This page is still under construction, and lacks the necessary diagrams and images.
Until I can get them in, please look at this YouTube video. Starting at about 10:30, it fully describes the notation system I use.
The following is a completely arbitrary sequence of attacks and defenses:
The numbers refer only to the order of the moves. It doesn’t matter that the “3” is higher than the “1”; they both go to the same target, namely, to the left high target (your partner’s right shoulder). If there is a “+” in front of the number, it means that it is an attack. If there is a “-” in front of the number, it means it is a defense. Slowly go through the motions shown in the above filled-in figure. If you still aren’t sure about the mechanics of sword work, don’t worry. If the number has a “+” just stick your arm straight out and point at the target. If it has a “-”, bend your elbow and bring your hand all the way to your own body.
So looking at the above figure, we would describe your seven moves like this:
- attack to the left high line (your partner’s right)
- parry an attack to your right low line
- attack to the left high line (your partner’s right)
- block a vertical cut to your head
- parry an attack to your right high line
- attack to the right low line (your partner’s left)
- attack to the left low line (your partner’s right)
Now let’s see your opponent’s view of the same fight sequence:
As you can see, your partner’s choreography is the mirror image of yours, which makes sense because each attack will have a matching defense and one person’s left is the other person’s right.
What’s really great about this is that two actors can practice the hand movements without their partner being present, even without swords in their hands, and still memorize what is the hardest part of the fight – the sequence of attacks. I usually provide my actors with the written transcription of the fight on the first rehearsal, and even with complete novices they are able to read, understand, and replicate the entire fight within 30 minutes of instruction.
But what about the foot movement? What about the palm being prone or supine? What about cuts vs thrusts? There are some fight directors who need to have every body movement transcribed, but the actors don’t need that. They’ll pick-up the foot movement and the fine tuning of the sword movements very quickly in the course of teaching them the choreography, just as they pick up intention and emotional response in the course of rehearsing their acting. If the actor needs a reminder here and there that a certain move must be a thrust rather than a cut, then he will make his own notation of a “t” rather than a “c” next to the number.
When I hand out the printed choreography to the actors, I’ll usually add a written description of each move next to the diagram as a record of what the moves are supposed to be. That way if there is a question and I’m not there they can simply go to the master instruction list. But I try to keep the diagram itself as clear and simple as possible. The actors need to memorize the fight first before they can feel comfortable enough to add anything approaching finesse. From what I’ve seen, using this diagrammatic notation is the easiest way to do so.
Getting from Move to Move
Let’s try an even simpler pattern and see how to link some of these attacks and defenses. There is very little absolute right and wrong in this except that we must never violate the two cardinal rules of sword play: 1) protect the center and 2) stay away from the face. Protecting the center is all about maintaining the illusion that your opponent is actually trying to kill you, so the defenses must always radiate out from the center of what is being protected. And staying away from the face is about the very real danger that these even blunted weapons can cause. The tip of the sword must never point at or cross in front of anyone’s face at any time for any reason.
Side A Side B
As you can see, we have side A doing a series of four consecutive attacks. But right now, we’re going to focus on side B, the defenses. Let’s assume that B starts with the hand at center in a standard en guarde. The first parry is therefore going to be a very simple drift of the hand to the right and lifting the tip up. Moving to the second parry is really just a wrist movement. The hand can stay where it is as the blade makes a counterclockwise half circle in front of the body until the tip is pointing down. That half circle has to be big enough to go around the level of A’s head.
The third parry is as simple as the first, simply moving the hand from right to left and leaving the tip pointing down. The fourth attack continues the circle, and here is where some actors get into trouble. They will often try to follow the attack in a clockwise half circle. What they don’t anticipate is that once that chase catches up with the attack, their own blade will push the attacking tip right into their own body. What went wrong? They forgot the first commandment of blocking – clear the center. To get from the third to the fourth parry, the hand stays where it is as the wrist makes the blade do a counterclockwise half circle. Again, it has to be pretty big to both cover the center and stay away from your partner’s face.
Let’s go back to the arbitrary choreography that I laid out before.
There is a standard back-and-forth on the first three moves, and then if you are right handed the head block on move four leaves your elbow pointing to the right. If from there you go to number 5 by just dropping your elbow, there is a good chance that the incoming thrust is going to get inside your block, putting you in real danger. Instead, from 4 your hand should drop down to the center of your torso while lifting the tip, and then move the sword to the right.
Now, for fun, try making move number five a hanging parry, that is the hand held high but the tip pointing down. From the head block on four, you can almost leave the elbow where it is and let the blade swing down to protect the high line, and then continue nonstop to the attack on six. Which way is right? Whichever serves the storyline better.
Looking at the complementary moves, again the first three moves are simple back-and-forth, and the attacks of four and five are likewise fairly intuitive. But the natural reaction of continuing straight down on the left side for the parry (#6) can get you into trouble if you don’t clear the center. From five you’ll need to pull the tip back and to the left, parallel to the floor, and then make the blade travel in a 270 degree clockwise circle between the two of you until it make the block on the lower left.
To get to the last move, one of course would normally slide the hand from left to right. But what if instead, you make a full counterclockwise circle? Added to the previous move it makes for quite a flashy combination. What does it suggest to you, compared to the simpler version? Arrogance? Panic? Think of variations whenever you work through choreography and see how a slight change can affect the emotional tone of the pattern. Don’t change the moves, just the way they are presented.