Stance
Although balance is absolutely essential in swordplay, it is perhaps even more important here in unarmed fighting, though a little less obvious to the audience. Foot placement should appear normal, but at all times provide a solid base from which to move. That means that both heels should stay planted whenever possible, and the weight of the body should rest comfortably on the hips, not leaning forward. Knees need to be slightly bent and relaxed to further aid in maintaining balance. As you can guess, since in unarmed stage combat the actors are so close together, one actor losing his balance means that two actors fall down. So keep the balance off of the toes and back down on the heels. It might be a common reaction for the aggressor to throw his body weight forward along with the momentum of a punch, but if we include that in the simulation, it must be under complete control.
And, although it sounds impossible at first, both actors have to be as physically relaxed as possible. Tension leads to injury
Pantomimed Impulses
All of stage combat is a pantomime, of course, but some simple illusions are not overtly violent yet still fall within the parameters of controlled movement. Mastering these techniques will make the impact simulations even more realistic. We’ll start with the basic moves, which is not to say the easiest. Indeed, these pantomimed impulse moves are more difficult to do because of their subtlety.
grab
I start all actors out with the grab, for it is the simplest of stage combat actions, and one that need not have a violent intent at all. Stated another way, it reminds us that stage combat is about actions, not anger. Actors learn something instantly practical and it begins to prep them in the concept of stage combat being a shared art form.
Any character might want to stop another simply out of excitement (“You’ve go to see this – it’s the most incredible thing!”), – and the hand grabs the friend’s wrist. Even in such a friendly situation, we have to obey the cardinal on-stage rule: the victim must stay in control. You may ask, where’s the victim? Well, we’re concerned with this single action, and at that moment of contact the friendly aggressor is restricting the movement of her partner, therefore the partner becomes the victim. No matter how friendly the motivation, the act of grabbing establishes the roles for an instant.
“All of that is a fascinating philosophical discussion, but why are we wasting time on something so simple as grabbing?” Because doing so too brusquely can hurt the victim’s shoulder, bruise the forearm, or even cause one or both actors to fall. Also, if the victim resists, the aggressor has no way of knowing if the character is trying to get away or if the actor really does need to get away.
In this as in any other static illusion, always find a way to give the victim an escape route. In this case, the aggressor first steps into position, and then reaches out and makes contact with the victim’s arm using only an open hand. The thumb is pressed against the index finger creating a bear-paw look – not a primate opposable thumb grip. The force of this connection is provided by the victim – as long as the victim chooses to press his arm into the aggressor’s “bear-hand”, the illusion is maintained.
If for any reason the victim has to get out of the way, he simply releases his arm from contact and steps back. Easy. That’s all there is to it! Our primate grasp with the opposable thumb make a great clamp, but you don’t need that on-stage. Simply have the aggressor keep the thumb and fingers pressed together in the bear paw position and grab the victim with the cupped fingers. No more bruised arms or wrists, and the victim can always slip out of the grasp if absolutely necessary. Just roll the arm towards the fingers for an automatic release.
“But the audience will see that I’m not really grabbing him.” No they won’t, not if the rest of what you’re doing is interesting. Anyway, if the audience is looking at your thumb position during the middle of a scene, it means that you lost their attention a long time ago.
push
For the YouTube video on the push, follow this link:
So simple, and yet so much can go into it.
Actors at first put too much energy into being pushed, but people don’t fly away from each other at the merest touch. Neither should one actor have to fling the other across the room. After all it’s still a pantomime. Certain physical rules have to be followed in the order in which they occur naturally. Try pushing a wall, and then try pushing a pair of pants hung in your closet. Without conscious thought, your body will go through the same biomechanics both times, the only difference being in the response to the amount of resistance anticipated or encountered.
First the fingertips touch and assess the weight and composition of the object. Then the legs, torso and shoulder readjust in order to make a better bracing angle against the floor, and as the elbows bend and the body leans forward. Then the arms straighten as the object is moved away. If the object is heavy, the legs will also bend and then straighten, providing even more power. All of this happens in direct proportion to the resistance encountered, and it happens in a split second without conscious design.
We do exactly the same movements in a staged push, with slight changes. As the fingertips touch the body of the victim, the victim gently and almost imperceptibly leans into the aggressor, who in tern bends the elbows so as to get closer to the victim. This nearly invisible pre-movement, in opposition to the action to come, is what gives these impulse simulations their believability. Now the aggressor must wait for the victim to initiate and complete the illusion of being pushed. The aggressor merely follows the movement of the victim. Make sure to establish an exact correspondence between the amount of body English of the “push” and how far the victim travels.
The aggressor should take care not to make contact with and accidentally push at the shoulders of the victim, for the ligaments there can easily tear with repeated stress. Better to make contact at the superior portion of the chest muscles, away from any joints.
pull
Much like the push, but the direction is different. As we mentioned before, the aggressor will not use his thumbs to grab the victim but use a loose “bear paw” to make contact. A very slight movement in opposition from the victim forms the picture of the opposing force. The action starts as a continuation of the opposition move, with the aggressor slightly pulsing into the victim, as if to gear up the force necessary to pull the victim forward. The true action is in the victim deciding to go forward. The reaction of both participants form that interactive flow of energy which sells the illusion to the audience, a flow that must sequentially travel through the body of the aggressor and then transfer to the victim before the victim’s feet begin to move. The aggressor must appear to lead the action, although the victim is never truly “pulled” at all.
trip
It’s the simple things that can do the most damage. I saw one actor nail another in the shin trying to do a trip. If you’ve ever taken a hit on the shin, you know that the pain is temporary but excruciating. It naturally stopped the scene.
For this bit, all the actors have to do is remember that the audience has no depth perception, and that less is more. We’ll assume here that the aggressor is stationary and that the victim is in motion. The set-up in this case happens before the victim starts to close in, a quick glance for eye contact and to insure that the aggressor is just upstage relative to the victim. The picture is the victim moving across the stage up to the point where he is directly downstage of the aggressor, and the aggressor sharply stabbing the ground with the ball of the foot. This is a very small movement, and it lands upstage of the victim’s planted lead foot. The action is completely non-contact on the aggressor’s part, while the victim taps the top of his trailing foot against the heel of the planted lead foot, giving the slight “stutter step” look, as well as just a little bit of impact sound. That’s right, this is a self trip, and although in direct view of the audience it is invisible to them because of their limited perception of objects in motion. The physical reaction is passive on the aggressor’s part. Normally he just looks on and gloats, but if the character’s intent needs to be more violent, a pantomimed push on the victim’s shoulder can be added. But it must be pantomimed, no more than a modest touch, for even a slight real shove could knock the victim off-balance.
In order to sell this illusion even in tight quarters, the reaction from the victim should lead the audience to look up instead of down at the feet. A slight “whiplash” reaction of the head and letting the arms fly up will help in the distraction.
pull hair/ear/nose
An elegant simulation that I love teaching, and one in which the victim does almost all of the work. The initial danger point is actually as the aggressor moves in to make the grab, so just make sure that the hand doesn’t move in towards the eyes, but rather goes up along the side of the head and then to the hair. In a real hair grab, the fingers dig into the hair and then the wrist slightly twists. It is the twisting motion that actually causes the pain, not the lifting. For stage, the aggressor’s fingers curl in, making a half fist, which then gently lands on the head of the victim without grabbing any hair at all. At this point, the aggressor is just along for the ride, while the victim acts the pain.
Keep in mind throughout this illusion that in real hair pulling, there is very little pain from simply pulling the hair straight up. It is the slight twist of the wrist that causes the hundred little pinpoints of pain that shoot through the scalp. That is what the victim needs to sell if the illusion is going to work.
If the action is going to move from here, we need the victim’s hands to fly up to the hair, as though to pull away the offending hand. What actually happens is twofold. One hand will land on top of the aggressor’s, thus insuring that the hand will stay in contact with the head and not ruin the illusion. The other hand if at all possible will cover the aggressor’s wrist and act as a brace – for the aggressor’s safety. During the rehearsal, a very carefully choreographed stepping pattern will be worked out, with only the victim actually setting the movement and the aggressor trying to make it look as though he is the one initiating the movement. The aggressor’s wrist is in danger if the victim does any sudden movement, so not one muscle twitch must be left to improvisation on a moving hair pull.
If pulling the nose or ear is what you need, the set-up and actions are the same, just a different target. As always the danger is in moving the fingers in the direction of the eyes, so have the hand come in sideways in front of the face and then allow the victim to gently lean into the hand.
side view
front view
In pulling someone by the nose or by the ear, think push, not pull. Have the victim push her head into the aggressor’s hand, and he gently pushes back to maintain contact. Both will walk together to the choreographed location, with the victim providing more force than the aggressor.
smothering
Smothering Desdemona with a pillow while she lies in bed is the obvious example, but also included here is anytime that someone covers someone else’s month, if only to shut them up. We always want the victim to be able to breathe, and we don’t want to damage the nose either, so the focus is to take away any pressure going towards the face.
If it is an open hand smother, the aggressor slides the palm up, parallel to the face instead of swinging-in in a slapping motion. Let the hand hover away from the face, and let the victim close the gap by pressing forward into the open palm. The aggressor merely keeps the palm curved so that the contact to the face is limited to the finger tips and the palm heel. The key is that contact is maintained by the victim pressing into the aggressor’s hand.
The pillow smother is dicier, but can be just as safe. We can’t do the side slide as above, for the audience is going to need to see the pillow come down straight onto the victim’s face. Assuming that the aggressor is straddling the victim and holding onto the pillow at both ends, start by letting the pillow come down with apparent force, but allow the pillow to release from the hands as soon as contact is made. The victim will very quickly wake and try to pull the pillow away, right? So here is where we reverse the energy. We have the victim grab the aggressor’s arms and pull them towards her face, with the aggressor trying to maintain distance by pulling up. It is a static moment, but physically engages the participants, so we see a fully engaged struggle between the two characters. Most importantly, if anything goes wrong the momentum is going to go away from the victim.
choke – hands on neck
The obvious danger here is that the victim might actually be choked. The aggressor’s forward momentum might also drive her hands into his throat. This is one illusion in which we cannot use the “bear paw”: the audience must see the aggressor’s thumbs if they are to believe the choke. We also need to see muscular activity in the aggressor, so we redirect her physical energy downward into the victim’s shoulders rather than inward toward his neck.
For the set-up, the aggressor plants her feet and extends her open hands toward the victim’s throat. The partners should position themselves so that their heads are not directly in line with each other. To create the picture, the aggressor rests her palms on the victim’s trapezius muscles—the muscles running from the shoulders toward the neck—and lets her thumbs find his collarbones. These bones are easy to feel, even through a heavy costume. Her thumbs are then placed at or just below the collarbones, safely away from the throat.
Because the thumbs are so far below the neck, the victim must help close the picture. He raises and rounds his shoulders while tucking his chin firmly toward his chest. His chin may come down as far as the aggressor’s thumbs, concealing the safe distance between her hands and his throat. He must keep his chin tucked throughout the action, or the illusion will be lost.
For the action, the aggressor presses downward toward the floor—never inward toward the throat. This engages the fine muscles of her hands and forearms, creating visible effort without endangering her partner. She keeps her arms straight but does not lock her elbows.
The victim covers the aggressor’s hands with his own. This gives the impression that he is struggling to pull them away, while actually helping to keep them safely in position. For an additional safety check, he may discreetly hook his fingers around her thumbs. If he feels her hands beginning to travel toward his throat, he can apply the slightest agreed-upon backward pressure as a warning. This is a cue, not a thumb lock: he must never yank, wrench or bend her thumbs.
Any shaking, pulling or struggling must be carefully choreographed and set in stone—no improvising. The partners should think of moving from side to side rather than forward and back, reducing the possibility of an accidental head-butt or broken nose. This is also why their heads must never be directly in line with each other..
choke release
The universal release from actually being choked is to bring both hands and elbows together in front of your stomach and then drive them straight up into the sky while keeping your elbows touching. This will break even the strongest grip. If your hands should lean forward a little and break the attacker’s nose, well, so much the better. A simple movement which requires very little modification. But it is crucial that for stage the arms and hands are kept close to the body and that the choker (who is now the victim, by the way) stay as far away as possible during the release. Otherwise, that upthrust can knock out the choker/victim with either the aggressor’s fists or elbows striking the chin. That’s why the choker should keep the arms as straight as possible during the entire illusion.
single arm choke from behind
I think you can already guess how this works. The aggressor’s arm comes around from behind and rests across the victim’s collarbones, not the neck. The crook of the elbow remains outside the victim’s shoulder rather than surrounding one side of the neck, and the forearm passes in front of the victim without pressing across the throat. The victim tucks her chin toward her chest so that the audience cannot see the resulting gap.
The victim’s hands provide two additional points of safety. One hand can remain between the arm and the throat, preserving and monitoring the gap. The other can grasp the aggressor’s forearm so that the victim immediately feels any change in its position.
Although the victim appears to be pulling the aggressor’s arm away, she must not actually pull. Doing so might cause the aggressor to draw his arm inward toward the neck—not smart. Instead, the victim gently presses the aggressor’s arm toward her own chest. The aggressor responds by gently trying to pull his arm away, preserving the safe distance between the forearm and the throat.
The aggressor’s free hand may rest lightly against the top or back of the victim’s head. This prevents the victim’s head from suddenly snapping backward into the aggressor’s face. The hand is only a protective brace; it must never push the victim’s head forward.
To the audience, all these opposing forces look like a desperate struggle. In reality, they create and maintain the safety.
choke with garrote
Any rope, cord, or wire used to strangle someone may be called a garrote. For stage combat, the mechanics are exactly the same as in the one-armed choke from behind described above.
The aggressor loosely passes the cord around the victim’s neck. The cord should be marked so that the aggressor can leave the same generous amount of slack every time. The aggressor then rests their hands and forearms against the victim’s neck and upper back and remains still. The cord must never tighten or place pressure on the throat.
The victim creates the illusion by raising their shoulders and pressing forward gently until the predetermined slack is taken up. For added safety, the victim can reach up with one hand and grasp the cord, helping to control its position. This is also what a real victim would naturally try to do. All the apparent effort and distress of being choked must come from the victim. The aggressor should stand as still as a post.