Here’s the list of weapons I have been formally trained in for stage combat:
- Sabre Fencing
- Quarterstaff
- Unarmed Brawling
- Rapier & Dagger
- Smallsword (French, Scottish, Italian)
- Eastern Martial Arts Fusion (Kung fu with dramatic throws)
- Longsword (Italian and German traditions)
- Martial Arts Weapons (Katana, Escrima/Kali Short Stick)
- Broadsword & Shield (Large shields and bucklers)
- Case of Rapier (two rapiers)
- Rapier & Cape/Cloak
- Environmental (Found Weapon)
Plus, I’ve studied the following real martial arts:
- Wing Chun (including pole: long staff)
- Shotokan Karate
- Judo
- Bartitsu (19th century combination of savate, cane fighting, scientific boxing and jujitsu)
- Jeet Kune Do
- Krav Maga
If your show needs a weapon or style that’s not there, I will research it. I have done that successfully for:
- Ancient Egyptian fighting using khopesh, staff, spear: There is no modern school of Egyptian fighting, and historical accounts don’t record how they used the weapons we know they had, so I had to “fill in the blanks”
- Wolf-man society: The director of Macbeth wanted a savage tribe that revered the wolf, and wanted their fighting style to match. We decided that bailing hooks would better symbolize the rip-and-tear of wolf bites compared to anything claw-like.
