Drills and Techniques

Please Try This at Home

Open/Beginner Singlesword

Instructor

Lubke

Description

So, you've just taken your first stage combat workshop, or maybe even gone to the Nationals and gotten some SPTs under your belt. Unfortunately, maybe you don't have steady access to a teacher or even a training partner.  What do you do?  Do you just let your skills atrophy?  Of course not.  Come learn some drills and games you can do at home to keep your skills fresh and hone some of the fundamentals.

Fisticuffs!

Beginner Unarmed

Instructor

Franta

Description

Modern boxing has changed significantly from its early bare-knuckle origins.  This class will explore the stances, footwork, and body mechanics used for striking and power generation in Classical Pugilism.  Come learn to “fence with your fists” and how to adapt these techniques for the stage.

Off-Hand Compliments

Advanced Rapier and Dagger

Instructor

Girard

Description

An exploration of non-dominant hand technique and how to approach exercises and choreography. Working with the non-dominant hand in rapier & dagger, the class is intended to make one aware of many of the issues that can arise when someone must work in opposition to someone's dominant hand.

Fighting in the Clinch

Intermediate Unarmed

Instructor

Lubke

Description

Standup grappling offers us a variety of tools as violent storytellers.  This class will focus on the structure of standup grappling positions, the transitions we can use to move between them, and the striking options available when creating distance is no longer our primary safety.  

Smallsword Specialty

Beginner/Open Smallsword

Instructors

Howard and Gonzalez

Description

The smallsword is regarded by many to be the pinnacle of stage combat performance.  This class aims to take a multifaceted approach to make it accessible to students of all levels.  From body posture to blade mechanics, the mystique will be broken down and put into manageable elements that allow performers to really dedicate to the violence of the scene.

Swashbuckling for the Camera

Intermediate/Advanced Singlesword

Instructors

Girard and Karcz

Description

An exploration of the fundamental skills needed to execute swordplay for the camera.  Using a camera and playback system, students will be able to use the video medium to see how techniques are practically applied, what works, what doesn’t, and why.

Historical Bolognese Swordplay for Stage

Open Rapier & Buckler

Instructors

Maldonado and Lubke

Description

As sources for Historic European Martial Arts continue to become available and more people become knowledgeable about these techniques, there is a desire to add more of these to stage combat.  In this class we will use the 16th century Bolognese system of Achille Marozzo, Antonio Manciolino, and Giovanni Dall’Agocchie as a case study in how to take a historic system and translate it to the stage.

Just Slap Me!

Beginner Unarmed

Instructor

Carvey

Description

“Just slap me.” How many times have you heard this? Or perhaps you’ve said it yourself. In this class we will explore all sorts of ways of slapping each other without having to resort to the dreaded “just slap me.” We will explore the added difficulty of having a slap in a thrust or in the round.