With a Turned Thumb), an 1872 painting by Jean-Léon Gérôme, is a well known history painters researched conception of a gladiatorial combat. ... A rapier is a relatively slender, sharply pointed sword, used mainly for thrusting attacks, in use in Europe in the 16th and 17th centuries. ... Egerton Castle (1858-1920) was a Victorian era antiquarian and swordsman, and an early practitioner of reconstructed historical fencing. ... Captain Alfred Hutton (1839–1910) was a Victorian officer of the Kings Dragoon Guards, antiquarian and swordsman. ...

Cinematic fencing has its roots in the 1920s, with the movies of Douglas Fairbanks. Martial arts movies emerge as a distinct genre from the 1940s, popularized by Bruce Lee from the 1960s. Staged fights in Cinema include performances of classical fencing, historical fencing, martial arts, close combat and duels in general, as well as choreography of full-scale battles. ... Douglas Fairbanks Douglas Fairbanks (May 23, 1883 – December 12, 1939) was an American actor, screenwriter, director and producer, who became noted for his swashbuckling roles in silent movies such as The Mark of Zorro (1920), The Three Musketeers (1921), Robin Hood (1922), The Thief of Bagdad (1924) and The Black... Martial arts film is a film genre that originated in the Pacific Rim. ... Bruce Lee (Traditional Chinese: ; Simplified Chinese: ; Pinyin: Lǐ Xiǎolóng; Cantonese Yale: Léih Síulùhng; November 27, 1940 – July 20, 1973) was a Chinese American martial artist, instructor, and martial arts actor widely regarded as one of the most influential martial artists of the twentieth century. ...

By the mid-to-late 20th century, due partly to the confluence of theatrical disciplines being taught at drama schools around the world, these two "streams" had combined with skills drawn from professional wrestling, mime, modern fencing, Asian martial arts and similar disciplines to form the basis of modern stage combat.^{[citation needed]} This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... This article is about Mime as an art form. ... Fencing advertisement for the 1900 Summer Olympic Games This article is about the sport, which is distinguished from stage fencing and academic fencing (mensur). ... Hawaiian State Grappling Championships. ...

Informal guilds of fight choreographers began to take shape in the 1970s with the establishment of The Society of British Fight Directors,1969 to 1996. More formal training was established with the formation of the Society of American Fight Directors in 1977. The British Academy Of Stage & Screen Combat and Fight Directors Canada in 1993, the New Zealand Stage Combat Society in 1995 and theBritish Academy of Dramatic Combat in 1996.

Techniques

Stage combat training includes unarmed combat skills such as illusory slaps, punches, kicks, throwing and holding techniques; theatrical adaptations of various forms of fencing such as rapier and dagger, smallsword and broadsword, as well as the use of other weapons, notably the quarterstaff; and more specialised skills such as professional wrestling and different styles of martial arts. However, stage combat can include any form of choreographed violence and the options are limited only by safety concerns, and the ability of the participants involved. As a note, most of these techniques are drawn from actual fighting techniques, but modified to be safer for actors. For example, although there are a number of ways of creating the safe illusion of a slap to the face (which is obviously something that could really be done in combat), none of these involve making actual contact with the victim's face. Historical martial arts reconstructions are attempts at reviving martial arts with no living tradition. ... Silver damascened rapier guard, between 1580 and 1600. ... Bold text This article is about the weapon. ... The Smallsword is a sword intermediate in historical period between the rapier and the classical épée, ancestor to the modern sporting épée. ... The term broadsword is used to refer to different types of swords, across many cultures and time periods. ... Quarterstaffs in use, from Old English Sports, Pastimes and Customs, published 1891 A quarterstaff is a medieval English variant of the staff weapon, consisting of a shaft of hardwood, sometimes with metal-reinforced tips. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Hawaiian State Grappling Championships. ...

The over-riding concern is for the safety of the actors and audience. This requirement has led to the adaptation of many standard martial arts and fencing skills specifically for performance. For example, many basic sword attacks and parries must be modified to ensure that the actors do not bring the points of their weapons past their partner's face or otherwise inadvertently risk the other actor's health and well-being. Likewise, whereas their characters may be trying to violently twist each other's limbs, slap, or punch, or grapple, and engaging in vicious unarmed combat, the actors must operate at a high level of complicity and communication to ensure a safe, exciting fight scene. Considerable professional judgement is called upon to determine what technical level may be appropriate for a given performer, taking into account allotted rehearsal time, and the expectations of the director.

The combat phase of a play rehearsal is referred to as a fight rehearsal. Choreography is typically learned step by step, and practiced at first very slowly before increasing to full speed. Even stage combat is risky, and it is preferable for actors to have as much training and experience as possible. A "fight call" or a brief rehearsal before the show is performed each time, is set aside for the actors to "mark" through the fight to increase their muscle memory. 82. ... Training refers to the acquisition of knowledge, skills, and competencies as a result of the teaching of vocational or practical skills and knowledge that relates to specific useful skills obtained thru time. ... Look up Experience in Wiktionary, the free dictionary This article discusses the general concept of experience. ...

A show which includes a great deal of fighting will typically be trained and supervised by a professional fight choreographer and may also include a fight captain, who runs fight calls and ensures that actors are remaining safe throughout the duration of the show.

"Realism" in fight choreography

Fight choreography can vary widely from true realism to outright fantasy depending upon the requirements of a particular production. Realism in the visual arts and literature is the depiction of subjects as they appear in everyday life, without embellishment or interpretation. ... Smaug in his lair: an illustration for the fantasy The Hobbit Fantasy is a genre of art that uses magic and other supernatural forms as a primary element of plot, theme, or setting. ...

Fight choreographers note that an unusual aspect of live stage combat, such as in a play, is that audiences will react negatively to even simulated violence if they fear the actors are being harmed: for example, if an actor is really slapped in the face, the audience will stop thinking about the character and, instead, worry about the performer. Audiences may also fear for their own safety if large combat scenes seem to be out of control. Therefore, stage combat is not simply a safety technique but is also important for an audience to maintain uninterrupted suspension of disbelief. Suspension of disbelief refers to the willingness of a reader or viewer to accept the premises of a work of fiction, even if they are fantastic or impossible. ...

Types of choreographed fights

In theatre

Having its roots in Medieval theatre, stage combat enters classical theatre choreography with Elizabethan drama (Shakespeare's they fight). Medieval theatre refers to the theatre of Europe between the fall of the Roman Empire and the beginning of the Renaissance. ... English Renaissance theatre is English drama written between the Reformation and the closure of the theatres in 1642. ... Shakespeare redirects here. ...

Classical plays with fight scenes:

• Romeo and Juliet (1597)
• King Henry IV (1597)
• Macbeth (1606)
• King Lear (1608)
• Troilus and Cressida (1609)
• Die Räuber (1781)
• Cyrano de Bergerac (1897)

Title page of the Second Quarto of Romeo and Juliet (published 1599) For other meanings see Romeo (disambiguation) and Juliet (disambiguation). ... Henry IV can refer to Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor Henry IV of England Henry IV of France Henry IV of Castile Henry IV, Duke of Breslau or plays by William Shakespeare: Henry IV, part 1 Henry IV, part 2 This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which... Macbeth and Banquo meeting the witches on the heath by Théodore Chassériau. ... King Lear and the Fool in the Storm by William Dyce (1806-1864) King Lear is generally regarded as one of William Shakespeares greatest tragedies. ... The History of Troilus and Cressida is a play by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written around 1602, shortly after the completion of Hamlet. ... Die Räuber (The Robbers) is a drama by Friedrich Schiller. ... Cyrano de Bergerac is a play by Edmond Rostand based on the life of the real Cyrano de Bergerac. ...

On film

Main article: choreographed fight in cinema

Cinema inherited the concept of choreographed fights directly from the theatrical fight. Staged fights in Cinema include performances of classical fencing, historical fencing, martial arts, close combat and duels in general, as well as choreography of full-scale battles. ...

Douglas Fairbanks in 1920 was the first film director to ask a fencing master to assist the production of a fencing scene in cinema.^[1] A second wave of swashbuckling films was triggered with Erol Flynn from 1935. Douglas Fairbanks Douglas Fairbanks (May 23, 1883 – December 12, 1939) was an American actor, screenwriter, director and producer, who became noted for his swashbuckling roles in silent movies such as The Mark of Zorro (1920), The Three Musketeers (1921), Robin Hood (1922), The Thief of Bagdad (1924) and The Black... Errol Flynn as Robin Hood, one of his most famous roles Errol Leslie Thomson Flynn (June 20, 1909 – October 14, 1959) was an Australian film actor, most famous for his romantic swashbuckler roles. ...

Renewed interest in swashbuckling films arose in the 1970s, in the wake of The Three Musketeers (1973). Directors at this stage aimed for a certain amount of historical accuracy, although, as the 2007 Encyclopedia Britannica puts it, "movie fencing remains a poor representation of actual fencing technique". The Star Wars films, the fights for which are choreographed by Bob Anderson (Episodes IV, V & VI) and Nick Gillard (Episodes I, II & III), tend to portray its lightsaber combat using swordsmanship techniques drawn from existing martial arts, but performed with fantasy weapons such as lightsabers or The Force, whereas the action featured in the The Lord of the Rings film trilogy employed specifically designed fantasy weapons and fighting styles. For other uses, see The Three Musketeers (disambiguation). ... 1913 advertisement for the 11th edition, with the slogan When in doubt — look it up in the Encyclopædia Britannica The Encyclopædia Britannica (properly spelled with æ, the ae-ligature) was first published in 1768–1771 as The Britannica was an important early English-language general encyclopedia and is still... Opening logo to the Star Wars films Star Wars is an epic science fiction-fantasy saga and fictional universe that was created by writer/producer/director George Lucas during the late 1970s. ... Lightsaber combat describes the fictional fighting styles employed by Jedi and Sith characters in the Star Wars multi-media franchise. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... The Force is a binding, ubiquitous power that is the object of the Jedi and Sith monastic orders in the Star Wars universe. ... The Lord of the Rings film trilogy comprises three live action fantasy epic films; The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001), The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002) and The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003). ...

Hong Kong based fight choreographer Yuen Wo-ping is famed for his work on Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and the Matrix trilogy, in which the often unrealistic fighting techniques are complemented by directorial techniques such as bullet time. Ching Siu-tung is particularly noted in the field of Hong Kong action cinema for his use of graceful wire fu techniques. By contrast, films such as The Duellists, fight directed by William Hobbs, Once Were Warriors, fight directed by Robert Bruce and Troy, fight directed by Richard Ryan are widely famed for including gritty, realistic combat scenes. Yuen Woo Ping on the set of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon This is a Chinese name; the family name is Yuen. ... UK DVD cover Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (Traditional Chinese: ; Simplified Chinese: ; pinyin: ) is a Chinese-language wuxia (chivalric martial arts) film released in 2000. ... The Matrix series consists primarily of three films, The Matrix, The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions. ... Bullet-time is a concept introduced in recent films and computer games whereby the passage of time is slowed down so that an observer can see individual bullets flying throughout the scene at a conceivable rate, usually with their trails made visible. ... Ching Siu-tung (a. ... Hong Kong action cinema is the principal source of the Hong Kong film industrys global fame. ... Wire fu is an action film genre in which the actors use wire-work to perform amazing stunts. ... The Duellists (1977) was Ridley Scotts first feature film, based on the Joseph Conrad short story The Duel. Set during the Napoleonic Wars, it features two French Hussar officers, DHubert and Feraud (played by Keith Carradine and Harvey Keitel). ... Once Were Warriors is 1994 film based New Zealand author Alan Duffs bestselling 1990 first novel of the same name. ... Troy is a movie that was released on May 14, 2004 about the Trojan War, which is described in Homers Iliad and other Greek myths as having taken place in Anatolia (modern Turkey) around the 13th or 12th century BC; however, the plot differs greatly from Homer (see deviations...

With the possibilities of cutting and of filming outdoors, films have a much wider palette of possibilities to depict violence, including single combat, brawls and melees as well as full-blown battles.

• martial arts movies
• western movies (gunslingers)
• war movies

Martial arts film is a film genre that originated in the Pacific Rim. ... Broncho Billy Anderson, from The Great Train Robbery The Western movie is one of the classic American film genres. ... Gunslinger from The Great Train Robbery Gunslinger, also gunfighter, is a name given to men in the American Old West who had gained a reputation as being dangerous with a gun. ... A war film is any film dealing with war, usually focusing on naval, air, or land battle, but sometimes focusing instead on prisoners of war, covert operations, training, or other related subjects. ...

Combat reenactment

Main articles: Combat reenactment and Historical martial arts reconstruction

Combat reenactment is a side of historical reenactment which aims to depict events of battle, normally a specific engagement in history, but also unscripted battles where the 'winner' is not predetermined. Combat reenactment is a side of historical reenactment which aims to depict events of battle, normally a specific engagement in history, but also unscripted battles where the winner is not predetermined. ... Historical martial arts reconstructions are attempts at reviving martial arts with no living tradition. ... Reenactors of the American Civil War Historical reenactment is an activity in which participants recreate some aspects of a historical event or period. ...

References

• Jenn Boughn, Stage Combat: Fisticuffs, Stunts, and Swordplay for Theater and Film, Allworth Press (2006), ISBN 1581154615.
• Keith Ducklin and John Waller, A Manual for Actors and Directors, Applause Books (2001), ISBN 1557834598.
• Dale Ant Girard, Actors on Guard: A Practical Guide for the Use of the Rapier and Dagger for Stage and Screen, Theatre Arts Book (1996), ISBN 0878300570.
• Michael Kirkland, Stage Combat Resource Materials: A Selected and Annotated Bibliography, Praeger Publishers (2006), ISBN 0313307105.
• Richard Lane, Swashbuckling: A Step-by-Step Guide to the Art of Stage Combat and Theatrical Swordplay, Limelight Editions (2004), ISBN 0879100915.
• J. D. Martinez, The Swords of Shakespeare: An Illustrated Guide to Stage Combat Choreography in the Plays of Shakespeare, McFarland & Company (1996), ISBN 0899509592.
• J. Allen Suddeth, Fight Directing for the Theatre, Heinemann Drama (1996), ISBN 043508674X.

Video

• Basic Stage Combat DVD, Educational Video Network (2004).
• Traditioneller Schaukampf für Anfänger nach Dreynschlag, Agilitas TV (2007).

See also

• Hand to hand combat
• Swashbuckler
• Martial arts film
• Hong Kong action cinema
• Kung Fu Theater
• Stunt
• Professional wrestling
• Tournament species

For the band from Florida see Hand to Hand. ... DArtagnan and the three musketeers Swashbuckler is a term that came about in the 16th century and was applied to rough, noisy and boastful swordsmen. ... Martial arts film is a film genre that originated in the Pacific Rim. ... Hong Kong action cinema is the principal source of the Hong Kong film industrys global fame. ... During the 1980s, many martial arts movies appeared on North American syndicated television nationwide. ... An under 16s motorbike display team perform a potentially dangerous stunt A stunt is an unusual and difficult physical feat, or any act requiring a special skill, performed for artistic purposes in TV, theatre or cinema. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Tournament species in zoology are those species in which members of one sex (usually males) compete in order to mate. ...

External links

• Society of American Fight Directors
• British Academy of Stage & Screen Combat
• Fight Directors Canada
• The British Academy of Dramatic Combat
• The Academy of Theatrical Combat