For our limited purposes I have made no distinction between broadsword and rapier techniques. The careful application of the same actions can be used for both weapons, and I make the assumption that the director and actors will endow the weapons with the weight and speed that would be appropriate for each weapon. Naturally, within the choreography there will be fewer thrusts and parries in a broadsword fight, mainly because the very width of the battle blades make them very ineffective thrusting tools. [To be blunt, a thick, wide blade gets held up by the victim’s bone and connective tissue.] And of course all of the fancy compound attacks are only meant for fencing weight weapons and are completely inappropriate for heavy battle weapons. But a cut is a cut, a thrust is a thrust, and the blocks are performed in the same way as the rapier.
The shortsword fight, on the other hand, will have a very different feel to it altogether. Here we’re talking about using the swords of ancient Greece or Rome [or perhaps combatants of WWI fighting with their long bayonets?], pirate cutlasses and machetes. For all of these the blade length will be between 18 inches to 24 inches long. With such short blades, the actors are going to be right on top of each other, so it’ll look strange to have them fight in a prolonged cut and thrust of a rapier or even broadsword fight. Some major modifications have to be made in the fight.
First, many more unarmed techniques should be included, since punches, kicks, grabs and throws will be easily possible and even obvious at such short distances. Secondly, the regular thrust coming from solar plexus level now makes no sense at all. These short blades of the bronze and early iron ages were very thick, and it is unlikely that sufficient force could be generated by a standard fencer’s thrust to do much more than knock back an opponent. Instead, it seems clear from archeological evidence that the successful thrust was performed with a straight arm, usually as an upthrust into the belly. We can approximate this by holding the sword down by our side with an arm held straight at the elbow, and then pointing the blade tip to either the left or right flank of our opponent.
Arcing thrusts were also performed with a straight arm held high and off to the side, thrusting parallel to the ground at the flank. This simple move should be considered an advanced technique for stage combat. This move brings the arc of the weapon from outside to inside, and the attacker cannot follow the track of the tip with enough certainty to keep his partner safe. This type of move should only be performed under the direct supervision of a competent instructor.
Machete blades make fine weapons for a theatrical fight, but they are more wobbly than standard stage combat weapons. A lighter hand during cuts is crucial, and augmenting the blocks with the second hand supporting the backedge near the foible helps considerably.
Military Sabre
Whereas the civilian weapon of the 18th and nineteenth centuries was extremely light and exquisitely balanced to rest as easily as a feather in one’s hand, the military sword was heavy, brutal and cumbersome. With a heavy cutting blade and no counterbalancing pommel, the sword once in motion is very difficult to stop or re-direct. These are purely practical design elements, for the weapon is designed for use in the maelstrom of battle, where there is no stand off between two equally matched opponents in an honorable duel. The sabre is built for maximum damage on the first swing, with absolutely no thought given as to trying to use the weapon for defense.
And yet, it was used at times for “fights of honor” between military officers. And in many Shakespeare plays that have been set in more modern periods, fighting with the military sabre is going to be the only option. But the sword simply will not handle the way that does, say, a rapier. Instead, it should be treated as a single hand broadsword, with allowances made for its special characteristics.
First, the sword does not rest easily in the hand. With all of the weight on the blade and no counterweight, the blade pulls down strongly, requiring more hand strength throughout the fight simply to keep the weapon from dropping. So the first change will be in the en guard. Instead of a fully extended arm, the fighter will find it easier to drop the arm somewhat, letting the hand remain at about waist height. The blade tip should lift up so that it is at shoulder level. This allows the hand to rest in a natural position while keeping the entire blade length ready to defend the full torso.
An alternate en guard is to raise the sword arm completely overhead, elbow pointed back and sword tip pointing towards the opponent. This position threatens a thrust while still providing some protection to the body by simply allowing the blade to drop down if needs be.
Assuming that the sabres you are working with have curved blades, you’ll soon find that thrusts with the tip are somewhat impractical, as the tip will not strictly align with the path of the hand. One can still thrust, but great care must be taken to track that tip, for it can easily get away from you and pop up to a spot much higher than intended. Turning the hand slightly so that the blade comes in a flat path parallel to the floor can help, but that puts the fighter at a higher risk of having the tip arc in towards the opponent’s body or foolishly away from the opponent.
The stance for the sabre needs to be rather wide, in an effort to stay underneath the momentum of the cut and not get thrown forward.
Most of the defensive moves will be hard absorption blocks rather than deflections. Because of the inertia of the sword, moving the weapon for multiple blocks may prove difficult to control. Some little shortcuts may prove useful. For example, when blocking high line attacks from one side of the body to the other, you might find it easier to leave the tip of the sword hanging in space about six inches above head level on the center line, and let the hand swing back and forth. The sword will look like a giant suspended pendulum, and the hand will be able to move much more quickly than if you had to shove the whole weapon from side to side. The unfortunate trade-off is that it weakens your block. I would say to get good instruction from a choreographer who has a lot of experience working with military sabres, but there are very few out there.
Moulinet
A strong cutting attack is difficult from either opening stance, so a move particularly suited for the sabre was developed, known as the moulinet (French), molinello (Italian), or windmill (English). With the sword held out in front, and gravity tugging strongly on the blade, the hand is allowed to relax its grasp for an instant. The blade tip will immediately drop toward the ground. Even as this happens the hand will begin a tight outside turn and then quickly regrasp the handle, so that the tip of the sword swings closely by the knee and then continues a grand circle past the right ear and then forward toward the opponent, building up momentum on the way. By strongly pushing the hand forward at the end of this circle, the sabre can deliver a cut as powerful as any from a broadsword, without having to pull the arm back in a big prep. No need to move the elbow. As a matter of fact, if the elbow drops during the execution of the moulinet, your really doing just a big cut and not a moulinet at all. And no matter what, the blade has to stay very close to the body and your head as it rises behind you.
The moulinet can be delivered from the left or the right side, and choreographers love to link these in a series for some very flashy filler moves, either multiple circles staying on one side of the body or back and forth circles. I myself like adding moulinets when the character is going to fight with a sword in each hand, fighting multiple attackers. By having him do chasing moulinets or parallel moulinets, it gives the audience a chance to anticipate the fun fighting to come.
Of course, choreographers throw in moulinets not only with sabres but more commonly with rapiers and broadswords. This has led to a minor controversy amoung fight directors. Many insist that the move is only appropriate for the sabre for it is only in the nineteenth century that it is first described. Others point out that it cannot be proved that it was not performed before that time, and that there exists at least some (extremely weak) evidence that it plausibly occurred in medieval times. I for one would like to have both sides remember that all of stage combat exists to please the audience, not to create a documentary on military practice. Do what works for the play.
Samurai-style sword fighting
Many of the movements of swordfighting throughout history remain the same, and therefore it is no surprise that the basic cuts and blocks of stage combat broadsword work will be used for fighting with the Japanese katana. What we need to add is the ritual and sense of control that was part of samurai life.
On the other hand, many of the techniques described below are somewhat difficult to master, and you simply might not have the rehearsal time necessary to really polish them, or even gracefully perform them by opening night. And it is certainly the case that although the style is popular, there are very few stage choreographers that have any training in it themselves. And you certainly don’t want a martial artist without stage combat experience to work out a fight for your show.
So read the section below, but feel free to go back to regular broadsword techniques. If you can add some of the flavor of the Japanese style, great. Safety first, believability of acting second, and historical accuracy last.
Wearing the Sword
Traditionally the sword is not only tucked into the obi (the wide fabric belt) but also secured with the use of the scabbard cord. That is a bit much for our purposes, so we’re just going to tuck it into the obi. Even this will require a certain protocol. Hold the scabbard in the right hand with the blade edge (outside curve) pointing forward. Make sure your right thumb clamps onto the guard to prevent the sword from falling out. With the thumb of the left hand, pull the obi slightly away from your clothing at a point just two inches left of your midline. Gracefully bring the right hand slightly up and with a clockwise swing bring the bottom of the scabbard to the opening you have made at the obi, sword edge now pointing up. Push the scabbard in about three quarters of the way with the right hand, then smoothly continue the movement with the left, remembering to cover the sword guard now with the left thumb. The fingers of the right hand can still gently touch the handle until this movement is complete, ready to draw the sword if need be. The sword guard (the tsuba) should rest directly on your midline.
The placement of any second weapon, the shorter wakizashi or the dagger known as the tanto, was not as strictly proscribed, and could end up almost anywhere on the obi, although just as with the katana always with the cutting edge of the weapon pointing up. The singular exception is the katana-like sword known as the tachi. This was a sword worn when on horseback, so was hung edge down in a ringed scabbard, much like the western cavalry sabre. Another sword, the nodachi, was an extra long sword that was normally worn across the back. Just as with European fighters, the sword would be unslung and then unsheathed just before battle, the scabbard left behind before engaging with the enemy.
When bowing, be sure to grasp the top of the scabbard with the left hand and hold the guard with the thumb. Nothing is more embarrassing than to have the sword slide out and hit the ground while in the middle of your bow.
Drawing and Sheathing the Sword
Grab the top of the scabbard with the left hand, the left thumb gently pushing the guard up by a quarter of an inch to raise the sword a bit out of the scabbard. As you draw the sword with the right hand, push the scabbard slightly down and to the left with your left hand. This will make the sword pommel point forward. You might even add a little clockwise quarter turn of the scabbard, so that the blade moves out parallel to the floor.. In this way the energy of the draw is directed towards your opponent instead of harmlessly up and to the right. Once the sword is drawn, bring the pommel back to your center and complete the grasp with the left hand.
In order to return the sword to the scabbard, grab the top of the scabbard with the left hand, making sure that the “eye” (top) of your fist is just a little bit higher than the rim of the scabbard. At the same time, the right hand gently swings the sword blade around in front of you and to the left until the back edge drops gracefully onto the left hand. The back edge (the unsharpened inner curve) of the blade is now pointing down and the true edge is pointing up, and the forte of the blade is touching the web of the left hand, left thumb almost touching the guard, the entire blade parallel to the floor. With the left hand gently pull up the scabbard and give it a quarter turn to the left (counter-clockwise). Push the right hand a little to the left at the same time, so that the pommel points at your opponent. The blade is now pointing behind you and to the left. Now push the right hand forward with a very slight rising motion, and the backedge of the blade will ride along the web of your left hand. As soon as the tip passes your web, the tip will drop magically into the opening of the scabbard. Immediately push the scabbard opening down with the left hand, so that you can slide the sword in with the right, still aiming the hilt at your opponent. Once the sword is in, let the left hand move the sword back to a comfortable wearing position, the fingers of the right hand still gently touching the hilt.
As you can gather from all of this, the essential meaning behind all of these moves is that the fighter was always ready to launch an attack or respond to a threat.
Holding the Sword and Basic Stance
The concept behind fighting with the katana is to take advantage of the one crucial instance where it is possible to strike before your opponent can react. In order to move from a completely motionless en guard to a lighting fast cutting attack, the body must be completely relaxed. Any muscle tension will slow down the reaction time for attack or defense. For actors to approximate this look, we must constantly work at relaxing our neck, hands and shoulders, dead giveaways to the audience of an untrained fighter.
The sword is grasped with the right hand lightly but firmly with the fifth and fourth fingers. The middle finger should hold with less pressure. The index finger will be relatively straight, almost touching the guard. The thumb will gently curve around the grip and rest lightly on top of the third finger. This is not a tight hammer grip, but a more relaxed and slightly angled grip, so that with the last joint of the index finger touching the guard, the web of the thumb will be about an inch away from the guard. With this placement, the handle will lay diagonally across the palm of the hand. The fingers of the left hand will be much the same, and if possible riding fairly high on the handle, preferably with the pommel of the sword cradled in the heel of the left hand and the little finger. If this feels very uncomfortable, go ahead and slide the left hand down so that it rests against the right hand, European broadsword style. For some actors, I’ve suggested that in order to keep a better grip on the weapon they use a modified golfing putter’s grasp, with the left index finger interlocking with the right fifth finger. But as soon as the sword feels more natural, it is better to switch to a grasp in which there is a good two inch distance between the hands.
The wrists, elbows, and knees should be slightly bent so as to relieve any tension. One foot (either one) will be slightly in front of the other in a natural stance, usually with the toes of the lead foot pointing directly at the opponent and the trailing foot slightly turned out, but no more than 45 degrees from center. The balance on the feet should be about a 50-50 distribution. Hold the sword so that the pommel is about six inches away from the body and the blade is pointed forward with the tip at roughly shoulder height and to either side of your partner, not directly in line. The upper body must be completely relaxed, shoulders back, and the head must seem to float on the neck, but with the chin slightly tucked in to give better peripheral vision of the opponent’s feet.
Moving with the sword.
Whether standing or moving, there must always be a straight line from the top of head to the center of hips. Never lean forward from the waist, but instead initiate forward movement from the center (the “tanden”) and then let the feet catch up. This way you land at the same time that your attack arrives, and are perfectly balanced as you complete the move.
Attacking with the sword
As the katana was not built as a bashing weapon, the fighting style is lighter, quicker, and more subtle than medieval broadsword work. This is a concept difficult for American actors to grasp, made even more difficult if they have watched Japanese sword movies made during the last forty years. The ”chop-saki” B grade movies have the actors flail away at each other as though they are holding aluminum bats, which in a way they were. If we are trying for a more realistic look to the fight, we’ll want to remember that the true Japanese sword had a very strong cutting edge but also a fairly brittle spine, so blocking with the sword was to be avoided if at all possible.
The attacks themselves had to come in quickly with a minimum of preparation, so we won’t do the broadsword big prep a’ la “Casey at the Bat”, pulling the sword all the way back to the shoulder before each strike. Instead, the cut will come directly from the en guard position. The left hand begins the forward movement, pushing the hilt toward the target. At the same time, the right hand gently pulls the handle, which sharply pulls the tip of the sword back. Almost immediately, the right hand changes direction, pushing the hilt towards the target, overtaking the left hand. This second part of the movement is what quickly brings the tip of the sword to the cut position. Both arms will be almost fully extended at the end of the attack.As you can see from this head cut, the sword hilt may travel slightly back before it goes forward, but the left hand really only goes up and then presses forward.
It is interesting to note that real fighting with the katana has many of the same elements that are found in stage combat. The samurai were taught to deliver the energy of the cut using mainly the momentum generated by the hips and torso but very little arm, shoulder, or upper body power. Never grip too tightly when attacking, and allow the hands to remain supple during the swinging movement. Only at the last second should there be a sudden tight grasping of the weapon at the very moment that the attack is blocked or we risk dropping the sword. Although both hands are involved, they each have slightly different functions. It is the left hand that actually delivers the cut, the right hand that guides the tip to the target. In order to do so, we have to allow the left hand to take up 60% of the weight of the sword, instead of a 50/50 distribution.
For stage combat we have to add some levels of safety. In order to maintain control of the sword, and to allow our partner to easily see the incoming attack, the blade is going to move back during its preparation for attack much slower than the actual forward motion of the attack itself. So practice with the sword until you can get the left moving forward at one speed, and the right hand doing its two motions at two different speeds. Back slowly, forward faster. At the final moment of the cut, the right hand squeezes a bit, with the thumb “pushing” slightly “into” the tsuba (the guard), giving the blade a snappy finish to its action.
Cuts, thrusts and blocks are all performed to the same five basic target points as in broadsword or rapier stage combat. It is interesting to note that horizontal cuts to the flanks are a modern fabrication for samurai style swordplay, but they are now accepted as normal even in the most tradition-bound Japanese schools, so we can certainly feel free to add them to our choreography.] What we can also add are some of the deflections of attack which is seen in true swordwork with katana. Naturally, we don’t want to have the actors deflect and cut in one terrifying motion – far too dangerous. For the bulk of medieval broadsword work we have the actors have their blocked cuts bounce back in the reverse direction that the cut came in on. But for katana work we can angle many of the cuts so that instead of meeting the opposing blade at 90 degrees, the blade will come in at only 45 degrees, glance off, and then move safely away from his partner by the same number of degrees. The attack of course stays on the same side of the defender, but continues its path from high to low or vice versa. This will require a great deal of wrist control. These kinds of attacks are also more difficult to see for the defender, for they will look initially the same as a simple diagonal attack.
If we want to add one more level of authenticity to the fight, we’ll have our actors turn the wrists when they block, so that they meet the incoming force with the back edge of the blade, not the true edge nor with the flat. The samurai would never choose to risk damage to the razor sharp edge by allowing another weapon to chip at it, and he would be only too aware that a strike along the flat could snap the blade in half. The back edge, on the other hand, has plenty of meat on it, and can absorb a lot of punishment. [A direct overhead vertical cut is difficult to block in this manner, but a trained samurai would find it wiser to avoid such an attack, with or without a deflection, rather than block it.]
In seeming contradiction to the above, a katana fight should also include some simultaneous attacks, where both fighters begin to cut, only to have the weapons stop each other half way between them. Of course, this means edge to edge contact, but not because the fighter choose to use the edge.
A move not commonly seen in broadsword fights but we can add here is a vertical slash. The attacking sword begins as would a vertical cut but the trajectory continues uninhindered until the tip points to the ground. Naturally, the defender steps slightly offline as an evasion. A nice addition is for the defender to bring his own sword into a vertical slash on top of the attacking sword.
So that the fight does not become merely another broadsword fight, many moves that incorporate the principles of Jujitsu or Aikido can and should be added to the choreography. For example, instead of merely using a standard block against a vertical head cut, perhaps using an augmented block that slides into a press that binds the sword down to the side. From there a number of close-in techniques suggest themselves (elbow strike, thrust kick, pommel strike, pressing slash, etc).
Modern practitioners of iaito may take me to task for ignoring the many effective deflections using the flat of the blade, especially against direct thrusts and quick head cuts. But as these require exquisite control of the weapon, and if poorly preformed can damage the sword, they are best considered advanced techniques and not appropriate for the majority of stage combatants.
Knife Fights
The use of a knife in a stage fight is supposed to increase the level of suspense for the audience, but unfortunately it rarely does. I just never get the feeling that the actors portray the real feeling of lethality that a knife fight creates. Part of the problem is that knives are small so the audience doesn’t see much of a threat, so if the fight is to be interesting at all, the menace must come from the acting.
The three scenes often seen on stage are from West Side Story, A View From the Bridge, and Rebel Without a Cause. But for a look at an exciting knife fight, take a look at the film From Here to Eternity. It’s not long, it’s not fancy, and it is filled with menace. Ernest Borgnine and five inches of steel … that’s danger.
Here’s an exercise you might find useful. When I’m having trouble having young actors develop a sense of fear within the fight, I pass out black felt-tip markers instead of the prop knives. Sometimes it helps increase a level of real tension.
By the way, here’s a good spot to repeat my warning on using retractable knives – DON’T. It is not possible to use a retractable knife and keep your actors safe from harm. The blades sometimes don’t retract – even on knives that are superbly built and in excellent working condition. If the blade presses even slightly against the inner shaft of the grip, the blade will not retract, and you get one actor impaled with a blunt stick. If I could I would outlaw these things.
There are two ways of grabbing a knife or dagger. The one we see in most knife fights is the overhand grip, that is to say holding the knife as we do a screwdriver, with the blade controlled by the thumb and forefinger. This makes sense because it gives the fighter the greatest amount of distance under his control. The only drawback to this grasp is that it is a little weak at the wrist, so for an especially strong thrust the grasp may need to shift to something that looks like a hammer grip, although it gives the point a bit of an upthrust. This overhand grip is the one used by most people who consider themselves dangerous with a knife, those who expect to face their opponents. As that opponent is probably also holding a knife, the torso tends to round out somewhat so as to keep as far away from danger as possible. The legs of course will be slightly bent for better balance and ease of movement. Less obvious, but more important, is that the knife arm will be slightly bent, allowing for a quick thrust. A fearful fighter will extend his arm for maximum distance, but then he loses all credible thrusting power. The non-knife hand is actively engaged, ready to punch, grab, or block the opponent.
The underhand grip has the blade coming out of the bottom of the fist. This grip is used by the two extremes of knife users – either the opportunistic novice or the highly trained warrior. The novice usually has grabbed the knife with the intention of raising the knife up and then bringing it down in a severe stabbing arc, almost always against an unarmed or distracted victim. As such, there is no need to worry about distance, and the body often moves in very close indeed (think of the movie “Psycho”) Invariably, the novice will grab a single-edged knife in such a way that the blade edge is pointing towards himself rather than in the direction of the victim. No reason for this: it just “looks right” to the novice.
The highly trained fighter by contrast will grab the knife with a looser grasp, more like a reverse French foil grip, and have the edge pointing away from the forearm. This allows him to stab or thrust or cut or even let the unsharpened back edge of the blade rest against the forearm to use as a parrying surface. From this basic grasp he can shift back and forth from a tight reverse hammer grip for thrusting, to a tight reverse French grip for blocking and slashing. This is a very modern style of fighting taught first to special forces units, “commandos”, during the post Vietnam era, and has the look and feel of Chinese martial arts, but stripped down to its most utilitarian. While the novice will have the knife in the dominant hand, the warrior will hold it in the other hand, leaving the dominant free to punch or grab the opponent. This style of fighting is very advanced, and for stage must only be attempted under the direct supervision of a very experienced instructor.
For cutting and slashing attacks, go back to the section on sword fighting, which is really much the same as knife fighting except for the distance between the actors. But because of the nature of a knife fight, there isn’t going to be the same feeling of a back-and-forth command of weapons. Indeed, trying to pick off a knife attack with another knife as one would in a sword fight strains believability to the breaking point. In a typical stage knife fight, there will be very few actual cuts and thrusts, most of the action being evasions of slashes and feint attacks, with the intent of trying to keep the opponent off-balance mentally while setting up a kill shot. Many choreographers will use the closeness of the fight to introduce unarmed techniques – strikes, kicks, and throws – to help draw out the fight and provide more storytelling opportunities. Other techniques, such as traps and binds, should not be attempted unless taught by an experienced instructor. These are advanced techniques, and not because they are difficult. As a matter of fact, they are very simple to perform and very believable. But the margin of error in performing them is exceptionally small. A slight variation in arm placement can easily dislocate a shoulder or hyperextend an elbow.
The knife fight itself should have a “jittery” look, as though the knife blades could bring fiery death if it should even happen to touch someone. I mentioned earlier that I once had a heck of a time doing the choreography for a high school production of West Side Story. Try as they might, they just couldn’t convey that sense of danger required for the rumble. So I finally made sure that they all arrived to one rehearsal wearing their regular good clothes. (I told them that they were only going to rehearse the dance scene that day.) Then I passed out black felt-tip markers instead of the prop weapons and had them go through the fight. Finally, I got the panicky look of terror that we needed as the dancers tried to protect their clothes from permanent damage.
Here are some elements that can add a little bit of safety to knife fight techniques:
• Show & Go. Because the actors are going to be standing much closer together than they would in a sword fight, it is imperative that they learn the concept of show & go when thrusting and slashing or cutting. The idea is to give your partner a strong enough visual cue before the knife gets within touching range. As with sword work, people will forget a move now and then, so these extra cues can be enough to clue-in the actor as to what the next move is. They also actually help the audience, so that they get a split-second glimpse of what the danger is before the attack either fails or succeeds. Granted, it’s a slight exaggeration of normal movement, but one that helps the show, so we keep it.
• Naturally there will be many times that the aggressor will need to close distance when attempting a slash, so to our “show & go” we add a “step & prep”. The aggressor takes a step in towards the victim, then preps for the cut by extending the arm fully to the side (letting the audience in on what is about to happen). Be sure to make eye contact on the step in. The next part is crucial. The aggressor’s cue for initiating the swing is when the victim begins his reaction. None of this “go ahead and swing; I’ll duck in time.” That’s how actors get smacked in the head.
• Thrust out of distance. This one is easy. A simple one-two movement – show the knife by merely extending the arm and pointing to the intended target, and then take the step forward to close the distance and finish the attack. Sound familiar? Right, it’s the Show & Go while on the move.
• Thrust in-distance. Of course, when the actors are already within reach of each other and stepping in is not appropriate, we need to have a different prep. The “show” in this case is pulling the knife hand back to the hip with a little bit of a twist of that shoulder and hip, away from your partner. Then the hip and shoulder turn again towards the victim, leading the arm as it is extended.
• Blocking the knife. Some actors take the swordplay analogy too literally and think that they can engage the weapons blade to blade, blocking knife attacks with their own knife. Nice thought, but the look is hopelessly unrealistic. When a knife attack is blocked, it is either lightly batted away with the free hand or firmly blocked with either forearm. But it is not the knife itself which is engaged, only the knife hand or arm.
• The Bat-Away. Similar to the block, but actors tend to overdue it. For the bat-away, merely touch the attacking knife hand with the back or the palm of your free hand. The knife hand is not slapped away; this is a deflection only. Even though the look is to really slap the knife away, we only need to make minimal contact and then let the aggressor continue the pantomime of having his arm knocked off target.
• For the forearm block, again look back at the swordplay section. The arms will take the part of the sword, using obvious perpendicular blocks forearm to forearm.
When the time comes to do some virtual damage with the knife, I’ve already made it clear that a retractable knife should never be used. So what to do? Getting help from a fight instructor would be the first choice, because he or she will be able to set up a very realistic stabbing in less than a quarter of an hour. If you need to attempt any of the following without assistance, go very slowly and try a hundred variations from every conceivable angle until you get something consistently safe and believable.
• The upstage stab.
This is a variation of the old sword under the arm that has been parodied to death, but if done correctly is still very effective, especially if you have a bit of distance from the audience. The actors stand in profile to the audience and the aggressor merely stabs at the area of the victim slightly upstage of the victim’s body. The hand can still be aimed at the body, so long as the tip is pointing just upstage. If the victim can reach out slightly with his downstage arm, it will help mask the knife. Don’t let the blade go beyond the back of the victim; that will only get a laugh from the audience.
The reaction of the victim is what makes or breaks this illusion, for the reaction to both the stab and the pull out of the blade must be made to look as though the stab is to the center of the body, not upstage. Too often the victim turns slightly upstage, into the real arm movement, instead to selling the illusion. And notice how, even though the illustration above is from the upstage side, the knife still disappears from view blocked by the victim’s upstage arm.
• Accepting the blade.
This is the most difficult illusion to pull off, but also the safest, because only the victim has control of the action. This is used for a direct stab to the stomach and is especially useful when the knife blade is relatively long and difficult to hide. This stab would begin at a bit of distance, requiring the attacker to show, go, and then step in. During the go, which is a thrust, the victim can reach out as though to stop the attack. In reality, he is locking wrist to wrist so as to guide the attacking knife into the intended target. The aggressor can use the victim’s distracting hand to hide the fact that he has turned his own hand sideways, turning the blade safely away. Sounds hard to do? It is, which is why an experienced fight instructor is needed..
• In-distance punch stab. This is the one which is most commonly used. It’s fast and easy so long as you have a lot of spotters to check for audience sight lines. Go back to the unarmed section for the techniques used for the stomach punch. The punch stab is done the same way, except that at the moment the knife has disappeared from the audience’s view, the aggressor turns his wrist so the knife blade can be pressed sidewise along the stomach, the tip pointing safely away. It almost doesn’t mater where the actors are facing or standing so long as the entire knife hand disappears from audience view during the stab.
• “Retracting” knife. While working on a production of No Exit, I had to have the actor do multiple stabs with the victim being only feet away from the first row. Since I wouldn’t allow the use of a retractable knife, we needed to mix up the look of the staged stabs so that the audience wouldn’t be able to see how any one stab was performed. So even though I’m not terribly fond of this stab, here’s a case where it was necessary to thow it into the mix.
The “retracting” knife bit requires a knife which has a very small guard and an extremely blunt blade. The actors stand very close together, as in the punch stab above, but in this case they align themselves so that the stabbing takes place in full view of the audience. The stabbing arm must have the palm facing upstage and the back of the hand facing downstage, in effect hiding the handle. The blade is pointed at the victim, and the blade tip might even be touching the victim just before the stab. The handle is gripped very loosely. For the stab, the knife stays in the same place in space while the hand travels forward into the stomach, grasping the blade. After the appropriate victim reaction, the hand releases the blade and pulls back and grabs the handle.
upstage view
All of this has to be done without the audience seeing the fingers grip, release, and re-grip, with great attention to making sure that the handle is blocked from view by the aggressor’s forearm. (It’s also nice if the attacker doesn’t drop the knife.) When done correctly, the audience is completely convinced that they have seen a blade actually stab someone.
This simulation obviously violates my own cardinal rule about never pointing any weapon at any person at any time for any reason. And, just as obviously, it carries its own dangers. I include this here, with apologies, to show that is always a way around a seemingly intractable problem, and sometimes the choice is between the lesser of two evils. But in this case it is both safer and more effective than an actual retractable knife.
• Back stab.
A lot of murder mysteries have this, and it is remarkably simple to do, being a slight variation on the punch stab. Usually the victim is full front and the aggressor comes up from behind, raising the knife nice and high so the audience can see it.
When the knife is brought down for the stab, it is aimed straight down with the tip pointing to the ground, instead of arcing towards the victim. So that the victim knows when to react, the aggressor merely touches the victim using a slightly extended thumb or finger of the stabbing hand, the knife blade angled away from the victim. But since the aggressor’s left hand can provide the tap instead, the path of the knife blade need never be any closer than 12” away from the victim, for, as always, the audience has no depth perception. For his part, the victim needs to think carefully about the reaction, and not just collapse down. Rather, there has to be included a push out of the chest, keeping in line with the imagined path of the stab.
• Self stab. Especially made for Juliet’s death scene, but of course can be used for any show which requires a suicide by stabbing to the stomach. The easy way to go is for her to use the upstage stab as described above, but in this case the audience is staring too intently at Juliet to be fooled by that. When they have this much time to focus, they gain back a lot of the depth perception they normally lose. So the following variation can be far more believable and dramatic.
The actor faces the audience and gives them a good look at the knife. Grabbing the handle with both hands, the blade is slapped against the forearm at the moment of the thrust. The hand higher up on the hilt covers the turning motion of the nearer hand, blocking the twist of the wrist. For more specifics on this illusion read the Romeo & Juliet entry in the Violence on Stage section towards the end of this book.
• Cutting.
Again, I refer you back to the earlier sword fighting section for the details, but the basics again include first laying the flat of the blade along the part of the victim to be “cut” and then drawing the knife’s [dull] edge across or better yet back towards the aggressor, of course using the lightest, weakest grasp possible so as to remove any real pressure on the victim.
• Throat Slash. This is where most directors want to see blood. But blood FX knives are notoriously unreliable, and often drip before the slash. So I prefer using a regular (dulled) knife, and keeping the blood in the aggressor’s control. Since this is a close-in moment, the action itself needs to be performed slowly. This makes it both more horrifying and safer.
For most throat slashes, both actors are full front, with the aggressor standing behind the victim. The arm holding the knife goes all the way across the victim first, and the aggressor’s thumb gently lands at the throat just under the base of the victim’s jawbone. The slow slash is done with only the aggressor’s thumb making contact with the throat. Blood may not be necessary, but if the director insists on it, it can be applied by the aggressor. How? Somewhere on the set hide a small open jar of a sticky, viscous blood mixture (for this, often just a little lipstick mixed with baby oil is all you need). At some point before the slash, the aggressor merely scoops some blood out with thumbnail. For the slash, he merely paints the victim’s throat as the action is simulated. With a little practice, he can even get some of the blood from her neck onto the knife blade during the slash. The knife will then act as a secondary paintbrush, leaving a wonderfully straight line that the audience will believe is a knife cut. The very slowness of the movement only adds to the realism.
Traps & Locks
There is a whole raft of illusion designed to look as though one actor has immobilized another by either twisting a limb and painfully applying pressure to a joint. Sometimes they are included in a knife fight to allow the actors to get in close for a strike, throw or disarm. Most of these are taken from aikido and its parent discipline jujitsu. Although simple to perform, the margin for error is very small and so the possibility of doing real damage to the victim is very large. It only takes an accidental extra inch of force against an elbow or wrist to lead to some nasty ligament tears. For that reason they are to be considered advanced techniques, and we must relegate them to the list of those that must only be aught under the direct tutelage of an on-sight instructor.
If it should come to pass that for some reason your actors insist that they need to have one in their fight and that they know what they are doing, offer this challenge. Have the victim stand alone and get himself into the lock/trap. The aggressor must do nothing; standing three feet away, he only demonstrates his portion of the simulation for his only job is to provide the pantomimed justification for the illusion. If you like what you see, let them come within touching distance. But even then, it is ridiculously easy for the aggressor to accidentally twist a tendon beyond it’s capability, so be very leery of including these simulations without expert instruction.
The Butterfly Knife
It’s very rare when a show will have one or more of the fighters use a butterfly knife, and the only reason to do so is get that moment when the character pulls out the knife and goes through a flashy show of opening it. In the right hands, it’s quite impressive, for the parts of the knife flicker and flutter as the actor waves it about. It’s a special skill, not terribly difficult to learn but it has no practical application in a fight. It’s just there for show, kind of like baton twirling or those silly nunchuck moves. It not really a part of stage combat, or a real knife fight for that matter, but if for some reason you want this in your show, here are some tips.
Keep in mind that there are really only four moves you can do with a butterfly knife: while holding one of the handles, you can swing it open, swing it closed, twirl the free handle left, and twirl it right. That’s it. If you can do that, you’ve already mastered the basics. The rest of the time is going to be spent combining those moves into as many variations as possible so that it appears that the knife is doing a lot more than that. But that’s all just illusion, for you can only open, close, twirl left, and twirl right.
Of course, the artistry comes in the way you combine the moves while not rapping your knuckles. Opening and closing the knife as it spins in a half-circle twirl (shown above) has one look. Starting in one direction as you open and then reversing as you close has another. So does opening and closing as the hand turns upside down. So does opening and closing left to right compared to forward and back. I enjoy working in a few moves that borrow from cape techniques of bull fighting, and naturally each person will find his or her own style. But no matter what the finished routine looks like, the one constant is that the weapon always remains in motion, never completely closing or opening until the final pose. By working all of the geometric planes, you can really disrupt the audience’s ability to focus on the movement and identify which is the blade and which is the free handle.